Blind Chance (1981)

Blind Chance (1981)
Przypadek (original title)
114 min

Country: Poland
Language: Polish


Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Writer: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Stars: Boguslaw Linda, Tadeusz Lomnicki and Zbigniew Zapasiewicz

Blind Chance (Polish: Przypadek) is a Polish film written and directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and starring Bogusław Linda. The film presents three separate storylines, told in succession, about a man running after a train and how such an ordinary incident could influence the rest of the man's life.Originally filmed in 1981, Blind Chance was suppressed by the Polish authorities for several years until its delayed release in Poland on 10 January 1987. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. (Wikipedia Page)

Awards:

1987 Polish Film Festival Silver Lion Award (Krzysztof Kieślowski) -Won
1987 Polish Film Festival Best Actor Award (Boguslaw Linda)- Won

Rating: 83% (Rotten Tomatoes Critics)

Read Review: www.aboutfilm.com

Darling, I'm Going Out For Cigarettes And I'll Be Right Back (2011)

Darling, I'm Going Out For Cigarettes And I'll Be Right Back (2011)
Querida voy a comprar cigarrillos y vuelvo (2011)
80 min

Country: Argentina
Language: Spanish

Directors: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat
Writers: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat, Andrés Duprat, Alberto Laiseca (original story)
Stars: Daniel Aráoz, Diego Bliffeld and Stefany Carr Rollitt


The film takes places in different time periods and countries. It narrates the story of a common man, who after entering into a deal with a strange character with superpowers, has the possibility of going back to his own past and to live again his youth. Ernesto, the main character, will try to recover lost opportunities and to curb certain behaviors in order to change his gray and insipid present. Despite having the advantage of knowing all the necessary information about the future, experience will show him that this flat personality and his resentment can go beyond these benefits and that there is no possible excuse to overcome his infinite mediocrity. (IMDB Page)


Awards:
Nominated for Best Screenplay, Adaptation- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina


Read Review: julionak.blogspot.com.ar

On Death Row (2012)

On Death Row (2012)
188 min  -  Documentary Series

Country: USA, UK, Austria
Language: English

Director: Werner Herzog
Writer: Werner Herzog
Stars: Werner Herzog, Hank Skinner, James Barnes...

An inside look at a maximum security prison in Texas featuring interviews with death row inmates.(IMDB Page)

While interviewing a death row inmate only eight days before his execution for his harrowing documentaty "Into the Abyss", Werner Herzog came across several other inmates awaiting their final judgement, and decided to expand his film into a four part television miniseries. Made in the same immediate, unflinching manner of the documentary, "On Death Row" features five inmates divulging their involvement in their alleged crime as well as emotive details of life on death row, which in turn is supplemented by crime scene footage and interviews with professionals involved in the case. Although providing a disclaimer stating he rejects the death penalty, Herzog projects these stories through an objective lens, presenting facts and clear observations while letting his subjects plead his case. Most of Herzog's work, both fiction and nonfiction, seem to be peppered with great moments of wonder, be it an incredible moment of insight from his interview subject or some sort of remarkable happening he was able to catch on film. Watching this insightful and heartbreaking series, it is a little clearer to see how he comes about them, with his gentle manner and acute questions. "On Death Row" is an agonizing film that, like its immediate predecessor, is a sharp critique of our culture and a sullen look at wasted lives. (Andy's Film Blog)

Caesar Must Die (2012)

Caesar Must Die (2012)
Cesare deve morire (original title)

76 min

Country: Italy

Language: Italian

Directors: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani

Writers: William Shakespeare (excerpt from play Julius Caesar), Paolo Taviani (screenplay), Vittorio Taviani (Screenplay)

Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." (IMDB Page)

The Taviani brothers come with the camera in Rebibbia prison and "transform" the prisoners in subjects with a film project that evokes the neorealism of Pier Paolo Pasolini . The actors, all with sentences ranging from 15 years after release ever, find their freedom in the hours devoted to the tests, only to collide with reality when the guard closes the cell behind them. "Since I met the art, this cell has become a prison" is the symbolic phrase that is repeated by one of the protagonists, heavy words spoken by those who perhaps will never see freedom, but to the theater, even in hindsight are words aftertaste rhetoric do not add much to what the film says implicitly. (Cineblog.it)

Awards:

Golden Bear in Berlin Film Festival (2012)

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury in Berlin Film Festival (2012) 

Nominated for Golden Globe, Italy- Best Director, Best Film

More Awards

Ratings: 70% (Rotten Tomatoes Audience)

Read Review: Cineblog.it

Esthappan (1979)

Esthappan (1979)

94 min

Country: India

Language: Malayalam

Director: Govindan Aravindan

Writers: Govindan Aravindan (screenplay), Govindan Aravindan (story), Issac Thomas Kottukapally (Story), KN Panikkar (Story)

Stars: Rajan Kakkanadan, Catherine and Francis David

Esthappan is a 1979 Malayalam film written and directed by G. Aravindan. Aravindan also co-composed the music and edited the film. Rajan Kakkanadan, Krishnapuram Leela, Sudharma and Shobhana form the cast. The film blends together the Biblical story of the deeds of Christ and the way society responded to him, with the life of Esthappan, whose life mystified others. It won the Kerala State Film Awards for Best Film and Best Director.

Plot

Esthappan, a fisherman lives in a seashore colony of fishermen. To the fisherfolk of the coastal Christian village, he is at once an eccentric simpleton, a possessed soothsayer and faith healer, a Satanic grave stealer. Esthappan's story unfolds through narrations of other fishermen about the miracles created by him.(Wikipedia Page)

Awards:

Kerala State Awards (1979): Best Director- Govindan Aravindan, Best Cinematographer- Shaji N Karun

Buy Esthappan Screenplay here: Indulekha

First Name: Carmen (1983)

First Name: Carmen (1983)
Prénom Carmen (original title)
85 min

Country: France
Language: French


Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Writers: Anne-Marie Miéville (scenario), Anne-Marie Miéville (adaptation)
Stars: Maruschka Detmers, Jacques Bonnaffé and Myriem Roussel

Carmen is a member of a terrorist gang who falls in love with a young police officer guarding a bank that she and her cohorts try to rob. She leads him on while dragging the two of them closer to their ultimate doom. Jean-Luc Godard intercuts the film with shots of a string quartet practicing Beethoven, and his main protagonist, Carmen, is played by Maruschka Detmers creating a stunning effect in many scenes of extended nudity.(IMDB Link)

Awards:
Golden Lion- Venice Film festival (1983)
Special Prize for Raoul Coutard (Cinematographer) and Francois Musy (Sound) in Venice Film Festival (1983)

Rating: 88% (Rotten Tomatoes Critics)
Read Review: Films De France

Childish Games (2012)

Childish Games (2012)
Dictado (original title)
95 min

Country: Spain
Language: Spanish


Director: Antonio Chavarrías
Writers: Sergi Belbel (original story), Antonio Chavarrías
Stars: Juan Diego Botto, Bárbara Lennie and Mágica Pérez

Dictado (aka Childish Games) tells the story of a childless couple, Daniel and Laura, both teachers, who are confronted by an unusual situation when Mario, a childhood friend of Daniel's, turns up acting strangely and wanting them to meet his daughter, Julia. Daniel manages to get rid of him, but the next day he learns of Mario's suicide. Julia, who is now an orphan, ends up being taken in temporarily by the couple, despite Daniel's discomfort at not only the strange encounter with Mario but also the excessive enthusiasm of Laura at playing the role of mother. The tension builds as Laura tries to help Julia regain the will to live and Daniel begins to feel threatened by some of Julia's behaviors, as well as the apparent awakening of memories of a terrifying past involving Mario that he thought he had put behind him.(IMDB Link)

Awards:
Nominated for Golden Bear in Berlin Film Festival 2012.

Read Review: Hollywood Reporter

The Light Thief (2010)

The Light Thief (2010)
Svet-Ake (original title)
80 min

Country: France | Kyrgyzstan | Germany | Netherlands
Language: Kyrgyz


Director: Aktan Arym Kubat
Writers: Aktan Arym Kubat, Talip Ibrahimov
Stars: Aktan Arym Kubat, Taalaikan Abazova and Askat Sulaimanov

The main hero of the film is an electrician with a far greater effect on the people around him than his job defines. He is the last link in a huge energetic system and he becomes the binding bridge between the geopolitical problems of post-soviet space and the common people. The economic devastation of the country had an enormous impact on the industrial workers and yet despite the upheaval, these people did not seize to love and suffer, to have and be friends and to enjoy their lives. In particular our resilient electrician, who possesses a wonderful and open heart. He not only brings electric light (which is often out) to the lives of the inhabitants of this small city, but he also spreads the light of love, loyalty, life and mainly laughter.(IMDB Link)

Awards:

Asian Film Awards (2011)- Nominated- Best Cinematographer (Khasan Kydyraliyev)

Hong Kong International Film Festival (2011)- Nominated for SIGNIS Award

Nika Awards (2011)- Nominated- Best Film of the CIS and Baltics

Rating: 92% (Rotten Tomatoes Critics)

Read review: Dogandwolf.com

The Man with a Camera (1929)

Living Russia, or The Man with a Camera (1929) 
Chelovek s kino-apparatom (original title)
68 min  -  Documentary
Country: Soviet Union


Director: Dziga Vertov
Writer: Dziga Vertov (scenario)
Stars: Mikhail Kaufman


Man with a Movie Camera ,sometimes called The Man with the Movie Camera, The Man with a Camera, The Man With the Kinocamera, or Living Russia is an experimental 1929 silent documentary film, with no story and no actors,by Russian director Dziga Vertov, edited by his wife Elizaveta Svilova.
Vertov's feature film, produced by the Ukrainian film studio VUFKU, presents urban life in Odessa and other Soviet cities. From dawn to dusk Soviet citizens are shown at work and at play, and interacting with the machinery of modern life. To the extent that it can be said to have "characters," they are the cameramen of the title, the film editor, and the modern Soviet Union they discover and present in the film.
This film is famous for the range of cinematic techniques Vertov invents, deploys or develops, such as double exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, footage played backwards, stop motion animations and a self-reflexive style (at one point it features a split screen tracking shot; the sides have opposite Dutch angles). Wikipedia Page


Ratings: 95% (Critics in Rotten Tomatoes)