L'Avventura (1960)

This 1960 masterpiece by Michelangelo Antonioni is about a group of bored vacationers who go on a boat trip. When one woman turns up missing, her lover (Gabriele Ferzetti) and her best friend (the lovely Monica Vitti) go searching for her on a rocky island. Eventually they give up and start a half-hearted romance of their own. read more...

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• Moralistic ▶ No thanks
• Boldness ▶ Surrender, endurance, struggle, supression or restraint
• Production Level ▶ Polished
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Pace ▶ Slow
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Nostalghia (1983)

Yet it's amazing to think that Tarkovsky had his fans, and was able to make films at all, especially in 1983, when moviegoers spent more money on Return of the Jedi in one week than they did on the slightly more thoughtful The Right Stuff during its entire run. MTV had just launched, and Flashdance was another of the year's top hits. This was a time that, not only were people thinking in shorter and shorter bursts, but they were being encouraged to do it. read more...

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

Histoire(s) du Cinema (1998)

Many cinephiles are familiar with the work Jean-Luc Godard turned out between 1960 and 1967, fifteen remarkable films, some of them crime-themed, like Breathless and Band of Outsiders. Some of them commented upon film genres, and upon film itself. Godard's later work became more difficult to see, both in terms of tracking them down and in terms of sitting through them. This awesome movie, running over four hours and made in eight parts between 1988 and 1998, is no exception. But it may be the culmination of Godard's career. read more...

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

Red Desert (1964)

The great Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni continues his theme of alienation and disconnect with his first color film, Red Desert, and the effect is perhaps even more astounding than in his black and white films. Now, more so than using just shapes and spaces, Antonioni now gets to play with bright colors, and lack of colors. Everyone agrees that, in this regard, the film is a masterpiece, but the film once had -- and perhaps still has -- many detractors, arguing that Antonioni's musings don't amount to much. read more...

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• Optimistic ▶ No thanks
• Rules ▶ Rigid or strongly constrained
• Production Level ▶ Polished
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Pace ▶ Slow
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

L'Argent (1983)

L'Argent (1983) was final film of the great Robert Bresson. Based loosely on a story by Leo Tolstoy, this masterpiece begins by following a forged bank note. The upper-class perpetrators pass it in a Paris shop and get away with it, while the innocent Yvon (Christian Patey) takes the blame and winds up on a path to crime and self-destruction. Strangely, the angry Yvon is the most human character in the film, the one least corrupted by money. read more...

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• Sympathetic ▶ Don't make me care
• Boldness ▶ Surrender, endurance, struggle, supression or restraint
• Carnality ▶ Monastic, without desire or transcendent