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.
Three Colours: White (1993)
8/10
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Starring: Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Janusz Gajos
This story concerns a hapless Pole whose beautiful French wife (Julie Delpy) is divorcing him for no longer being able to perform in bed. Full of iron... Read more
The Mill and the Cross (2011)
6.9/10
Director: Lech Majewski
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Michael York, Rutger Hauer
Mixing live actors with painted backdrops, this visually striking film from director Lech Majewski re-stages the action of "The Procession to Cavalry,... Read more
Satantango (1994)
8.5/10
Director: Bela Tarr
Starring: Peter Berling, Janos Derzsi
Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Bela Tarr's epic rendering of Laszlo Karsnahorkai's novel about the decline of Communism in Eastern Europe, is a u... 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
The Forgiveness of Blood (2011)
6.9/10
Director: Joshua Marston
Starring: Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej
American director Joshua Marston broke out in 2004 with his jolting, Oscar-nominated "Maria Full of Grace", about a young Colombian woman working as a... Read more
Beyond the Hills (2012)
7.6/10
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Starring: Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuta, Dana Tapalaga
When twenty-something Alina (Cristina Flutur) arrives in Moldavia to remove her childhood friend Voichita (Cosmina Stratan) from an Orthodox nunnery,... 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
The Red and The White (1967)
7.8/10
Director: Miklos Jancso
Starring: Tibor Molnar, Andras Kozak, Josef Madaras
Brilliantly photographed drama in which director Miklos Jancso examines Hungarians fighting in the Red Army in 1918 during the bloody civil war in Rus... Read more
The Seventh Continent (1989)
7.8/10
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Dieter Berner, Udo Samel, Leni Tanzer, Birgit Doll
A provocative and chilling depiction of a family who have lost contact with one another. Anna and Georg live with their daughter Eva, and while every... Read more
Funny Games (1997)
7.6/10
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Muhe, Frank Geiring, Arno Frisch
At the start of the summer holiday, Anna, Georg and their young son Georgie travel to their idyllic lakeside house; their neighbours, Fred and Eva are... Read more