Testament of Orpheus (1960)iMDB Rating: 7.3 Date Released : 18 February 1960 Genre : Biography Stars : Jean Cocteau, Françoise Arnoul, Claudine Auger, Charles Aznavour Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The poet Jean Cocteau is lost in space-time. He has been in the 18th century and is now turning up at different moments in professor Langevin's life. The professor has invented some bullets, which travel faster than light. With one of them he kills Cocteau, who is resurrected as his old self, but is still caught in the space between fantasy and reality. At a gypsy camp a woman saves a photo out of the fire and restores it. On the photo Cocteau recognizes Cégeste from his film Orphée. He tears the photo into pieces and throws it into the sea. Immediately Cégeste himself jumps out of the water. He brings Cocteau to a rogatory commission led by Heurtebise and The Princess from the film Orphée. Cocteau admits that he has constantly attempted to enter a world which is not his own, a world that is beyond the limits of man, and that disobedience is like a religion for him. The commission imposes on him the sentence of life. In a hall inside some stone ruins the goddess Athena kills Cocteau ...
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Review :
A Unique Contribution to Film
While I had surely seen the second film in Cocteau's Orpheus trilogy if not the first as well, I suspect I was in no position to appreciate any of what Cocteau accomplished. Now I'm about the same age he was when he did the Testament. I remember the time period for the second and third pictures, having grown up in it. But how all three of these films really transcend time as Cocteau is trying to show you works of art should! I had to rely on the subtitles for the sense of the lines but it was no matter. I don't remember anything else like these films. They are political to the extent they lobby for the poet's point of view. And in spite of the black and white and old prints their effect is most striking. Orpheus Descending and Testament sometimes look like the inspiration for Rebel Without a Cause. And Testament has some pithy comments on modern technology and the short comings of air travel that seem funnier and more relevant today. And toward the end of Testament, having the red blood and the red hibiscus in this black and white movie--how many times has that been imitated by computer technology? But it is what the poet saw then, not what technology makes commonplace and commercial today.
On the discs for Blood of the Poet and Testament are two separate bonus features, documentaries of Cocteau in fading Technicolor--but oh how interesting they are as well. At some point Cocteau says it was Picasso who taught them all to see. But what a treasure trove of talent Paris produced in the first half of the twentieth century. I hope this kind of sharing of artistic discovery can take place on the internet. Maybe it is already happening and I just don't know it. But I do know people who care for serious--but not heavy and sometimes witty--artistic expression, let alone movies, should see all three of these movies and the docs which accompany them.
A troupe of travelling players arrive at a small seaport in the south of Japan. Komajuro Arashi, the aging master of the troupe, goes to visit his old flame Oyoshi and their son Kiyoshi, even though Kiyoshi believes Komajuro is his uncle. The leading actress Sumiko is jealous and so, in order to humiliate the master, persuades the younger actress Kayo to seduce Kiyoshi.
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Review :
Sliding Slide Show
Ozu is a wonderful experience just to watch the musical formations. Each shot is composed in the most careful way so that the assembly has a geometric rhythm. Its soft and melodic, this visual overlay, painting in motion. No one does it better that I know.
There's a talk between two troubled lovers in the rain, then in opposing shelters, that is especially noteworthy, but its all so cinematically lovely...
The way he's put this together is very Japanese. Each shot length is nearly precisely the length of the one before. Each employs a stationary camera only, but the positioning of the camera only sometimes is where a human eye would be. As I've mentioned, The composition in terms of elements, space and color is perfect in each shot and follows in a deliberate, engineered pattern from the previous shots.
The narrative isn't integrated in the way Jurosawa would do — and be considered n0n- Japanese for. But the story does much of that for us.
Its a story about pretense and staging, with most of the actors playing characters who are actors and have trouble in being an actor.
You'll have to work to be engaged in the story. But its rather easy to just sit back and admire the loveliness. Ozu is always worth it for this. I don't know many of his films, but these is the most formal of those I know.
The Entertainer (1960)iMDB Rating: 7.2 Date Released : 2 December 1960 Genre : Drama Stars : Laurence Olivier, Brenda de Banzie, Roger Livesey, Joan Plowright Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Archie Rice, a pathetic music hall comic, plagued by debts, manipulates those around him in a defiant and selfish attempt to survive against improbable odds. He drinks, makes crude philosophical jokes about sex and politics and humiliates his lamenting, gin-soaked wife. Archie lures his father, Billy Rice, out of retirement for a benefit performance which will ultimately bring financial aid to Archie and his impractical investments.
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Review :
The last, golden days of Morecambe...
As someone who lives only a couple of miles away from where this film was set, it makes me practically WEEP to see how busy and vibrant Morecambe used to be in the 50s/60s. OK, so the film is about how it's passed its heyday, but compared to how it is now - seeing the same scenery (it's hardly changed) - the Midland Hotel, The Winter Gardens (now a nightclub), it's hard not to get painful pangs of nostalgia.
This is ultimately a depressing film - Archie is one of those people who deals with tragedy by "blanking" it out with bad jokes. In the film he seduces the winner (2nd place) of a beauty contest - a woman old enough to be his daughter. Shortly after the film, Laurence Oliver married Joan Plowright who actually PLAYED his daughter in this film. Anyone for irony?
There are some wonderfully subtle takes on British "class" - I love Thora Hird (a long way from Praise Be and Stannah Stairlifts here) as the grasping mum of the Beauty-contest winner, while Brenda de Banzie is great as neurotic, looked-over, teary, nervy Phoebe - "I've got a new job in Woolworths, on the electrical counter. It's OK, but the girls are a bit common." Well Phoebe, you'll be pleased to know that the branch of Woolworths is still there...
Pepe (1960)iMDB Rating: 5.5 Date Released : 26 April 1962 Genre : Comedy, Musical Stars : Cantinflas, Dan Dailey, Shirley Jones, Carlos Montalbán Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The young Mexican Pepe's beloved horse is sold to Hollywood star Ted Holt, leading to Pepe's journey to Hollywood to get the horse back, and Pepe's encounter with half the stars working in Hollywood at the time.
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Review :
Very good family entertainment, I'd like to see it on video
Edward G. Robinson, Dan Daily, & Cantinflas (as Pepe) were very convincing in their major rolls in this movie. The guest star list was enormous and included just about everyone who was hot in Hollywood. My favorite was Bobby Darin during his zenith. This movie is like a time capsule from 1960 and would make a great addition to a collection of family entertainment videos.
Kusum Rai lives a wealthy lifestyle in scenic Kashmir with her widowed dad, Basant. Her dad had helped his friend's widow, her son, Sushil Verma, and daughter, Munni, overcome many financial challenges, and had also paid for his medical education so that he can grow up to not only support his family, but also marry Kusum. Kusum and Sushil do get married and re-locate back to Sushil's house which is attached to Malhotra Hospital where he works. Shortly thereafter disagreements begin when Kusum is not allowed to have her way, and also when she feels that Sushil is not being attentive towards her. Things escalate to such an extent that Kusum returns to live with her dad. Several months later, she is informed that Sushil is seriously ill, she returns - only to find that Sushil is in love with a nurse named Karuna. Watch what an angered Kusum does to keep Sushil all to himself.
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Review :
The heart is own but the love is the other's
Director Kishore Sahu gave Indian cine-lovers many good movies especially in the black and white era. One such classic movie is Dil Apna Aur Preet Paraaee (1960) starring Raaj Kumar, Meena Kumari and Naadira. This movie not only tells a heart-conquering love story but also underscores the significance of the noble medical profession.
Kind-hearted orphan girl Karuna (Meena Kumari) joins a hospital as a nurse and comes into the contact of Dr. Sushil Varma (Raaj Kumar). Since both possess hearts of gold, filled with mercy, kindness, benevolence and humanity; they start liking each other (in fact, loving each other within their hearts). However Dr. Sushil has to marry Kusum (Naadira) due to the obligations of her father upon himself and his family. Proud (of her father's wealth), sniffy and nagging wife Kusum makes life hell for not only Dr. Sushil but also his widow mother (Pratima Devi) and his younger sister Munni (Baby Naaz). On the other hand, heartbroken Karuna suddenly comes to know of Dr. Sushil's silent love for her. Then she does not have any option but to shed tears over this cruel joke played by the destiny with both of them. She tries to quit the hospital but can't. When Kusum comes to know that her husband loves Karuna within his heart, her womanly jealousy crosses all the limits. Finally the movie reaches its happy ending with the union of the lovers.
Dil Apna Aur Preet Paraaee (the heart is own and the love is the other's) takes the viewer to the era when love of a male and a female was not express but silent. Still the loving hearts have always been able to listen to the silent calls of each other. And that love is reliable even on the screen. The scene in which Karuna sees her name written by Dr. Sushil on pieces of paper and on neutral things and she is able to listen to the love-filled sighs coming from his heart, echoing her name only, is just superb. Anybody who has loved someone in his / her life can identify with this scene.
Besides, medicine has always been considered a noble profession (though now it is also a means to earn more and more money only for the majority of the people involved). And this movie emphatically underscores this fact that the people joining this profession whether as doctors or as nurses, should understand that their patients have greater right on their lives as compared to their own right and the right of their family members. The family members of such people have to adjust to the occupational demands of them and should not be irritating or resenting towards their activities, else they won't be able to do justice to their duty and their profession. Through the characters of various patients admitted in the hospital ward, the moviemaker has stressed the need for the doctors and the nurses to keep unlimited patience while dealing with them, in addition to the kindness and sympathy which the patients require from them.
To make the movie as an entertaining one, the director has infused humour through some patients which is over the top at places. All the same, this movie is filled with sentiments and it shows that emotional bonds can develop in any setting between the people suffering from common pains. It's a movie which deeply moves the viewer at many places. And it also underscores the fact that if the life-partner is non-understanding, supercilious and irritating; he / she may not only snatch success from the other one but also make life worse than hell for her / him.
Performance wise assessing, Raaj Kumar has given a very impressive performance in this movie without any overtones. Meena Kumari has not only scored in the acting department but she has looked quite beautiful too. It's definitely one of her best movies. Om Prakash impresses in his cameo (as a patient). Shammi (as another nurse who is Karuna's close friend), Pratima Devi as Dr. Sushil's mother, Baby Naaz as his younger sister, Kumar as the head of the hospital etc. have done justice to their roles. However, it's mainly Naadira's movie, perhaps her best and the most memorable one. No viewer can forget her knockout performance as the proud, ill-mannered and nagging woman.
Shankar-Jaikishan has given unforgettable music in this movie with the beautiful and touching lyrics having been penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra. The music of this movie boasts of Lata's immortal song - Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Yeh Kahaan Shuru Kahaan Khatam. The title song is another gem in Lata's voice. Other songs - Sheesha-e-Dil Itna Na Uchhalo, Andaaz Mera Mastaana, Mera Dil Ab Tera O Saajna, Jaane Kahaan Gayi, Itni Badi Mehfil Aur Ek Dil etc. are also quite good. Picturization of the songs is also highly impressive.
Technically the movie is good. It's not unduly long also. Though most of the scenes are either in the hospital or in the household, the scenes containing the river are quite beautiful. The cinematographer has excelled like anything in the picturization of the title song. And finally, the climax has been picturized sensationally.
All in all, director Kishore Sahu has done a remarkable job. It's a movie which will be liked by all - the people involved in the noble profession of medicine, the viewers liking romantic musicals, the social drama audience and the movie buffs in general as well. It's a precious gem from the black and white era of Bollywood. Don't miss it.
Mother Courage and Her Children (1961)iMDB Rating: 7.5 Date Released : 10 February 1961 Genre : Drama, War Stars : Helene Weigel, Angelika Hurwicz, Ekkehard Schall, Heinz Schubert." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
If you know just a little German, you will enjoy this film. The casting is perfect and the acting is so subtle and intelligent that you will get a lot out of each scene, even if you don't understand every word. This movie was done from a stage production by Brecht's own company, using the techniques of epic theater that he invented, so there is a certain restraint, even dryness, to the style that is supposed to make it easier for the viewer to think about the issues. Regardless of your politics, however, once you've seen this production, others will pale by comparison. The script is based upon a very old story about female merchants who followed the troops to do business during wars. They are a tough breed, and Helen Weigel, who plays the title role, certainly conveys that.
Das schwarze Schaf (1960)iMDB Rating: 6.7 Date Released : 19 December 1960 Genre : Comedy, Crime Stars : Heinz Rühmann, Karl Schönböck, Maria Sebaldt, Siegfried Lowitz Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Father Brown starts solving a murder, to the annoyance of his housekeeper, the police and especially his bishop, who obviously is not amused by a priest playing detective.
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Review :
Not a very real father brown, but nice movie anyway
Except the characters and the fact that it is a detective story, this movie has not much to do with the original father Brown. In fact this is a very German movie which is slightly based on Father Brown stories
If you see this film without regard of the period/place it was made, you might find the storyline and acting terrible backdated. However: this movie fits perfectly in the German 60's era of somewhat fuzzy detective "thrillers" after stories of Edgar Alan Poe and other English writers. For that era I find "Das schwarze Schaf" and also the second father brown movie "Er kann's nicht lassen" better than average.
The feeling of those movies (and especially the both Father Brown films) rely very much on the big-band jazz sound of Martin Boettcher, who was regularly asked to compose soundtracks during that period (later, Boettcher would compose the famous Winnetou soundtracks).
As conclusion: Do not watch this movie if you want to see the Father Brown of the stories. Do not watch it if you hate backdated films. For all others it is an old but nice movie, typically for it's era.
Testament of Orpheus (1960)iMDB Rating: 7.3
