Stefan and Dolly Oblonsky have had a little spat and Stefan has asked his sister, Anna Karenina, to come down to Moscow to help mend the rift. Anna’s companion on the train from St. Petersburg is Countess Vronsky who is met at the Moscow station by her son. Col. Vronsky looks very dashing in his uniform and it’s love at first sight when he looks at Anna and their eyes meet. Back in St. Petersburg they keep running into each other at parties. Since she has a husband and small son, they must be very discreet if they are going to see each other alone.
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Drama
Der Himmel über Berlin / Wings of Desire (1987) Wim Wenders, Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Visible only to those like them and to human children, Damiel and Cassiel are two angels, who have existed even before humankind. Along with several other angels, they currently wander around West Berlin, generally on their own, observing and preserving life, sometimes trying to provide comfort to the troubled, although those efforts are not always successful. Among those they are currently observing are: the cast and crew of a movie – a detective story set in WWII Nazi Germany – which include a sensitive and perceptive Peter Falk; an elderly man named Homer looking for eternal peace; and the troupe of a financially failing circus, which has closed early for the season because of those financial problems. One day, Damiel tells Cassiel that he wants to become human, to feel not only the sensory aspects of physical beings, but also emotional aspects. He embarks on this thought with the full realization that there is no turning back if he decides to do so. His thoughts are largely …
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Full Circle / The Haunting of Julia (1977) Richard Loncraine, Mia Farrow, Keir Dullea, Tom Conti, Drama, Horror, Mystery
After the sudden accidental death of her small daughter, Julia Lofting, a wealthy American woman living in London, bolts her unhappy marriage and buys a house in Kensington which is haunted by the ghost of a quite obscenely nasty little girl who died in the 1950s and plans to use Julia as her pawn in a terrible revenge.
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Embrace of the Serpent / El abrazo de la serpiente (2016) Ciro Guerra, Nilbio Torres, Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolivar, Adventure, Biography, Drama
The epic story of the first contact, encounter, approach, betrayal and, eventually, life-transcending friendship, between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman, last survivor of his people, and two scientists that, over the course of 40 years, travel through the Amazon in search of a sacred plant that can heal them. Inspired by the journals of the first explorers of the Colombian Amazon, Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes.
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Elvis! Elvis! (1976) Kay Pollak, Lele Dorazio, Lena-Pia Bernhardsson, Fred Gunnarsson, Drama
Tale of a boy, roughly eight, who experiences a number of problems due to his estranged relationship with his mother. Mom wants her little boy to be someone other than who he is; junior is stubborn, fights back. Can these two find a common ground before the ending credits roll?
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After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet (2006) Susanne Bier, Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Rolf Lassgård, Art-house, Drama
Jacob Petersen has dedicated his life to helping street children in India. When the orphanage he heads is threatened by closure, he receives an unusual offer. A Danish businessman, Jørgen, offers him a donation of $4 million dollars. There are, however, certain conditions… Not only must Jacob return to Denmark, he must also take part in the wedding of Jørgen’s daughter. The wedding proves to be a critical juncture between past and future and catapults Jacob into the most intense dilemma of his life.
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O diaheiristis / The Building Manager (2009) Periklis Hoursoglou, Evangelia Adreadaki, Efstathia Tsapareli, Drama, Comedy
The story of 50-something Pavlos unfolds in an unspecified modern-day Greek city, portraying the man’s midlife crisis with a light and gently ironic tone. Pavlos takes over custodial duties from his aging mother and immediately has to deal with a disaster involving a sewage pipe. The fix-it job becomes complicated and creates an apt parallel to Pavlos’s increasingly complicated personal circumstances. At heart Pavlos is gracious and kind, and he tries to be a good husband, son, and building manager. But the ensuing state of affairs turns him into a morose and angry man whose nerves sometimes snap. Will Pavlos succeed in fixing the broken sewage pipe before he can fix his own “broken” life? Director and screenwriter Periklis Hoursoglou, who plays the lead role, has shot a drama with comic touches and gentle socio-critical accents. Hoursoglou succeeds in creating a faithful, entertaining, and even touching portrait of “ordinary” interpersonal relations.
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Witchcraft / Myrkrahöfðinginn (1999) Hrafn Gunnlaugsson, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Hallgrímur H. Helgason, Stefan Jorgen, Drama
The young and fanatical Jon is appointed pastor to a remote church in 17th century Iceland. As is custom, he marries the widow of his predecessor, a woman much older than he is. He is ardent in his fight against Satan, and the villagers don’t dare to question his authority. When he falls for a beautiful young woman, Jon is convinced witchcraft is at work, and his crusade leads to cruel executions of innocent people. The stronger his lust, the deeper his madness drives him in his religious fervor.
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Beyond Tomorrow (1940) A. Edward Sutherland, Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Winninger, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Harry Carey Sr., C. Aubrey Smith and Charles Winninger play three wealthy bachelors who have spent their lives wrapped up in themselves. Read More »
Virdzina / Virgina (1991) Srdjan Karanovic, Miodrag Krivokapic, Ina Gogálová, Slobodan Milovanovic, Drama
The story takes place in Yugoslavia at the end of the 19th century, in an isolated village near the Adriatic sea. Because of the extreme patriarchal culture there is a superstition that families without male heirs are cursed. When the wife of a farmer gives birth to their fourth daughter, father decides that the child will be brought up to become a so-called “Virgina” and that she will live as a man, so that she can work and be the family heir. This heartbreaking story of Virginas life is told with strong words, augmented with harsh inviroment.
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