frankie's - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List

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In a vast and opulent hotel, an unnamed man (Giorgio Albertazzi) attempts to persuade a similarly unnamed married woman (Delphine Seyrig) that they have not only met before, but they were also romantically involved and had planned to escape together.

The woman recalls no such encounter and so begins a sensual and philosophical examination into the uncertainty of truth.

Both films

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Marlon Brando is Rio, a bank-robber who is double-crossed by his friend and mentor, Dad (Karl Malden). Rio is imprisoned for his role in the crime, but escapes with thoughts of revenge.

He tracks down Dad only to find that, during those years spent behind bars, Dad has used his ill-gotten wealth to become the sheriff of Monterey...

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Anouk Aimee gives her defining performance as Cecile, a cabaret performer and single mother. Taking the stage name Lola, she entrances Roland (Marc Michel), a young drifter. A friend of Lola since childhood, he yearnsfor herto return his affections but she pines for her husband's return.

In the present, she disports with an American sailor named Frankie (Alan Scott), who in turn is the object of a young girl's affections. The girl's name, like Lola's, is Cecile (Annie Dupeyroux). Set in Nantes overthe span of a few days, this story of love stories crossing paths, of life teeming with co-incidences and missed chances conveys the spirit of the early French New Wave and the cinema of Max Ophuls, to whom Demy also dedicates the film.

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Blake Edwards' screen adaptation of Truman Capote's novella stars Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, an eccentric high-class escort working in New York.

Rubbing shoulders with Hollywood agents and wealthy politicians at glamorous parties, Holly plans to marry into money and save up to help support her brother who is due to return from the army. However, when young writer Paul Varjak (George Peppard) - the kept man of a wealthy older woman - moves into Holly's apartment block, the pair soon find their worlds turned upside down.

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Two of the giants of film-acting come together as a married couple living in crisis: Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau. He is a renowned author and 'public intellectual'; she is 'the wife.

' Over the course of one day and the night into which it inevitably bleeds, the pair will come to re-examine their emotional bonds, and grapple with the question of whether love and communication are even possible in a world built out of profligate idylls and sexual hysteria.

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Spanning two decades at the start of the 20th century, "Jules and Jim" follows the lives of two inseparable friends - timid German, Jules (Oskar Werner), and gregarious Parisian, Jim (Henri Serre) - and their shared love of the beautiful, capricious Catherine, played in mesmerising, luminous style

by Jeanne Moreau. Overcoming the destructive rift of World War I the trio create a new life for themselves, away from the structures imposed by society. But as the idyllic menage a trois begins to succumb to jealousy and rivalry their idealised existence finds itself slowly buckling under pressure. Frequently hailed as one of the greatest films ever made, "Jules and Jim" is a dazzling, boldly original tale of love, friendship and the vagaries of history that combines romance, comedy and tragedy in breathtaking, near-perfect dramatic harmony.

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Perhaps the crowning achievement of Bunuel's career, the film centres on an idealistic young nun named Viridiana (Silvia Pinal).

Before she is allowed to take her final vows, the Mother Superior requests that she visit her uncle Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), who has "selflessly" provided for the girl over the years. Having always considered him an unspeakable beast, she is surprised when he graciously welcomes her into his home. Just as graciously, he sets about to corrupt Viridiana beyond redemption - all because the girl resembles the wife that died on their wedding day.

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Move Over, Don Juan and Casanova - you've got competition from none other than Herbert H. Heebert. After being jilted by his gal, a depressed Herbert swears off romantic entanglements and is determined to live his life as a confirmed bachelor.

However, he then finds employment at a Hollywood boardinghouse for women - and the female residents go wild over the newly hired help! And that's when the hapless Herbert graduates from being a simple handyman to becoming The Ladies Man!

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A schizophrenic girl (Harriet Andersson) sinking into madness, is the focal point for the emotions of three men - her husband (Max Von Sydow) a doctor, who is helpless to cure her, her father (Gunnar Bjornstrand), who is horrified to find that he can watch her disease with complete detachment, and

her brother (Lars Passgard) for whom she represents the mysterious attractiveness of the opposite sex. A crisis is reached when, after a number of hallucinations, she seduces the boy.

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In the summer of 1960 anthropologist filmmaker Jean Rouch (Moi, un noir, Lcs maitres fous) and sociologist Edgar Morin set out to chronicle the everyday lives of Parisians using a mixture of intimate interviews, debates and observation.

Artists, factory workers, office employees, students and others open up to the camera to share their experiences, fears and aspirations. The result became one of the most influential films of the sixties, and redefined the documentary form.
Rouch, whose work inspired the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and Roberto Rossellini, trained his ethnographic lens on the metropolis, recording a series of extraordinary sequences, including a French survivor's Holocaust testimony, to reveal the political underlying the personal in a society struggling into the post-colonial era.

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Paul Newman heads a superb cast featuring Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott and Piper Laurie in this riveting film that received an Academy Award nomination as Best Picture of 1961 and brought all four of its stars Oscar nominations.

Newman is electrifying as Fast Eddie Felson, an arrogant, amoral hustler who haunts back street pool rooms fleecing anyone who'll pick up a cue. Determined to be acclaimed as the best, Eddie seeks out the legendary Minnesota Fats, who's backed by Bert Gordon. The love of a lonely woman could turn Eddie's life around, but he won't rest until he bests Minnesota Fats, no matter what price he must pay.

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The Greatest Love Story Ever Told...in the most acclaimed musical of all time...! Experience every sensational song, dazzling dance number and magical movie moment of 'West Side Story' as never before, in sparkling high definition with pure digital sound.

A triumph on every level, this electrifying musical sets the ageless tragedy of 'Romeo and Juliet' against a backdrop of gang warfare in 1950s New York. Featuring an unforgettable score, exuberant choreography and powerful performances by Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, West Side Story will forever resonate as a true cinematic masterpiece.

A shockumentary consisting of a collection of mostly real archive footage displaying mankind at its most depraved and perverse, displaying bizarre rites, cruel behavior and bestial violence.

Agnes Varda's classic 'Cleo from 5 to 7' from 1962 manages to successfully capture Paris at the height of the sixties in this intriguing tale expertly presented in real time about a singer (Corinne Marchand) whose life is in turmoil as she awaits a biopsy test result.