#150 – Inglourious Basterds, 2009, Quentin Tarantino
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as “The Basterds” are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#151 – Joint Security Area, (공동경비구역 JSA), 2000, Park Chan-wook
In the DMZ separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier. But the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 remaining bullets in the assassin’s magazine clip, amount to 16 bullets for a gun that should normally hold 15 bullets. The investigating Swiss/Swedish team from the neutral countries overseeing the DMZ suspects that another, unknown party was involved – all of which points to some sort of cover up. The truth is much simpler and much more tragic.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#152 – The Power of Kangwon Province, (강원도의 힘), 1998, Hong Sang-soo
Recently separated lovers have a series of close encounters at a popular mountain retreat.
#153 – Lady Bird, 2017, Greta Gerwig
A California high school student plans to escape from her family and small town by going to college in New York, much to the disapproval of wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mother.
#154 – Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, (복수는 나의 것), 2002, Park Chan-wook
This is the story of Ryu, a deaf man, and his sister, who requires a kidney transplant. Ryu’s boss, Park, has just laid him off, and in order to afford the transplant, Ryu and his girlfriend develop a plan to kidnap Park’s daughter. Things go horribly wrong, and the situation spirals rapidly into a cycle of violence and revenge.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#155 – The Face of Another, (他人の顔), 1966, Hiroshi Teshigahara
A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#156 – Nosferatu, (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens), 1922, F.W. Murnau
Vampire Count Orlok is interested in a new residence and in his real estate agent’s young wife. F. W. Murnau’s unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”
#157 – Le Trou, 1960, Jacques Becker
Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.
#158 – Beauty and the Beast, (La belle et la bête), 1946, Jean Cocteau
The story of a gentle-hearted beast in love with a simple and beautiful girl. She is drawn to the repellent but strangely fascinating Beast, who tests her fidelity by giving her a key, telling her that if she doesn’t return it to him by a specific time, he will die of grief. She is unable to return the key on time, but it is revealed that the Beast is the genuinely handsome one. A simple tale of tragic love that turns into a surreal vision of death, desire, and beauty.
#159 – The Battle of Algiers, (La battaglia di Algeri), 1966, Gillo Pontecorvo
Tracing the struggle of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale to gain freedom from French colonial rule as seen through the eyes of Ali from his start as a petty thief to his rise to prominence in the organisation and capture by the French in 1957. The film traces the rebels’ struggle and the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government to quell the revolt.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 