Kousatsu portrays and condemns the oppressive atmosphere of a highly competitive society governed by “hypocritical adults” that prevent young people being young, leading them to commit acts of rebellion and acts of uncontrolled violence or even self-destruct.
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Kazoku / Where Spring Comes Late (1970) Yôji Yamada, Chieko Baishô, Hisashi Igawa, Chishû Ryû, Drama
The story is set in 1970 during the time of the first EXPO in Japan. The film’s main figure is a miner who suddenly becomes unemployed because the mine he worked in was shut down. He decides to resettle with his whole family to Hokkaido in northern Japan and start a new life as a farmer.
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De Mayerling à Sarajevo / From Mayerling to Sarajevo (1940) Max Ophüls, Edwige Feuillère, John Lodge, Aimé Clariond, Drama
In the late 1800’s, Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, falls for Sophie Chotek, a Czech countess. He’s already a problem to the Crown because of his political ideas; this love affair with someone not of royal blood breeches protocol. The Crown allows the union only after the couple agrees to a morganatic marriage. The emperor further neutralizes Franz by making him inspector general of the army, sending him afield for months at a time. In June of 1914, fearing for his safety, Sophie seeks permission to accompany Franz to Sarajevo; protocol dictates that no army troops attend Franz while she is present. An assassin strikes. Their deaths spark World War I.
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Bakurô ichidai / The Life of a Horse Trader (1951) Keigo Kimura, Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Takashi Shimura, Drama
This early gem starring the great Mifune Toshiba tells the tale of Katakana Yonetaro aka “The Shark,” a rough-and-tumble horse trader in Japan’s rugged northernmost territory of Hokkaddo.. always ready to drink, fight, gamble and chase women he falls victim to a crooked game with loaded dice. This little-known film captures the wild ways of early Japan after the fall of the shogunate when men had only their own strengths and skills to rely on. A brilliant yet tragic tale that can now be told.
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John From (2015) João Nicolau, Julia Palha, Clara Riedenstein, Filipe Vargas, Drama
Bored by spending the summer in the city, 15-year-old Rita decides to take a fancy to her new neighbor, a photographer who is setting up an exhibit of his shots in Melanesia. What starts as a game turns into a blazing crush and Rita can’t distinguish between reality and fantasy anymore.
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Houston, We Have a Problem! (2016) Bostjan Virc, Ziga Virc, Documentary, Drama
Cold War-era international intrigue, declassified top-secret documents, and a clandestine deal between John F. Kennedy and Yugoslavia’s president Josip Tito are just the tip of the iceberg in this absorbing directorial debut from filmmaker Žiga Virc. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, Houston, We Have a Problem! explores the myth behind the origins of America’s race to be the first country to send a man to the moon, and a supposed multi-billion-dollar deal involving America’s purchase of Yugoslavia’s space program in the early 1960s.
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Stella Does Tricks (1996) Coky Giedroyc, Kelly Macdonald, James Bolam, Hans Matheson, Drama
Stella, a young Glaswegian girl working as a prostitute in London, heads back to Glasgow with her new boyfriend and attempts to start a new life, but finds it difficult to break free of the cycle of abuse she has become trapped in.
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House of Frankenstein (1944) Erle C. Kenton, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
After escaping from an asylum the mad Dr. Niemann and his hunch back assistant revive Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Frankenstein monster in order to extract revenge upon their many enemies.
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Llámale Jess Redux (2014) Carles Prats, Jesús Franco, Lina Romay, Documentary
Jesus Franco, also known as Jess Franco, was one of the biggest names in cinema “B” worldwide. With more than 200 works and a large and peculiar use of pseudonyms, his work remains difficult to categorize, which makes it more exciting if possible. Through a series of interviews with Franco, “Call him Jess Redux” about the viewer sadist, esoteric and erotic world of the director, as refined as rogue. This new version of “Call him Jesus” (2000), considered the documentary reference Franco and directed by Carles Prats and Manel Mayol, incorporates new unpublished statements irreducible Madrid filmmaker and pays homage to his muse and companion, Lina Romay incorporating their active presence the story.
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Blues in the Night (1941) Anatole Litvak, Priscilla Lane, Betty Field, Richard Whorf, Crime, Drama, Music
“Jigger’ Lane forms a band that includes singer Ginger ‘Character’ Powell, wife of the trumpeter Leo Powelll, and Nickie Haroyen and Peppi. All of them dedicate themselves to work as a unit and to play ‘blues’ music. The dedication isn’t paying off in money and, while riding the rails in a boxcar, they meet and befriend a gangster named Del Davis. He offers them a job at a New Jersey roadhouse, where Powell falls in love with Kay Grant, a former ‘real-good friend’ of Davis. But when Powell learns that ‘Character’ is about to have a baby, he returns to her. “Jigger” tries to make Kay the band’s singer and, when this fails, runs off with her. She leaves him with nothing to show for him except a nervous breakdown.Back at the roadhouse, after his recovery, Kay shows up, has a quarrel with Davis, shoots and kills him and plans to take back up with “Jigger”, who knows better but just can’t help himself. While she is waiting in a car for him, along comes cripple Brad Ames, who she put in …
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