Baseynat - The Swimming Pool - (1977)

Bella, a sensitive and clever girl, experiences her first disillusionment at the school graduation ball. The following morning, she meets Apostol, a middle-aged man, architect, and former participant in the anti-fascist struggle. He reveals to her his views on life. He introduces her to Bufo, a younger person, and a failure as an actor although possessing “the talent of a friend”. Thus the trio is formed. Bella marries Bufo, though Apostol remains the man and person whom she would have desired to meet in her lifetime.

Director: Binka Zhelyazkova. 

Writer: Hristo Ganev.

Stars: Kosta Tsonev, Yanina Kasheva, Kliment Denchev, Tzvetana Maneva, Petar Slabakov, Georgi Kaloyanchev, Vassil Mihajlov, Stefan Stefanov, Olga Kircheva, Velika Kolarova, Zorka Georgieva, Vihar Stoychev, Kameliya Kostadinova, Elena Kuneva, Stefan Delchev, Milka Popangelova, Georgi Kishkilov, Tacho Tachev, Dimitar Tzonev, Nikola Chipriyanov, Dimitar Keranov, Stela Arnaudova, Lyuba Petrova, Kina Mutafova, Spas Spasov, Pavel Todorov, Mihail Slavov.

English Subtitles.

Video Link: https://ok.ru/video/6499018148518

Xích lô (1995) aka Cyclo - A Vietnamese film

A “cyclo” is a bicycle-drawn taxi similar to a rickshaw, and, in this story, the nickname of an 18-year-old boy trying to scrape together a living in the desperate poverty of Ho Chi Mihn City. Cyclo lives with his grandfather and two sisters, and drives his taxi for a bitter woman who devotes most of her time to her mentally unstable son. When the pedal-cab is stolen, Cyclo is forced into a life of crime to repay the debt and falls in with a group of petty thugs led by a self-styled poet. What Cyclo doesn’t know at first is that the poet is also a pimp, and he’s been using his romantic wiles to lure Cyclo’s older sister into a career as a prostitute.

Director: Anh Hung Tran. 

Writer: Anh Hung Tran. 

Stars: Le Van Loc, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Nu Yên-Khê Tran, Quynh Nhu, Hoang Phuc Nguyen.

Subtitled in English.

Video Link. https://ok.ru/video/7455647992486

Aghaye Halou (1970) aka Mr. Gullible

A movie from Iran. 

While on the surface Mr. Gullible contains all the hallmarks of a good comedy, at its heart this movie portrays with uncommon clarity the pitfalls of love and the pain of betrayal. When the protagonist leaves his small village and travels to Tehran to find a wife, he does so with all the gusto and naivete of one who has not experienced the world. Yet even when Mr. Gullible encounters some of the harsh realities of the big city, he is not dissuaded from accomplishing his mission to find a bride. When he finally meets what he believes is the perfect woman, Mr Gullible showers her with gifts and asks her to marry him. However, his romantic visions of life with his lady love are obliterated when he discovers her true identity

Director: Dariush Mehrjui. 

Writers: Dariush Mehrjui, Ali Nasirian.

Stars: Ali Nasirian, Ezzatolah Entezami, Fakhri Khorvash, Mohamad Ali KeshavarZ.

Quality is poor, but watchable.

MOVIE LINK: https://ok.ru/video/6834627349158

Valter brani Sarajevo (1972) aka Walter Defends Sarajevo

A movie from former Yugoslavia

In late 1944, as the end of World War II approaches, the Wehrmacht’s high command determines to withdraw General Alexander Lohr’s Army Group ‘E’ from the Balkans back to Germany. They plan to supply the tank columns with fuel from a depot in Sarajevo. The Yugoslav partisans’ leader in the city, a mysterious man known as Walter, presents a grave danger to the operation’s success, and the Germans dispatch Standartenfuhrer von Dietrich of the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service) to deal with him.

Director: Hajrudin Krvavac. 

Writer: Djordje Lebovic.

Stars: Velimir ‘Bata’ Zivojinovic, Rade Markovic, Ljubisa Samardzic, Neda Spasojevic, Dragomir Bojanic-Gidra, Slobodan Dimitrijevic, Hannjo Hasse, Rolf Römer, Wilhelm Koch-Hooge, Pavle Vuisic, Faruk Begolli, Stevo Zigon, Etela Pardo, Jovan Janicijevic-Burdus, Vladan Holec, Vojislav Miric, Igor Galo, Davor Antolic, Relja Basic, Rudi Alvadj, Alex Delmare, Rastislav Jovic, Zlatko Madunic, Boro Begovic, Herbert Köfer, Helmut Schreiber, Husein Cokic, Demeter Bitenc, Zoran Becic, Andrej Nahtigal, Mihajlo Mrvaljevic, Eugen Verber, Jozo Lepetic, Zarko Mijatovic, Ramiz Sekic, Ranko Gucevac, Slobodan Velimirovic, Sutka Petrinic, Aleksandar Vojtov, Darinka Gvozdenovic, Aleksandar Micic, Dragan Stipic, Emir Kusturica.

Emir Kusturica famous film director made his acting debut in this movie.

Subtitled in English.

Video Link: https://ok.ru/video/6841486215846

Serial Killer - Ryakushô: renzoku shasatsuma - (1975)

Between October 11 and November 5 of 1968, teenager Norio Nagayama murdered four people in a killing spree across Japan with a shotgun stolen from a U.S. Army base. Adachi Masao, together with cultural theorist Matsuda Masao, scriptwriter Sasaki Mamoru and other collaborators, set out to trace the young man’s footsteps with a camera in hand. The result is an experimental documentary comprised purely of landscape shots, each of which shows scenery that Nagayama may or may not have seen during his upbringing and journey. Seeking an alternative to the sensationalism found in the media’s depiction of serial killers (which continues to this day), Adachi’s sparse voice-over provides only the hard facts while the increasing number of billboards in the landscapes slowly reveal the hegemony of capitalism in contemporary Japan.

Director: Masao Adachi (uncredited). 

Stars: Masao Adachi (narrator).

Cinematographer: Yutaka Yamazaki.

Composers: Mototeru Takagi, Masahiko Togashi.

With English Subtitles.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/7107675359910

Mado (Claude Sautet, 1976)

Middle-aged businessman, Simon Léotard finds his future in jeopardy when his partner Julien commits suicide after having accumulated a mass of debts. Simon’s unscrupulous business rival Lépidon offers to save him from bankruptcy by buying his company, at a discount rate. Reluctant to fall into Lépidon’s trap, Simon decides to resolve the crisis himself. A prostitute, Mado, provides him with the solution to his problems…

Director: Claude Sautet.

Writers: Claude Néron, Claude Sautet.

Stars: Michel Piccoli, Ottavia Piccolo, Jacques Dutronc, Charles Denner, Romy Schneider, Julien Guiomar, Claude Dauphin, Michel Aumont, Jean Bouise, André Falcon, Benoît Allemane, Jacques Richard, Jean-Denis Robert, Nicolas Vogel, Marc Chapiteau, Sabine Glaser, Konrad von Bork, David Tonelli, Nathalie Baye, Dominique Zardi, Jean-Paul Moulinot, Denise Filiatrault, Bernard Fresson.

Cinematographer: Jean Boffety.

Composer: Philippe Sarde.

Subs: English.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/7332740008614

Hägringen (1959) aka Fata Morgana / Mirage

In 1959, Peter Weiss made his first feature length film, Hägringen, with Staffan Lamm and Gunilla Palmstierna in leading roles. The script to the rather experimental film is based on the novel Document I which he had published in Swedish in 1949 on his own initiative. The film shows the encounter of a young man with a large city that is yet unknown to him. His passage, accompanied by often surrealistic and absurd impressions, turns into a tour-de-force through various urban milieus. 

Director: Peter Weiss.

Writer: Peter Weiss.

Stars: Staffan Lamm, Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss, Birger Åsander, Lars Edström, Tor-Ivan Odulf.

Cinematographer: Gustaf Mandal.

Composers: Lennart Fors, Peter Weiss.

Subs: English.

Link: https://rarefilmm.com/2023/04/hagringen-1959/

Chappaquiddick (2017)

The scandal and mysterious events surrounding the tragic drowning of a young woman, as Ted Kennedy drove his car off the infamous bridge, are revealed in the new movie starring Jason Clarke as Ted Kennedy and Kate Mara as Mary Jo Kopechne. Not only did this event take the life of an aspiring political strategist and Kennedy insider, but it ultimately changed the course of presidential history forever. Through true accounts, documented in the inquest from the investigation in 1969, director John Curran and writers Andrew Logan and Taylor Allen, intimately expose the broad reach of political power, the influence of America's most celebrated family; and the vulnerability of Ted Kennedy, the youngest son, in the shadow of his family legacy.

Director
John Curran

Stars
Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms

Subs: English, Portuguese

YOUTUBE VIDEO LINK: https://youtu.be/XgnviGpuoz4

Copyright blocked in the US and UK.