Author Archives: rarefilm

The Night of the Hunter (1955) Charles Laughton, Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

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It’s the Great Depression. In the process of robbing a bank of $10,000, Ben Harper kills two people. Before he is captured, he is able to convince his adolescent son John and his daughter Pearl not to tell anyone, including their mother Willa, where he hid the money, namely in Pearl’s favorite toy, a doll that she carries everywhere with her. Ben, who is captured, tried and convicted, is sentenced to death.
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La sagrada familia / The Sacred Family (2005) Sebastián Lelio, Patricia López, Néstor Cantillana, Sergio Hernández, Drama

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It’s Easter in the beach house of a Chilean well-to-do and nowadays family. A self-centered and successful father, a disoriented mother and a son overshadowed by his successful father. The three of them, wait for the arrival of the son’s first official girlfriend; a disturbing and rebellious young lady who will invade the house with her powerful sexual load and other “gifts”, breaking loose an emotional cataclysm with no stepping back.
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Kraftidioten / In Order of Disappearance (2014) Hans Petter Moland, Stellan Skarsgård, Bruno Ganz, Pål Sverre Hagen, Action, Crime, Thriller

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Nils ploughs snow in the wild winter mountains of Norway, and is recently awarded a Citizen of the Year Award. When his son is murdered for something he did not do, Nils wants revenge. And justice. His actions ignite a war between the vegan gangster “the Count” and the Serbian mafia boss “Papa”. Winning a blood feud isn’t easy, especially not in a welfare state. But Nils has something going for him: Heavy machinery and beginners luck.
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Chichi ariki / There was a father (1942) Yasujirô Ozu, Chishû Ryû, Shûji Sano, Shin Saburi, Drama

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A father and his son, a son and his father. Horikawa is a widower, a teacher, and a good father to Ryohei, who’s about 10. After a tragedy, Horikawa resigns from teaching and takes Ryohei from Tokyo to the town of Ueno, enrolling him in junior high; to the lad’s sorrow, he will be a boarder. Horikawa returns to work in Tokyo, their separation is complete. Jump ahead more than ten years: with dad’s help, Ryohei has finished college and has a teaching job in Akita. Horikawa considers living with his son, which Ryohei wants, but the elder’s notions of duty and hard work preclude it. Ryohei arranges a ten-day vacation with his father. Heartbreak comes quietly, nearly hidden by dignity.
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Where the Fire Burns / Atesin Düstügü Yer (2012) Ismail Günes, Elifcan Ongurlar, Hakan Karahan, Yesim Ceren Bozoglu, Drama

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Where the Fire Burns is a road story. Ayse who unexpectedly gets sick is taken for an operation urgently. Her family shows a great solidarity for this operation to happen. During the operation, it is found out that the girl is fourteen weeks pregnant. After the successful operation Ayse doesn’t tell who the father of her baby is. The family who tried to ‘‘keep her alive” is now trying to ‘‘kill” her.
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Pierrot le fou / Pierrot Goes Wild (1965) Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani, Crime, Drama, Romance

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Ferdinand Griffon is married with his wealthy Italian wife and has been recently fired from the television station where he worked. His wife forces him to go to a party in the house of her influential father that wants to introduce Ferdinand to a potential employer. Her brother brings the babysitter Marianne Renoir to take care of their children.
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Gertrud (1964) Carl Theodor Dreyer, Nina Pens Rode, Bendt Rothe, Ebbe Rode, Drama, Romance

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In the elegant world of artists and musicians, Gertrud ends her marriage to Gustav and takes a lover, the composer Erland Jansson. When he also fails to live up to her idealistic standards, she leaves him and imposes on herself a kind of exile of the heart. In flashbacks and in conversations laced with memories, we also learn of her affair with Gabriel, who still wishes she would go off with him, and we learn of her adolescence, with its early expression of her isolating ideal of absolute love.
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An Evening in Paris (1967) Shakti Samanta, Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Sarita, Musical, Romance, Thriller

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In romantic Paris, two Parisians of Indian origin are in love namely Shyam or Sam and Roopa. Mystery and intrigue surround this romance, as Roopa is abducted and held by criminal mastermind Jack and his minions, who will trade her for a hefty ransom. Roopa has a look-alike in the shape and form of Suzy, who is sent in place of Roopa to ensure that the money is received, while the real Roopa is still being held captive. Sam must use all the resources available to in order to set Roopa free, but he will have a difficult time to differentiate between Suzy and Roopa.
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De trip van Teetje / Tate’s Voyage (1998) Paula van der Oest, Boris Abarov, Cynthia Abma, Abdenbi Azzaoui, Drama

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Tate, a young and crooked businessman, thinks he can get rich quick by buying a Russian freighter in the port of Rotterdam. This turns out to be a fiasco because the ship has been arrested, the freight has been sealed by the customs and the crew has been waiting for months for their wages. When his girlfriend falls in love with the ship’s mate, Tate makes a decision. He takes pity on the suffering crew and tries to save them from their helpless predicament.
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Il vedovo / The Widower (1959) Dino Risi, Alberto Sordi, Franca Valeri, Livio Lorenzon, Comedy

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Alberto Nardi (Alberto Sordi) is a Roman businessman who fancies himself a man of great capabilities, but whose factory (producing lifts and elevators) teeters perennially on the brink of catastrophe. Alberto is married to a rich and successful businesswoman from Milan, Elvira Almiraghi (Franca Valeri) who has a no-nonsense attitude and barely tolerates the attempts of her husband to keep his factory afloat with her money.
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The Everlasting Secret Family (1988) Michael Thornhill, Mark Lee, Drew Norman, Dennis Miller, Drama, Romance

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A beautiful, if ambitious and amoral, youth is tapped to become the lover of a powerful senator. The young man quickly realizes that he can hold this place, with all its perks, only as long as he is young. He has no other function than being young. With the help of an aged judge, the young man, referred to only as The Lover, contrives a plan to make a change in the way of the world, a plan that will take him years to realize.
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