August 27

Away From Her (2007) - Sarah Polley 

Rental release only.

Released by High Fliers - Available to rent 

Ballad of Narayama (Narayama bushiko) (1958) - Keisuke Kinoshita 

Film Description:

The inhabitants of a small village have adopted extreme measures to ensure their survival - male babies are killed with little remorse, and when villagers reach the age of 70, they are sent to the base of Naryama mountain to die. Refusal to go brings disgrace to the family. Orin is 69. However, before she heads to the mountain she wants to ensure that her eldest son finds a wife.
.
Released by Tartan Video

Black Rose Mansion (Kuro bara no yakata) (1969) - Kinji Fukasaku 

Film Description:

From Kinji Fukasaku, director of the controversial BATTLE ROYALE (2000) comes this 1969 oddity starring female impersonator Akihiro Maruyama of BLACK LIZARD (1968) . When wealthy Kyohei (Eitaro Ozawa) hires singer Black Rose (Maruyama) to perform in his exclusive men's club, he gets more than he bargains for when she brings dozens of murderous ex-lovers out of the woodwork--at the same time that Kyohei and his son begin to fall in love with her. 

Released by Tartan Video

Blackmail Is My Life (Kyokatsu koso Waga Jinsei) (1968) - Kinji Fukasaku

Film Description: 

One of Japanese cinema's most exhilarating directors, Kinji Fukasaku has thrilled audiences for over forty years. 1968's BLACKMAIL IS MY LIFE is no exception to the rule. The film follows an up-and-coming hipster, Shun (Hiroki Matsukata), as he blackmails his way into success and fortune. But that hot streak is short lived when Shun tries his luck on a very dangerous gangster. Dark, murky, and filled with splashes of violence, BLACKMAIL IS MY LIFE is a must-see for fans of the pulp genre. 

Released by Tartan Video

Born Into Brothels (2004) - Ross Kauffman 

Film Description:

A portrait of seven children who live in the red light district of Calcutta where their mothers work as prostitutes. Spurred on Spurred by the children's' fascination with her camera, Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer documenting life in the brothels, decides to teach them photography. As they begin to look at the record their world through new eyes, the children, unrecognised by society, realise for the first time their own talents and sense of worth.

Review 

DVD Extras

Deleted scenes; Kid's video commentary; Born into Brothels - reconnecting.

Released by Drakes Avenue Available to rent 

The Claude Chabrol Collection Vol 2 

Description:

Includes the films 
INNOCENTS WITH DIRTY HANDS, 
WHO'S GOT THE BLACK BOX?, 
THE POWER OF EVIL, 
PLEASURE PARTY, 
THE BREAK UP, 
COP AU VIN. 

Released by Arrow Films

Close-Up (Nema-ye Nazdik) (1990) - Abbas Kiarostami 

Film Description:

Kiarostami's masterpiece, depicting in documentary fashion an unemployed man's attempt to impersonate the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and the court proceedings which result. This is a brilliant, multi-layered exploration of illusion and reality, infused with its creator's humanity and wisdom.

Released by Soda Pictures

Destiny Of A Man (Sudba cheloveka) (1959) - Sergei Bondarchuk

Film Description:

This was Sergei Bondarchucks debut feature which he not only directed but also acted the main part of Andrei Sokolov in the screen adaptation of Nobel Prize winning author Mikhail Sholokovs novel. 

Beautifully crafted and acted, the film is a moving account of an ordinary Soviet citizen during the desperate fight to protect the motherland from Nazi invasion in WWII. In the course of the struggle, Sokolov is captured by the German invaders and despatched to a concentration camp in which the inmates are mercilessly worked and ill-treated. The only thing that urges him to cling on to life is the thought of being reunited with his family when the war is over. 

Essentially a morality tale of humanity ultimately triumphing over evil adversity, the film, on its 1961 release (two years after it was made), was a great worldwide success and an eye-opener to western audiences who assumed Soviet directors could not break free from their propagandist yokes. It launched Bondarchuck on his career, which went on to include such landmark films as They Fought for Their Motherland, Waterloo and War and Peace.

DVD Extras

M. Sholokhov featurette; S.Bondarchuk featurette; Filmography; Film of Victory Day; German Prison Camps for Russian POWs; 1941 Military Parade; English subtitles or English dub options. 

Released by Nouveaux Pictures

Gingko Bed (Eunhaengnamoo chimdae) (1996) - Je-Kyu Kang

Film Description: 

A college art lecturer buys an antique bed made of gingko, only to discover that it contains the soul of a woman who died a thousand years earlier--and that he is the reincarnation of her long-lost lover. As he learns more, a tragic love story buried for a thousand years is awakened again.

Released by Elephant Video

Kisses (Kuchizuke) (1957) - Yasuzo Masumura 

Film Description:

Masumura's debut feature in which a teenage boy and girl meet while visiting their respective fathers in prison. They shrug off their respective resposibilities and head to the beach. A pared-down narrative is complemented beautifully by hand-held black and white cinematography.

Released by Yume Pictures

Legend Of Gingko (Danjeogbiyeonsu) (2000)- Je-Hyeon Park 
Film Description: 

Sequel to the Korean fantasy adventure film GINGKO BED. Two rival clans fight for their people. 

Released by Elephant Video

Lights In The Dusk (Laitakaupungin valot) (2007) - Aki Kaurismaki 

Film Description:

A marvellously droll tragicomedy of love and crime, in which a security guard meets a femme fatale who sets him up, exploiting his gullibility. The final part of Kaurismki's 'loser' trilogy, following on from Drifting Clouds and The Man without a Past. 

Partly a reaction to Man without a Past, which he said he found 'sickly sweet', Kaurismki said that his original idea for the film was to put his protagonist in an exceptionally bleak modern milieu and then batter and bully him to death. He doesnt (quite) go through with this. Luckily for our protagonist, the author of the film has a reputation of being a soft-hearted old man, so we can assume there is a spark of hope illuminating the final scene he says. And so there is.

Review 

DVD Extras

Kaurismaki Interview; Filmography. 

Released by Artificial Eye

The Living Dead Girl (La Morte Vivante) (1982) - Jean Rollin 

Film Description:

One of cult director Jean Rollin's most successful films, THE LIVING DEAD GIRL takes in resurrection, despair, and a desperate addiction to blood. 

DVD Extras

Uncut version
Jean Rollin's Short film - LA PAY LOINS (1965)
Rollin interview
Stills gallery
Redemption trailers 

Released by Redemption

The Night Of The Sunflowers (La Noche de los Girasoles) (2007) - Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo 

Film Description:

A nicely intricate thriller that begins with the report of a woman's body found in the middle of a field of sunflowers. From this situation, a patchwork tale of mistaken identity, murder, corruption and deception is gradually revealed, which a wily veteran of the local police force tries to stitch together.

DVD Extras

Making-of; Deleted scenes; Q&A; Trailer. 

Released by Yume Pictures Available to rent 

Palms (Ladoni) (1993) - Artur Aristakisyan 

Film Description:

There is no other film like Palms. Made as Aristakisyans graduation film, this address to his unborn son was filmed among the beggars and homeless community in the town of Kishinev. It is a film populated with outcasts and survivors, the maimed and the damaged. This is deliberate - any contact with the system leads to compromises and the loss of spiritual salvation. If freedom of the spirit comes at the price of complete rejection, then so be it. Anarchistic, apocalyptic even, this unique film gives bourgeois tastes nothing to congratulate themselves on and nothing to recognise. The experience is dizzying and discomforting, as if all the solid ground beneath your feet has turned to jelly.

DVD Extras

Interview with director Artur Aristakisyan. 

Released by Secondrun

They Fought For The Motherland (Oni srazhalis za rodinu) (1975)- Sergei Bondarchuk 

Film Description:

In July 1942, the exhausted Soviet army is retreating towards Stalingrad while desperately trying to hold their ground in front of the rampaging German war machine. Bondarchuk's film concentrates on the remnants of one shattered regiment and its individual soldiers' thoughts and fears in the face of impending annihilation - of both themselves and Russia itself. The depictions of war and destruction are powerful, as are those of the individual characters forced to participate in a terrible fight for survival. 

A screen adaptation of Nobel Prize winning author Mikhail Sholokov's novel of the same name.

DVD Extras

Digitally remastered from restored print; Interviews with actress Irina Skobetsova and Professor A. Ushakov. 

Released by Nouveaux Pictures

Wheel Of Time (2005) - Werner Herzog 

Film Description

Herzog's documentary film about the largest Buddhist ritual to promote peace and tolerance, held by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya, India and Graz, Austria in 2002. The film includes exclusive interviews with the Dalai Lama, access to previously secret rituals for the first time as well as footage of a pilgrimage to the Holy Mount Kailash in Tibet.

Review 

Released by Soda Pictures

I must admit, I was surprised that the best of the new releases is not available to rent, I'm so glad I managed to catch Lights In The Dusk on its short theatrical run.

Cheers Trev.