Enigmatic and quiet by design, this formally-rigourous work brings Schanelec’s brand of austere cinema to its logical extreme as she once again explores human relationships in existential flux.
Murnau takes Moliere’s famous 17th-century play and transforms it into a silent film-within-a-silent film in this moderately-engaging work.
One of Murnau’s most treasured silent works, this tale of an old man who loses his dignity due to an unexpected work demotion is one for the ages.
Schanelec skilfully captures the ebb and flow of conversations between family, friends and lovers in this slow-moving drama about a woman’s discontentment.
Schanelec’s film here works like an outdoorsy chamber piece, based on Chekhov’s “The Seagull”, and shot with the kind of abstract and fluid ambiguity that has characterised most of her fascinating output.
A German woman temporarily moves from Berlin to Marseille in this enigmatic work by a unique filmmaker largely in tune with the unfathomable ennui of her characters.
Part of the massive if controversial ‘DAU’ project, this entry is backed by bold performances by its two actresses even if the film doesn’t quite achieve true power through provocation.
Straub and Huillet take ancient Sophocles’ famous Greek tragedy, as interpreted by Brecht, and give it an austere ‘filmed theatre’ treatment that is minimalist, esoteric and occasionally forceful.
An unconventional if masterful portrait of a German family in existential crisis, executed in as challenging and philosophical a style as any that works like a contemporary tone poem.
One of Polanski’s finest post-2000s efforts – this is a first-rate old-school mystery-thriller that sees the master filmmaker at the top of his game.
