A thousand years after a great war, a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind is one of the only areas which remains populated. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaa, the people of the Valley are engaged in a constant struggle with powerful insects called ohmu, who guard a poisonous jungle that is spreading across the Earth. Nausicaa and her brave companions, together with the people of the Valley, strive to restore the bond between humanity and the earth.
From legendary Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) comes a Bafta and Academy Award-winning® new fantasy adventure. After losing his mother during the war, young Mahito moves to his family's estate in the countryside. There, a series of mysterious events leads him to a secluded and ancient tower, home to a mischievous gray heron. When Mahito's new stepmother disappears, he follows the gray heron into the fantastic world shared by the living and the dead. As he embarks on an epic journey, Mahito must uncover the secrets of the world and the truth about himself.
Chihiro, a headstrong 10-year-old girl, is unhappy that her family are moving house and that she will have to make new friends. As they make their way to the new home, Chihiro's father takes a detour to explore a mysterious tunnel in the woods. On the other side is what seems to be a deserted theme park but is in fact a ghostly town. Unwittingly, they have strayed into the Land of the Spirits, a world of dreamlike scenery inhabited by ancient gods and magical beings, ruled over by the sorceress, Yubaba. With her parents held captive and Yubaba set on enslaving them forever, Chihiro must use all her energy to survive in this strange new place. With the help of Haku, a brave young spirit, she is forced to overcome her Pears and join an epic battle for her family's freedom.
Young warrior Ashitaka receives a wound that refuses to heal in a battle with a cursed beast. Searching for a remedy for the supernatural injury, he leaves his remote village for the forbidding forests of the west, where he finds a human enclave under siege from divine powers: deities of times past, the wolf gods, and San, a wild girl of the forest. Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece depicts the clash between the natural world and its old gods, and the rise of humans and the beginnings of modern civilisation. It shows three elements of the Japanese psyche warring for supremacy in an epic ecological fable of stirring mythic power.
Banned from Britain until the 90s, Sergio Corbucci's seminal western stars Franco Nero as Django, the mysterious lone gunfighter who arrives in a bleak mud-drenched town - dragging a coffin behind him. Caught in the middle of a violent feud between two gangs of sadistic bandits, Django will need to fight for his life armed with his devastating revolving machine gun.
The enigmatic samurai in Yojimbo is played by the great Toshiro Mifune as a scruffy, scratching, itinerant warrior who wanders into a strange town and right into the middle of two warring clans. Showing his skills with the samurai sword within minutes of his arrival, he soon has the town's rival factions competing for his services.Kurosawa's genius for storytelling combines with thrilling swordplay, a healthy dose of black humour, a soundtrack every bit as atmospheric and amusing as Ennio Morricone's, and a towering performance from Mifune, to make 'Yojimbo' an irresistible widescreen action movie.
"My name is Jim, but most people call me...Jim". And most people call Blazing Saddles deliriously funny. Filmmaker, star and paddle-ball whiz Mel Brooks goes way out West and way out of his mind with a spiffy spoof set in an 1874 Old West where 1974 Hollywood is just one soundstage away-and where nonstop fun blasts prejudices to the high comedy heavens. Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn and more join for horseplay and horselaughs, making Blazing Saddles the # 6 choice among the American Film Institute's Top-100 Comedies. Give these out to the boys in Lieu of pay. And enjoy
One fine evening, in the beautiful heart of the English countryside, a group of rabbits emerge from their warren to feed. But as the sun sinks behind a hill, one of their number - Fiver - has a terrifying vision of the warren's destruction at the hands of man. Fiver (voice of
Richard Briers), with his brother Hazel (voice of John Hurt), and a few of their friends flee the warren in search of a "high lonely place" where they will be safe. Enduring danger and adventure, they find the place of their dreams - until a new shadow falls upon them, a ruthless race of rabbits who will stop at nothing to defend their supremacy...In this magnificent animation of the classic animal saga by Richard Adams, young and old alike will find themselves transported into the beauty, darkness and adventure of the natural world.
Following on from the success of 'Les Parapluies de Cherbourg' comes 'Les Demoiselles de Rochefort' - Jacques Demy's large-scale tribute to the Hollywood musical featuring screen legend Gene Kelly The story centres on twin sisters Delphine and Solange (played by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Frangoise Dorleac) who, tired of their humdrum existence, dream of finding success and romance in Paris. The superb ensemble, also featuring Danielle Darrieux, Michel Piccoli, Jacques Perrin, George Chakiris and Grover Dale, weave and wander around the town, looking for and just missing the love of their lives.
Noticing that here grandson, Champion, is a lonely little boy, Madame Souza buys him his first bicycle. Years go by, and with Madame Souza putting him through his paces, Champion becomes worthy of his name. Now, he is ready to enter the world's most famous cycling competition, the Tour de France. But, no sooner that the race has begun, two mysterious men in black kidnap him and it is up to Madame Souza and her faithful dog, Bruno, to rescue him, Soon, their quest takes them to a giant metropolis, called Belleville, where they encounter three eccentric female music hall stars of the 1930s and do battle with the evil French mafia. But can they rescue Champion? A visual treat for young and old alike, this stunning film has captured the imagination of audients the world over with its unique blend of classic animation and razor-sharp wit.
Sergio Leone's monumental epic 'Once Upon a Time in the West' ranks among the five or six all-time Western masterpieces. The picture itself is as big as its Monument Valley locations, as grand as its fine, distinguished cast. Henry Fonda plays the blackest character of his long career. He's Frank, the ruthless, murderous psychopath who suffers conscience pangs after annihilating an entire family. Jason Robards is the half-breed falsely accused of the terrible slaughter. Charles Bronson plays the harmonica playing man who remembers how his brother was savagely tortured.
British filmmaking showed much of its potential in this marvellous production chronicling the boyhood experiences of Billy (David Bradley), whose expectations lead no further than following his father into the pits when he reaches manhood. Everything changes when he finds Kes, an injured Kestrel, whom he nurses and cherishes back to health. Their relationship becomes symbolic of a doomed attempt to escape the drudgery of the industrial North.
Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father in "one of the best pictures ever made".
A key film of the British New Wave, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was a great box-office success-audiences were thrilled by its anti-establishment energy, the gritty realism of its setting, and most of all by a working-class hero of a fresh and outspoken kind. Based on Alan Silletoe's largely autobiographical novel, the film is set in the grim industrial streets and factories of Nottingham, where Arthur Seaton spends his days at a factory bench, his Saturday nights with Brenda (Rachel Roberts), wife of a fellow factory worker. Played by Albert Finney with an irresistible animal vitality, Arthur is anti-authority and unashamedly amoral. With powerful central performances, crackling dialogue by Sillitoe and a superb jazz score by Johnny Dankwroth, the film stands as a vibrant modern classic.
Perhaps his most famous film, La Dolce Vita slices into the decadent amoral core of Roman society with Fellini's trademark attention to detail and spectacular photography. Marcello Mastroianni plays a gossip columnist (the term 'paparazzi' derives from the in a film) who aspires to be a more serious writer but knows he never will be, because like society, he is fascinated by the decadent hedonist pursuits which are seemingly everywhere. The Vatican was appalled by the film, but the public adored it, relishing the images Fellini fed them, most notably the now infamous scene of Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg frolicking in the Trevi Fountain.
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