fmj's - Favourites List
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In the Ottoman province of Hijaz during World War I, a young Bedouin boy, Theeb (Jacir Eid), embarks, uninvited but eager for adventure, on a perilous desert journey with his elder brother Hussein to guide a British officer Edward (Jack Fox) and his guide Marji to their secret destination. Immersed in a way of life that has endured for centuries, the brothers are unaware of the tremendous upheavals taking place at the fringes of their world: the First World War is raging, the Ottoman Empire is coming undone, the Great Arab Revolt is brewing, and the British officer T.E. Lawrence is plotting with Prince Faisal to establish an Arab kingdom. The ensuing journey, filled with danger and hardship, will result in Theeb's rapid growing-up. Shot entirely on location against the ravishing landscape of Wadi Rum in Jordan, (where David Lean shot Lawrence of Arabia) and cast with non-professionals from one of the last of Jordan's nomadic Bedouin tribes, 'Theeb' is a remarkable accomplishment, a genre-crossing blend of a coming-of-age drama and a western. - Director:
- Naji Abu Nowar
- Cast:
- Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen, Hassan Mutlag Al-Maraiyeh
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Dheepan (2015)Erran
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger, forced to flee to France to escape civil war by posing as a family with a woman and young girl he has never previously met. Finding work as a caretaker of a housing block in the Parisian suburbs, Dheepan works to build a new life and home for his 'wife' and 'daughter', but the daily violence he confronts quickly reopens the violence from his past, and he is left fighting for their livelihood, and eventually their lives. From acclaimed director Jacques Audiard, and winner of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, 'Dheepan' is a powerful tale of family, love, social integration, and the overwhelming effects of warfare. - Director:
- Jacques Audiard
- Cast:
- Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby
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Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson star in 'Chernobyl', the critically acclaimed five-part mini-series. On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian SSSR suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and as far as Scandinavia and Western Europe. Dramatising the true story of the 1986 nuclear accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, Chernobyl shines a light on the brave men and women who fought an unprecedented war against an invisible enemy, and who suffered and sacrificed, saving millions of lives, often at the cost of their own. - Director:
- Johan Renck
- Cast:
- Jessie Buckley, Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård
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Dry Summer (1964)Susuz Yaz
During a particularly dry rural Turkish summer, a group of local workers enters into a dispute with a landowner when he decides the construction of new irrigation infrastructure must first and foremost service his own property. Wholly rapacious, the landowner foments a private war with his own kin after the brother takes a bewitching young wife. The battle between the factions plays out in stunning set-pieces: a pursuit with pistols amidst grass-stalks and dam-water before the setting sun evokes elements... - Director:
- Metin Erksan
- Cast:
- Erol Tas, Sami Ayanoglu, Niyazi Er
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The Fabelmans (2022)Untitled Steven Spielberg/Amblin Partners Project / Untitled Steven Spielberg Project
Inspired by Steven Spielberg's own childhood, rediscover the magic of movies in 'The Fabelmans', a coming-of-age story about a young man uncovering a shattering family secret and the power of film and imagination to help us see the truth about ourselves and each other. With a star-studded cast featuring Michelle Williams, Paul Daho, Seth Rogen, Gabriel LaBelle and Judd Hirsch, 'The Fabelmans' tells a timeless tale of heartbreak, healing, and hope for the dreamer inside all of us. - Director:
- Steven Spielberg
- Cast:
- Michelle Williams, Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano
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Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons star in this compelling thriller set in the fog-shrouded streets of Victorian London. As he buries his wife in a rain-soaked London churchyard, Stephen Lowry thinks he has committed the perfect murder. He's wrong. His quick-witted young maid Lily knows that he secretly poisoned his wife - and she has the proof. Now, as the price of her silence, she wants her mistresses' jewels, her mistresses' fine dresses and - most of all - her master himself. Can Stephen give Lily the love she craves? Can she trust a man who has already murdered once? As Stephen begins to court another woman, the thick London fog suddenly echoes to the cries of 'murder!' Featuring real life husband and wife Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons at the height of their international stardom, 'Footsteps in the Fog' is a first rate murder thriller with shocking twists that will keep you guessing until the very last moments. - Director:
- Arthur Lubin
- Cast:
- Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Bill Travers
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Kurosawa's remarkable film - his only produced and financed and survival, based on the memoirs of Russian explorer Vladimir Arseniev (Yuriy Solomin). In the harsh environs of the Siberian frontier, an expedition led by Arseniev encounters the momadic Goldi tribesman Dersu Uzala (Maksim Munzuk), who agrees to guide the men through the vast uncharted wilderness. Although initially considered but the group as little more that a savage, Dersu's skill, courage and spiritual wisdom soon earn their respect and admiration, as well as instilling in them a new-found compassion for the natural world. - Director:
- Akira Kurosawa
- Cast:
- Maksim Munzuk, Yuriy Solomin, Mikhail Bychkov
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Filmed in Japan, Sam Fuller's 1955 crime noir tells the story of Eddie Kenner (Robert Stack), a U.S. army operative sent to Tokyo as an investigator. A gang of American expatriates is robbing U.S. military ammunition and supply trains, and using military tactics to do it. They're a ruthless bunch, killing not only any troops and police that get in the way but also their own wounded. Working undercover, Kenner must gain the trust of ex-soldier Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan), who now heads the gang. The beautiful Japanese wife of a slain gangster is all too willing to help. - Director:
- Samuel Fuller
- Cast:
- Robert Ryan, Richard Loo, Robert Stack
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Broker (2022)Beurokeo / Baby Broker
On a rainy night in Busan, So-young (Lee 'IU' Ji-eun) leaves her baby outside a 'baby box', a safe place set up in Korean churches for new mothers to leave unwanted infants. Instead, he's picked up by Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) who runs an unofficial adoption brokerage and plans to find him a new home. So-young tracks down both Sang-hyun and his business partner (Gang Dong-won) and decides to join their pursuit - unaware they're being tailed by two detectives (Doona Bae, Lee Joo-young) who are determined to stop them. - Director:
- Hirokazu Koreeda
- Cast:
- Kang-ho Song, Dong-won Kang, Doona Bae
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Sansho Dayu (1954)Sansho the Bailiff
When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi's dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema's greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil. - Director:
- Kenji Mizoguchi
- Cast:
- Kinuyo Tanaka, Kisho Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa
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Perhaps the most widely-loved and hilarious of Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy Operas, this classic production by Opera Australia creates a fantastical, imaginary Japan. With amazingly detailed sets, lavish costumes and a fabulous cast astutely directed by Stuart Maunder, this comic operetta sparkles from beginning to end. Mitchell Butel's Ko-Ko is priceless, and his singing superb. Kanen Breen portrays Nanki-Poo as delightfully happy and positive, even when about to lose his head, while Jacqueline Dark brings compelling depth to the wicked EKatisha. Taryn Fiebig is the lovely Yum-Yum, and Warwick Fyfe the ludicrous, overworked and severe Pooh-Bah. The music is pure joy, with an amazing performance drawn from Orchestra Victoria by the superb conductor Brian Castles-Onion. - Director:
- Stuart Maunder
- Cast:
- Mitchell Butel, Richard Alexander, Samuel Dundas
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From writer-director Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) comes a unique film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. Although Padraic (Farrell) and CoIm (Gleeson) have been lifelong friends, they find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, bringing alarming consequences for both of them. - Director:
- Martin McDonagh
- Cast:
- Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon
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In a rural community of grinding economic and spiritual poverty, where poaching and delivering bootleg liquor supplement meagre incomes and love is absent, Mouchette is endlessly abused. She cares selflessly and without thanks for her family as her mother slowly dies, whilst she is humiliated by a teacher for singing out of tune, is called a slut by a shopkeeper and even, as she is about to speak to a young man who smiled at her on the dodgems, is slapped by her harsh, judgemental father. Finally, having sought to help the epileptic poacher Arsene, she is raped by him. Even then, she later protects him. Mouchette may not understand all that she experiences but nor is she a helpless victim. She cares for her mother and especially for her infant sibling. Ostracised by her cruel classmates, she retaliates, throwing mud at them. She also avenges herself against the woman who speaks with pious reverence of the dead and who offers Mouchette a funeral shroud for her mother and a dress for herself. - Director:
- Robert Bresson
- Cast:
- Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Marie Cardinal
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Charles Chaplin's Limelight is a glimmering homage to what was, a proud look at a bygone entertainment era and a bittersweet tale of an artist passing the torch to a new generation. Chaplin portrays Calvero (the "tramp comedian" per an old theatrical poster in his room), who rescues a distraught ballerina from suicide and mentors her to success. Among the film's comedy highlights is a musical routine that's anything but routine in the hands of legend Chaplin and stoney-faced Buster Keaton. The extraordinary score by Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell earned the screen legend his only competitive Oscar. - Director:
- Charles Chaplin
- Cast:
- Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce
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A Brighter Summer Day (1991)Gu ling jie shao nian sha ren shi jian
Among the most highly praised titles in all contemporary film, this singular masterpiece of Taiwanese cinema, directed by Edward Yang, was unavailable for years and much sought after. Set in the early 1960s, 'A Brighter Summer Day' is based on the true story of a crime that rocked Taiwan. A film of both sprawling scope and tender intimacy, this novelistic, patiently observed epic centers on the gradual but inexorable fall of a young teenager (Chang Chen, in his first role) from innocence to delinquency, and is set against a simmering backdrop of restless youth, rock and roll, and political turmoil. - Director:
- Edward Yang
- Cast:
- Chen Chang, Lisa Yang, Kuo-Chu Chang
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