Author Archives: rarefilm

Treno popolare / Medium-Class Train (1933) Raffaello Matarazzo, Marcello Spada, Lina Gennari, Carlo Petrangeli, Drama, Romance

treno-popolare-1933
A summertime daytrip along the railway line Rome-Orvieto on a special-fare train, a group of diverse and lively characters. Families, old couples, an unfaithful husband and his jealous wife, a forlorn girl, a nerdy white-collar worker and his flirtatious date, and a handsome, eagerly wholesome young man. Their stories merge and intersect in the beautiful scenery of a Medieval small town in central Italy.
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Track 29 (1988) Nicolas Roeg, Theresa Russell, Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd, Drama, Mystery

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A doctor’s wife tires of his obsession with model trains, and spends her days wondering about the son she gave up for adoption at birth. While eating at a roadside cafe, she encounters a British hitchhiker, who turns out to be her son. They spend time together trying to find a bond. The son begins to hate the husband, and the wife begins worrying about the safety of her husband and his train set.
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Too Many Husbands (1940) Wesley Ruggles, Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas, Comedy, Romance

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It’s been a year since Bill Cardew was declared dead by drowning, and his widow Vicky is now married to his old friend and business partner, Henry Lowndes. When Bill unexpectedly returns from the island where he was marooned, what is Vicky to do? Well, having twice been a rather neglected wife, Vicky finds all the attention from two husbands competing for her favors delightful, and is in no hurry to make a decision…much to the discomfiture of hapless Bill and Henry.
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Die endlose Nacht / The Endless Night (1963) Will Tremper, Karin Hübner, Louise Martini, Harald Leipnitz, Drama

die-endlose-nacht-aka-the-endless-night-1963
A few hours at Berlin-Tempelhof airport. The thick fog force the travelers to persevere on the ground. Among them is a businessman who is facing ruin and not shy away, throwing his girlfriend to another man’s neck in order to save himself. A young actress has spent her last penny at the hairdresser and is stranded in a strange city. A farmer from Kenya falls spontaneously in love with a woman and offers her a new life.
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Ai qing de ya chi / Teeth of Love (2007) Yuxin Zhuang, Bingyan Yan, Hongtao Li, Naiwen Li, Drama

ai-qing-de-ya-chi-aka-teeth-of-love-2007
In her teenage years, Qian Yiehong (Yan Bingyan) rejected a boy out of political differences. He hit her back with a brick, and since then her back has hurt whenever it rains. Some time later, she falls in love with a married man, but he betrays her in the end, leaving her with the pain of abortion. Qian finally gets married to a man whom she does not love. But when she divorces him, he brutally extract his tooth to give as a souvenir to her…
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Katka (2010) Helena Trestíková, Documentary, Biography, Drama

katka-2010
Helena Trestikova is the author of 10 episodes from the series Women on the Brink of the New Millennium, intimate portraits of both successful women and women on the social periphery. The tragic story of a girl named Katka who believes that joy and happiness can be applied through a hypodermic needle. All she is left with is despair. We first meet Katka at a rehab clinic in Nemcice, still full of optimism and faith in a drug-free future. The film tries to draw attention to the drug problem from a somewhat different point of view.
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Story of Mother / Mu qin san shi sui (1973) Tsun-Shou Sung, Hsiang Li, Han Chin, Maria Yi, Drama

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Easily one of the most important directors of 1970s Taiwan cinema, Tsun-Shou Sung daringly tells the story of adultery by a young mother. In the unusual scenario, a young boy witnesses his mother’s cheating ways and, after the death of his sick father, grows to despise her. When he’s adopted by another family, the road to reconciliation proves achingly difficult.
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Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage / Faust: A German Folk Legend (1926) F.W. Murnau, Gösta Ekman, Emil Jannings, Camilla Horn, Drama, Fantasy, Horror

faust-eine-deutsche-volkssage-aka-faust-a-german-folk-legend-1926
God and Satan war over earth; to settle things, they wager on the soul of Faust, a learned and prayerful alchemist. During a plague, Faust despairs and burns his books after failing to stop death; Satan sends Mephisto to tempt Faust, first with insight into treating the plague and then with a day’s return to youth. Mephisto is clever, timing the end of this 24 hours as Faust embraces the beautiful Duchess of Parma. Faust trades his soul for youth. Some time later, he’s bored, and demands on Easter Sunday that Mephisto take him home. Faust promptly sees and falls in love with the beautiful Gretchen, whose liaison with him brings her dishonor. Is there redemption? Who wins the wager?
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