Spain conquered the seas, found a new world and different realities than the one known in Europe. But a question needed to be answered with what they found in those new territories: do the Indians have souls? The Church, bound to protect and convert the natives and the conquerors who treated them like slaves and thought they were only merchandising, expose their arguments and reasonings at what would be known as the Vallidolid controversy. Between them, there’s a cardinal hearing both parts and trying to get reasonable answers from this critical question.
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Tag Archives: France
Swann In Love / Un amour de Swann (1984) Volker Schlöndorff, Jeremy Irons, Ornella Muti, Alain Delon, Drama, Romance
Elegant and educated bachelor, Charles Swann, moves in the most powerful and fashionable circles of Paris in the 1890’s. When he falls in love with Odette de Crecy, a courtesan, his friends warn him against marriage. Proving himself a silly and socially-foul goose, Swann ducks his social responsibilities, Odette ensnares him, and he is gently but firmly cast out of society amidst everyone’s great politeness.
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Storia di Piera / The Story of Piera (1983) Marco Ferreri, Isabelle Huppert, Hanna Schygulla, Marcello Mastroianni, Biography, Drama, Erotic
This sometimes confusing erotic drama about the incestuous relationship of a mother and daughter is based on the autobiography of Italian theater actress Piera Degli Esposti though it focuses more on her mother Eugenia (Hanna Schygulla).
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Roman de gare / Crossed Tracks (2007) Claude Lelouch, Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon, Audrey Dana, Drama
The successful novelist Judith Ralitzer is interrogated in the police station about the disappearance of her ghost-writer. A serial-killer escapes from a prison in Paris. A missing school teacher leaves his wife and children. In the road, the annoying and stressed hairdresser Hughette is left in a gas station by her fiancé Paul while driving to the poor farm of her family in the country. A mysterious man offers a ride to her and she invites him to assume the identity of Paul during 24 hours to not disappoint her mother. Who might be the unknown man and what is real and what is fiction?
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Le monache di Sant’Arcangelo / The Nun and the Devil (1973) Domenico Paolella, Anne Heywood, Luc Merenda, Ornella Muti, Drama
1577. The Mother Superior at the convent of Archangel is seriously ill. The determined and calculating Mother Giulia plots to become the next Mother Superior. She receives tough competition from tormented lesbian Sister Chiara and the lusty Sister Carmela.
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Les misérables (1995) Claude Lelouch, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Boujenah, Alessandra Martines, Drama, History
Henri Fortin is poor and iliterate former boxer. Ziman is rich Jewish lawyer from Paris. During WWII they meet when Fortin agrees to drive Ziman’s family to Switzerland. Intrigued by Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Miserables”, Fortin asks the Zimans to read that book to him during the travel. Before the end of movie every main character would see his character in situations similar to those in Hugo’s novel.
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Il marchese del grillo / The Marquis of Grillo (1981) Mario Monicelli, Alberto Sordi, Caroline Berg, Andrea Bevilacqua, Comedy, History
The marquess of Grillo is a good-natured, clever and women-loving man who is always inventing stories and cracking all types of jokes. The film tells the story of his life.
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Masques / Masks (1987) Claude Chabrol, Philippe Noiret, Robin Renucci, Bernadette Lafont, Comedy, Crime
Roland Wolf wants to write a book about a TV game-show host, the hail-fellow-well-met Christian Legagneur, who invites Wolf to his country estate, promising several days of lengthy interviews. But Legagneur’s laughter and easy intimacy are empty of content for a book, and he’s constantly dashing off, promising Wolf more time later. Wolf seems to have his own mask: he’s brought a gun with him, and he’s curious about a woman who was a recent guest at the estate. There’s also Legagneur’s godchild, Catherine, recovering from mental illness, and hovered over by Legagneur and his secretary. As Wolf digs through desks, he discovers a murderous plot.
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Les trois couronnes du matelot / Three Crowns of the Sailor (1983) Raoul Ruiz, Jean-Bernard Guillard, Philippe Deplanche, Nadège Clair, Drama, Fantasy
A drunken sailor recounts his life story to a murderous student.
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La curée / The Game Is Over (1966) Roger Vadim, Jane Fonda, Michel Piccoli, Peter McEnery
Renee Saccard is a pampered, selfish young wife of a middle-aged Parisian businessman who falls in love with her stepson but is driven to the point of madness when her husband tricks the stepson into betraying her.
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