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The Red Balloon
:Description:One of the most famous short films ever made, The Red Balloon is a childhood fantasy with appeal for viewers of every age. It is the story of Pascal, a lonely French boy who befriends a wondrous red balloon which follows him everywhere--to school and church--and even hovers outside his window when he is in his room. Filmed entirely in the picturesque back streets and narrow alleys of Old Montmartre, the film has been acclaimed through the world as an immortal masterpiece of lyrical poetry. ...
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When the Cat's Away
: :Written and directed by Cédric Klapisch, this delightful French film from 1997 is less interested in its plot--about a young Parisian woman named Chloé (Garance Clabel) who is searching for her lost cat--than it is in her response to the sudden predicament of being truly alone. Chloe's life is hardly thrilling, and romance has proven elusive, so when her cat disappears while she's away on a brief vacation, it's a minor crisis that reminds Chloé of just how lonely she is, and her exhaustive search ...
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Mediterraneo
: :This 1991 comedy by Gabriele Salvatores was knocked for not being deep enough, but it is what it is, and it's actually an easygoing, sunny movie about eight Italian soldiers who manage to strand themselves on a tiny Greek island paradise during World War II. The sort of mutts who would shoot a donkey for not knowing the proper password, these clumsy warriors become a comic variation on the Lotus Eaters of myth, their fighting spirit evaporated in the midst of so much beauty and ...
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Wings of Desire
:Description:From Oscar(r)-nominated* writer/director Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club) comes this 'exhilarating' (Vanity Fair) and life-affirming tale that won him the 1987 Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and inspired City of Angels. Co-written with Peter Handke, this 'enchanting' (The New York Times) film about the joy of life is 'that rare thing a work of true originality' (Newsweek)! Damiel (Bruno Ganz) is a lonely angel who roams the streets of Berlin providing comfort to mortals in need. But when he is drawn ...
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December Bride
: :In the early 1900s, Sarah (Saskia Reeves) and her mother go to work on a farm in rural Ireland as servants. The father of the family dies in an accident, but Sarah stays on with the two brothers. Her relationship with them becomes more complex and involved, to the chagrin of her mother and everyone else in the community. Eventually Sarah renounces the church and bears a child by one of the two men, but refuses to name the father. The three become pariahs in ...
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La Strada
:Description:This lyrical masterpiece, winner of over 50 international awards, marked the emergence of the 'Fellini-esque' style. The heart-wrenching story, about a slow-witted innocent (Masina) who idolizes an abusive, circus strongman, is punctuated by magical vignettes that have been praised for their humor, pathos, and beauty. essential video:Considered by many to be Federico Fellini's most beautiful and powerful film, La Strada was the first film to reveal the range of Guilietta Masina, whose poignant performance as the childlike Gelsomina recalls Chaplin's Little Tramp. The bubbly, ...
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Everybody's Fine
:Description:This lyrical masterpiece, winner of over 50 international awards, marked the emergence of the 'Fellini-esque' style. The heart-wrenching story, about a slow-witted innocent (Masina) who idolizes an abusive, circus strongman, is punctuated by magical vignettes that have been praised for their humor, pathos, and beauty. essential video:Considered by many to be Federico Fellini's most beautiful and powerful film, La Strada was the first film to reveal the range of Guilietta Masina, whose poignant performance as the childlike Gelsomina recalls Chaplin's Little Tramp. The bubbly, ...
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Red Sun
:Description:This lyrical masterpiece, winner of over 50 international awards, marked the emergence of the 'Fellini-esque' style. The heart-wrenching story, about a slow-witted innocent (Masina) who idolizes an abusive, circus strongman, is punctuated by magical vignettes that have been praised for their humor, pathos, and beauty. essential video:Considered by many to be Federico Fellini's most beautiful and powerful film, La Strada was the first film to reveal the range of Guilietta Masina, whose poignant performance as the childlike Gelsomina recalls Chaplin's Little Tramp. The bubbly, ...
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The Wannsee Conference
:Description:The horror of the holocaust began on January 20, 1942, when key representatives of the SS, the Nazi Party, and the government bureaucracy met secretly at a house in Wannsee. A quiet Berlin suburb, to discuss 'The Final Solution.' While they enjoyed a buffet lunch, brandy, and cigarettes, they discussed how they could systematically exterminate eleven million Jewish people. Director Heinz Schirk and writer Paul Mommertz use actual notes from the Wannsee Conference, along with letters written by Hermann Goering and Adolf Eichmann, and testimony ...
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Jamon Jamon
: :Salted pork shanks as leitmotiv in a dark comedy about an absurd love triangle: this is what post-Franco cine is all about (food and sex). Spanish tortillas (i.e., potato omelets) are also big in this one. Director José Juan Bigas Luna's Jamón Jamón is intelligent, wry, and--despite the formulaic narrative that melodrama must essentially contain--unpredictable. At times his film exudes a certain Almodóvar flavor, but there is an edge, perhaps a heavy-handedness, to the dark humor that is either Luna's success or his downfall. The ...
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