#220 – Wild Strawberries, (Smultronstället), 1957, Ingmar Bergman
Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor’s own first love.
#221 – A Separation, (جدایی نادر از سیمین), 2011, Asghar Farhadi
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision – to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer’s disease.
#222 – Margaret, 2011, Kenneth Lonergan
A young woman witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people’s lives.
#223 – Your Name., (君の名は。), 2016, Makoto Shinkai
High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.
#224 – Contempt, (Le Mépris), 1963, Jean-Luc Godard
A philistine in the art film business, Jeremy Prokosch is a producer unhappy with the work of his director. Prokosch has hired Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of “The Odyssey,” but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb at the box office, he brings in a screenwriter to energize the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.
#225 – Samurai Rebellion, (上意討ち 拝領妻始末), 1967, Masaki Kobayashi
Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord’s mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, father and son take in the woman, and, to the family’s surprise, the young couple fall in love. But the lord soon reverses his decision and demands the mistress’s return. Against all expectations, Isaburo and his son refuse, risking the destruction of their entire family. Director Masaki Kobayashi’s Samurai Rebellion is the gripping story of a peaceful man who finally decides to take a stand against injustice.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#226 – Whiplash, 2014, Damien Chazelle
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
#227 – Street of Shame, (赤線地帯), 1956, Kenji Mizoguchi
The personal tales of various sex workers who occupy a Japanese brothel.
#228 – Full Metal Jacket, 1987, Stanley Kubrick
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
#229 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 1986, John Hughes
A high school slacker pretends to be sick to skip school and have an exciting day off alongside his girlfriend and his best buddy through Chicago, while trying to outwit his obsessive school principal and his unconformited sister along the way.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 