History

In eighteenth century England, “first cousins” Tom Jones and Master Blifil grew up together in privilege in the western countryside, but could not be more different in nature. Read More »

The story of the rise to power of King Frederick II (aka “Frederick the Great”) of Prussia of his military campaigns to make Prussia a major power in Europe.
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In 1700, news that the king of Spain is dying comes to the Spanish outpost in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For some reason, lovely Princess Lucia, the preferred heir, is in this remote location.
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While attending their respective parent’s funeral in London, two strangers discover their parent’s secret love affair spanning across three decades and two continents.
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Political and sexual repression in Hungary, just after the revolution of 1956. In 1958, the body of Eva Szalanczky, a political journalist, is discovered near the border. Her friend Livia is in hospital with a broken neck; Livia’s husband, Donci, is under arrest. In a flashback to the year before, we see what leads up to the tragedy. Eva gets a job as a writer. She meets Livia and is attracted to her. Livia feels much the same, but as a married woman, has doubts and hesitations. In their work, they (and Eva in particular) bang up against the limits of telling political truths; in private, they confront the limits of living out sexual and emotional truth.
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While sailing lawfully up the Yangste river in 1949, the British warship Amethyst found its return to the open sea blocked by Communist Chinese shore batteries that unexpectedly opened fire.
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The story of a group of young Australian men who leave their various backgrounds behind and sign up to join the ANZACs in World War I. They are sent to Gallipoli, where they encounter the resolute Turkish army.
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Dolly Payne is adored by two leaders of the fledgling American government, James Madison and Aaron Burr. She plays each against the other, not only for romantic reasons, but also to influence the shaping of the young country. By manipulating Burr’s affections, she helps Thomas Jefferson win the presidency, and eventually she becomes First Lady of the land herself.
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During the Chosun period, a court lady is found dead, hanging by the rafters of the palace. After examining the dead body, place physician Chun-ryung discovers that the dead maid was probably murdered and carries out investigation even though her higher-ups pressure her to close the case as suicide.
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The lazaret ship Britannic is used by England to transport weapons to Egypt. The German secret service wants to show that abuse of the red cross by overtaking the ship and steering it to a neutral port for inspection.
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All star cast heads up this 1970 remake of the William Shakespeare classic tale of the betrayal of the the Roman senate against their emperor, the plotting and scheming that led up to the assassination of the title charecter, and all of Romes’ fickleness towards the events.
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A partly fictionalized account of history begins with the arrival of slatternly Emma Hart, a cook’s daughter, at the home of Charles Greville. Greville takes her as his lover and grooms her until their relationship becomes an inconvenience. Greville then dupes Emma into traveling to Naples to live with his uncle, Lord Hamilton, ambassador to the court at Naples. Realizing that Greville has abandoned her, Emma agrees to marry Lord Hamilton. Soon, however, she meets Admiral Horatio Nelson of the British Navy.
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Sir John Falstaff is the hero in this compilation of extracts from Shakespeare’s ‘Henry IV’ and other plays, made into a connected story of Falstaff’s career as young Prince Hal’s drinking companion. The massive knight roisters with and without the prince, philosophizes comically, goes to war (in his own fashion), and meets his final disappointment, set in a real-looking late-medieval England.
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In 1920, rural Ireland is the vicious battlefield of republican rebels against the British security forces and Irish Unionist population who oppose them, a recipe for mutual cruelty. Medical graduate Damien O’Donovan always gave priority to his socialist ideals and simply helping people in need. Just when he’s leaving Ireland to work in a highly reputed London hospital, witnessing gross abuse of commoners changes his mind. He returns and joins the local IRA brigade, commanded by his brother Teddy, and adopts the merciless logic of civil war, while Teddy mellows by experiencing first-hand endless suffering. When IRA leaders negotiate an autonomous Free State under the British crown, Teddy defends the pragmatic best possible deal at this stage. Damien however joins the large seceding faction which holds nothing less than a socialist republic will do. The result is another civil war, bloodily opposing former Irish comrades in arms, even the brothers.
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In occupied France, German-run Continental Films calls the shots in the movie business. Assistant director and Resistance activist Jean Devaivre works for Continental, where he can get “in between the wolf’s teeth and avoid being chewed up”. Fast-living screenwriter Jean Aurenche uses every possible argument to avoid working for the enemy. For both, wartime is a battle for survival.
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