Series: The Undersea World Of Jacques Cousteau
Country of Production: France
During the ‘60s and ‘70s, millions tuned in to watch groundbreaking TV series The Undersea World Of Jacques Cousteau, held spellbound as the renowned explorer, ecologist, diver and filmmaker brought the hidden wonders of the world’s oceans into their living rooms for the first time.
Jacques Cousteau and his crew journey from the icy reaches of Antarctica to the coral jungles of the tropics. As well as capturing stunning footage of ocean life – from sharks to shipwrecks, whales to walruses – The Undersea World Of Jacques Cousteau also charts the fascinating life of a truly remarkable individual.
A landmark natural history title, The Undersea World Of Jacques Cousteau is credited not only with showing never-before-seen images from the ocean depths but also with raising public awareness of pollution and other ecological issues.
Film: An Autumn Afternoon
Country of Production: Japan
Yasujiro Ozu’s elegiac final film An Autumn Afternoon charts the inevitable eclipse of older generations by irreverent youth. Revisiting the story of his earlier masterpiece Late Spring(1949), Ozu once again casts Chishu Ryu in the role of a concerned father, Hirayama, to unmarried daughter Michiko. Harangued on all sides to marry off Michiko, Hirayama reluctantly prepares to bid his old life farewell. A cast of tragi-comic characters weaves seamlessly through this gently satirical portrayal of life’s inevitable, endless cycle.
Film: Men On The Bridge
Country of Production: Germany/Turkey/Netherlands
Spanning the divide between Europe and Asia, Istanbul’s gridlocked Bosphorus Bridge is the focal point of Men On The Bridge, a wonderful portrait of life in the rapidly changing sprawl of today’s city. Following the lives of three young inhabitants from the suburbs who use the bridge daily, the film uses non professional actors to tell their individual stories as their paths occasionally cross and they struggle to realise their aspirations.
Unemployed Fikret (17) illegally sells roses in the traffic jam on the bridge, and would do anything to have a real job. Umit (28)) drives a shared taxi, crossing the bridge every day, hoping that the work will allow him to rent a better apartment to satisfy his wife Cecile. Traffic cop Murat, who is stationed on the bridge, feels alone amongst the solid line of cars. Every night at home, he logs onto the internet, hoping that he might one day find love on line. Originally from Eastern Turkey, he finds the city a lonely place. Unaware of each other Fikret, Umut and Murat intersect in the rush hour every day, along with millions of other Instanbulites, coping with the challenges of life in this frenetic city. Their stories are simple and universal, and are bought alive by the first rate performances of the excellent cast.
Film: World War II - Soldiers Of Valour Box Set
Country of Production: Australia/Germany/Poland/USA
Triple bill of World War Two dramas.
Everyman's War (2009) is an American drama based on the personal wartime experiences of director Thad Smith's father. Don Smith (Cole Carson), a young sergeant in the 94th Infantry Division, finds himself unarmed and wounded on the frontline of the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and bloodiest battle involving American forces in the entire war. As the Allies advance through the snow-packed, densely-forested mountains of Ardennes, Don's sweetheart Dorine (Lauren Bair) waits at home in Oregon, desperate for news.
Anonyma: The Downfall Of Berlin (2008) is a German drama set in Berlin in the final days of the war. The events of the film are based on the real diary of an anonymous woman who lived through the liberation of Berlin by Soviet troops in 1945, suffering shockingly brutal treatment by the city's captors. Living in the basement of her bombed-out apartment building with a handful of similarly destitute neighbours, the woman - known only as 'Anonyma' (Nina Foss) - endures repeated rape by Russian soldiers, and tries to wrestle a modicum of control over her destiny by using sex as a tool for survival, forging an uneasy sexual alliance with Russian leader Major Andrei Rybkin (Yevgeni Sidikhin).
Brad Haynes directs the Australian drama Broken Sun (2008). In 1944, a group of Japanese soldiers held in a P.O.W. camp deep in the Australian outback make an escape attempt. One young soldier, Masaru (Shingo Usami), ends up hiding in the remote hilltop farm of reclusive farmer Jack (Jai Koutrae), a World War One veteran who never recovered from the traumas he experienced as a soldier. Despite their differences and mutual suspicions, it soon becomes evident that the two men share the understanding that war is not simply a question of good versus evil but a complex set of rules by which each of them is duty-bound to abide.
Film: Taxi Zum Klo
Country of Production: West Germany
Frank Ripploh is a bit of a rascal: he's a bearded and shaggy-haired teacher, and he's gay with a very active sex life and an interest in making films. He keeps his personal life and teaching separate, but he sometimes corrects student papers in public toilets as he waits to score. He cruises constantly and, one evening, he meets Bernd. They become lovers. While Bernd is attentive and caring, Frank gets bored and continues his polymorphously perverse ways. For how long will Bernd and Frank tolerate each other's habits, and for how long can Frank keep his sexual orientation out of the classroom?
When Taxi Zum Klo was first released in cinemas in the UK in 1982 it caused uproar. It was seized by US Customs, restricted to screenings in private clubs in London and in Paris and hailed as the first ‘post-gay liberation movie’ by Newsweek. Despite its limited release in the UK at the time, audiences flocked to cinema clubs such as The Screen On The Green and The ICA to see Taxi Zum Klo, which remains to this day a cult classic.
Film: Blind Date
Country of Production: Netherlands/UK/USA
Two-disc set celebrating one of the better known, award-winning films by the assassinated Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh. This set contains the original Dutch film as well as the Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson remake directed by Tucci himself.
Blind Date is the story of two parents trying to come to terms with the loss of their young daughter. Placing personal ads in a paper, the couple go on a series of ‘blind dates’, pretending to be strangers when they meet. By playing various roles, they talk, flirt and fight with each other in a desperate attempt to overcome their buried grief and rebuild their shattered relationship.
Based on his Van Gogh's own idea, the plot allowed the characters to live in all of their diversity. This narrative and structural complexity afforded the film three Golden Calfe, the Prize from the Dutch Cinema as best director, best actress (Renée Fokker) and best actor (Peer Mascini).
Film: The Silent World
Country of Production: France
Winning an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature as well as a Palme d'Or at Cannes, The Silent World is a truly groundbreaking title; not only for introducing the world at large to Jacques Cousteau’s pioneering underwater exploration but also for being one of the first films to show the ocean depths in colour.
*The release date is subject to change for any of these titles.
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