Considered one of the finest late Naruses and a model of film biography, A Wanderer’s Notebook features remarkable performances by Hideko Takamine – Phillip Lopate calls it “probably her greatest performance” – and Kinuyo Tanaka as mother and daughter living from hand to mouth in Twenties Tokyo. Based on the life and career of Fumiko Hayashi, the novelist whose work Naruse adapted to the screen several times, A Wanderer’s Notebook traces her bitter struggle for literary recognition in the first half of the twentieth century – her affairs with feckless men, the jobs she took to survive (peddler, waitress, bar maid), and her arduous, often humiliating attempts to get published in a male-dominated culture.
On the Move (2018)
A poor taxi driver offered a chance for a better financial future must weigh up the cost of walking away from what he most values. // In a world first omnibus collaboration between emerging Asian movie powerhouses, China, Korea and Australia, comes the classic adaptation of Loa She’s The Rickshaw Boy. Set in three locations, across three countries each thirty minute chapter tells the story of one man’s struggle for survival amidst the age of disruptive technology and explores the intimate relationship that has come to exist between man and machine and the evolution of that relationship.
Sachin: A Billion Dreams (2017)
Sachin Tendulkar plays himself in this sports-docudrama that traces the life and times of one of the world’s biggest cricket phenomenas.
The Secret of the Purple Reef (1960)
When a man mysteriously vanishes on his ship in the Caribbean, his two brothers journey there to investigate his disappearance.
Españolear (1969)
Luis, the son of the greater of the farm owned by Don Pedro, is accused of stealing a large amount of money. Stolen money has really Joseph son of Don Pedro, forcing Louis to confess to the robbery, threatening to take the farm to his parents, older may not work elsewhere. With this move, Joseph not only is cleared of any suspicion but also with a clear path to reach dew, until then girlfriend of Luis.
Will There Really Be a Morning? (1983)
This is the story of actress Frances Farmer, her struggles with mental illness and involuntary confinement in an insane asylum.
Writhing Tongue (1980)
Masako, a five-year-old girl living, gets a scratch on her finger. After that, she suffered horrible spasms. The doctor checks on her and arrives at the conclusion that she has tetanus. Her parents have to bear the sufferings of their child. The once peaceful family has changed completely.
Shades of Fern (1986)
Based on the only extensive prose work by the surrealist painter Josef Capek, Shades of Fern most resembles the philosophical fairy tales and fables of Josef’s older brother, the legendary Czech novelist and playwright Karel Capek. Two young poachers, more boys than men, kill a gamekeeper when they are caught illegally hunting. Panicked, they retreat into a forest that grows steadily more forbidding and deadly as their fear for the future—and guilt over their action—mounts. Loosely based on hundreds of oral folk tales and legends that haunt the woods of Czechoslovakia, Vlácil’s contemporary updating artistically underscores the relationship between man and nature, crime and punishment, isolation and society, and guilt and memory.
The Miracle Worker (1962)
The true story of the frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness of 7-year-old Helen Keller who, since infancy, has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch, the only tool they have in common, and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.
Babel (2006)
In Babel, a tragic incident involving an American couple in Morocco sparks a chain of events for four families in different countries throughout the world.
The Queen (2006)
The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
A human child raised by wolves, must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.
Breathe (2017)
Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.
Fien (1985)
Four-part musical about the life of Dutch actress Fien de la Mar, chronicling her earliest days on stage with her father, her glory days as a stage and movie star and the building her own theatre, up until the tragic end of her life.
The Whale (2013)
Dramatic retelling of the fateful last voyage of the Nantucket whaleship Essex. When the Essex is attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in November 1820, her crew take to three fragile whalers. Alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the men must decide whether to head for the nearest islands - a thousand miles downwind to the west - or set out on an epic journey of almost three thousand miles to reach the South American mainland. Fear of cannibals forces them to choose South America. Almost three months later, the first whaler is rescued by another whaleship. Only three men are still alive. A week later the captain's whaler is also rescued, with just two men aboard. The third whaler is never found. This is a story of human endurance and what men in extremis will do to survive.
Yves Saint Laurent (2014)
A look at the life of French designer Yves Saint Laurent from the beginning of his career in 1958 when he met his lover and business partner, Pierre Berge.