Day of Wrath (1943)

Carl Theodor Dreyer's Day of Wrath (1943) follows the rather spectacular subject of witch hunts in the 17th century. But with Dreyer's artistry driving the film, it becomes far more than just a sideshow attraction. The luminous Lisbeth Movin stars as a preacher's young second wife who helps to harbor an accused witch, then falls illicitly in love with her husband's grown son (from his first marriage). When the husband finds out, she curses him, he dies, and she's accused of witchcraft. Dreyer's fluid, softly moving camera that takes in long, slow shots heightens the sensual nature of the film as well as its mystery. It's both a direct and indirect way of looking at the story -- and withholding its secrets -- that makes it resonate. read more...

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• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Pace ▶ Slow
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Shoah (1985)

The late Gene Siskel once called this magnificent, overwhelming documentary "the greatest use of film, ever." Director Claude Lanzmann spent years collecting these stunning, matter-of-fact interviews with anyone connected with the Holocaust, from survivors to eyewitnesses to SS tormentors. read more...

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• Brainy ▶ Brainy or complex
• Optimistic ▶ No thanks
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Rules ▶ Rigid or strongly constrained
• Realism ▶ Magical, Futuristic, Fantastic
• How Things Happen ▶ By cause and effect, mechanics, rules or facts
• Comfort Level ▶ Distressed, disturbed, unsettled or unresolved
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Pace ▶ Slow
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Lessons of Darkness (1992)

One of the great documentaries of the 1990s serendipitously returned to the 2000 San Francisco International Film Festival, finally giving me a chance to see it. The movie is Lessons of Darkness (1992), and it's directed by Werner Herzog, who was a member of the German New Wave, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders, and it's arguably his best film since perhaps Fitzcarraldo (1982) or even Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). read more...

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• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Rules ▶ Rigid or strongly constrained
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Saraband (2005)

Ingmar Bergman officially announced his "retirement" back in 1983 with the magnum opus Fanny and Alexander, but continued to work, making television movies and videos (After the Rehearsal), writing screenplays (Faithless) and working in the theater. read more...

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• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

The Circle (2000)

Just a few weeks ago, the Shooting Gallery film series released Marziyeh Meshkini's and Mohsen Makhmalbaf's The Day I Became a Woman. I was afraid then that no one would see that beautiful and vibrant film because it seemed to be about "battered Iranian women," though it was really about their breathtaking attempts to escape domination. Now comes Jafar Panahi's The Circle, a far more heavyweight, but equally brilliant film about women whose escape seems unlikely. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Optimistic ▶ No thanks
• Rules ▶ Rigid or strongly constrained
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating