
A satire, psychological drama and comedy rolled into one, director Erik Clausen’s Villa Paranoia adeptly draws upon rich characters, who demonstrate the values and strength of the human heart, to create a portrait of Denmark today.
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Author Archives: rarefilm
Soldaat van Oranje / Soldier of Orange (1977) Paul Verhoeven, Rutger Hauer, Jeroen Krabbé, Susan Penhaligon, Drama, Romance, Thriller

Soldier of Orange (Dutch: Soldaat van Oranje) is a 1977 Dutch film directed by Paul Verhoeven and produced by Rob Houwer, starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé. The film is set during the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, and shows how individual students have different roles in the war. The story is based on the book Soldaat van Oranje by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, who lived the story himself.
The film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980. The film is considered to be one of the two best Dutch films made in the 20th century.
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The Fallen Sparrow (1943) Richard Wallace, John Garfield, Maureen O’Hara, Walter Slezak, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery

A former Spanish Civil War prisoner, John McKittrick arrives in New York to find the truth behind the death of his friend Louie Lepetino. He finds himself being chased by Nazi agents who want an item he has brought back from Spain and cannot give up. When another of his friends is murdered, McKittrick realizes that he cannot trust anyone around him – not anyone.
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Boy Meets Girl (1984) Leos Carax, Denis Lavant, Mireille Perrier, Carroll Brooks, Drama, Romance

Paris by night. Alex, 22, wants to become a filmmaker. He is fascinated by first times and his girlfriend, Florence, has just left him for his best friend, Thomas. First break-up, first attempted murder: Alex tries to strangle Thomas, but gives up and wanders the streets. That evening, Mireille, a girl from provincial France who has come up to Paris to make commercials, is left by her boyfriend. Alex witnesses this separation. These two tormented souls run into each other at a party….
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The Secret Ways (1961) Phil Karlson, Richard Widmark, Sonja Ziemann, Charles Regnier, Adventure, History, Mystery

Vienna, 1956. After Soviet tanks crush the Hungarian uprising, soldier-of-fortune Mike Reynolds is hired to help a threatened Hungarian scientist (Prof. Jansci) escape from Budapest. He and Julia, the professor’s daughter, cross the boulder posing as journalists, but they encounter a problem. The staunch freedom fighter doesn’t want to go!
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Le Seuil du Vide / Threshold of the Void (1972) Jean-François Davy, Dominique Erlanger, Odette Duc, Catherine Rich

The young artist Wanda Leibovitz comes to Paris, hoping to forget unfortunate love. Read More »
La Mandragola / The Mandrake (1965) Alberto Lattuada, Rosanna Schiaffino, Philippe Leroy, Jean-Claude Brialy, Comedy

Adaptation of the comic play by Macchiavelli about a man’s attempt to bed a woman unable to have a child by pretending to be a doctor.
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Morituri (1965) Bernhard Wicki, Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Janet Margolin, Action, Drama, Thriller

A German living in India during World War II is blackmailed by the English to impersonate an SS officer on board a cargo ship leaving Japan for Germany carrying a large supply of rubber for tyres. His mission is to disable the scuttling charges so the captain cannot sink the ship if they are stopped by English warships.
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Shukujo wa nani o wasureta ka / What Did The Lady Forget? (1937) Yasujirô Ozu, Sumiko Kurishima, Tatsuo Saitô, Michiko Kuwano, Comedy, Drama

An affluent medical professor, Komiya, and his bossy wife, Tokio, are to look after Setsuko, their high-spirited niece from Osaka. Setsuko is a liberated woman who does what she wants, including smoking, even though she is a minor. On Saturday, the professor does not feel like going to his weekend golf game, but his wife packs him off anyway. So he leaves his bag at the apartment of his student Okada, and goes to a bar with a friend. Setsuko traces him there, and insists that he take her to a geisha house. When she gets rather tipsy, the professor calls Okada to take her home, while he sleeps at Okada’s. The wife becomes suspicious of Setsuko when she sees Okada bringing her home, and also of her husband when she discovers that he did not go golfing.
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Mister 880 (1950) Edmund Goulding, Burt Lancaster, Edmund Gwenn, Dorothy McGuire, Comedy, Crime

The Skipper is a charming old man loved by all his neighbors. What they don’t know is that he is also Mr. 880, an amateurish counterfeiter who has amazingly managed to elude the Secret Service for 20 years.
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