matti's - Rented List
-
Cria Cuervos (1976)Raise Ravens
Shot in the summer of 1975 as General Franco lay dying, Saura's masterpiece takes its title from a sinister Spanish proverb: 'Raise ravens and they'll pluck out your eyes'. A subtle yet unmistakable indictment of the family as a repressive force in Spanish society, 'Cria cuervos' centres on an eight-year-old orphan (the spellbinding Ana Torrent) who believes herself to have poisoned her cold, authoritarian father (Hector Alterio), a high-ranking military man whom she blames for the death of her adored mother (Geraldine Chaplin). - Director:
- Carlos Saura
- Cast:
- Geraldine Chaplin, Mónica Randall, Florinda Chico
- Formats:
-
-
Casque D'Or (1952)Golden Marie
Georges Manda (Serge Reggiani), an honest woodworker, falls in love with Marie (Simone Signoret), the moll of minor crook Roland (William Sabatier). Gangster boss Felix Leca (Claude Dauphin) orders Georges and Roland to fight a duel to the death over the girl. Felix then pins the blame for Roland's death on Georges' boyhood chum, Raymond (Raymond Bussieres), knowing that the woodworker will nobly accept the blame; this will leave Marie alone, which is what lustful Felix has wanted all along. When Georges learns he's been set up as a dupe, he plots his revenge. Based on the true-life Leca-Manda scandal, 'Casque D'Or' brilliantly mixes violence with tenderness to capture the brutality of the French underworld and the tragedy of doomed love. - Director:
- Jacques Becker
- Cast:
- Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Claude Dauphin
- Formats:
-
-
An award-winning, exhilaratingly funny coming-of-age film, Cowboys & Angels tells the witty story about two Irish lads - one straight and one gay - from their youthful career ambitions to romance to entanglements with the law. Shane is a shy civil servant striking out on his own. Vincent is a gay fashion design student looking for a roommate. When they cross paths, a friendship begins with Vincent helping pull Shane from his shell and sending him on the road to fabulousness. Of course, it isn't all smooth-sailing, as Shane becomes involved in drug running and falls for Vincent's best friend Gemma (the luminous Amy Shiels). First-time writer-director David Gleeson has created an energetic and captivating tale of camaraderie, and Legge and Leech deliver career-making performances as the initially mismatched roomies who become the best of friends. - Director:
- David Gleeson
- Cast:
- Michael Legge, Allen Leech, Amy Shiels
- Formats:
-
-
The Road to Corinth (1967)La Route De Corinthe / Who's Got the Black Box?
Chabrol builds the tension in this international thriller released the year before his classic Les Biches. An undercover NATO security man in Greece is murdered and his wife finds herself under suspicion. To clear her name, she must discover who is behind the blocking of American radar installations in this involving tale of intrigue. - Director:
- Claude Chabrol
- Cast:
- Jean Seberg, Maurice Ronet, Christian Marquand
- Formats:
-
-
Rififi (1955)Du rififi chez les hommes
Jean Servais is Tony le Stephanois, a master thief with a battered face and a tubercular cough, souvenirs of a recent stint in the pen. The ageing Tony is reluctant to return to a life of crime, but when he realizes his girlfriend has thrown him over for a rival gangster, he agrees to attempt one last job. Together with three collaborators – a young father, a boisterous Franco-Italian and a sentimental Milanese safecracker – Tony meticulously engineers his biggest heist yet: robbing the most heavily guarded jewelry store in Paris. - Director:
- Jules Dassin
- Cast:
- Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel
- Formats:
-
-
Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme direct this French documentary exploring life in Paris in May 1962. Following the end of the Algerian War, it was the first spring in 23 years that the country had not been engaged in conflict. The footage includes interviews with members of the public who discuss their own lives as well as wider social and political topics. - Director:
- Chris Marker
- Cast:
- Chris Marker
- Formats:
-
-
A delicious double-dose of effervescent vintage comedy starring Britain's blondest bombshell, the one-and-only Diana Dors, at her saucy best. 'Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary' sees US army airman Laurie Vining hankering after a little rest and recreation with his new bride, when his gorgeous ex, Candy (Diana Dors), arrives insisting they're still man and wife. Wisecracking co-pilot Hank Hanlon (Sid James) and girl-shy lawyer Frank Betterton (David Tomlinson) try to lend a hand - but Laurie's troubles have only just begun... 'My Wife's Lodger' finds hapless soldier Willie Higginbottom (Dominic Roche) hoping for a hero's welcome when he returns home after the war. But, while he was away, shifty spiv Roger the Lodger (Leslie Dwyer) got his arms around his wife and his feet under the table, and now Willie's ditzy daughter (Diana Dors) only wants to sing, dance and jitterbug! With striking new transfers taken from the original negatives preserved at the BFI National Archive, both films are made available here for the first time and come with a lavish fully illustrated 30-page booklet featuring essays and original promotional materials. - Director:
- Maurice Elvey
- Cast:
- Diana Dors, David Tomlinson, Bonar Colleano
- Formats:
-
-
Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971)Sunday Bloody Sunday
John Schlesinger's brilliantly observed suburban drama finds a recent divorcee (Glenda Jackson) and a middle-aged Jewish doctor (Peter Finch) in a progressive love triangle with a bisexual artist (Murray Head). Both discover a new freedom with their young lover, as they confront the conventions that have defined their lives. - Director:
- John Schlesinger
- Cast:
- Peter Finch, Glenda Jackson, Murray Head
- Formats:
-
-
Madame De. (1953)The Earrings of Madame de... / Madame de...
When, beset by debt, Madame de... (Danielle Darrieux) decides to sell a pair of earrings that were a wedding gift from her husband Andre (Charles Boyer), she unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events that will have serious consequences, not only for the Parisian couple but for Andre's mistress and for an Italian Baron (Vittorio De Sica) who purchases the, by then, much-travelled jewellery. - Director:
- Max Ophüls
- Cast:
- Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux, Vittorio De Sica
- Formats:
-
-
The Damned (1962)These Are the Damned
The brutality of modern society is fast encroaching on the picturesque seaside town of Weymouth. American tourist Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey) is looking for a relaxing holiday but he is mugged by the psychopatic King (Oliver Reed) and his gang of thugs. Wells escapes with King's sister, Joanie (Shirley Anne Field), and they stumble upon a sinister establishment where nine ice-cold children are being subjected to a horrifying experiment. The shadowy authorities in control of the base will stop at nothing to safeguard their secret, but it is the mysterious children who will doom them all... - Director:
- Joseph Losey
- Cast:
- Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors
- Formats:
-
-
Mississippi Mermaid (1969)La sirène du Mississipi / Waltz Into Darkness
This enthralling, erotic tale of a young millionaire and his mysterious bride is bewitching, exciting and beautiful. Written and directed by legendary cinematic genius Francois Truffaut and featuring European superstars Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo, 'Mississippi Mermaid' is nothing less than breathtaking. Beauty is by no means rare on the lush, tropical Isle de Reunion. yet when island resident and tobacco tycoon Louis Mahe first meets Julie Rouselle - his mail order fiancée - he's completely enraptured by her radiance. But it soon becomes clear that Julie is hiding a dark secret. And when she disappears without a trace, Louis vows to stop at nothing to find her - a resolution that lures him into a tangled web of relentless obsession, uncontrollable passion, and ultimately...cold-blooded murder! - Director:
- François Truffaut
- Cast:
- Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Nelly Borgeaud
- Formats:
-
-
Anne and Muriel (1971)Les Deux Anglaises Et Le Continent
A sweeping tale of ill-fated romance and cross-channel relationships. Jean-Pierre Leaud plays Claude, a young Parisian who meets two English girls - Anne, a sculptress, and Muriel, a schoolteacher - on a turn-of-the-century trip to Wales. This meeting will spark a menage-a-trois spanning over 20 years, during which time alliances will be formed, broken, rearranged and reassembled in a tumultuous yet humorous portrait of human interconnectivity. - Director:
- François Truffaut
- Cast:
- François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Kika Markham
- Formats:
-
-
Sonny Wexler (Burt Reynolds), a classic Hollywood producer, dreaming of the respect he commanded in the past, hoping for one more shot at the big time is hanging onto the threads of his career and his marriage. His last chance for glory is a script optioned from a hungry young writer. Sonny feels a renewed passion about this script and a personal connection with the material. So when the writer tells Sonny he has made a deal with a hot young studio executive, Damon Black (Benjamin Bratt), cutting the older man out, Sonny is enraged. He vows to exercise his option before it expires in 72 hours. He struggles to come up with the $50,000 to purchase the script and wrest control from Black, but has no more favours to call in and is reduced to desperate measures. He pleads for assistance from Syd Wolf (Charles Durning), an old studio buddy, but is rejected. In desperation he approaches an American loan shark and becomes entangled in a dangerous web of intrigue involving an ex-cop turned gun-for-hire (Rod Steiger) who agrees to burn down Sonny's daughter's restaurant. In return, her husband (Greg Germann) will collect on the insurance money and help Sonny repay the American to buy the script. As the plan becomes more complicated Sonny begins to realise the depths he has gone to for an ephemeral dream. - Director:
- Burt Reynolds
- Cast:
- Sean Astin, David Atkinson, Leslie Bega
- Formats:
-
-
Our Paradise (2011)Notre Paradis
Dark, dangerous and supremely sexy, feature casts a thrilling glance at the lives of two rentboys in the heart of Paris. Aging prostitute Vassili stumbles upon an unconscious young trick in a notorious Parisian cruising ground and takes him home to nurse his wounds. It's not long before the two men discover a burning connection and become lovers and accomplices, fleecing clients one-by-one. However, when Vassilli's violent past comes back to haunt him the couple decide to flee the city in hope of finding a place they can be happy and content forever. But can they truly escape their inner demons? - Director:
- Gaël Morel
- Cast:
- Stéphane Rideau, Dimitri Durdaine, Béatrice Dalle
- Formats:
-
-
Bilal (Firat Ayverdi), a 17-year-old Kurdish boy, has travelled through the Middle East and Europe to join his girlfriend, freshly immigrated to England. But his journey comes to an abrupt end when he is stopped on the French side of the Channel. Having decided to swim across, Bilal goes to the local swimming pool to train. There he meets Simon (Vincent Lindon), a swimming instructor in the midst of a divorce. To impress his estranged wife (Audrey Dana) and win back her heart, Simon decides to risk everything by taking Bilal under his wing, and give him shelter and swimming lessons. An ode to the abandoned immigrants trapped on the shores of Calais and the good Samaritans who take risks to help them, the ironically titled Welcome stars popular French actor Vincent Lindon as Simon and talented newcomer Firat Ayverdi as Bilal, in his first role. Although Simon and Bilal develop a sincere father-son relationship, Simon takes the risk of being arrested for helping an illegal immigrant. - Director:
- Philippe Lioret
- Cast:
- Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi, Audrey Dana
- Formats:
-