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.
Rembetiko (1983)
8.2/10
Director: Costas Ferris
Starring: Sotiria Leonardou, Nikos Kalogeropoulos, Michalis Maniatis, Themis Bazaka
A fictionalized biopic that uniquely chronicles the story of Greece from 1917 to 1956, as it overlaps it with the tragic personal story of Marika Nino... Read more
Man of Iron (1981)
7.5/10
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Starring: Krystyna Janda, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Marian Opania
Winner of the Golden Palm (Best Picture) at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, Andrzej Wajda's film is a continuation of the story of Maciej Tomczyk (Jerz... Read more
Mephisto (1981)
7.9/10
Director: Istvan Szabo
Starring: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Krystyna Janda
Istvan Szabo's powerful, Academy-Award winning film stars Klaus Maria Brandauer as an actor in pre-war Germany whose quest for success leads him to su... Read more
Camera Buff (1979)
8/10
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Starring: Jerzy Stuhr, Malgorzata Zabkowska
The breakthrough film of the great Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski ("Three Colours" trilogy), "Camera Buff" is a dryly ironic meditation on the f... Read more
Man of Marble (1976)
7.9/10
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Starring: Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Krystyna Janda, Tadeusz Lomnicki, Jacek Lomnicki, Michal Ta...
Perhaps Andrzej Wajda's most important film, this documentary-style expose of Stalinist corruption paralleled attempts of the contemporary regime to c... Read more
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Blu-ray) (1975)
7.8/10
Director: Chantal Akerman
Starring: Delphine Seyrig
A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to... Read more
Morgiana (Blu-ray) (1972)
7.2/10
Starring: Josef Abrham, Petr Cepek, Iva Janzurová
Klara and Viktoria are sisters. Their father dies, leaving most of his property to Klara. When Klara becomes involved with a man that her sister loves... Read more
Szindbad (1971)
Director: Zoltan Huszarik
An old man is recollecting all the women he met in his youth. An old woman wants them to commit suicide together but changes her mind. The little town... Read more
WR - Mysteries Of The Organism (1971)
6.9/10
Director: Dusan Makavejev
Starring: Milena Dravic, Jagoda Kaloper, Tuli Kupferberg
WR is Dr Wilhelm Reich, eulogized here in the documentary section as one who advocated orgasm as a means of releasing inhibition, includes such bizarr... Read more
Love ( Szerelem ) (1971)
6/10
Director: Karoly Makk
Starring: Lili Darvas, Mari Torocsik
Based on two short stories by Hungarian author Tobor Dery, this film explores how individuals survive in the face of adversity and the absence of a lo... Read more