maggs's - Rented List
-
During the German occupation of Rome in 1943 an athletic Irish priest, Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty (Gregory Peck) devotes all the time he can spare from his work at the Vatican to hiding Allied POWs from the Nazis. Col. Herbert Kappler (Christopher Plummer), Rome's chief Gestapo Officer, suspects O'Flaherty of hiding escapees but can do little about it because of the priest's Vatican diplomatic immunity. But when he unearths proof of O'Flaherty's complicity, he orders that the priest be captured or killed if he is seen outside the Vatican walls. - Director:
- Jerry London
- Cast:
- Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer, John Gielgud
- Formats:
-
-
The Lives of Others (2006)Das Leben Der Anderen
In this outstanding psychological and political thriller, we get a fascinating insight into the lengths and depths that the East European government went to in order to keep tabs on the lives of its population in 80's. When cold and brutal official Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is given the task of spying on acclaimed playwright Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his actress girlfriend, he relishes the task, knowing that if he uncovers subversive behaviour he will gain favor with his boss. But the longer he listens in on the couple, their friendships, passions and ideas, the more he realises that his own life and the harsh political regime are lacking in color and joy in many respects. Slowly he begins to doubt morality of is job and politics. As the lines between orders and compassion become blurred, Wiesler becomes more involved with his subject, walking a dangerous path between his duty and his new found reality. - Director:
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
- Cast:
- Ulrich Mühe, Klaus Münster, Martina Gedeck
- Formats:
-
-
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
- Formats:
-
-
Judy Garland stars in a timeless tale of family, captured with warmth and emotion by director Vincente Minnelli. The enduring popularity of Meet Me in St Louis comes from a terrific blend of music, romance and humour. Starring Judy Garland, together with Margaret O'Brien (as 1944's outstanding child actress) and Mary Astor, and featuring the musical classics "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis", "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". - Director:
- Vincente Minnelli
- Cast:
- Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor
- Formats:
-
-
"What's Up, Doc?" joyously recaptures the bubbly style of 1930s screwball comedies - and firmly establishes Barbra Streisand and Ryan 0'Neal as a romantic duo uniquely endearing in screen history. Included are a daffy luggage mix up plot, dippy dialogue exchanges, a marvelous example of the art of hotel-room demolition and one of the funniest chase sequences ever, all over San Francisco. - Director:
- Peter Bogdanovich
- Cast:
- Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn
- Formats:
-
-
London 1940: As the Blitz rages and her future is threatened by fallout from the war, Agatha Christie (Helen Baxendale) makes the decision to kill off her most famous creation. After twelve Poirot novels in six years, Agatha should be a rich woman. Instead, she's struggling to make ends meet. Killing Poirot in the midst of this turmoil seems almost spiteful, but Agatha has a plan: she's selling the novel to a private buyer, a super-fan who will pay anything to own a piece of history. A meeting at an infamous London hotel is arranged, where despite the presence of an old friend, things quickly go wrong. As the bombs fall and the bodies pile up, the real danger of her situation becomes apparent: the only thing more valuable than the last ever Poirot novel is the last ever book written by Agatha Christie. - Director:
- Joe Stephenson
- Cast:
- Helen Baxendale, Blake Harrison, Jacqueline Boatswain
- Formats:
-
-
From Robert Eggers, the visionary filmmaker behind the modern horror masterpiece 'The Witch', comes this hypnotic and hallucinatory tale of two lighthouse keepers (Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890's. As an approaching storm threatens to sweep them from the rock and strange apparitions emerge from the fog, each man begins to suspect that the other has become dangerously unmoored. - Director:
- Robert Eggers
- Cast:
- Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Valeriia Karaman
- Formats:
-
-
When seriously ill teenager Milla (Eliza Scanlen) falls in love with free-spirit Moses (Wallace), it's her parents, Henry (Ben Mendelsohn) and Anna's (Essie Davis), worst nightmare. But as Milla's first brush with love brings her a new lust for life, things get messy and traditional morals go out the window. Milla shows everyone in her orbit - her parents, Moses, a sensitive music teacher, a budding child violinist, and a disarmingly honest pregnant neighbour - how to live like you have nothing to lose. What might have been a disaster for the family instead leads to letting go and finding grace in the glorious chaos of life. - Director:
- Shannon Murphy
- Cast:
- Eliza Scanlen, Michelle Lotters, Toby Wallace
- Formats:
-
-
Joan of Arc (2019)Jeanne
In 1429, the Hundred Years' War between France and England had already been going 90 odd years. Believing that God had chosen her, the young Joan (Lise Leplat Prudhomme) is a leader of the army of the King of France (Fabrice Luchini) and lifts the siege of Orleans, enabling the dauphin to be formally crowned as Charles VII. After she is captured, she is sent for trial on charges of heresy, to be judged by pro-Burgundian and pro-English clerics. Refusing to accept the accusations, Joan stays obdurate. - Director:
- Bruno Dumont
- Cast:
- Lise Leplat Prudhomme, Annick Lavieville, Justine Herbez
- Formats:
-
-
1918: The Battle of Kruty (2019)Kruty 1918 / Winter of the Braves
Ukraine, 1918. As a Bolshevik army of 4.000 men advances towards Kiev, with the aim of capturing the city, a small Ukrainian unit of 400 soldiers - the majority young students - is resisting near the railroad station of Kruty. The violent and bloody battle between these two mismatched armies will be a turning point in the war and make heroes of the young soldiers. '1918: The Battle of Kruty' is the amazing true story of one of the most incredible battles of WWI. - Director:
- Aleksey Shaparev
- Cast:
- Maksim Donets, Andrey Fedinchik, Alina Kovalenko
- Formats:
-
-
The Rose of Auschwitz (2018)A Rose in Winter
The epic story of Edith Stein's (Zana Marjanovic)'s courageous path of survival; where her faith is questioned, her romantic love is sacrificed, and her spirit awakened in an effort to save a world that is dying around her. A journey that ultimately leads to her death as a Jew in the Holocaust and her canonization as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Patron Saint of Europe. 'The Rose of Auschwitz' is a tale of k loss, love, sacrifice, and devotion. - Director:
- Joshua Sinclair
- Cast:
- Zana Marjanovic, Christian Cooke, Ken Duken
- Formats:
-
-
The Past (2013)Le Passé
Following a four-year separation, Ahmad returns to Paris from Tehran in order to finalise a divorce from his estranged French wife Marie. During his stay, Ahmad discovers tensions in Marie's relationship with her daughter, but his attempt to build bridges between them creates conflict with her new partner, Samir, and soon unveils a secret from the past. - Director:
- Asghar Farhadi
- Cast:
- Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa
- Formats:
-
-
"Summerland" follows the story of fiercely independent folklore investigator, Alice (Gemma Arterton) who secludes herself in her clifftop study, debunking myths using science to disprove the existence of magic. Consumed by her work, but also profoundly lonely, she is haunted by a love affair from her past. When spirited young Frank (Lucas Bond), an evacuee from the London Blitz, is dumped into her irritable care, his innocence and curiosity awaken Alice's deeply buried emotions. Bravely embracing life's miraculous unpredictability, Alice learns that wounds may be healed, second chances do occur, and that, just perhaps - magic really does exist. - Director:
- Jessica Swale
- Cast:
- Gemma Arterton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Penelope Wilton
- Formats:
-
-
Howards End (1992)Howards End
A dying woman's impulsive wish marks a turning point in the relationship between the cosmopolitan Schlegel sisters, Margaret (Emma Thompson) and Helen (Helena Bonham Carter), and the wealthy Wilcox family when Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave) bequeaths her idyllic country house, Howards End, to Margaret. Convinced that he is acting in the best interests of his family, the patriarchal Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins) destroys his wife's "unofficial" will. But, as the lonely repressed Henry falls in love with Margaret, and Helen's willful attacks on class and convention strike at the very heart of the Wilcox family, fate decrees that Henry must pay dearly for his deceit. - Director:
- James Ivory
- Cast:
- Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave
- Formats:
-
-
A family spanning three generations comes together over a weekend at their country house to be with their terminally ill mother, Lily (Susan Sarandon), for the last time. As tensions brew between Lily's daughters, Jennifer (Kate Winslet) and Anna (Mia Wasikowska), secrets emerge threatening hopes of a peaceful farewell. - Director:
- Roger Michell
- Cast:
- Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill
- Formats:
-