20 Little Seen Gems
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- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.Easily one of the all-time greatest films, Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story is a humanist tale that moves the very soul.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsAnthony HopkinsEmma ThompsonVanessa RedgraveSet in the early 20th century, class distinctions and troubled relations affect the relationship between two families and the ownership of a cherished British estate known as Howards End.James Ivory's best, along with The Remains of the Day, is a finely scripted story with characters beautifully fleshed out by Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter and very specially Emma Thompson.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.Ugetsu is a visually stunning movie, a chilling ghost story, a captivating parable. It is a masterpiece.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsDelphine SeyrigGiorgio AlbertazziSacha PitoëffIn a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.With an apparent lack of storyline, Marienbad is a succession of beautiful images, a movie to feel and not to understand logically. Some will love it, some will hate it. Something tells me David Lynch loved it.
- DirectorJean-Paul RappeneauStarsGérard DepardieuAnne BrochetVincent PerezFamed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.Gérard Depardieu shines in every single scene as the title character, Jean-Paul Rappeneau's direction is outstanding and the story is as good as you could hope for.
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsEiji OkadaKyôko KishidaKôji MitsuiAn entomologist on vacation is trapped by local villagers into living with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.Another example that shows how the Japanese have been capable in the medium's history to create some of the most interesting and engrossing films. Like Ugetsu, Woman in the Dunes works as a gorgeous and mysterious parable.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsGena RowlandsMia FarrowIan HolmFacing a mid-life crisis, a woman rents an apartment next to a psychiatrist's office to write a new book, only to become drawn to the plight of a pregnant woman seeking that doctor's help.The best of the few Woody Allen straight dramas, or why bother with that: one of the director's best all in all.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsSilvia PinalFrancisco RabalFernando ReyViridiana, a young nun about to take her final vows, pays a visit to her widowed uncle at the request of her Mother Superior.Viridiana is a nun with righteous intentions but to whom nothing good seems to happen no matter how morally correct her actions are. A great story about how in life nothing seems to turn out as expected, no matter how hard we try.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsDelphine SeyrigJan DecorteHenri StorckA lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.A film like no other, a unique viewing experience.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsGeneviève BujoldHeidi von PalleskeTwin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.David Cronenberg at his sickly finest, Jeremy Irons in a brilliant turn as twin gynecologists with an issue or two. Expect psychological disturbance and disgusting surgical procedures.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsGong LiJingwu MaSaifei HeChina in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.Showcasing beautiful cinematography, typical of every Zhang Yimou film, this is a drama with a fire that burns slowly. Oh, and it stars Gong Li.
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsDirk BogardeRomolo ValliMark BurnsWhile recovering in Venice, sickly composer Gustav von Aschenbach becomes dangerously fixated with teenager Tadzio.Worth seeing if only for the celestial photography that makes you wonder if an angel didn't descend from Heaven just to shoot it. And the story is interesting, too.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsAnjelica HustonJohn CusackAnnette BeningA small-time conman has torn loyalties between his estranged mother and new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening and John Cusack team up for this dark and twisted story under the masterful direction of the ever underrated Stephen Frears.
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsYves MontandEmmanuelle BéartDaniel AuteuilA beautiful but shy shepherdess plots vengeance on the men whose greedy conspiracy to acquire her father's land caused his death years earlier.This spot is for Manon des Sources and also its first part, Jean de Florette. A great cast of French stars and nice classical narrative.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsGriffin DunneRosanna ArquetteVerna BloomAn ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho he met that evening at a coffee shop.Martin Scorsese has undoubtedly made many excellent movies, so amidst such a phenomenal filmography, After Hours, a very different film from the director, doesn't often get the recognition it deserves. A wild, nightmarish ride.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJudy DavisVictor BanerjeePeggy AshcroftCultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.Same here. A Passage to India is one of David Lean's lesser known works but it is (almost) up there with the rest of his more widely known films. It has the filmmaker's visual trademark and an intriguing storyline.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsJean-Louis TrintignantFrançoise FabianMarie-Christine BarraultA devout Catholic man's rigid principles are challenged during a one-night stay with Maud, a divorced woman with an outsize personality.Eric Rohmer has a very distinctive style of making films, and this, the first movie I've seen of him, was a very pleasant suprise.
- DirectorJuan Pablo RebellaPablo StollStarsAndrés PazosMirella PascualJorge BolaniWhen his long-lost brother resurfaces, Jacobo, desperate to prove his life has added up to something, looks to scrounge up a wife. He turns to Marta, an employee at his sock factory, with whom he has a prickly relationship.An offbeat comedy, a peculiar drama, Whisky is often mentioned as the best film in Uruguay's film history.
- DirectorFabián BielinskyStarsRicardo DarínManuel RodalDolores FonziA deluded taxidermist plans the perfect crime.An intelligent, well-made thriller, which stars the immense Ricardo Darín (The Secret in Their Eyes)
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsJane FondaVanessa RedgraveJason RobardsAt the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave in their prime, Fred Zinnemann directing and an engaging storyline to boost. This is a nearly-forgotten classic from the 1970s that should be mentioned more often.