#640 – Faces, 1968, John Cassavetes
Middle-aged suburban husband Richard abruptly tells his wife, Maria, that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman, Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man. As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they’ve lost – love, excitement, passion – this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.
#641 – Chimes at Midnight, (Campanadas de medianoche), 1965, Orson Welles
The career of Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff as roistering companion to young Prince Hal, circa 1400-1413.
#642 – The Phantom Carriage, (Körkarlen), 1921, Victor Sjöström
It’s New Year’s Eve. Three drunkards evoke a legend. The legend tells that the last person to die in a year, if he is a great sinner, will have to drive during the whole year the Phantom Chariot, that picks up the souls of the dead.
#643 – Dancer in the Dark, 2000, Lars von Trier
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life’s troubles – even if just for a moment – by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
#644 – Black Swan, 2010, Darren Aronofsky
A journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#645 – The Young and the Damned, (Los olvidados), 1950, Luis Buñuel
A group of juvenile delinquents lives a criminal, violent life in the festering slums of Mexico City, among them the young Pedro, whose morality is gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.
#646 – Winter Light, (Nattvardsgästerna), 1963, Ingmar Bergman
A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.
#647 – Office Space, 1999, Mike Judge
Three office workers strike back at their evil employers by hatching a hapless attempt to embezzle money.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#648 – Ace in the Hole, 1951, Billy Wilder
A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control media circus.
#649 – The Crowd, 1928, King Vidor
John, an ambitious but undisciplined New York City office worker, meets and marries Mary. They start a family, struggle to cope with marital stress, financial setbacks, and tragedy, all while lost amid the anonymous, pitiless throngs of the big city.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 