gbreeze's - Rented List
-
Lift to the Scaffold (1958)Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows
Malle's a debut feature, made when he was only 25 is a tense thriller starring Jeanne Moreau as Florence and Julian Tavernier as Maurice, a pair of lovers who conspire to murder Florence's husband in the most ingenious manner. However, not everything goes quite as planned. Lift to the Scaffold is arguably the first film of the French New Wave with its arresting camerawork by cinematographer Henri Decae, who also shot the debut film of Truffaut and Chabrol. With its sultry black and white palate, Paris locations and an improvised jazz score by the legendary Miles Davis, Lift to the Scaffold is an unforgettable slice of 50s French cool. - Director:
- Louis Malle
- Cast:
- Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly
- Formats:
-
-
Tout Va Bien (1972)All's Well / Everything's All Right / Just Great
Tout Va Bien (Everything's Going Fine) places Jane Fonda and Yves Montand in the roles of She and He, that is, a modern couple representative of the middle-class global bourgeoisie circa 1972. She's a radio journalist at the French bureau of the American Broadcasting System; he's an advertisement director who before '68's social upheavals served as a Nouvelle Vague screenwriter. Through Fonda's and Montand's star-personas, Godard and Gorin investigate 'how the sausage is made', both metaphorically (movie financing) and literally (industrial food processing) - in the process questioning what it means to be involved or 'engaged' socially, politically, and romantically. - Director:
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast:
- Yves Montand, Jane Fonda, Vittorio Caprioli
- Formats:
-
-
Weekend (1967)Week End
"Weekend" follows a bickering, scheming bourgeois couple who leave Paris for the French countryside to claim an inheritance by nefarious means. Almost immediately, they become entangled in a cataclysmic traffic jam, which is just the beginning of a journey fraught with violence and dangerous encounters: rape, murder, pillage and even cannibalism. - Director:
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast:
- Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-Pierre Kalfon
- Formats:
-
-
Rocco and His Brothers (1960)Rocco e i suoi fratelli
A tight-knit family moves from Italy's rural south to metropolitan Milan. The shock of the new is violent and immediate. A mother meddles. A whore beguiles. Brother faces brother. Blood-ties come undone. We pity beatific Rocco (played by the immortal Alain Delon in a role specially written for him) and Nadia the harlot (Annie Girardot, capricious and scintillating) - the modern condition has shattered their lives. - Director:
- Luchino Visconti
- Cast:
- Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot
- Formats:
-
-
Ossessione (1942)Obsession
A restless wife, Giovanna (Clara Calamai), meets Gino (Massimo Girotti), a rough and handsome vagabond. Their passionate affair leads to the murder of Giovanna's boorish husband. Can a strong and sensual affair survive the guilt? Adapted from the James M. Cain's classic novel 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', 'Ossessione' is a dark and provocative drama of sexual tension. It heralded a new era of Italian cinema, establishing Luchino Visconti as a leading and controversial exponent of 'neo-realism'. - Director:
- Luchino Visconti
- Cast:
- Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti, Dhia Cristiani
- Formats:
-
-
Conversation Piece (1974)Gruppo di famiglia in un interno
A retired American professor (Burt Lancaster) lives a solitary and luxurious life in a house in Rome. His world takes an unexpected turn when he is forced to rent part of his house to a countess and her companions: a lover, a daughter and the daughter's boyfriend. Forced into interaction with the unruly younger group, the professor's growing fascination begins to stir the possibilities of a life he had previously kept at arm's length. - Director:
- Luchino Visconti
- Cast:
- Burt Lancaster, Helmut Berger, Silvana Mangano
- Formats:
-
-
Story of a Love Affair (1950)Cronaca di un amore
Paola (Lucia Bose) is a strikingly beautiful young woman married to a rich older industrialist who decides to have her past investigated. The detective's enquiry reaches Paola's former lover, Guido (Massimo Girotti), prompting him to seek her after seven years, and they reignite their passion. Antonioni, who defined cool modernism on screen, chronicles the love affair, observing without judgement. - Director:
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Cast:
- Lucia Bosé, Massimo Girotti, Ferdinando Sarmi
- Formats:
-
-
This is the carefully crafted story of a young girls slide into decadence in old Shanghai, China. Gene Tierney stars as Poppy a girl doomed by her love of life and laughter. The background and setting of this film successfully evokes a bygone East with its colonial traces. Walter Houston ably plays a worldly Sir Guy Charteris with Victor Mature as Dr. Omar and a fine supporting cast that includes Maria Ouspenskaya and Mike Mazurki. This is the Hollywood dream factory at it's very best in this underrated masterpiece that takes the viewer into the mysteries of the orient, with it's character, it's charms, and dangerous vices. - Director:
- Josef Von Sternberg
- Cast:
- Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature
- Formats:
-
-
Finally, Sunday! (1983)Vivement dimanche!
When a man is murdered all the clues point to Julien Vercel as the prime suspect. He knew him, his fingerprints are on his car and, as the police eventually discover, he was having an affair with Julien's wife. However, Julien's secretary Barbara Becker is sure something is not quite right with this state of affairs and begins her own investigation into the matter. - Director:
- François Truffaut
- Cast:
- Fanny Ardant, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Pierre Kalfon
- Formats:
-
-
John Russell (Paul Newman), a white man raised by an Arizona Apache tribe, is forced to confront the society he despises when he sells the boarding house he inherits. While leaving town by stagecoach, several bigoted passengers insist he ride with the driver (Martin Balsam). But when outlaws leave them all stranded in the desert, Russell may be their only hope for survival! - Director:
- Martin Ritt
- Cast:
- Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone
- Formats:
-
-
Beyond the Clouds (1995)Al Di La Delle Nuvole
Beyond the Clouds was director Michelangelo Antonioni’s first film in ten years and also his last. This much-appreciated comeback, assisted by Wim Wenders, did not disappoint and displayed all the hallmarks of one of cinema’s greatest legends. Adapted from Antonioni’s own short stories, four tales of love and desire are linked by a director in pursuit of his next project. Infatuations, infidelities, encounters unresolved and unrequited are presented with stunning imagery and feature a remarkable cast led by Sophie Marceau, Irene Jacob, Fanny Ardant, John Malkovic h and Jean Reno. - Director:
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Cast:
- Fanny Ardant, Chiara Caselli, Irène Jacob
- Formats:
-
-
Venice. 1866. After a night walking the empty streets of the ancient city together, a countess (Alida Valli) falls in love with an Austrian officer (Farley Granger) and becomes his mistress. War breaks out and separates them until she eventually finds him again in the throes of battle against the Italians. Betraying both her principles and her cause, she tries to reform him with cruel and tragic consequences for them both. - Director:
- Luchino Visconti
- Cast:
- Farley Granger, Alida Valli, Heinz Moog
- Formats:
-
-
The Cry (1957)Il Grido
When sugar refinery worker Aldo is jilted by his mistress, he takes to the road. With daughter in tow, Aldo wanders the Po River delta, seeking temporary – but always illusory – respite with a series of lovers, who only serve to remind him of Irma. Unable to find a new life, Aldo's haunted past gives way to a fateful finale. - Director:
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Cast:
- Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, Betsy Blair
- Formats:
-
-
The Girlfriends (1955)Le Amiche
Clelia (Eleonora Rossi-Drago) embarks from Rome to set up a fashion-salon in Torino. Shortly after arrival, she finds herself caught up in the (melo) dramas of a bourgeoise circle of acquaintances (including the iconic Valentina Cortese), and their attendant attempts at suicide, their class prejudices, and the romantic alliances that threaten to transform the social clique into an emotional tar-pit. - Director:
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Cast:
- Eleonora Rossi Drago, Gabriele Ferzetti, Franco Fabrizi
- Formats:
-