jdl's - Rented List
-
The stunning debut from Scottish writer-director Charlotte Wells, 'Aftersun' juxtaposes a hopeful coming-of-age story with a poignant, intimate family portrait that leaves an indelible impression. At a fading vacation resort in the late 1990's, 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal). As a world of adolescence creeps into view, beyond her eye Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, Sophie's tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father, she knew with the man she didn't, in Charlotte Wells' superb and searingly emotional debut film. - Director:
- Charlotte Wells
- Cast:
- Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall
- Formats:
-
-
Underground (1995)Bila jednom jedna zemlja / Once Upon a Time There Was a Country
This extraordinarily dramatic black tragicomedy is an epic tale of love, friendship and betrayal set against the complex historical backdrop of the former Yugoslavia. The story follows two likeable crooks - Marko (Miki Manojlovic), a charmer who manipulates everyone within his reach, and the foolish but loveable Blacky (Lazar Ristovski) - and Natalija (Mirjana Jokovic), an actress of easy virtue with whom they are both in love. The three become embroiled in a world of conflict, self-delusion and deceit - but where there are also moments of tenderness and love - in this visionary allegory of Balkan vitality, energy, humour and the will to survive. - Director:
- Emir Kusturica
- Cast:
- Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Lazar Ristovski, Mirjana Jokovic
- Formats:
-
-
Gunda (2020)Gunda: Mother, Pig
In the vastness of the living world, we share our planet with billions of farm animals. However, in industrialized societies we are conditioned to ignore the sentience of these animals, often regarded as a passive resource. In 'Gunda', master filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky offers a radically recalibrated moral universe, where encounters with a mother sow (the eponymous Gunda), two ingenious cows, and a scene-stealing, one-legged chicken, remind us of the inherent value of life for all beings. By returning a pig's gaze, listening to a cow's gentle lowing, or observing a chicken find its wings, Kossakovsky voids any pretension that we are unique in our capacity for emotion, consciousness or will. Immersed in these animals' lives, lived to the full in joy and pain, it becomes inescapable that humankind must swiftly undertake the major changes necessary to end mass exploitation of our fellow creatures. 'Gunda' is Kossakovsky's deeply personal attempt to renew our vision of life and meditate on the mystery of all animal consciousness, including our own. - Director:
- Viktor Kossakovsky
- Cast:
- Gunda
- Formats:
-
-
A landmark movie in the film noir tradition, Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown' stands as a true screen classic. Jack Nicholson is private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite (Faye Dunaway) to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable night in...Chinatown. - Director:
- Roman Polanski
- Cast:
- Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
- Formats:
-
-
Dublin, 1963, Middle-aged bus conductor Alfred Byrne (Albert Finney) passes the day cheerily entertaining his passengers with passionate recitals of Oscar Wilde's poetry. However Alfie is secretly living a desperately unhappy life - he's gay, deeply closeted and in love with his colleague, bus driver Robbie (Rufus Sewell), whom he adores from a distance. When he meets an enchanting young passenger, Adele (Tara Fitzgerald), Alfie is inspired to mount a production of Wilde's Salome - with Adele as the lead. With the rest of the cast filled out by his regulars, including a guff butcher (Michael Gambon), he sets off to produce Wilde's controversial play - but not everyone is pleased with the choice. With production woes piling on, Alfie is forced to overcome his fears and be happy with who he is. - Director:
- Suri Krishnamma
- Cast:
- Albert Finney, Brenda Fricker, Michael Gambon
- Formats:
-
-
The Quiet Girl (2022)An Cailín Ciúin
CoIm Bairead's beautifully understated feature debut finds a young girl coming to terms with loss and the importance of family in rural Ireland. Cait (Catherine Clinch), a quiet, neglected young girl, is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with relatives for the summer. At first intimidated by her new environment, she quickly blossoms in the care of Eibhlin (Carrie Crowley) and her farmer husband, Sean (Andrew Bennett). As this new home becomes an idyll for her, Cait senses that something is plaguing her new foster parents - an unspoken pain that Eibhlin and Sean never discuss, which Cait's youthful curiosity begins to uncover. - Director:
- Colm Bairéad
- Cast:
- Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett
- Formats:
-
-
Drive My Car (2021)Doraibu mai kâ
Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 'Drive My Car' is a masterful, moving and multi-award winning film based on a short story by Haruki Murakami. When the wife of Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a stage actor and director, suddenly passes away, she leaves behind a secret. Two years later, Kafuku meets Misaki (Toko Miura), a reserved young woman assigned to be his chauffeur on a work trip to Hiroshima. As they spend time together, Kafuku confronts the mystery of his wife that quietly haunts him. - Director:
- Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
- Cast:
- Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima
- Formats:
-
-
"Hello, little bonehead. I'll love you forever". So begins 'Heart of a Dog', Laurie Anderson's cinematic journey through love, death and language. Cantering on Anderson's beloved rat terrier Lolabelle, who died in 2011, 'Heart of a Dog' is a personal essay that weaves together childhood memories, video diaries, philosophical musings on data collection, surveillance culture and the Buddhist conception of the afterlife, and heartfelt tributes to the artists, writers, musicians and thinkers who inspire her. - Director:
- Laurie Anderson
- Cast:
- Archie, Jason Berg, Heung-Heung Chin
- Formats:
-
-
Emma Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a retired school teacher yearning for some adventure, and some sex. And she has a plan, which involves hiring a young sex worker named Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack). As Nancy embarks on a post-marital sexual awakening and Leo draws on his skills and charm, together they find a surprising human connection. - Director:
- Sophie Hyde
- Cast:
- Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack, Isabella Laughland
- Formats:
-
-
Time of the Gypsies (1988)Dom za vesanje / Cigani lete u nebo
Perhan (Davor Dujmovic) is a Gypsy teenager with the ability to move objects with his mind. A criminal named Ahmed (Bora Todorovic) convinces him to leave his devoted grandmother (Ljubica Adzovic) and loving girlfriend, and to use his powers to make some money illegally. While becoming a man and learning the trade of crime, the boy searches for his sister (who was supposed to have a leg operation) and tries to save money to realize his fantasy of returning home to marry the woman of his dreams. - Director:
- Emir Kusturica
- Cast:
- Davor Dujmovic, Bora Todorovic, Ljubica Adzovic
- Formats:
-
-
Michael Stone (David Thewlis), a husband, father and successful motivation speaker, is crippled by the mundanity of his life. On yet another business trip he checks into a clinically commonplace hotel once more. But this time a chance meeting with Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), an unassuming, small-town sales rep, throws the dullness into disarry and Michael feels he may have actually met someone who can make a change. From the mind of Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and animation master Duke Johnson comes "Anomalisa", a tender, touching and achingly funny black comedy, filmed entirely in extraordinary stop motion animation. - Director:
- Duke Johnson
- Cast:
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Thewlis, Tom Noonan
- Formats:
-
-
I Am Cuba (1964)Soy Cuba
Filmed by great Russian director Mikhail Kalatozov during 1963 - 1964, I am Cuba (or Soy Cuba) is an epic poem to Communist Kitsch - a dramatic journey through the decadence of Batista's Havana and the grinding poverty and oppression of the Cuban people. In the four stories showing the rise of the revolution, Kalatozov's astonishing, acrobatic and groundbreaking camera work takes the viewer on a sweeping ride encompassing bathing beauties, landless peasants and student revolutionaries. The film was rediscovered and presented by directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorses at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals to critical acclaim. - Director:
- Mikhail Kalatozov
- Cast:
- Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Wood, José Gallardo
- Formats:
-
-
From producer and director Steven Spielberg, with a script by screenwriter and playwright Tony Kushner, comes 'West Side Story'. An adaptation of the 1957 musical, the film tells the tale of forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. - Director:
- Steven Spielberg
- Cast:
- Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose
- Formats:
-
-
The American Friend (1977)Der amerikanische Freund
Professional frame maker Jonathan (Bruno Ganz) has been diagnosed with a terminal blood disease. A chance encounter with the enigmatic Tom Ripley (Dennis Hopper) offers him a way to ensure a stable future for his family. But as Jonathan embarks on his new and dangerous role, Tom questions his motives for involving his new friend. - Director:
- Wim Wenders
- Cast:
- Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Lisa Kreuzer
- Formats:
-
-
Twins Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) are left two envelopes in their mother's will, asking them to find a brother they never knew existed, and father they believed to be dead. Journeying from Canada to Lebanon to unravel this mystery, they begin to uncover the terrifying secrets of their mother's tumultuous and brutal past, their discoveries moving them ever closer to a gut-wrenching and inevitable truth that will define their very existence. - Director:
- Denis Villeneuve
- Cast:
- Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette
- Formats:
-