seen-1's - Rented List

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The most controversial film by Theo Angelopoulos tells the story of the Greek bandit Alexander (Omero Antonutti) at the turn of the twentieth century.

Escaped from prison, he kidnaps a party of English aristocrats and demands as ransom that his band of anarchist socialists are granted amnesty and that landowners turn their property over to the local peasants. But when the group reaches its mountain stronghold, internal tensions arise which threaten to bring about disaster. Taking inspiration from ancient cultural myth and actual historical events, Angelopoulos' visually stunning film presents a challenging and complex portrait of a revolutionary leader.

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Double bill of classics by Jacques Rivette...

Noroît
On an island beach a woman (Geraldine Chaplin) vows to avenge her brother's death at the hands of a pirate leader. With help, the woman spies on the pirates and then gets a job as bodyguard to the pirate leader.
Duelle

The Queen of the Night battles the Queen of the Sun over a magical diamond that will allow the winner to remain on Earth, specifically in modern day Paris.

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The future looks promising for amateur actors Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) as they prepare for opening night on their production of Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman'.

However, when dangerous work on a neighbouring building forces the couple to leave their home and move into a new apartment, a case of mistaken identity sees a shocking and violent incident throw their lives into turmoil. What follows is a series of wrong turns that threaten to destroy their relationship irreparably. Academy-Award winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) returns with 'The Salesman', a characteristically taut drama exploring how unexpected cracks can form in the foundations of a seemingly happy marriage.

Malle's second film, 'The Lovers' stars Jeanne Moreau as a middle-class wife and mother who is bored with her life. But she is awakened when she meets Bernard (Jean-Marc Bory) a younger man with whom she embarks on an affair.

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Malle's a debut feature, made when he was only 25 is a tense thriller starring Jeanne Moreau as Florence and Julian Tavernier as Maurice, a pair of lovers who conspire to murder Florence's husband in the most ingenious manner. However, not everything goes quite as planned.

Lift to the Scaffold is arguably the first film of the French New Wave with its arresting camerawork by cinematographer Henri Decae, who also shot the debut film of Truffaut and Chabrol. With its sultry black and white palate, Paris locations and an improvised jazz score by the legendary Miles Davis, Lift to the Scaffold is an unforgettable slice of 50s French cool.

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"Toni Erdmann" is a touching and remarkably funny portrait of an offbeat father-daughter relationship. Sandra Huller plays Ines, a highly-strung career woman whose life in corporate Bucharest takes a turn for the bizarre with the arrival of her estranged father Winfried (Peter Simonischek).

An incessant practical joker, Winfried attempts to reconnect with Ines by introducing the titular eccentric alter ego to catch her off guard, unaware of how capable she is of rising to the challenge... This breakout German comedy, which has been met with universal critical acclaim, is as humanist as it is absurdist - a film about the importance of celebrating the humour of the everyday.

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Episodic in structure, the film is a series of anarchic and frequently surreal series of events through which the director ravages a complacent European culture and the various sexual hang-ups and historical and cultural disconnects of its inhabitants.

A man sells postcards of French tourist attractions, calling them "pornographic". A sniper in Montparnasse is hailed as a hero for killing passers-by. A missing child helps the police fill out the report on her. A group of monks play poker, using religious medallions as chips, and in the most infamous sequence, a formally dressed social group gathers at toilets around a table, occasionally excusing themselves to go into little stalls in a private room to eat. Best approached as a literal comedy of manners - the film is perversely funny and punctuated with a series of quite brilliant sight gags - 'The Phantom of Liberty' argues against the acceptance of strict moral codes, suggesting that the only way to live freely is to embrace the coincidences of the world.

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Joe Spinnel plays Vinny, a cab driver with dreams of being a major Hollywood producer. Determined to have Jenna Bates (Caroline Munro) star in his first film, Vinny follows her to the Cannes Film Festival where she's busy promoting her latest horror flick. He becomes obsessed with Jenna.

He becomes Fanatic! Once in Cannes, Fanatic begins to reveal the dangerous and deadly side of obsession and the stalking begins! The suspense and eroticism in "The Last Horror Film" are surpassed only by its blood-chilling horror as this Hollywood scream-queen learns about true fear and paranoia. The cabbie/wanna-be producer fixates on his "leading lady" and he'll do anything to get her! First Jenna's entourage is murdered one by one. Then bodies begin to disappear. Even worse, when Jenna calls the cops to investigate they begin to doubt her. Could it be a publicity stunt for her next movie? Or else has her mad stalker finally gone over the edge? Who else will get in the Fantic's path on his way to have Jenna, and when will the carnage in Cannes end?

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Catherine Deneuve stars as a Princess whose father, the King (Jean Marais), seeks her hand in marriage after promising his dying wife to only wed a woman more beautiful than she.

Listening to her godmother, the Fairy of Lilacs (Delphine Seyrig), the frightened Princess flees to a neighbouring farm and hides as a scullery maid, while wearing the skin of her father's prized donkey as a disguise. A visiting Prince passes by, and an unlikely romance is born.

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Exploding onto the screen in a kinetic flurry of hyper-stylised action, The Villainess is a stunning vengeance film that draws its inspiration from western classics including Nikita and Kill Bill.

Sook-hee (Kim Ok-vin, Thirst) is a trained assassin who takes revenge on the men who murdered her father in a breath-taking opening sequence. After losing consciousness she awakes at the National Intelligence Service who recruit her as an agent to undertake confidential missions. Initially refusing, Sook-hee soon realises it is her only method of escape, until she is assigned a new assignment that changes everything...

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A fugitive couple, Amedee Lange (René Lefèvre) and Valentine (Florelle), rent a room in a small hotel on the Belgian border. In the bar, the other guests wonder if Lange is the murderer being chased by the police.

Valentine tells Lange's story so that the guests can decide for themselves if they should let him get away...

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In 1930s Korea, during Japanese occupation, Sookee (Tae-ri Kim) is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress who lives a secluded life on an enchanting and lavish estate with her domineering uncle.

Yet Sookee has a secret, she has been recruited by a swindler posing as an illustrious Count to spy on the Lady so he can eventually seduce her and steal her fortune. However, this swindler is not the only one with a desire to seduce.

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Isabelle Adjani plays Elle, a provocative 19-year-old whose move, with her mother and sick father, to a sleepy Provence village sets the locals afire with lust and gossip. She soon finds a suitor in gentle Pin-Pon (Alain Souchon), the local mechanic, and they marry shortly after.

Then the tone shifts, when a dark secret emerges from her past, the film becomes more complex and Adjani's character reveals a disturbing side as she manipulates events and men in order to seek revenge for an outrage inflicted in her childhood...

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When the terminally ill Count Herve de Kerloquen (Pierre Brasseur) vanishes without trace, his heirs are told that they have to wait five years before he can be declared legally dead, forcing them to devise ways of paying for the upkeep of the vast family chateau in the meantime.

While they set about transforming the place into an elaborate 'son et lumiere' tourist attraction, they are beset by a series of tragic accidents - if that's really what they are...

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Mocky plays François Gérane, an aimless young man whose delinquent tendencies cause his father to have him committed to a psychiatric ward. There, under the cold command of Dr.

Varmont, he finds himself fighting for his dignity, sanity, and freedom, barely holding on through the new-found love of his girlfriend Stephanie and the promise of rival Dr. Emery's more humane techniques.