lamb's - Unavailable films I would like to see List
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After its 1989 release and subsequent screening on public television, 'Tongues Untied' polarised critics with its unapologetic portrayal of black gay experience in America. Part documentary, part performance, it was described as the film we have been waiting for by critic Cary Alan Johnson and vilified as a misuse of public funds by right-wing presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan. Such divided opinions were testament to the films lasting impact as a powerful depiction of the ongoing black liberation movement, twinned with devastation of the AIDS crisis. 30 years on, the poetry of Marlon Riggs himself, as well as performances from Essex Hemphill and Brian Freeman, comprise a unique record of a critical historical moment with fierce intelligence, virtuosic rhythm and courageous hope that still stuns today. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Marlon Riggs, Michael Bell, Kerrigan Black
- Formats:
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The Puppetmaster (1993)Xi meng ren sheng
Based on the actual memoirs of Li Tien-lu, Taiwan's most celebrated puppeteer and official "national treasure," The Puppetmaster tells the epic tale of one man's struggle against seemingly insurmountable adversary. Spanning the years from Li's birth in 1909 to the end of Japan's fifty-year occupation of Taiwan in 1945, this remarkable true story captures the puppetmaster's hardships as well as the tragic sweep of this war-torn era. Masterfully directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, the film skillfully weaves Li's recollections with dramatic reenactments of the fateful chapters in his life. The portrait that emerges reflects the emotionally complex state of Chinese society during the first half of the twentieth century. - Director:
- Hsiao-hsien Hou
- Cast:
- Tian-Lu Li, Giong Lim, Ming Hwa Bai
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The Blue Kite (1993)Lan feng zheng
Originally banned in its home country of China, where the director was under close government scrutiny for making the film "without permission", 'The Blue Kite' is one of the most acclaimed and controversial films to come out of the new Chinese cinema, detailing the realities of daily life under Mao's regime. Tian Zhuangzhuang's touching and humane story is reflected through the experience of young Tietou, following the trials, tribulations and devastation's of a Beijing family as they experience the political and social upheavals in 1950's and 60's China. With two educated parents (a librarian and a school teacher) Tietou's upbringing is one surrounded by the bustle of growing political awareness. His parents, both loyal communist party members, learn that innocent criticism can at once be misinterpreted by the Party as imperialist propaganda, to the detriment of family peace and prosperity. Tietou observes these mounting pressures and the adverse effects of party policy on his family for fifteen years, learning to hold dear the values of his heritage and keep tight reins on the string of the precious blue kite given to him by his loving father. - Director:
- Zhuangzhuang Tian
- Cast:
- Tian Yi, Wenyao Zhang, Xiaoman Chen
- Formats:
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Wild Reeds (1994)Les roseaux sauvages
Sex in southwest France in 1962, Andre Techine's award-winning film Wild Reed's is a poignant coming-of-age story about four young teenagers awakening to love in a nation torn apart by war. This bittersweet tale delves in to the life of Francois, a sensitive young man uncertain of his sexuality as he finds himself more attracted to his classmate Serge, than his platonic girlfriend Maite. An older boy, Henri, finds himself drawn into the circle, further complicating relationships. Through their passage into adulthood, the four experience a series of sexual and political conflicts as they explore the mysteries of the human heart. - Director:
- André Téchiné
- Cast:
- Élodie Bouchez, Gaël Morel, Stéphane Rideau
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Deseret (1995)Deseret - Four Corners
James Benning took the founding of the New York Times in 1851 as a departure point for his latest film, 'Deseret'. In the best Benning tradition, 'Deseret' unfolds magnificent landscapes captured with a stationary camera during a dozen-odd trips throughout the calendar year - deserts, plains of snow, lonely trails, trees in bloom, cemeteries, ruins, unfriendly rocks, empty settlers' houses, roads that seem to be leading nowhere, a few isolated human figures. Deseret's starkly composed images suggest a space haunted by the official history written back East in the Times. Benning collected 93 stories about Utah, boiled them down to a few lines and used a different shot to 'illustrate' each sentence. As we reach 1900, his black and white footage spectacularly turns to color. The stories told recount the loss of American innocence: from the woes and persecution of the Mormons, the fights with the Indians, the struggle to become a state, to the turning of Utah into a testing ground for nuclear... - Director:
- James Benning
- Cast:
- Not Available
- Formats:
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Zero Kelvin (1995)Kjærlighetens kjøtere
In 1920's Oslo, Henrik Larsen (Gard B. Eidsvold), an aspiring poet, leaves his girlfriend (Camilla Martens) to spend a year as a trapper in Greenland, where he is teamed with a sailor (Stellan Skarsgård) and a scientist (Bjørn Sundquist). The men are trapped in a tiny hut, as the arctic winter sets in, and a complex and intense love/hate relationship develops between the poet and the sailor - both who are more similar to one another than either would like to admit. Their conflict plays out in isolation amidst stunningly bleak arctic scenery, filmed in Svalbard. - Director:
- Hans Petter Moland
- Cast:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Gard B. Eidsvold, Bjørn Sundquist
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The White Balloon (1995)Badkonake sefid
Razieh (Aida Mohammadkhani) wants a fat goldfish for the Iranian New Years celebration instead of the skinny ones in her family's pond at home, because the fat fish looks like it's dancing when it swims. After many attempts she and her brother convince their mother to give them her last bit of money. Between their home and the fish store, Razieh loses the money...She finds it, but it is temptingly just out of her reach. - Director:
- Jafar Panahi
- Cast:
- Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy
- Formats:
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Cyclo (1995)Xích lô
The tale of Cyclo Boy (Le Van Loc), caught up in the gang world of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh after becoming the victim of a street mugging. Impressed by gang leader The Poet (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung), Cyclo Boy determines to join the gang; his initiation process gradually breaks his grip on reality, and meanwhile The Poet is pimping his sister (Nu Yên-Khê Tran). - Director:
- Tran Anh Hung
- Cast:
- Le Van Loc, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tran Nu Yên-Khê
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An elderly couple go about their routine of cleaning their Gabbeh (a intricately-designed rug), while bickering gently with each other. Magically, a young woman appears, helping the two clean the rug. This young woman belongs to the clan whose history is depicted in the design of the gabbeh, and the rug recounts the story of the courtship of the young woman by a stranger from the clan... - Director:
- Mohsen Makhmalbaf
- Cast:
- Shaghayeh Djodat, Hossein Moharami, Rogheih Moharami
- Formats:
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Serial murderer Jean (Marc Barbé) preys on prostitutes, prowling the backwoods of France for his helpless victims. He meets Claire (Elina Löwensohn) and her sister Christine (Géraldine Voillat) when they hitch a ride after their car breaks down. It doesn't take long for the women to realise that there's a madman behind the wheel. - Director:
- Philippe Grandrieux
- Cast:
- Marc Barbé, Elina Löwensohn, Géraldine Voillat
- Formats:
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Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000)Ali Zaoua, prince de la rue
Mektoub became one of the most successful and acclaimed features in Moroccan history. For Ali Zaoua, Ayouch cast homeless children from the streets of Casablanca. Ali Zaoua's urban landscapes are a far cry from the iconic images of the legendary film Casablanca. However, Ayouchi's compassion toward the children and their plight is evident in every frame of the film as he contrasts their stark reality with the fantastic dream world to which they seek to escape. - Director:
- Nabil Ayouch
- Cast:
- Mounïm Kbab, Mustapha Hansali, Hicham Moussoune
- Formats:
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What Time Is It There? (2001)Ni na bian ji dian
From acclaimed director Tsai Ming-Liang comes the quirky story of Hsiao Kang (who sells watches in the streets of Taipei for a living. A few days after his father's death, he meets Shiang-chyi, a young woman who leaves for Paris the very next day. She persuades him to sell her his own watch, which has two dials, so that she can keep Taipei time as well as local time, on her upcoming trip. Troubled by the behavior of his mother who prays constantly for the return of her late husband's spirit, Hsiao Kang takes refuge in the memory of his brief encounter with Shiang-chyi. In an effort to bridge the miles between them, he runs around setting all the watches and clocks in Taipei to Paris time. Meanwhile, in Paris, Shiang-chyi confronts events that seem to be mysteriously connected with Hsiao Kang. - Director:
- Ming-liang Tsai
- Cast:
- Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Yi-Ching Lu
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The Wheel (1923)La Roue
Taken to its bare bones, the story deals with Sisif (Séverin-Mars), a locomotive engineer who saves Norma (Ivy Close), an infant girl from a train wreck and raises her as his adopted daughter. Norma thinks Sisif’s son Elie (Gabriel de Gravone) is her brother, and when the two fall in love, she leaves to marry a virtual stranger. Sisif is also obsessed with her and the plot elaborates this triangular relationship. German director G. W. Pabst, an ardent admirer of La Roue, was encouraged by Gance’s example to undertake his own remarkable explorations of human psychology in such silent films as 'Secrets of a Soul', 'Pandora’s Box' and 'Diary of a Lost Girl'. Yet 'La Roue' is even more remarkable for its cinematic accomplishment than for its story. The film was taken almost entirely on location. Sets were built along the railroad tracks in the yard at St. Roch, near Nice, and at an elevation of 13,000 feet on Mount Blanc... - Director:
- Abel Gance
- Cast:
- Séverin-Mars, Ivy Close, Gabriel de Gravone
- Formats:
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Having returned from fighting in World War I, James Allen (Paul Muni) doesn't want to settle into a humdrum life and decides to set off to find his fortune. He travels the length and breadth of America, working as a skilled tradesman in the construction industry. When times get tough however, he finds himself living in a shelter where an acquaintance suggests they go out for a hamburger. What the friend really has in mind is to rob the diner and Allen soon finds himself working on a chain gang with a long jail sentence. Allen manages to escape however and heads to Chicago where over several years he slowly but surely works his way up the ladder to become one of the most respected construction engineers in the city. His past catches up with him and despite protestations from civic leaders and his many friends in Chicago, he finds himself again on the chain gang. Escaping for a second time, he accepts that to survive, he must lead a life of crime. - Director:
- Mervyn LeRoy
- Cast:
- Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson
- Formats:
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Le Million (1931)Le million
Le Million is a 1931 musical/comedy film directed by René Clair. The story was adapted by Clair from a play by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemand. Plot Synopsis René Lefèvre and Annabella are sheer delights, as is everything else in Le Million, René Clair's bright and winning early sound comedy. Clair has his actors sing their dialogue in a blithe and breezy way and utilizes a succession of surrealistic and Dadaesque touches to chronicle this lighthearted extended chase, concerning an artist racing through the streets of Paris (an amazing studio set constructed by Lazare Meerson) in order to retrieve a winning lottery ticket left in the pocket of a discarded jacket. Many of Clair's comic embellishments (like the dubbed-in sound effects of a football game over a portion of the chase) have been used endlessly in comedies ever since, but in Clair's hands, the old jokes still look fresh and magical. - Director:
- René Clair
- Cast:
- Annabella, René Lefèvre, Jean-Louis Allibert
- Formats:
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