matti's - Rented List

Show moreShow less

Rainer Werner Fassbinder had been making feature films for three years - and already amassed a filmography that would satisfy most careers - when he decided to take on a bigger challenge.

Teaming up with West German television channel WDR, he conceived of 'Eight Hours Don't Make a Day', a series that would extend to five feature-length episodes to be broadcast at monthly intervals. Centring on the Kriiger family, as well as their lovers, in-laws, friends and co-workers, the series takes a sometimes comic, sometimes dramatic look at domestic relationships and labour relationships, with particular focus on skilled worker Jochen (Gottfried John) and his new girlfriend, Marion (Hanna Schygulla). Reminiscent of working-class soap operas such as 'Coronation Street' and the family-based sitcoms of Carla Lane, 'Eight Hours Don't Make a Day' has been one of the more difficult to find entries of Fassbinder's extraordinarily prolific output.

Young, middle-class and idealistic, Fabrizio struggles to break away from his bourgeois background.

Show moreShow less

The Melbury Primary Boarding School For Boys has a strong tradition to maintain and a sturdy, academic reputation to uphold. It is a place of discipline and studious dedication where strict rules are to be followed.

But all of that is about to change with the arrival of mademoiselle Madeleine Lafarge, the new French master that happens to be a mistress. With curves and swerves in all the right places (and a penchant for walking around extremely tight shorts and bikini tops) the exotic tutor manages to get the boys of Melbury a bit hot under their starched collars. Suddenly the prospect of learning a second language seems a lot more appealing. But unknown to the boys, their headmaster has a skeleton in his closet which leads to the dismissal of Madeleine. The Melbury lads are having none of it. It's time for them to take things into their own hands, to stand up and be counted. It's time for mutiny!

Show moreShow less

Tanks were rolling across Europe. World War II had begun. For many Americans, U.S. involvement in the conflict became a question of "when" rather than "if". Warner Bros, reflected that strengthening resolve with exciting, patriotic films set in the war gone by.

One was the hard-hitting saga of 'The Fighting 69th'.

Show moreShow less

"Gervaise" is a 1956 French film directed by Rene Clement and based on the novel L'Assommoir by Emile Zola.

Gervaise Macquart, (Maria Schell) a young crippled laundress, is left alone with two young children when her lover, Auguste Lantier decides to leave. Despite many struggles she works hard to turn her life around and marries Henri Coupeau, a roofer and fulfils her dream of buying her own laundry, however things takes a turn for the worse as her old lover returns and her husband starts drinking heavily.

The U.S.S. Cygnus is perched precariously at the edge of a black hole... the vast, empty nothingness where space and time end. Anything that crosses its border enters a universe of the complete unknown.

Show moreShow less

Eighteen-year-old Nelly (Inga Landgré) lives a quiet life in a small town with her foster mother. There, she makes a living giving piano lessons and letting a room to Ulf (Allan Bohlin), who is in love with her.

Despite her financial problems, Nelly's foster mother manages to save enough money to buy Nelly a new dress to wear at a charity ball. However, when Nelly's real mother, Jenny (Marianne Löfgren), also buys a dress, Nelly wears this instead. Attracted by the glamorous garment and the promise of a more exciting life, Nelly leaves the small town to join her mother in Stockholm. Once there, she soon discovers that there is a darker side to human nature that she never knew existed when she lived in a small town.

Show moreShow less

"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.

Show moreShow less

Based on documents complied by leading French philosopher Michel Foucault, this unique and original film charts the gruesome events which took place in a Normandy village in 1835, when a young man, Pierre Riviere, murdered his mother, sister and brother before fleeing to the countryside.

With a cast made up of real-life villagers from the area where the events took place, the detailed re-enactments and careful attention to the gestures of their ancestors serve to create an intense and sometimes disturbing atmosphere of hyper-realism. Details of the crime and of the trial that followed are told from varied perspectives, including the written confession of Pierre himself, and form a rich and complex narrative that interrogates the concepts of 'truth' and 'history'. Radical, bold and uncompromising, director Rene Allio's extraordinary work (which is itself the subject of the documentary 'Back to Normandy' by Nicolas Philibert, who served as Allio's assistant) is at one and the same time an ethnographic enquiry, an historical reconstruction, and an unflinching portrait of psychopathology and its aftermath.

Show moreShow less

A poor nobleman has a plan to rid his homeland of its disease infested swamp. To do this he needs backing and so heads to the court of King Louis XVI in a bid to solicit aid.

He soon discovers that the worthiness of the plan itself will not grant him an audience with the King, at Versailles the sharpness of one's wit is what gets you noticed. Those found lacking in the art of wordsmanship are maliciously despatched.

Show moreShow less

Holroyd's are a long established firm of funeral directors run by Emmanuel Holroyd (Raymond Huntley) and Basil Bulstrode (Bill Fraser). Business is good for Holroyd's until a new firm of undertakers comes to town with new ideas and an attractive female employee (Sue Lloyd).

Plenty of laughs follow as the two rival firms compete with each other for business. The competition between the two firms mounts when there is a mix up over two coffins delivered to the local railway station with hilarious consequences. But are the new firm all that they seem and what are they really transporting in their coffins?

Show moreShow less

The last of Rohmer's Six Moral Tales. Frederic (Bernard Verley) leads a bourgeois life; he is a partner in a small Paris office and is happily married to Helene (Françoise Verley), a teacher expecting her second child.

In the afternoons, Frederic daydreams about other women, but has no intention of taking any action. One day, Chloe (Zouzou), who had been a mistress of an old friend, begins dropping by his office. They meet as friends, irregularly in the afternoons, till eventually Chloe decides to seduce Frederic, causing him a moral dilemma.

Show moreShow less

A young boy's friendship with a playful kangaroo leads him on the ultimate adventure in this fun-filled story for all ages.

12 year-old Billy McGregor lives on a ranch in the wild rugged Australian Outback with a loving mom and lots and lots of great animal friends - especially a baby kangaroo named "Joey". But when Joey's parents are kidnapped by poachers, Billy knows he must do whatever it takes to help them and reunite Joey with his rightful family. Boarding a train for the big city, the two pals embark on a fantastic adventure discovering tons of excitement and fun new friends along the way. But when they learn that Joey's parents' lives are in danger, they come up with a daring plan to rescue them - with the entire nation cheering them on!

Show moreShow less

De Sica's film depicts the troubled lives of two young boys caught up in the chaos of a world plagued by poverty and unemployment. Giuseppe (Rinaldo Smordoni) and Pasquale (Franco Interlenghi) work on the street, where they shine the shoes of American troops.

They dream of a better life, seeking solace in a horse that they ride to escape their harsh reality. When the boys are implicated in a petty crime, they are punished by the society that has robbed them of their innocence, resulting in tragic consequences.

Show moreShow less

The story follows Toto, a newborn discovered in a cabbage patch by an elderly woman. Made homeless as an adult he ends up in a shantytown, inspiring the other homeless to build new homes from scraps of wood and metal.

When a rich reserve of oil is discovered beneath their town, a greedy landowner, Mobbi, tries to force Toto and his friends off the land. But when all looks lost he receives some magical help from the heavens above...