marco's - Favourites List
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Love (1971)Szerelem
Karoly Makk's Cannes award-winning gem is a meditation on time, memory, love and loss. Two women - an elderly, bedridden mother and a loyal wife - await the return of an imprisoned man. Beautifully played by two giants of Hungarian cinema, Lili Darvas and Mari Torocsik, the film is a subtle yet powerful exploration of how love sustains life, even in times of fear and uncertainty. Perfectly realised, with luminous cinematography and innovative editing, Makk's tender masterpiece is a landmark of international cinema. - Director:
- Károly Makk
- Cast:
- Lili Darvas, Mari Töröcsik, Iván Darvas
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Scenes from a Marriage (1974)Scener ur ett äktenskap
An intimate exploration of a disintergrating marriage, this powerful drama features faultless performances from two of Bergman's greatest acting collaborators - Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. When Marraine (Liv Ullmann) discovers that her husband, Johan (Erland Josephson), is involved with a younger woman she re-evaluates her life and the importance of her marriage. Time passes, their relationship changes and the couple divorce. Then - years later - they have an illicit affair during which they talk with frankness and understanding about their feelings for one another. - Director:
- Ingmar Bergman
- Cast:
- Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson
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Silent Light (2007)Stellet licht
Johan is the head of a family in a Mennonite community in northern Mexico. However, he goes against the law of both God and men by falling in love with another woman and, although he is honest with his wife about the affair, his actions create conflict in their otherwise serine and tranquil existence. - Director:
- Carlos Reygadas
- Cast:
- Cornelio Wall, Maria Pankratz, Miriam Toews
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During World War II, the citizens of Morgan Creek are saying farewell to the enlisted men heading off to war. Trudy Kockenlocker is one of the Morgan Creek residents who feels it's her patriotic duty to give the soldiers a happy send off, this against the wishes of her stern and overprotective policeman father who forbids her to attend the farewell parties. Trudy co-opts her naive childhood friend, bank clerk Norval Jones, to help her clandestinely go to the festivities. Norval, who so wants to enlist himself but has some medical issues preventing him from doing so, does anything Trudy asks since he loves her. The next morning, Trudy doesn't remember everything of the previous night due to an accidental bump to the head, but she does know that she got married to one of the enlisted men - she doesn't know who or even what his name is - and that the evening resulted in her getting pregnant. Trudy's pragmatic younger sister, Emmy, becomes Trudy's confidante. To get Trudy out of her predicament, they decide tricking Norval into marrying her will prevent scandal from happening. She decides she can't put Norval through this illegal action since she is falling in love with him. However once Norval finds out what's going on, he hatches a plan that he thinks is somewhat legal that will legitimize Trudy's pregnancy. When the plan backfires, Norval is arrested and Trudy's father finds out the predicament his daughter is in. - Director:
- Preston Sturges
- Cast:
- Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn
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Living a meager life as a maid in a small town north of Paris in 1912, Seraphine Louis carries a secret and almost fanatical passion to express her divinely inspired visions through painting. Without training and resources Seraphinc feverishly creates her art with all the minutiae of her rural life that come to hand: wine, mud, fruits and flowers all merge in the astonishing conception of her paintings. Seraphine's modest life and hidden talent are changed forever when she is discovered by a German art critic and dealer who is mesmerized by her paintings and encourages her to leave her home for Paris and expose her art to the world, But as Saphine paints her most inspired pieces and her reputation soars to startling heights, her life begins to spiral out of control into the realms of madness. - Director:
- Martin Provost
- Cast:
- Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur, Anne Bennent
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Ageing Broadway actress Myrtie Gordon (Gena Rowlands) begins rehearsals for a play written by playwright Sarah Goode (Joan Blondell) in which she is to play a woman living in denial at the onset of her autumn years. A series of pre-show setbacks and disasters threaten preparations and when she witnesses the accidental death of an adoring young fan, Myrtie is forced to confront her own personal and professional turmoil. - Director:
- John Cassavetes
- Cast:
- Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara
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Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is an irrepressibly cheerful primary school teacher who won't let anyone or anything get her down. Even when her bicycle, which she so happily rides through the busy streets of London is stolen, her first thought is only: "I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. " Living with her flat mate Zoe (Alexis Zergerman), Poppy has a gift for making the most of life. Determined to learn to drive, she finds herself matched with Scott (Eddie Marsan), an uptight driving instructor who is everything she is not. - Director:
- Mike Leigh
- Cast:
- Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman, Samuel Roukin
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Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)Memorias del subdesarrollo
"Memories of Underdevelopment" follows Sergio (Sergio Corrieri), through his life following the departure of his wife, parents and friends in the wake of the Bay of Pigs incident. Alone in a brave new world, Sergio observes the constant threat of foreign invasion while chasing young women all over Havana before finally meeting Elena (Daisy Granados), a young virgin girl he seeks to mould into the image of his ex-wife, but at what cost to himself? Even though director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea was a staunch and devoted supporter of the revolution, 'Memories of Underdevelopment' makes a raw and uncompromising analysis of the newly formed system of government. Through a moving blend of narrative fiction, still photography and rare documentary footage, Alea catalogues the intricacies of the early days of the Castro regime; producing a stirring and enigmatic work that feeds from the culture of the very subject it is studying; Cuba. - Director:
- Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
- Cast:
- Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados, Eslinda Núñez
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A Prophet (2009)Un prophète
A nineteen-year-old troublemaker starts a six year sentence in a notorious prison, a concrete hell where violence is the only language understood. Taken under the wing of a powerful mafia boss, he is initiated into a vicious and brutal way of life. As the years pass, he proves his worth, moving up the ranks within the prison. However, he has his own plans, and they don't involve taking orders from anyone. Using his ruthless cunning to extend his influence beyond the walls of the jail, he arranges drugs runs, hostage exchanges and violent assassinations. Once merely a petty criminal, he is soon on his way to establishing a criminal empire of his own. - Director:
- Jacques Audiard
- Cast:
- Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif
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From INDIA, the cradle of the gods, comes this epic drama of an Indian mother, the nucleus round which revolves the tradition and culture of the ages in this ancient land. In India, every woman is an integral part of a man. With marriage she merges her individuality into her husband's and both together form a single entity in society. One without the other is but half the story of an eternal harmony going beyond a single birth and through seven births as the Indian scriptures say. A woman's marriage is thus an eternal spiritual bond and in her absolute dedication to her husband, her single prayer is to die in the presence of her husband and carried out by him even as a bride in death. To this eternal Indian woman, the home is her temple, the husband her god, her children his blessings and the land her great mother. This is a story of one such Indian woman, a supreme symbol of millions of mothers that make this ancient land Mother India. - Director:
- Mehboob Khan
- Cast:
- Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar
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Blood (1989)O Sangue
Filmed in startling monochrome and demonstrating a love and knowledge of classical Hollywood and European art cinema, Blood is a lushly stylized romantic fable. It explores the plight of two brothers coming to terms with the death of their father and the legacy of violence and debt he has left behind. - Director:
- Pedro Costa
- Cast:
- Pedro Hestnes, Nuno Ferreira, Inês de Medeiros
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Pierre (Pierre Arditi) and Marcel (Andre Dussollier) are both celebrated concert violinists and lifelong friends, in spite of their differing temperaments. Pierre is modest, sensitive and content with his lot; Marcel is hungry, driven, and pursues a solo career that takes him to the four corners of the world. After years apart, the two friends reunite when Pierre invites Marcel to his home for dinner. It is then that Marcel first meets Pierre's wife Romaine (Sabine Azema), sparking a passionate affair that can only end in tragedy before the curtain falls. - Director:
- Alain Resnais
- Cast:
- Sabine Azéma, Fanny Ardant, Pierre Arditi
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Someone's killing our super heroes. The year is 1985 and super heroes have banded together to respond to the murder of one of their own. They soon uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger. The super heroes fight to stop the impending doom only to find themselves a target for annihilation. But, if our super heroes are gone, who will save us? - Director:
- Zack Snyder
- Cast:
- Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino
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The Travelling Players (1975)O thiasos
Spanning the years 1939-52, the story follows a company of actors who tour the length and breadth of Greece performing a pastoral folk tale. Observing the upheaval wrought upon them during this politically turbulent period, the film also offers a daringly critical comment upon the times in which it was made. That Angelopoulos shot the film under the noses of the Colonel's semi-fascist regime makes his achievement all the more remarkable. - Director:
- Theodoros Angelopoulos
- Cast:
- Eva Kotamanidou, Aliki Georgouli, Vangelis Kazan
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You, the Living (2007)Du levande
One of the funniest and most original films of the year, this absurd and surreal comedy from acclaimed director Roy Andersson takes an amusing left-of-centre look at a delightfully eccentric assortment of characters. Through a series of brilliantly entertaining sketches, Andersson observes with empathy and wry humour the highs, lows and tragicomic happenings that affect their everyday lives. Shot with highly distinctive visual flair, this unique and universally resonant snapshot of modern life is both touching and laugh-out-loud hilarious. - Director:
- Roy Andersson
- Cast:
- Elisabeth Helander, Jörgen Nohall, Jan Wikbladh
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