All Recommendations
Ivan the Terrible, Part I
Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which was never completed due to the producer's dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's attempts to use forbidden experimental filming techniques and excessive cost overruns. The second part was completed but not released for a decade after Eisenstein's death and a change of heart in the USSR government toward his work; the third part was only in its earliest stage of filming when shooting was stopped altogether.
Strike
Workers in a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia go on strike and are met by violent suppression.
October (Ten Days that Shook the World)
Sergei M. Eisenstein's docu-drama about the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Made ten years after the events and edited in Eisenstein's 'Soviet Montage' style, it re-enacts in celebratory terms several key scenes from the revolution.
The General
During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.
Caché
George, host of a television show focusing on literature, receives videos shot on the sly that feature his family, along with disturbing drawings that are difficult to interpret. He has no idea who has made and sent him the videos. Progressively, the contents of the videos become more personal, indicating that the sender has known George for a long time.
The Passion of Joan of Arc
A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.
Greed
A lottery win of $5,000 forever changes the lives of a miner turned dentist and his wife.
Paisan
During the Allied invasion of Italy in World War II, six stories unfold in various regions, from Sicily to the northern Po Valley. These tales follow the interactions between American soldiers and Italian civilians as they navigate their way through language barriers and cultural differences.
Man with a Movie Camera
A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.
Metropolis
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
The Soft Skin
Pierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married with Franca and father of Sabine, around 10. He starts a love affair with air hostess Nicole, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stand staying away from her.
The Crowd
John, an ambitious but undisciplined New York City office worker, meets and marries Mary. They start a family, struggle to cope with marital stress, financial setbacks, and tragedy, all while lost amid the anonymous, pitiless throngs of the big city.
Mr. Arkadin
Claiming that he doesn't know his own past, a rich man enlists an ex-con with an odd bit of detective work. Gregory Arkadin says he can't remember anything before the late 1920s, and convict Guy Van Stratten is happy to take the job of exploring his new acquaintance's life story. Guy's research turns up stunning details about his employer's past, and as his work seems linked to untimely deaths, the mystery surrounding Mr. Arkadin deepens.
A Page of Madness
A man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.
A Room in Town
Set against the backdrop of an increasingly violent strike, a worker falls in love with the middle-class daughter of his landlady.
State of Siege
Using the interrogation of a US counterinsurgency agent as a backdrop, the film explores the consequences of the struggle between Uruguay's government and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas.
Way Down East
A naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.
The King of Pigs
Two friends, Jung Jong-suk and Hwang Kyung-min, meet after several years and talk about their time in school, which left them scarred.
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Phantom Tollbooth, based upon the children's adventure novel by Norton Juster, tells the story of a bored young boy named Milo. Unexpectedly receiving a magic tollbooth and, having nothing better to do, Milo drives through it and enters a kingdom in turmoil following the loss of its princesses, Rhyme and Reason.
Kino Eye
This documentary promoting the joys of life in a Soviet village centers on the activities of the Young Pioneers. These children are constantly busy, pasting propaganda posters on walls, distributing hand bills, exhorting all to "buy from the cooperative" as opposed to the Public Sector, promoting temperance, and helping poor widows. Experimental portions of the film, projected in reverse, feature the un-slaughtering of a bull and the un-baking of bread.