Classics

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Early Summer / 麦秋
(1951, Japan, 125 mins)
Dir. Yasujirō Ozu

The second film of Ozu's so-called Noriko trilogy, following Late Spring (1951) and preceding Tokyo Story (1953). More expansive than the previous film, it traces three generations of women in a clan and their changing roles and perspectives in postwar Japan.

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Fist of Fury
(1972, Hong Kong, 106 mins)
Dir. Lo Wei

Set in Shanghai during the early years of the 20th century, Bruce Lee plays Chen Zhen, a martial arts student who returns to his hometown only to discover that his master had been killed by Japanese colonialists. He immediately embarks on a mission to avenge the death and reunite the school (and, by extension, the Chinese nation) against the invading imperialists. A pioneering film of the 1970s-1980s kungfu movie craze.
USA access only. A VPN may help. A Chinese language version (with Chinese subtitles) can be found here.

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The Gardener / باغبان‎
(2012, UK/Israel, 82 mins)
Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf

A Makhmalbaf-style documentary about the Baháʼí faith filmmed mostly in the beautiful Baha'i gardens in Israel. Watch it also for the disagreements between the father and son filmmaking duo about how to make a compelling film. Since Iranians are not allowed to travel to Israel, the Iranian filmmaker(s) are in exile from their home country.

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The Lady Vanishes
(1938, USA, 97 mins)
Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

A brilliant whodunnit by the master of suspense before his Hollywood career. Vertigo has nothing on this film.

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Mirror / Зеркало
(1975, USSR, 101 mins)
Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

Tarkovsky made only 7 films during his life, all of which are considered masterpieces. This is his most challenging and autobiographical.
Blocked in USA; a VPN may help.

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Night of the Living Dead
(1968, USA, 96 mins)
Dir. George A. Romero

The cornerstone film of the modern zombie genre. How can a slow-zombies movie be this shocking?

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Onibaba
(1964, Japan, 102 mins)
Dir. Kaneto Shindo

Set in 14th-century Japan, two women struggle for survival against the harsh poverty of civil war by ambushing, stealing from, and murdering men. A historical horror classic.

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Santi-Vina / สันติ-วีณา
(1954, Thailand, 116 mins)
Dir. Marut (Thavi Na Bangchang)

A classic romance tale between the star-crossed lovers Santi, a blind boy, and Vina, an adventurous girl. Santi-Vina had an extremely high budget and was the first Thai film shot in 35mm color with synchronized sound. Considered lost for 60 years as the original reels were too damaged, the film was finally restored in 2016 after a 1,700-hour labour of love.

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Slacker
(1990, United States, 100 mins)
Dir. Richard Linklater

Filmed in and around Austin, Texas, Slacker records conversations-to-nowhere with an assemblage of under-30s misfits including a JFK conspiracy theorist, a UFO evangelist, a Madonna pap smear peddler. With a shoestring production budget (US$23,000), Slacker was a sleeper hit propelled by campus-style guerilla marketing. It ended up playing to sold-out screenings for eleven weeks and has, even thirty years later, remained a cult classic.

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Stalker / Сталкер
(1979, USSR, 155 mins)
Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

A man known only as Stalker guides visitors into a prohibited wilderness called the Zone. Although it was adapted from a science fiction novel—Roadside Picnic (1972) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky—under Tarkovsky’s direction Stalker more closely resembles a spiritual parable where the divine is found in ecological resurrection.
Blocked in USA; a VPN may help.

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Suspiria
(1977, Italy, 93 mins)
Dir. Dario Argento

A wide-eyed American girl enrols in the prestigious German ballet academy. Then, people turn up dead. A classic Italian giallo murder-mystery coated in German expressionist hues.
USA access only. A VPN may help.

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The Stepford Wives
(1975, USA, 114 mins)
Dir. Bryan Forbes

A family moves away from the city in pursuit of the American dream only to find that the perfect housewives in their new neighbourhood seem suspiciously subservient. Adapted from a 1972 satirical novel (and later remade in 2004 with Nicole Kidman), The Stepford Wives takes the patriarchal dream of idyllic domesticity and twists it into a suburban gothic nightmare.
USA access only. A VPN may help.

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