#600 – Diabolique, (Les Diaboliques), 1955, Henri-Georges Clouzot
The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo – his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle’s corpse mysteriously disappears.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#601 – Germany Year Zero, (Germania anno zero), 1948, Roberto Rossellini
The final film in Rossellini’s war film trilogy (the first two being Rome, Open City and Paisà). Germany Year Zero takes place in post-war Germany, unlike the others, which take place in German-occupied Rome and post-war Italy, respectively. The story follows a twelve-year-old boy, Edmund Kohler, who is mainly left to his own devices in order to survive and to help his family do the same.
#602 – Zodiac, 2007, David Fincher
The true story of the investigation of the “Zodiac Killer”, a serial killer who terrified the San Francisco Bay Area, taunting police with his ciphers and letters. The case becomes an obsession for three men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#603 – Miller’s Crossing, 1990, Joel Coen
Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#604 – Berlin Alexanderplatz, 1980, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Berlin Alexanderplatz, originally broadcast in 1980, is a 14-part television film adapted and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder from the Alfred Döblin novel of the same name, and stars Günter Lamprecht, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa, Elisabeth Trissenaar and Gottfried John. The complete film is 15½ hours long.
#605 – Before Sunrise, 1995, Richard Linklater
On his way to Vienna, American Jesse meets Céline, a student returning to Paris. After long conversations forge a surprising connection between them, Jesse convinces Celine to get off the train with him in Vienna. Since his flight to the U.S. departs the next morning and he has no money for lodging, they wander the city together, taking in the experiences of Vienna and each other.
#606 – Johnny Guitar, 1954, Nicholas Ray
On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin’ Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna’s establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man’s death, Emma Small, Vienna’s rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna’s saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.
#607 – Distant Voices, Still Lives, 1988, Terence Davies
The second film in Terence Davies’s autobiographical series (along with “Trilogy” and “The Long Day Closes”) is an impressionistic view of a working-class family in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool, based on Davies’s own family. Through a series of exquisite tableaux Davies creates a deeply affecting photo album of a troubled family wrestling with the complexity of love.
#608 – McCabe & Mrs. Miller, 1971, Robert Altman
A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.
#609 – Anatomy of a Murder, 1959, Otto Preminger
The film pits a humble small-town lawyer against a hard-headed big city prosecutor. Emotions flare as a jealous army lieutenant pleads innocent to murdering the rapist of his seductive, beautiful wife.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 