Arthouse

Arthouse Drama

A Thousand and One Hands (Les mille et une mains) / 1973 / French

FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Souheil Ben-Barka
Why FiC recommends?
1)  The story in Souheil Ben-Barka’s debut is all knitted around an insane old man who goes from a Kafkaesque absurdity to the next social humiliation. It is absurd, but it is only the beginning of the almost surreal, but unfortunately all too realistic questioning the cultural hybridity.
2)  I’d recommend this for fans of Souleymane Cisse’s Baara, Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s Gabbeh, Yimou Zhang’s Ju DOU, Carlos Mayolo and Luis Ospina’s The Vampires of Poverty.

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  • June 28, 2020
Arthouse Chinese Drama

Still Life/2006/China

FiC Rating 5/5
Dir: Jia Zhangke
Why FiC Recommends?
1) Still Life is an intimate rumination about existential malaise, a poignant illustration of personal distress and widespread anxiety and also an arduous quest against the tide of time.
2) The prestigious Golden Lion Winner epitomizes China’s shift from socialism to state capitalism while retaining the state’s sovereignty over decision making.
3) The intense alienation amidst a rapid transmuting topography of China is another leitmotif in Zhangke’s works, identically the touching depiction of urban alienation is a notable aspect in Still Life that keeps one at the edge of a nervous breakdown.

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  • June 23, 2020
Arthouse Crime Dark Comedy Japanese

Monday/ 2000/ Japanese

FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: SABU
Why FiC recommends?
1) The film is mix of Yakuza thriller and black comedy, which is also the most rounded film by SABU (Blessing Bell, Hard Luck Hero, Postman Blues, Mr. Long), genius of Japanese mutant cinema.
2) At a funeral, the man in the coffin turns out to have an active pacemaker, which leads to very unpredictable and surreal results. A journey between busted journeys so crazy and surreal as to border on the dreamlike in which reality and fantasy meets. The scenes are of breath-taking visual beauty, well thought out and backed up with the appropriate music.

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  • June 13, 2020
Arthouse Experimental Shortfilm

Vakratunda Swaha / 2010 / Bengali

FiC Rating: 3.5/5
Dir: Ashish Avikunthak
Why FiC recommends?
1) Ashish Avikunthak “Vakratunda Swaha” is without question one of the best short films i’ve seen. If you’re not a fan or audience of Avikunthak’s work then I’d probably recommend that you start with this short. 
2)  A must watch for the fans of Arthouse or Experimental films.

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  • May 30, 2020
Arthouse Horror

Combat Shock / 1984 / English

FiC Rating: 3.5/5
Dir: Buddy Giovinazzo
Setting: Suburban/Small-town

Why FiC recommends?
1) Buddy Giovinazzo’s Combat Shock, an unsettling cross between Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant (1992) and David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977) as far from the tone of your typical Troma movie in the offering. 
2)  It’s a must watch for fans of the genre, a lo-fi borderline horror film with a mutant baby that tops even the baby in Eraserhead for sheer creepiness.

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  • May 14, 2020
Arthouse Documentary Horror Spanish

Cuadecuc, vampir / 1971 / English / Spanish

FiC Rating: 4.5/5
Dir: Pere Portabella

Why FiC recommends?
1) Cuadecuc, Vampir feels a lot like an ancestor of E. Elias Merhige’s Begotten (1990), blurring the worlds of horror and the Avant-garde.

2) ‘Cuadecuc, vampir’ is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Not only does it show how ‘The Count Dracula’ by Jesús Franco was made, but it hypnotizes, like you have landed yourself on the set and forces you to take advantage of it. It is also one of the favourite films of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin. 

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  • May 14, 2020
Adventure Arthouse Comedy Dark Comedy European Experimental Fantasy

Pepperminta / 2009 / German

FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Pipilotti Rist
Setting: Universe

Why FiC recommends?
1) A Surreal Adult Fairy Tale! Blends Pippi Longstocking with Daisies!
2) Pepperminta is like a cross between characters from films such as Poppy from Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Liegh), Maries from Daisies (Vera Chytilová), Eunince from Butterfly Kiss (Michael Winterbottom), Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) and Honey Whitlock from Cecil B Demented (John Waters). It is beautiful, dark, bizarre, and dreamy film! My favorite place to be!

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  • May 14, 2020
Arthouse Canadian Horror Indie

Subconscious Cruelty /2000 / English

FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Karim Hussain

Why FiC recommends?
1) Breath-taking from start to finish, creators Karim Hussain and Mitch Davis Arthouse Horror anthology ‘Subconscious Cruelty’ is an experience which, of course, will not be supported by many people, but which, and that was the goal, turns out to be honest, generous and of extreme quality.
2) Subconscious Cruelty” stomps its boot on the throat of representability, pushing the envelope of the New Extremism further than almost any other film, and opening a whole new can of worms when it comes to the uses and abuses of extreme content.

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  • May 11, 2020
Arthouse Crime Mystery Romance

Labyrinth of Dreams (Yume no ginga)/ 1997 / Japanese

FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Sogo Ishii
Setting: Suburban/Small-town

Why FiC recommends?
1) The Labyrinth of Dreams is a very unusual film and a new phase in Sogo Ishii’s work, Inspired by a short story by Yumen Kyusaku , the experimental psychological-romantic/mystery as the title suggests, lulls you into a state similar to a paralyzing dream.

2) Deeply poignant film, depressing but beautiful!

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  • May 11, 2020
Arthouse Drama South-East Asian

Scent of Green Papaya/1993/Vietnam

FiC Rating: 5/5
Dir: Tran Anh Hung
Setting: Rural
Why FiC recommends?

1) An exuberant portrait of a tranquil Vietnam, The Scent of Green Papaya consolidates mundanity with ripening to unwrap the spiritual practice within the chores.
2) The unobtrusive idiosyncrasy while tracing the imperceptible bridge of love and spirituality is one of the most iconic traits of Tran Anh Hung, his artistic embellishments never clash with naturalism; thus the unhurried unfolding of romance bears a recurring wave of desire.

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  • May 10, 2020
Arthouse Horror Sci-Fi Thriller

Decoder/1984/Gemran

FiC Rating: 4.5/5
Dir: Muscha

Why FiC recommends?
Muscha’s Decoder is sort of Zeitgeist of the Berlin 1980s counterculture, a criminally under-seen masterpiece of German weirdness, before the Internet and cyber warfare shot

2)  It should be considered required watching for anyone who love Shinya Tsukamoto’s classic cyberpunks, Sogo Ishii’s Electric Dragon 80.000 V and films such as They Live, Vortex (1982) and Liquid Sky. The film is battered in 80s industrial/electronica culture by intense soundtrack from the likes of Einsturzende Neubauten, Soft Cell, The The, and Psychic Tv.

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  • May 9, 2020
Arthouse Drama Indian Sub-con.

4:30/2005/ Mandarin

FiC Rating: 3.5/5
Dir: Royston Tan
Setting: Urban

Why FiC recommends?
1) This is essential for those art films lovers and for the fans of Royston Tan it’s a much-watch.

2) 4:30 is an unexpectedly calm dreamlike film for its aesthetic that details the unlikely friendship / relationship between Zhang Xiao Wu, an eleven year old Chinese Boy, and his tenant Jung, a thirty-something Korean man.

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  • May 9, 2020
Arthouse Crime Indian Films

Moothon/2019/Malayalam

FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Geetu Mohandas

Why FiC recommends?
Moothon (The Elder One) serves its social purpose in the Indian society and beyond like no other. 10 minutes into this movie you start worrying about the little kid in the film, and two hours later you realize it hasn’t let up one bit in intensity.

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  • May 2, 2020
Arthouse Drama Horror

Nadja (1994)

FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Michael Almereyda

Why FiC recommends?
1) Produced by David Lynch

2) Think Guy Maddin, Jim Jarmusch, and Hal Hartley meets David Lynch- deadpan noir-ish ode to Vampire films shot in PixelVision with possible Lynchiest cameo ever as a Morgue Attendant. It also features songs from My Bloody Valentine, Portishead, The Verve on the soundtrack.

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  • April 27, 2020
Arthouse Canadian Crime Mystery Sci-Fi

Possible Worlds (2000)

FiC Rating: 4.5/5
Dir: Robert Lepage

Why FiC recommends?
1) This one’s an example of ingenious film-making that inscribe brains over spectacle with some captivating and strong performances.

2) A must see for the artistic value to this unique Sci-fi that uses the visual narrative and some mind-bending cinematography.

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  • April 26, 2020