Movie Listings by Genre

Director: Robert Bresson    More Info
Starring: Claude Laydu, Jean Riveyre, Andre Guibert, Nicole Maurey, Nicole Ladmiral, Rachel Berendt, Martine Lemaire, Antoine Balpetre, Jean Danet, Gaston Severin

 When a young priest (Claude Laydu) arrives at his first parish in the town of Ambricourt, he lives the life of a martyr and finds himself isolated from the locals. This, in turn, forces him to question his faith. An excellent Robert Bresson film.

Director: Roberto Rossellini    More Info
Starring: Aldo Fabrizi, Brother Nazario Gerardi, Arabella Lemaitre

 Roberto Rosselini uses a series of vignettes about Franciscan monks and their deeds in this homage to St. Francis of Assisi.

Director: Max Ophuls    More Info
Starring: Anton Walbrook, Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Simone Simon, Daniel Gelin, Danielle Darrieux, Fernand Gravey, Odette Joyeux, Jean-Louis Barrault, Isa Miranda

 Set in Vienna during the early 1900s, this story is narrated by Anton Walbrook who introduces a series of affairs in which a new character is involved with a character from the last scene. Beginning with young soldier Franz (Serge Reggiani) falling into the arms of prostitute Leocadie (Simone Signoret) who then has a short liaison with Alfred (Daniel Gelin), but he leaves her when he seduces housewife Emma Breitkopf (Danielle Darrieux). And on it goes until the seductions go full circle, and Franz is back with Leocadie.

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville    More Info
Starring: Nicole Stephane, Edouard Dermithe, Jacques Bernard, Renee Cosima, Melvyn Martin, Maria Cyliakus, Jean Cocteau, Jean-Marie Robain, Maurice Revel, Adeline Auroc

 In this film adaptation of Jean Cocteau's novel, orphaned sister and brother–Elizabeth (Nicole Stephane) and Paul (Edouard Dermithe)–cling to each other and reject attempts of others to love them.

Director: Luis Bunuel    More Info
Starring: Estela Inda, Miguel Inclan, Alfonso Mejia, Roberto Cobo, Jesus Navarro, Alma Delia Fuentes, Francisco Jambrina

 Two youths, growing up in the Mexico City slums, sink deeper and deeper into the clutches of the criminal world until there is no hope for redemption.

Director: Akira Kurosawa    More Info
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Machiko Kyo, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda, Fumiko Honma, Daisuke Kato

 This great philosophical story is built around a murder. Told in flashbacks, the key is the constructive memories of those who were part of the incident. At the end, it is impossible to tell who told the true story because each person saw it from only one point of view. The film was presented an Honorary Academy Award (for 1951) as Best Foreign Film.

Director: Akira Kurosawa    More Info
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Shirley Yamaguchi, Yoko Katsuragi, Noriko Sengoku, Eitaro Ozawa, Takashi Shimura, Shinichi Himori, Masao Shimizu, Ichiro Shimizu, Fumiko Okamura

 A young painter (Toshiro Mifune), who had met a popular singer (Shirley Yamaguchi) at a resort, sues a tabloid for printing a story linking him with the singer. His case takes a hit when his lawyer (Takashi Shimura) accepts a bribe from the magazine in order to get money to treat his ill daughter.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni    More Info
Starring: Lucia Bose, Massimo Girotti, Ferdinando Sarmi, Gino Rossi, Marika Rowsky, Rosi Mirafiore, Rubi D'Alma, Renato Burrini, Anita Farra, Nardo Rimediotti

 Millionaire Enrico Fontana (Ferdinando Sarmi) hires detective Carloni (Gino Rossi) to find out about the past loves of his young wife Paola (Lucia Bose). As a result of the investigation, Paola is reunited with her former lover, Guido (Massimo Girotti), and they rekindle their love for each other.

Director: Ingmar Bergman    More Info
Starring: Stig Olin, Maj-Britt Nilsson, John Ekman, Margit Carlqvist, Victor Sjostrom, Birger Malmsten, Sif Ruud, Gunnar Rystedt, Erland Josephson, Ingmar Bergman

 A failing marriage is examined in this early Ingmar Bergman drama.

Director: Raj Kapoor    More Info
Starring: Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Shashi Kapoor, Prithviraj Kapoor, K.N. Singh, Leela Chitnis, Om Prakash, B.M. Vyas, Leela Mishra, Rajoo

 Indian director and actor Raj Kapoor brings a strong case of environment vs. heredity to the screen in this film. Raj (Kapoor) is estranged from his father (Prithviraj Kapoor), a judge, who had also banned Raj's mother from his house. Raj, now a tramp, lives with a low-life bandit. When Raj finds out that the bandit was responsible for his mother's fate, he kills the bandit and sets out to kill his father. Instead, he is captured and is now in court in front of his father with his father's student and Raj's childhood girlfriend, Rita (Nargis), defending Raj.

Director: Yasujiro Ozu    More Info
Starring: Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake, Ichiro Sugai, Haruko Sugimura, Shuji Sano, Chieko Higashiyama, Kuniko Ikawa, Seiji Miyaguchi

 Culture clashes provide the theme in this story, which is set in post-war Japan. Twenty-eight-year-old Noriko (Setsuko Hara) has grown up in her family home in which three generations live together. Harmony has reigned until her concerned family tries to arrange a marriage for her, but Noriko has her own plans for finding a husband. An excellent film about Japan's changing society following World War II.

Director: Roberto Rossellini    More Info
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Alexander Knox, Sandro Franchina, Ettore Giannini, Giulietta Masina, Teresa Pellati

 After the death of her son, a woman (Ingrid Bergman) strives to help others, but the violent and unjust society in which she lives eventually drives her insane.

Director: Akira Kurosawa    More Info
Starring: Masayuki Mori, Toshiro Mifune, Setsuko Hara, Takashi Shimura, Yoshiko Kuga, Chieko Higashiyama, Eijiro Yanagi, Minoru Chiaki, Chiyoko Fumiya, Eiko Miyoshi

 Akira Kurosawa was a fan of Dostoyevsky and brought his version of the story to the screen. However, the transition from Russian culture to Japanese was not entirely successful. A man returning from a war is branded an idiot due to epilepsy. Love triangles ensue with tragic results.

Director: Ingmar Bergman    More Info
Starring: Maj-Britt Nilsson, Birger Malmsten, Georg Funkquist, Alf Kjellin, Stig Olin, Gunnar Olsson, Annalisa Ericson, Mimi Pollak, Renee Bjorling, Emmy Albiin

 Marie (Maj-Britt Nilsson) has problems getting over the tragic death of her former lover, but her present lover, David (Alf Kjellin), helps her move past her obsession.

Director: Arthur Maria Rabenalt    More Info
Starring: Hildegarde Neff, Erich von Stroheim, Karlheinz Bohm, Harry Meyen, Julia Koschka, Denise Vernac, Rolf Henniger, Harry Halm, Hans Cossy, Gardy Brombacher

 Mad scientist Jacob (Erich von Stroheim) inseminates a prostitute with sperm from a ruthless murderer. The product of this unholy union, Alraune (Hildegard Neff), grows up to be a beautiful, but unstable, woman who attracts men and sends them to death through murder or suicide. When she finally meets the man of her dreams, the madly jealous Jacob will have none of that.

Director: Luis Bunuel    More Info
Starring: Pedro Armendariz, Katy Jurado, Andres Soler, Rosa Arenas, Roberto Meyer, Beatriz Ramos, Paco Martinez, Gloria Mestre, Paz Villegas, Jose Munoz

 Slaughterhouse worker Pedro (Pedro Armendariz), called "The Brute" due to his exceptional strength, is also slow of mind. When his landlord hires him to frighten evicted tenants into leaving, Pedro accidentally kills the leader of the tenants who are fighting to stay. Meanwhile, he has been having an affair with the landlord's wife (Katy Jurado). When Pedro is injured during a fight, he is nursed back to health by a young woman who, unknown to her, is the daughter of the man he killed.

Director: Jacques Becker    More Info
Starring: Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Claude Dauphin, Raymond Bussieres, William Sabatier, Gaston Modot, Paul Barge, Paul Azais, Loleh Bellon, Roland Lesaffre

 Based on actual events that took place in Paris during 1898, this story revolves around the intrigue of underworld rivalry that exploded when more than one man was attracted to a gangster's moll (Simone Signoret).

Director: Rene Clement    More Info
Starring: Brigitte Fossey, Georges Poujouly, Lucien Hubert, Suzanne Courtal, Amedee, Laurence Badie, Jacques Marin, Pierre Merovee, Madeleine Barbulee, Denise Peronne

 This psychological study of the effects of war on children revolves around a five-year-old French girl, Paulette (Brigitte Fossey), who witnesses the killing of her parents and pet dog by German soldiers during World War II. Eleven-year-old Michel Dolle (Georges Poujouly) brings Paulette to his family home, and the two children create a pet cemetery for animals killed in the war. They steal crosses from a nearby human cemetery to mark the animals' graves. Michel's parents are too busy with their own lives to notice what the children are doing in this story of how war causes children to find unique ways to deal with it. The film won an Honorary Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Director: Akira Kurosawa    More Info
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Kyoko Seki, Miki Odagiri, Kamatari Fujiwara, Makoto Kobori, Kumeko Urabe, Shinichi Himori, Haruo Tanaka, Minoru Chiaki

 After learning that he has terminal cancer, widower Mr. Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) determines to live the "good life" by spending most of his time in bars. Finally, he decides that he wants to accomplish something worthwhile before he dies. He promotes the building of a playground in a slum neighborhood and succeeds in his goal. At his funeral, co-workers discuss how Watanabe had redeemed himself and made the world a better place–and they are now inspired to follow his example.

Director: Pietro Francisci    More Info
Starring: Leonora Ruffo, Gino Leurini, Gino Cervi, Marina Berti, Franco Silva, Umberto Silvestri, Mario Ferrari, Isa Pola, Nyta Dover, Dorian Gray

 This Italian costumer is based on the biblical story of the Queen of Sheba (Leonora Ruffo) and King Soloman (Gino Cervi), but is changed to have the king's son (Gino Leurini) spy on the queen and, instead, fall in love with her. Thus starts a love triangle that leads to war. Barely watchable, and the English-dubbed version is even worse.

Director: Ingmar Bergman    More Info
Starring: Anita Bjork, Maj-Britt Nilsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Karl Arne Homsten, Birger Malmsten, Ingmar Bergman, Jarl Kulle, Naima Wifstrand, Aino Taube

 Women at a summer house share stories about their sexual relationships in this comedy that was written and directed by Ingmar Bergman.

Director: Vittorio De Sica    More Info
Starring: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Alberto Barbieri, Elena Rea, Memmo Carotenuto

 A retired civil servant tries to survive on his fixed income in the inflation-torn era of post-war Italy. A beautifully written, well acted film.

Director: Federico Fellini    More Info
Starring: Alberto Sordi, Brunella Bovo, Leopoldo Trieste, Giulietta Masina, Lilia Landi, Ernesto Almirante, Fanny Marchio, Gina Mascetti, Enzo Maggio, Ettore Maria Margadonna

 Newlyweds Wanda (Brunella Bovo) and Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste) arrive in Rome for a visit, which involves introducing Wanda to the family and visiting the Pope. While the serious Ivan naps, the adventurous Wanda leaves to see her idol, the "White Sheik" Fernando Rivoli (Alberto Sordi), a photo comic-strip hero. Before long, she is whisked off to be in an episode while her husband makes excuses to his relatives for her absence. But The White Sheik isn't the hero of her dreams that she had thought in this light comedy that marks Fellini's first solo directorial effort.

Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa    More Info
Starring: Machiko Kyo, Kazuo Hasegawa, Isao Yamagata, Koreya Senda, Yataro Kurokawa, Kikue Mohro, Kotaro Bando, Jun Tazaki, Kenjiro Uemura, Gen Shimizu

 Set in 12th-century Japan, this is the story of Moritoh (Kazuo Hasegawa) who becomes a hero after battling to overcome a revolt. Offered anything he wants as a reward, he asks for Kesa (Machiko Kyo), a married woman he fell in love with when she helped in defeating the rebels. But, Kesa is happy with her samurai husband, which leads to Moritoh's continuing efforts to win her. The film won the Grand Prize at Cannes, Honorary Oscar for Best Foreign Picture, and an Oscar for Best Costume Design.

Director: Arne Sucksdorff    More Info
Starring: Arne Sucksdorff, Kjell Sucksdorff, Anders Nohrborg, Sigvard Kihlgren, Norman Shelley, Gunnar Sjoberg

 Using a documentary style, this is the well-told story of one year in the lives of two Swedish boys set amidst the cyclical changes on their rural farmland.