Foreign Films - Page 50

Manufacturer: Criterion Brand: The Criterion Collection Model: 4927105

A poor man and his son search Rome for the stolen bicycle he needs to go to work. Vittorio De Sica's remarkable 1947 drama of desperation and survival in Italy's devastating post-war depression earned a special Oscar for its affecting power. Shot in the streets and alleys of Rome, De Sica uses the real-life environment of contemporary life to frame his moving drama of a desperate father whose new job delivering cinema posters is threatened when a street thief steals his bicycle. Too poor to buy another, he and his son take to the streets in an impossible search for his bike. Cast with nonactors and filled with the real street life of Rome, this landmark film helped define the Italian neorealist approach with its mix of real life details, poetic imagery, and warm sentimentality. De Sica uses the wandering pair to witness the lives of everyday folks, but ultimately he paints a quiet, poignant portrait of father and son, played by nonprofessionals Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola, whose understated performances carry the heart of the film. De Sica and scenarist Cesare Zavattini also collaborated on Shoeshine, Miracle in Milan, and Umberto D, all classics in the neorealist vein, but none of which approach the simple poetry and quiet power achieved in The Bicycle Thief. --Sean Axmaker On the DVD The two-disc Criterion DVD of Bicycle Thieves is most significant for its fine digitally restored print quality, a marked improvement over previous video editions of the film. Now the beauties of this devastating masterpiece of Italian Neorealism shine through anew: the richness of the locations, the simple clarity of the performances, the heartbreaking details of the daily lives of the dispossessed. No commentary track, but a first-rate booklet gives a primer on the movie, with critical appreciations (including a classic take by Andre Bazin), a bell-ringing Neorealist manifesto by screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, and a variety of memoirs on the making of the film, including one by director Vittorio De Sica. A second disc ...

Manufacturer: Breaking Glass Pictures

Modern women don't wait around for pleasure to find them they go and get it! Florence is a woman who is anxious to understand and experience the intense orgasms she has only dreamed of. Sex with her husband Antoine is passionate, but lacks the sensuality that she craves. So unbeknownst to him, she enrolls in a weekend seminar at the Manoir de l'Amour. But amidst the anger, need, elation, confusion and discovery ... fulfillment will ultimately prevail. Directed by Sophie Bramly, founder of the respected SoFemmes Productions, this French tale of self discovery will ring true for many modern women. Following the hit film X-femmes, Manor of Love shows aspects of female sexuality (and the great divide between public and private perception of it) in a brand new way resulting in one of the smartest, most sensual films of the year!

Manufacturer: Criterion Collection

Unfolding in a series of mythic vignettes, this late work by Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Ran) brings eight of the beloved director s own nighttime visions, informed by tales from Japanese folklore, to cinematic life. In a visually sumptuous journey through the master s unconscious, tales of childlike wonder give way to apocalyptic visions: a young boy stumbles on a fox wedding in a forest; a soldier confronts the ghosts of the war dead; a power-plant meltdown smothers a seaside landscape in radioactive fumes. Interspersed with reflections on the redemptive power of art, including a richly textured tribute to Vincent van Gogh (played by Martin Scorsese), Akira Kurosawa s Dreams is both a showcase for its maker s imagination at its most unbridled and a deeply personal lament for a world at the mercy of human ignorance.BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES- New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Masaharu Ueda, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack - New audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince- Making of Dreams (1990), a 150-minute documentary shot on-set and directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi- New interview with assistant director Takashi Koizumi- New interview with production manager Teruyo Nogami- Kurosawa s Way (2011), a fifty-minute documentary by director Akira Kurosawa s longtime translator Catherine Cadou, featuring interviews with filmmakers Theodoros Angelopoulos, Bernardo Bertolucci, Clint Eastwood, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Bong Joon-ho, Abbas Kiarostami, Hayao Miyazaki, Martin Scorsese, Julie Taymor, Shin ya Tsukamoto, and John Woo- Trailer - New English subtitle translation- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri and Kurosawa s script for a never-filmed ninth dream, introduced by Nogami

Manufacturer: Raro Video USA

The birth of the bloody and controversial Italian Cannibal sub-genre starts here, withthis notorious 1972 Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox, Nightmare City) directed survivalistshocker, presented in its completely uncut, outrageously violent version. Sacrifice! (akaThe Man From Deep River, Deep River Savages) stars Eurohorror legend Ivan Rassimov(Mario Bava s Shock, Lamberto Bava s Blade of the Ripper) as photographer John Bradley,who ventures into the heart of Thailand s jungles and is kidnapped by a ruthless nativetribe. As Bradley fights for his life, he eventually catches the eye of the Chief s daughter(the beautiful Me Me Lai, who also appears Lenzi s 1980 gut-muncher Eaten Alive!) and,after marrying her, and after several bouts of brutality, eventually wins the natives respect. Complications arise, however, when the neighboring clan, a horde of bloodthirsty,flesh-hungry cannibals, begin sniffing around, licking their lips at the sight Bradley and hisnewly conquered tribe mates... Taking its cues from Gualitiero Jacopetti s hugely popularMondo Cane films and its many imitators as well as Elliot Silverstein s similarly plotted hitA Man Called Horse, Lenzi s paean to primitive pain was branded a Video Nasty in the UKdue to its relentless brutality, disturbing scenes of cannibalism and upsetting sequencesof real-life animal death. Less exploitative than Ruggero Deodato s Cannibal Holocaustand Lenzi s own Cannibal Ferox but no less intense, Sacrifice!Special Features: Documentary "Cannibal World (Mondo Cannibale), A fully illustrated booklet, New HD Transfer, New and Improved English subtitle translation

Manufacturer: Cinelicious Pics Brand: CAV DISTRIBUTING CORP

JANE B. PAR AGNES V.: “ I’ll look at you, but not at the camera. It could be a trap ”, whispers Jane Birkin shyly into Agnès Varda’s ear at the start of JANE B. PAR AGNES V. The director of CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 and VAGABOND once again paints a portrait of a woman, this time in a marvelously Expressionistic way. “ It’s like an imaginary bio-pic,” says Varda. Jane, of course, is the famed singer (“ Je t’aime … Moi non plus ”), actress (BLOW UP), fashion icon (the Hermes Birkin bag) and longtime muse to Serge Gainsbourg. As Varda implies, JANE B. PAR AGNÈS V. abandons the traditional bio-pic format, favoring instead a freewheeling mix of gorgeous and unexpected fantasy sequences. In each, Jane inhabits a new character, playing a cat & mouse game with Varda as they explore the role of the Muse and the Artist, all the while showcasing the multifaceted nature of Birkin’s talent. “ I’d like to be filmed as if I were transparent, anonymous, like everyone else, ” says Birkin. But her wish to be a “ famous nobody ” is impossible to achieve; Birkin is simply too magnificent, too mesmerizing. Here, Varda’s signature mix of aesthetic innovation and generosity of emotion results in a surreal and captivating essay on Art, Fame, Love, Children and Staircases. For its first-ever U.S. theatrical release the film has been newly-restored from the original 35mm camera negative, overseen by director Varda herself. KUNG FU MASTER!: A lovely, bittersweet companion to JANE B. PAR AGNÈS V. from director Agnes Varda and star/muse Jane Birkin, KUNG-FU MASTER has nothing to do with martial arts – the film’s title comes from an arcade video game played obsessively in the film by a teenaged boy, Julien. Birkin delivers one of her finest performances as a lonely 40-year old woman who finds herself shattering taboos by falling in love with the 14-year old Julien – but is it romance, or a desp...

Manufacturer: Criterion Collection

Manufacturer: Well Go USA

In this unbelievably tense supernatural thriller, a foreigner s mysterious appearance in a quiet, rural village causes suspicion among the locals - suspicion which quickly turns to hysteria as the townspeople begin killing each other in brutal outbursts for seemingly no reason. As the investigating officer watches his daughter fall under the same savage spell, he agrees to consult a shaman for answers - unknowingly escalating the situation into something far more dangerous.Over six years in the making, director Na Hong-jin s meticulously crafted follow-up to the globally acclaimed THE YELLOW SEA and THE CHASER (his third to premiere at the Festival de Cannes) smashed box office records upon its debut in South Korea, where fans are already making return viewings to catch new clues and debate what s sure to be the most talked-about ending of 2016.EXTRASMaking of THE WAILINGThe Beginning of THE WAILINGTrailerLanguage: Korean (original)Subtitles: English

Manufacturer: Film Movement Classics

Beautifully restored in HD, this classic film is now released for the first time in North America on Blu Ray. Ono Masahiko is an unlucky gas station attendant who belongs to a losing junior baseball team. When the local yakuza threaten and capture his coach, he and a friend get more than they bargained for when they travel to Okinawa seeking revenge. This is the second feature film from renowned action auteur Takeshi "Beat" Kitano. New Collector's Edition art by Benjamin Marra, the influential comic creator and artist, commissioned exclusively for retrospective screenings and the Blu Ray/DVD re-release. Bonus Features, include: 20-minute featurette, Okinawa Days: Takeshi's Second Debut; Original Boiling Point trailer. Package, includes: Collector's Booklet, featuring film essay by Tom Vick, the Asian film Curator for the Freer and Sackler Galleries (The Smithsonian's Museums of Asian Art); cast and crew credits; chapter breaks; stills.

Manufacturer: Kino Lorber

Within the French secret service operates a clandestine branch of undercover agents. Dispatched to key locations all around the world and living under false identities for years at a time, their mission is to seek out and identify potential sources. In order to fulfill their mission, their false identities must be totally undetectable and highly elaborate. These fabricated identities are called legends . Creating them takes months of work, maintaining them takes discipline. All this and more lies deep in the heart of the most confidential branch of the secret service: The Bureau.Bonus Features: English Subtitles, 5.1 Surround Sound