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This article is from The Source, EPL's now defunct library information and program guide.
Volume 6, Issue 1, Winter/Spring 2001
ISSN 1203-1666
Foreign Films on Video at
the Library
Our Russian collection ranges from Eisenstein's groundbreaking silent Strike, to the very modern deadpan comedy, A Friend of the Deceased. |
By Christine Hall, Audio Visual, Stanley A. Milner Library Foreign films are an important part of the Edmonton Public Library's audio visual collection. Audio visual staff have developed a collection which represents the best of international film. Works by the great classic directors like Bergman, Satyajit Ray, Kurosawa, and Wajda are in our collections. As well, we offer films by newer directors such as Lars von Trier and Wong Kar-Wai, who are making waves at international film festivals. These films are not often shown on television and are not widely available at video rental stores. To take a trip around the world using your library card, start with China. Contrast the wacky operatics and meet the original Wu Tang clan of The Bride with White Hair with the stately dramas of Chen Kaige of Farewell My Concubine . Then try the very edgy (warning – sex! ! ) Wong Kar-Wai of Chungking Express or the very influential (warning – violence! ) John Woo of The Killer .Travel on to Japan and contrast the historical epics of Kurosawa, director of Ran and Seven Samurai, with the modern comedies of Juzo Itami, director of The Funeral . And don ’t forget to try out anime -animated films that are very far from the world of Disney. These films include a child ’s view of the horrors of war in the Grave of the Fireflies and a Tom Clancyesque submarine thriller, Silent Service .From Germany comes the most romantic of films;compare Wim Wender ’s Wings of Desire to the American remake, City of Angels . And no one does obsession better than Werner Herzog. Have a look at Fitzcarraldo , in which Klaus Kinski ’s attempt to bring opera to the heart of the Amazon involves hauling a large boat over a mountaintop.And then there ’s France -Godard ’s Breathless must be the quintessential "foreign" film, with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg epitomizing the concept of cool. Bertrand Tavernier, Eric Rohmer, Robert Bresson and Francois Truffaut are just a few of the other great French directors represented in our collection. Among the more recent films in our collection, try the swoony historical romance The Horseman on the Roof, or the adventurous candy-colored tale of a boy who wants to be a girl, in My Life in Pink .See Italy through the surreal and touching vision of the great Fellini, director of 8 1/2 and Roma , or kick back with a bowl of popcorn and Big Deal on Madonna Street , the grandfather of the lovable-losers-plan-a-heist genre. Make it an Italian double feature by adding the Oscar-winning movie about movies, Cinema Paradiso .Our Russian collection ranges from Eisenstein ’s groundbreaking silent Strike , to the very modern deadpan comedy, A Friend of the Deceased . Scandinavian offerings include classics from the durable Bergman, such as Fanny and Alexander and Wild Strawberries and the gritty murder under the midnight sun thriller, Insomnia (a Hollywood remake with Harrison Ford is rumored). Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry and Panahi's White Balloon show you an Iran you won ’t see on the nightly news. Be sure to find time for the Danish bad boys, Vinterberg's Celebration and von Trier's The Kingdom .Or take an unsentimental road trip with Brazil ’s 1998 Oscar nominee Central Station . Don ’t miss the controversial Indian docudrama Bandit Queen , or Kusturica ’s sprawling and picaresque Yugoslavian epic Underground, winner of the 1995 Cannes Palme d ’Or. Brace yourself for the mind-boggling cinematography of I Am Cuba and the adrenaline rush of Germany ’s Run Lola Run . So many countries, so many choices!Tired of Hollywood products and ready to see the world? Edmonton Public Library is the place to start! |