Émotion (1966)

 

Oyû-sama (1951)

 

Shinnosuke is introduced to Shizu as a prospective wife, but he falls in love with her widowed sister Oyu. Convention forbids Oyu to marry because she has to raise her son as the head of her husband's family. Oyu convinces Shinnosuke and Shizu to marry so that she can remain close to Shinnosuke.

Heart-wrenching and sad tale of love and sacrifice under harsh traditional rules is told in beautiful, lyrical black-and-white imagery and the cast perform excellently throughout, especially Kinuyo Tanaka in the title role.

 

Bitter Moon (1992)

 

Animus Magazine

 Animus Magazine

Lauren Bacall

Wendy and Lucy (2008)

 

 

Over the summer, a series of unfortunate happening triggers a financial crisis for a young woman and she soon finds her life falling apart.

Intense and gripping drama of isolation and loneliness amidst smalltown American settings is very well observed, and Michelle Williams' performance is extraordinary.

Cracks (2009)

 

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (2021)

 

Stanley Tucci travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisines.

Entertaining, informative and sometimes revealing documentary series explores the culinary specialties and some history of Italian regions, meeting interesting cooks and producers, all personally introduced and interviewed by Stanley Tucci who obviously is enjoying it as much as his audience.

Helmut Berger

 

(ph. Elisabetta Catalano)

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Berger

Cría Cuervos (1976)

 

In the twilight of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, an eight-year-old orphan and her two sisters find shelter in the house of their stern aunt, trying their best to acclimatise to a new reality.

Carlos Saura's film is told through the perspective of a young child (and her older self) and interweaves past, present and future​, but also includes imagined and surreal scenes, albeit staged so masterfully that it all remains stringent and comprehensible and the political implications are apparent; again, Geraldine Chaplin convinces in a double role (as the mother and as the adult child).

Halliwell*: "Elliptical story of childhood and of women trapped in a world dominated by men; it is ever less than watchable, but its meaning, possibly obliquely political, remains obscure." 

Alida Valli

 

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alida_Valli

Akasen chitai (1956)

 

The personal tales of various prostitutes who occupy a brothel.

Kenji Mizuguchi's last film startles with a narrative full of subplots centered on the turmoil and sorrows of one brothel's inhabitants; lively staged with a large cast there are some strong and heart-wrenching scenes along the way.

Halliwell*: "Unremarkable material executed with the style expected of the director."

Maltin***1/2: "...sensitively handled in Mizoguchi's last completed film. Kyo is particularly memorable as a tough, cynical lady of the night; her scene with her father is a highlight." 

Marlene Dietrich

 

Director Josef von Sternberg gave Marlene Dietrich this 1931 forest green Rolls Royce as a gift

New acquisition: Une femme est une femme (1961)

 

Mikey and Nicky (1976)

 

Yella (2007)

 

Yella is estranged from her possessive and violent husband; but he can't quite bring himself to give her up. When their fraught interaction finally comes to dramatic conclusion, Yella's life takes an odd shift.

Coolly atmospheric reimagination of Carnival of Souls in a contemporary German setting shifts its focus onto a world of surreal business dealings and ambiguous personal relationships; Nina Hoss is excellent in the title role as a woman torn between escape and new entanglements.

Maltin***: "Cryptic account...Remake of CARNIVAL OF SOULS is effective as a psychological study and an acute reflection of contemporary business practices." 

Tomie: Anrimiteddo (2011)

 

New acquisition: Papurika (2006)

 

Repo Man (1984)

 

Yôkihi (1955)

 

In eighth-century China, the emperor mourns the loss of his wife. The opportunistic Yang family offers a distant cousin as a concubine in hopes of gaining influence at court.

Sumptuous, beautifully set and photographed period drama is a love tragedy of truly Shakespearean dimensions; but maybe not quite as stirring as it could have been.

Maltin***: "Breathtakingly beautiful, poetic love story/fable/tragedy." 

 

Repulsion (1965)

 

On the set: Catherine Deneuve

New acquisition: Eiichi Yamamoto