maggs's - Rented List

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In a tranquil Yorkshire village, Tom (Colin Firth) is employed to uncover a medieval mural hidden in the local church. When he meets a fellow WW1 survivor, James Moon (Kenneth Branagh), the two spend an idyllic summer healing from the traumas they have suffered.

As Tom grows to understand the meaning of the mural, he begins to find his way in the village and the hidden passions that flow beneath the surface. As Tom comes to terms with his forbidden love for the beautiful rector's wife, James must also face his own demons and struggles. Through their work they find reassurance and escape from their experiences, and can begin a personal journey to recovery.

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The heroic tale of a man's life over three decades, set against the epic backdrop of France at a time of civil unrest, This acclaimed ten-episode adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel was the first broadcast in black and white on the BBC in 1967.

"Les Misérables" is the story of Jean Valjean (Frank Finlay), a former convict unable to escape the shadow of his past life who struggles to live through oppression, injustice and revolution. He tries to start afresh by adopting a new identity, but his future is threatened by a chance encounter with his former prison guard Javert (Anthony Bate), who pursues him ruthlessly. Meanwhile, Fantine (Michele Dotrice) a poverty-stricken woman abandoned by her rich lover, is driven to increasingly desperate measures to provide for her young daughter. Their stories collide and as revolutionary violence ignites on the streets of Paris, Jean Valjean begins an epic journey towards self-acceptance and redemption.

In 1936, as Palestinian villages revolt against British colonial rule, Yusuf (Karim Daoud Anaya) navigates between Jerusalem and his rural home, amidst escalating unrest and a pivotal moment for the British Empire.

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"A Woman of Substance" is an epic drama spanning six decades, following Emma Harte's rise from penniless Yorkshire maid in the early 1900s to powerful 1970s business magnate.

Betrayed and cast out by her aristocratic lover when she becomes pregnant, Emma (Brenda Blethyn / Jessica Reynolds) vows revenge and sets out to build a global retail empire. Through love, loss, war and ruthless ambition, she amasses power and shapes her destiny - until betrayal within her own family threatens everything she has built.

A widowed fisherwoman (Emma Thompson), travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota, interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl (Laurel Marsden). Hours from the nearest town and with no phone service, she realises that she is the young girl's only hope.

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When headmaster Michael Polly (David Morrissey) comes home to find his wife Sarah missing, he reports it to Detective Sergeant Annie Cassidy (Eve Myles). But his chilling calm sets alarm bells ringing.

As disturbing evidence surfaces and suspicion spreads through the school gates, Annie digs deeper - clashing with her superiors and risking her career. Secrets, lies and a shocking new suspect push the case to breaking point. With pressure mounting and trust shattered, Annie must follow her instincts to uncover a devastating truth before everything falls apart.

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In 1960, a young Irish woman named Edna O'Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, 'The Country Girls'. She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews, and authoring screenplays.

Her success enraged her writer husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were banned and burned. She would make her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs, hosted star-studded parties, and made and lost a fortune. In July 2024, Edna passed away and this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life for filmmaker Sinead O'Shea's camera. Granting the director access to her personal journals - read aloud in the film by the Oscar nominated Irish actress Jessie Buckley - and with additional perspectives offered from Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers, Edna does not shy from any subject. 'Blue Road' is as candid, dark, and enchanting as O'Brien's wonderful novels.

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Jazz and decolonisation are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.

It is 1961, six months after the admission of sixteen newly independent African countries to the UN, and a political earthquake shifts the majority vote from the colonial powers to the Global South. As Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe in indignation at the UN's complicity in the overthrow of Lumumba, the US State Department swings into action by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Featuring footage with Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Nina Simone, Miriam Makeba, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Malcolm X and Nikita Khrushchev.

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Alain Guiraudie (director of 'Stranger by the Lake') is one of the most unique and transgressive voices in cinema, and this deepest France mixture of black comedy and melodrama, steeped in desires, again reveals his penchant for genre-hopping and narrative unpredictability.

Jeremie (Felix Kysyl) returns to his home village for a funeral, and stays on, amorally playing with the attraction he generates from both his old male friends, the village priest, and his mentor's wife. Then events start to spiral.

1939, Hitler's army was closing borders, and eighty-five American missionaries were in Germany serving their church. The escape of these missionaries from Nazi Germany is one of the most dramatic events to occur in modern church history.

Black Bag is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and his beloved wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). When she is suspected of betraying the nation. George faces the ultimate test-loyalty to his marriage or his country.

Struggling to fit in at his new school after being expelled for his treatment of Auggie Pullman, Julian (Bryce Gheisar) is visited by his grandmother (Helen Mirren) and is transformed by the compassionate and heroic story of her attempts to escape Nazi-occupied France during WWII.

Only one man has the particular set of skills...to lead Police Squad and save the world! Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) follows in his father's footsteps in The Naked Gun.

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In the Welsh town of Port Talbot, 1942, Richard Jenkins (Harry Lawtey) lives as a wayward schoolboy, caught between the pressures of his struggling family, a devastating war, and his own ambitions.

However, a new opportunity arises when Richard's natural talent for drama catches the attention of his teacher, Philip Burton (Toby Jones). Taking Richard under his wing, the young man thrives thanks to Philip's strict tutelage and the guidance of kindly landlady, Ma Smith (Lesley Manville). But, as the acting world comes within Richard's reach, the burden of his past risks holding him back forever.

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One of Britain's best-loved and most critically acclaimed directors, Mike Leigh (Mr. Turner, Another Year), returns with this delightfully witty yet incredibly moving portrait of a modern Black British family.

Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is a bad-tempered hypochondriac who never has a nice word to say about anyone. But as funny as her sharp tongue can sometimes be, it is having dire consequences for her family's wellbeing.