soniagee's - Rented List

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A emotionally disturbed young woman, Claire is the heir to a great fortune. She is kept prisoner in a château by her aunt who wants her money. The game keeper, her guardian, tries to rape her but she manages to escape. In her flight she meets Louis who is also running away from two killers.

He becomes her lover. In a world of grotesque characters, bizarre incidents, brutal murders and incessant driving rain, this dark and erotic thriller is compelling thanks to the incredible performance of Charlotte Rampling. Will Claire be able to make sense of her own identity?

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Gerald (Adrian Pasdar) is a smart, young, high-flying American Banker. Everything is great until his wife finds another woman's underwear in their bedroom and subsequently throws him out.

He finds lodgings with Monica (Julie Walters) a recently divorced 50-year old housewife, who is smitten with Gerald. But after their first night of love, Gerald avoids her. Monica feels used and betrayed until Gerald confesses he likes to dress up as a woman. Monica learns to accept and eventually support Gerald-ine, Gerald's alter ego, and when he gets arrested, it's up to Gerald-ine and Monica to vindicate him and get back his self respect.

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Perhaps his most famous film, La Dolce Vita slices into the decadent amoral core of Roman society with Fellini's trademark attention to detail and spectacular photography.

Marcello Mastroianni plays a gossip columnist (the term 'paparazzi' derives from the in a film) who aspires to be a more serious writer but knows he never will be, because like society, he is fascinated by the decadent hedonist pursuits which are seemingly everywhere. The Vatican was appalled by the film, but the public adored it, relishing the images Fellini fed them, most notably the now infamous scene of Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg frolicking in the Trevi Fountain.

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A retired American professor (Burt Lancaster) lives a solitary and luxurious life in a house in Rome. His world takes an unexpected turn when he is forced to rent part of his house to a countess and her companions: a lover, a daughter and the daughter's boyfriend.

Forced into interaction with the unruly younger group, the professor's growing fascination begins to stir the possibilities of a life he had previously kept at arm's length.

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Shattered by the death of her husband, Lady Helen Franklin (Sarah Miles) is confined to a sanatorium. When she is at last released, she struggles to rebuild her life, striking up a nervous and hesitant relationship with her chauffeur, Steven Ledbetter (Robert Shaw).

As the months progress, Lady Helen becomes more and more reliant on his company and Steven finds himself drawn to Lady Helen in turn. The promise of a forbidden relationship hangs over them - until Lady Helen meets the charming and aristocratic Captain Hugh Cantrip (Peter Egan), her social equal. What Lady Helen doesn't know is that both the roughly hewn Ledbetter and the smooth Cantrip are concealing secrets from her - and that she is trapped in a love triangle that could explode into a violent and heartbreaking confrontation...

A recovering alcoholic (Maurice Ronet) decides to commit suicide. He spends 24 hours wandering through Paris and visiting old friends, hoping to find some meaning to life and a reason to go on living.

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During the Second World War, over a million American soldiers were stationed in England. Their presence touched the lives of people in even the smallest villages.

'Yanks' is the story of some of the relationships which grew out of the American invasion of a small northern English town during the grim wartime days. It's a moving story of two similar yet very different cultures coming together, warily at first but with growing respect and friendship and, sometimes, even love. 'Yanks' delves into the experience of three Americans: Matt (Richard Gere), John (William Devane) and Danny (Chick Vennera) and the relationships they have with three English women: Jean (Lisa Eichhorn), Helen (Vanessa Redgrave) and Mollie (Wendy Morgan). It's a story of happiness and heartbreak and hope for the future.

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France 1940. As Hitler's armies take control of Paris and bring total occupation to France, Lucile (Michelle Williams) awaits news from her husband who is being held a prisoner of war.

Living with her mother-in-law (Kristin Scott Thomas) and leading a stifled existence in a town struggling to cope with their terrifying German rulers, Lucile's life is turned upside down when a handsome and charming German officer (Matthias Schoenaerts) is posted to live with them. Despite their hopeless situation they find themselves drawn to each other, until the desperate realities of war threaten to destroy them.

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Headstrong and passionate Bathsheba Everdene (Julie Christie) unexpectedly inherits a large farm in rural Dorset.

Struggling to manage the farm herself, she captivates the hearts and minds of three very different men: an honest and hardworking sheep farmer, (Alan Bates) a wealthy but tortured landowner (Peter Finch) and a reckless and violent swordsman (Terence Stamp). But as emotions become entangled, free spirited and innocent folly soon leads to devastating tragedy.

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Lovely, headstrong Rosy (Sarah Miles) cannot forsake her passionate romance with the handsome British officer (Christopher Jones).

Yet there is a greater love - the devotion of her reserved schoolteacher husband Charles (Robert Mitchum), who stands by Rosy when her illicit affair leads to a charge of treason. Two honoured alumni of Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago - director David Lean and screenwriter Robert Bolt - frame this brooding tale within the expansive beaches, craggy cliffs and heathered hills of Ireland's Dingle Peninsula.

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It's the story of a child and his obsession of pursuing his dream to become a filmmaker. How he buys his first camera, shoots his first amateur film, which marks the beginning of one of the most prestigious careers of any French director, Jacques Demy.

The story is told with emotion by Agnes Varda, who shared his life for years.

The story begins in Rome, 1938. Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a young fascist who takes on the job of assassinating his former professor who has fled to Paris. With his girlfriend (Stefania Sandrelli) in tow he meets the professor and his young wife (Dominique Sanda)...

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Tony Webster (Jim Broadbent) is divorced, retired and leads a reclusive and relatively quiet life. One day, he learns that the mother of his university girlfriend, Veronica (Charlotte Rampling), left in her will a diary kept by his best friend.

Tony's quest to recover the diary forces him to revisit his flawed recollections of his youth and, digging deeper, uncovers deceit, regrets and guilt buried long ago. Can Tony bear to face the truth and take responsibility for the devastating consequences of actions he took so long ago? 'The Sense of an Ending' is a deeply moving and uplifting story about the paths chosen in life, and the power of memory, love and forgiveness.

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This powerful docu-drama tells the incredible true story of how Soviet ballet star Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961 and became a living legend.

One of the greatest stories of the twentieth century, viewers are immersed in a thrilling recreation of events leading up to Nureyev's defection, an event which made him the most famous dancer in the world. His decision sparked an international incident, transformed him into an icon and changed the course of the Cold War. His family and friends suffered, his parents disowned him and he was not allowed back to Russia for 25 years. With evidence from KGB agents and amazing first-hand accounts from prima ballerina Alla Osipenko, rival male soloist Sergei Vikulov and his friend Clara Saint, they unravel what really happened. It's a tale of high-stakes political intrigue, sexual awakening and the triumph of artistic expression told through powerful dramatization and stunning dance performance. The film includes rare original dance footage of Nureyev whilst the dance sequences and drama recreations are beautifully performed by Bolshoi Ballet Principal 'Artem Ovcharenko'.

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A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda reunites Karoly Makk with Mari Torocsik and Ivan Darvas, who starred in his classic film Love which was made over 30 years ago.

With them, Karoly Makk recreates that finely tuned sense of place, history, and intimate human stories that characterize his best films, showing a director still working at the height of his talent. Emotionally mature and profoundly moving, the film reveals that, despite our best efforts, we can never quite escape the past.