Eastern European Cinema
Again this category lumps a lot of countries together where the Alice collection is not large enough to warrant separate shelf-space for each country represented. Eastern European films are often categorised by a healthy black humour, an ability to look hardship in the eye and laugh - if somewhat bitterly at times. Included here are films from Poland, Austria, Yugoslavia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. To look for films from a specific country refer to the 'By Country' link on the left.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
7.9/10
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Starring: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, Alexandru Potocean
Set in 1980s Bucharest during Ceaucescu's brutal reign, this intense drama centres on two young women, one of whom finds herself pregnant. Her best fr... Read more
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)
7.3/10
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Udo Samel, Anne Bennent, Branko Samarovski, Otto Grunmandl, Gabriel Cosmin Urdes
Inspired by a shocking true life shooting spree in Vienna in 1993, Michael Haneke's challenging film weaves together fragments of the story in an atte... Read more
A Generation (1955)
7.6/10
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Starring: Zbigniew Cybulski, Tadeusz Lomnicki, Roman Polanski
Master Polish director Andrzej Wajda received an Honorary Academy Award for five decades of work, beginning with this film about the Polish resistance... Read more
A Short Film About Killing (1988)
8.1/10
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Starring: Jan Tesarz, Krzysztof Globisz, Miroslaw Baka
Kieslowski's title is accurate: a hideous murder is followed by a hideous execution. Expanded to feature-length by Kieslowski from his hour long "Deka... Read more
A Short Film About Love (1988)
8.3/10
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Starring: Grazyna Szapolowska, Olaf Lubaszenko
A young man falls in love with an older woman who lives in the flats across the courtyard. He watches her and her succession of lovers until she becom... Read more
An Unforgettable Summer (1994)
7.5/10
Director: Lucian Pintilie
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Claudiu Bleont
In 1925 Romania, young Marie-Therese Von Debretsy (Kristin Scott Thomas) refuses the flirtatious advances of her husband's commanding officer. As a re... Read more
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
7.9/10
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Starring: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzanowska
This brilliant statement illustrates the conflict of idealism and instinct in the story of a young resistance fighter who assassinates the wrong man a... Read more
Autumn Spring (2002)
7.6/10
Director: Vladimir Michalek
Starring: Vlastimil Brodsky, Stella Zazvorkova, Stanislav Zindulka, Ondrej Vetchy, Zita Ka...
Fanda (Vlastimil Brodsky) is an incurable prankster, even when faced with his own imminent death and a bemused and ungrateful family, Fanda wants to c... Read more
Avalon (2001)
6.5/10
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Starring: Malgorzata Foremniak, Wladyslaw Kowalski
Anime master Mamoru Oshii's ("Ghost in the Shell") live-action feature directorial debut is a mesmerizing sci-fi tale set in a future world where peop... Read more
Beauty in Trouble (2006)
6.9/10
Director: Jan Hrebejk
Starring: Ana Geislerova, Roman Luknar, Emilia Vasaryova, Jana Brejchova, Jiri Schmitzer,...
Using recent events in Prague to drive his narrative, Czech director Jan Hrebejk ('Divided We Fall') sets his engrossing romantic dramedy in the wake... Read more