Recommend a rare film

[Gautam]

'Ello Pavlinoids!

As an obsessive cinema enthusiast, I thought this forum needed a thread about cinema. So here it is, do you know a rare and beautiful film that you think everyone must watch? Let us know, give as much detail as possible, give a link, leave a review- anything!

To start things up, here's my contribution:


THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER
UK/ 1962/ B&W/ 100 min
Director: Tony Richardson
Writer: Alan Sillitoe
Cinematographer: Walter Lassally

Made during the British New-Wave scene, 'Loneliness' is a thought-provoking film about a disoriented youth and the story of his time spent at a Borstel. Tom Courteny delivers a brilliant debut-performance as the angry-young Colin Smith, whose skinny build and caustic attitude towards the society have the story's steering-wheel throughout the entire 100 minutes of the film. Colin, still having trouble adjusting to the harsh life at the borstel finds a welcome relief as a powerful long distance runner, competing for the grand prize at the sports day. Living paralelly between his long training sessions and flashbacks of his journey to the borstel, Colin finds himself in a continous search to find and do the right thing.

Tony Richardson follows up his masterpiece 'A Taste of Honey' with 'Loneliness', once again shot entirely on location, on a relatively low budget. This film is also Alan Sillitoe's second time as the writer adapting his own material- the previous being Karel Reisz's 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'. Walter Lassally re-unites with Richardson to provide the inspiring black and white cinematography for 'Lonelines'.

Available on DVD through BFI.

[Angela]

"This is a gangster film with lively, exaggerated characters, excentric men and resolute women, a weird plot and many visual gags. Kusturica shows the gypsies' life-style again in his last movie, with less depth and power than in „Underground`, but with more ribald humour. Ugly and not too intelligent people (without exception!) chase and kill each other and their animals through a nice-looking landscape in the Balcans, listening to modern but also traditional gypsy music; loud, sometimes too loud, but original and in love with life. It's refreshing to see a convincing gangster movie without people in black suits and sun-glasses."

[Gautam]

Great post Angela! Kusturica is one of my all-time favorites, unforunately I cannot find 'Black Cat, White Cat" on DVD in my country. 'Arizona Dream' is also one of my favorite Kusturica films.

[Blueskied]

Black Cat, White Cat runs on television here every now and then. Got to check it out the next time.

My favorites:
1. Suspiria (by Dario Argento)
Maybe the most beautifully filmed movie i know.
Not recommended if you are allergic to graphic violence (horror movie).
YouTube - Suspiria video

2. El Topo (by Alejandro Jodorowsky)
Surrealism avantgarde meets western meets religion.
YouTube - El Topo & Holy Mountain

[Tuumble]

'Duel' - Steven Spielberg's first feature (I think)

I don't whether you'd consider this a rare film but you don't hear that much about it.

It's the story about a businessman driving across country to a meeting and gets into battle of wills with the unseen driver of a petrol tanker. Great stuff.

Read about it here.

[openeyes]

"Baraka is an incredible journey through 6 continents, 24 countries. Painstakingly shot on Todd AO-70mm film. Baraka has no plot, contains no actors and has no script. Baraka is a collection of high quality images, presented in a moving and compelling manner. Created by Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, with music from Michael Stearns and others.

Baraka is an ancient Sufi word, which can be translated as "a blessing, or as the breath, or essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds." For many people Baraka is the definitive film in this style. Breathtaking shots from around the world show the beauty and destruction of nature and humans."

Baraka - a film by Ron Fricke, Mark Magidson, music by Michael Stearns, shot on 70mm film, contains time-lapse

Check it out on netflix. The whole thing used to be available on google video, but it's worth seeing on DVD for the visual quality.

[safiya]

Great thread!

Yes I loved 'Dual' as well - he's in one of the scenes isn't he, an arm or hand in the background apparently. Get shivers thinking about that movie...is a bit like "Misery" on wheels.

I love the poignant 'Babette's Feast' and "The Shipping News".

Cheers

Saffy

[sept]

Check out Young Adam w/ Ewan McGregor in the lead. He's described as 'an amoral drifter mixed up in murder.'

Very moody with a great score by David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. Although, it sounds nothing like Talking Heads' music.

[carenkh]

The Safety of Objects has stayed with me since I saw it... there's something about that movie, can't quite put into words.

IMDB - Safety of Objects

I don't know if it counts as rare... I hadn't heard of it 'til I saw it at a friend's a couple of years ago.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Christopher Nolan's masterful Following. It's a very obscure film, but was made right before he did Memento.

[Engle]

The Vanishing
The Big Blue
The Bicycle Thief

[WanderingOak]

At Play In the Fields of the Lord- American missionaries in South America create havoc through their interaction with indigenous tribes. Extremely beautiful and moving, but saddening at the end.

Jesus of Montreal- French Canadian subtitled in English. Theatrical performance troupe in Montreal puts on a Passion Play. Actor portraying Jesus winds up paralleling Biblical Jesus, including miracles.

Wicker Man (the original, avoid Nicholas Cage remake like the plague). A Scottish policeman investigates a missing child on a remote island.

[NickW]

A Matter of Life and Death
[aka "Stairway to Heaven"]
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

A review:
Stairway To Heaven (A Matter Of Life And Death) :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews

Amazon:
Amazon.com: A Matter of Life and Death (AKA Stairway to Heaven): David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote, Kathleen Byron, Richard Attenborough, Bonar Colleano, Joan Maude, Marius Goring, Roger Livesey, Robert Atkins, Bob Roberts, Edwin Max, Betty Potte

[Xanafax]

It's not really rare but I like Night Watch.

[avaj]

Lieksa, Lieksa! (2007)
Finnish movie, a bit weird but with a Nightwish soundtrack that stays with you. "While your lips are still red", yay. gotta go listen to it again now.

[StacyT]

Schultze - awesome movie!!

[Excellent Lodestar]

Originally Posted by StacyT

Schultze - awesome movie!!

Yeah! Schultz Rocked!

I submit "The Red Violin"

[Marce]

The valley of light
I enjoyed it
Its about simple things but with underlying complexities
life, death, war, love, forgiveness and fishing

[Craig]

Anything by Terry Gilliam, since he's a rare filmmaker.

[Craig]

Sita Sings The Blues, which you can watch online right now, for free.

Roger Ebert's review.

[Deergirl]

Originally Posted by Craig

Sita Sings The Blues, which you can watch online right now, for free.

Cool! I wanted to see that movie at a local animation festival, but I was too late to get a ticket. Thanks for sharing.

Mine is quite a recent movie and I think it's pretty know, but it's so beautiful: The Fall

[Andrew Brunelle]

The only rare movie I could think of recommending is Following, directed by a very young Christopher Nolan. IT is one of the lowest budget films ever made, but is very interesting and very creative. It's about this man who is a newspaper reporter who starts following people to their homes. He meets up with this criminal who likes to break into people's homes and starts stealing stuff for fun. The ending is really out there, believe me. The twists and turns are great.

Also, for another rare, but mainstream film that is pretty "out there," but still very entertaining, see Punch-Drunk Love. Adam Sandler takes on a serious role. Many people have heard of this film, but I hadn't until I saw it in a Blockbuster video.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Engle

The Big Blue

I 2nd this.

[Anagogy]

YouTube - Let the Right One In Official HD Trailer