Shanghai Triad (DVD)
$22.03
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Shanghai Triad (DVD)
Rival Chinese gangs use an alluring and intelligent prostitute as a go-between, subtly tempting each other to make a false move in this acclaimed thriller.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreen - 1.85Audio: Dolby SurroundAdditional Release Material: Trailers - 1.Original Theatrical Trailer Bonus Trailer - 1.BIZET'S CARMEN
2.ORLANDO
3.EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN
4.MIRACLES Talent Files
Foreign
Broken Wings (DVD)
$22.03
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Broken Wings (DVD)
Israeli Director Nir Bergman makes a stunning visual impact with his debut film, BROKEN WINGS. Principal character Dafna (Orli Zilberschatz-Banai) is a single mother struggling to raise a family after the sudden death of her husband. Bergman slowly lets the tale of Dafna's woes unfold, before revealing that her husband met a bizarre and tragic end when he suffered a fatal allergic reaction from a bee sting. Nine months later the family is on the brink of implosion. To compound Dafna's worries, she is working night shifts as a hospital midwife, leaving fruitless attempts to hold the family together in the hands of her teenage daughter, Maya (Maya Maron). Yair (Nitai Gvirtz) is the eldest son of the family, whose attempt to deal with his father's death manifests itself in odd behavior patterns, such as walking around town dressed as a mouse. The lazy, apathetic Yair seems to care little about what happens to him or the family, and younger son, Ido (Daniel Magon) often mimics his brother's strange character quirks. Despite being united in their grief, the family members markedly different coping strategies (or lack thereof) often result in angry recriminations, closely followed by tears and feelings of guilt. As director Bergman effortlessly guides the film to its satisfying conclusion, he pulls the various strains of the story together, and utilizes his character studies to proffer some highly personal insights on life, loss and the appreciation of fellow human beings.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - HebrewAdditional Release Material: Trailers
Foreign
Good Bye, Lenin! (DVD)
$22.03
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Good Bye, Lenin! (DVD)
This culture-shock comedic drama takes a look at life in East Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Alex (Daniel Bruhl) dreams of being an astronaut while his high-strung mother (Katrin Sass) works tirelessly as a teacher and state official. She's so vehemently pro-socialist that when she glimpses her son getting arrested during a political protest, she falls into a heart-attack-induced coma and stays there through the raising of the iron curtain and the influx of West German capitalism. When she suddenly wakes up, Alex decides he has to keep the country's sudden change a secret from her, in order to prevent her weak heart from giving out at the shock. Lots of subterfuge and comedy ensues, and what ultimately emerges is a touching parallel between the outward economic change and Alex's own inability to grow up and let go of his own mother-dominated past for an uncertain future with his cute Russian girlfriend (Chulpan Khamatova). Director Wolfgang Becker cleverly incorporates archival news footage of the space race, riots, soccer matches, the fall of the wall, and the arrival of consumer goods en masse. The score by Yann Tiersen (AMELIE) is effective, and Sass earns high marks as Alex's keenly intelligent, heartbroken mother.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital - German
Foreign
The Cuckoo (DVD)
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The Cuckoo (DVD)
THE CUCKOO, from Russian director Alexander Rogozhkin, is about the friendship between three people from different countries at the end of World War II. Veiko (Ville Haapasalo), a Finn; Anni (Anni-Kristiina Juuso), a Lapp; and Ivan (Victor Bychkov), a Russian; come together, and although they are unable to speak each other's languages, they manage to communicate peace and understanding to one another.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital Stereo - English
Foreign
The Sea is Watching (DVD)
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The Sea is Watching (DVD)
Based on a screenplay by the late filmmaking legend Akira Kurosawa, Kei Kumai's THE SEA IS WATCHING follows the lives of women residing and working at a brothel in Edo-era Japan. Amidst the daily rountines of tea and gossip, the ladies of the Ashi No Ya house, inevitably get emotionally involved with their clients. Young, naive O-Shin (Nagiko Tohno) falls for an inexperienced samurai, even though he is from a higher social class. Meanwhile, her big-sister figure, Kikuno (Misa Shimizu), has both a thuggish boyfriend and a kind, older man vying for her affections. Eventually, Ryosuke (Masatoshi Nagase), a troubled wanderer, visits the brothel, and he forms an unlikely connection with O-Shin--one that may have a lasting effect on her life.Filmed entirely on a set that recreates pre-20th-century Japanese village life, THE SEA IS WATCHING focuses on the brothel and its denizens with a tight lens. Although the actors turn in fine performances, the real stars of the show are the costumes and sets, which recall an era of Japanese history that few contemporary films touch on. Surprisingly romantic, this tribute to Kurosawa is an enjoyable outing, strengthed by Kumai's vivid vision of the past.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital Stereo - Japanese
Foreign
The Pact of Silence (DVD)
$22.03
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The Pact of Silence (DVD)
A pair of twins share a frightening secret which could bring grave danger to a priest (Gerard Depardieu).DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Foreign
Respiro (DVD)
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Respiro (DVD)
Emanuele Crialese's sophomore feature is an original blend of fantasy and reality. Set on the gorgeous island of Lampedusa just off the coast of western Sicily, RESPIRO tells the tale of Grazia (a brilliant Valeria Golino), a wife and mother whose unpredictable antics make her the talk of the island. Nonetheless, her family--husband Pietro (Vincenzo Amato), daughter Marinella (Veronica D'Agostino), sons Pasquale (Francesco Casisa) and Filippo (Filippo Pucillo)--love her dearly. After Grazia commits several increasingly wreckless acts, the townspeople convince Pietro to send her to a mental institution. Determined to remain on the island, close to her family, Grazia enlists the aid of Pasquale, who sets her up in a nearby cave. After searching for days, Pietro discovers her sun dress lying on the sand, and the island mourns her death. But after Pietro swims into the sea to plant a statue of the Virgin Mary, his prayers for her return are somehow answered. Based on an ancient Lampedusa legend, RESPIRO sets a mood that is at once realistic and fantastical, which reflects the energy of the island itself. Playing the passionate, fiery, and loving Grazia, Golino shows why she is one of cinema's most electrifying actresses.Part of the New Directors/New Films 2003 series presented by The Department of Film and Media at the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Foreign
Character (DVD)
$22.03
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Character (DVD)
Based on the popular classic 1938 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk, a drama about a timeless struggle between father and son - a struggle even the father knows the son is destined to win.
Dreverhaven, the city's most feared bailiff, is dead, discovered with a knife through his heart.
A self-taught lawyer who just passes his exams was the last person to see Dreverhaven alive.
Now, the police want to know why he visited the old man, and the young barrister is ready to tell the story of a lifetime.
Winner of the 1997 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - EnglishAdditional Release Material: TrailerInteractive Features: Interactive Menus Scene Selection
Foreign
Secret Ballot (DVD)
$22.03
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Secret Ballot (DVD)
Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Babak Payami (ONE MORE DAY) looks at the problems of bringing democracy to Iran in this political and cultural satire, which could almost be called neo-surrealist in tone. The film begins with a ballot box being dropped from an airplane onto a desert island off the coast of Iran, terrifying a soldier stationed there who thinks it's a bomb. Another soldier (Cyris Abidi) has orders to accompany the arriving agent who will collect the votes, and he's shocked to realize his charge is an educated, freethinking young woman (Nassim Abidi) from the city. During their long, argumentative day together, the pair run up against all sorts of reactions to this strange new electoral procedure, from fear, to jubilation, to utter indifference. Payami, working from an idea by Moshen Makhmalbaf (KANDAHAR), lets the action unfold in long takes, allowing Abidi to develop her character as more than just a symbol of progress as she patiently deals with the suspicious (and occasionally overexcited) island populace. A cautiously hopeful tale of democracy entering a restrictive society, SECRET BALLOT also serves as a sly commentary on the unconquerable cultural divide between Western and Middle-Eastern ways of thinking.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - EnglishAdditional Release Material: TrailerInteractive Features: Interactive Menus Scene Selection
Foreign
The Color of Paradise (DVD)
$22.03
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The Color of Paradise (DVD)
In THE COLOR OF PARADISE, an eight-year-old boy named Mohammed attends a school for blind children in Tehran. When summer vacation arrives, the parents of the other children arrive to take them home. Mohammed's widowed coal worker father, Hashem, however, arrives hours late, then asks a teacher if Mohammed can stay at the school permanently. When his request is refused, Hashem takes his son on a cross-country journey to their family home in northern Iran. While Hashem is dour and visibly burdened, Mohammed's senses are overloaded with the sounds, scents, and textures of the lush natural surroundings along the way. At the family farm, Mohammed is reunited with his two young sisters and his adoring Granny, with whom the young boy has a spiritual bond. When Hashem is given the chance to marry a young woman from a strict Islamic family, he worries that his son will destroy his chance of approval from her family, so he sends the boy off to a remote part of Iran to be a carpenter's apprentice. Initially, the boy feels abandoned but eventually grows accustomed to his new environment. Back at the family farm, however, Hashem's selfishness destroys the bucolic peace as it touches each member of his family in a different destructive manner. THE COLOR OF PARADISE is an intelligent, moving experience, featuring outstanding direction from Majid Majidi and a terrific cast.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseLetterboxed - Anamorphic - 1.85:1Single Side - Single LayerAudio: Dolby Digital Surround - FarsiAdditional Release Material: Trailers - Original Theatrical TrailerInteractive Features: Scene Access Interactive MenusText/ Photo Galleries: Biographies - Cast& Crew
Foreign
Mifune (DVD)
$22.03
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Mifune (DVD)
Kresten (Berthelsen) is a Copenhagen businessman who has just married Claire (Grabol), his boss's beautiful daughter. When he receives a call the very next morning informing him of his father's passing, Claire is confused. Apparently, Kresten has told everyone in Copenhagen that he has no living relatives. This is due to the fact that he was raised in the country and was ashamed to confess to his unprosperous rural upbringing. Nervously, he assures Claire that the burial will be handled swiftly and that she needn't bother travelling with him. Arriving at his father's decrepit farm, Kresten encounters his handicapped brother Rud (Asholt). He reconnects with him by pretending to be the samurai actor Toshiro Mifune, a game they played throughout their childhood. When Kresten realizes that the paperwork is going to take longer than expected, he places a newspaper ad for a housekeeper, disgusted with their filthy living conditions. He gets more than he could have hoped for when the strikingly gorgeous Liva (Hjejle) arrives. Liva has been working as a prostitute in order to pay for her younger brother's private school tuition, but when she begins receiving threatening phone calls, she flees the city. As genuine feelings begin to emerge between Kresten and Liva, the truth unavoidably rears its mischievous head, teaching everyone involved a very powerful lesson about family and love.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseFull Frame - 1.33Dolby Digital Mono - DanishAdditional Release Materials: Audio Commentary - 1. Soren Kragh-Jacobsen - DirectorInteractive Features: Scene Access Interactive MenusDVD-ROM Features: Web link to Dogma page
Foreign
Farinelli: Il Castrato (DVD)
$22.03
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Farinelli: Il Castrato (DVD)
The life story of Carlo Broschi, who at age seven had surgery to become a castrato to preserve his sweet voice. He went on to become one of the most celebrated opera singers of the 18th century, taking on the name Farinelli. As his fame grows, tension builds with his less talented brother Riccardo. Golden Globe Winner, Best Foreign Film.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseLetterboxed - 1.85Single SideSingle LayerDolby Digital Stereo - ItalianDolby Digital Stereo - FrenchAdditional Release Material: Biographies - Cast/Crew TrailersInteractive Features: Scene Access Interactive Menus
Foreign