July 7, 1996

The Ebola Syndrome (1996) ***

Deep Crimson (1996) ***

Viva Erotica (1996) ***

Zero Woman: Assassin Lovers (1996) ***

Swallowtail Butterfly (1996) ***

Nic smiesznego (1996) ***

Quem matou Pixote ? (1996) **

Tragic story of Fernando da Silva, a young Brazilian actor, who first played the title role of a delinquant in "Pixote" (1981), but then became a juvenile delinquant himself and died tragically while still a teenager.

Prisoner Of The Mountains (1996) **

Two Russian soldiers are captured by Chechen rebels.

Pokuszenie (1996) **

In Poland under Stalin, a young nun is forced to cooperate with the secret police by spying on a bishop.

Poisson tropical (1996) **

Two young boys are kidnapped in this amusing comedy from Taiwan.

Okaeri (1996) **

Japanese film about a young woman suffering from schizophrenia.

Ninfa Plebea (1996) **

The daughter of a prostitute finds love and happiness.

Scorpio Nights 2 (1996) ***

Parade Parade (1996) ***

Gonin 2 (1996) ***

Fudoh (1996) ***

Beyond The Clouds (1996) ***

Eva Peron (1996) **

Serious film about the famous First Lady of Argentina and her husband.

Adosados (1996) **

One lie leads to a nightmare in this Spanish drama. Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Montreal Film Festival.

Dr Wai In The Scripture With No Words (1996) **

A brechtian and modernist film from Hong Kong that uses story-within-a-story format.

Cwal (1996) **

Autobiograficzny film Krzysztofa Zanussiego, opisujacy jego dziecinstwo w czasach stalinowskich.

A Chef In Love (1996) **

A French chef falls in love with Georgia and a Georgian princess in the 1920's. There are some lovely close-ups of culinary delights, but the film is mostly concerned with politics. Once again, evil Bolsheviks ruin everything for everybody.

Krzysztof Kieslowski - I'M So So (1996) **

The portrait of the famous Polish filmmaker.

Kolya (1996) **

Czech film about an older man who takes care of a little Russian boy while his mother defected to the West.

Pulkownik Kwiatkowski (1996) ***

Shaman (1996) ***

Szamanka (1996) ***

God Of Gamblers: The Early Stage (1996) **

A prequel to the earlier films.

God Of Cookery (1996) **

Stephen Chow's clowning can get on one's nerves sometimes, but there are some fine moments in this Hong Kong comedy about a great culinary battle.

Forbidden City Cop (1996) *

A typical Stephen Chow's farce.

Farewell My Darling (1996) *

A wacky funeral in South Korea.

Les Lumiere de Berlin (1996) **

Wim Wenders' tribute to Max, Emil and Eugen Skladanowsky, the inventors of Bioskop.

Mahjong (1996) **

Taiwanese drama directed by Edward Yang. With Virginie Ledoyen.

Peach Blossom (1996) *

Chinese film about a mistress of a nobleman who falls in love with a singer.

La Ola (1996) *

A boy and a girl are wandering around Havana.

My Name Is Adam (1996) *

Pretentious Romanian film about a musician interrogated by the authorities.

Madagascar (1996) *

Cuban film about a woman and her daughter.

La Lupa (1996) *

Embarassingly bad Italian film about a horny mother-in-law lusting after her daughter's husband.

Luna et l'altra (1996) *

Maurizio Nichetti's comedy about a mousy woman and her more provocative shadow. Good idea, tediously executed.

Love Me And You'll See (1996) *

Cuban film about bank robbers.

Kolonel Bunker (1996) *

The communist regime in Albania is denounced in this somber film.

A Journey Through The Dark Side (1996) *

Croatian film about a chance meeting of three people.

Hamsun (1996) *

The life of the famous Norvegian writer, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

Gracze (1996) *

Film Ryszarda Bugajskiego, ktorego akcja rozgrywa sie podczas kampanii prezydenckiej w 1990 roku.

Gamera 2 (1996) *

In the age of "Jurassic Park", those Japanese monsters are just plain pathetic.

Father Son And The Holy War (1996) *

Documentary film about religious conflicts in India.

Faire un film pour moi c'est vivre (1996) *

A documentary about the filming of Antonioni's "Beyond The Clouds".

A Drop In The Ocean (1996) *

Greek film about a beautiful actress and her lover.

Deborah (1996) *

Polish film about love, infidelity and the Holocaust.

Dark Secret (1996) *

German film about two physicians accused of rape.

Bad Seed (1996) *

Danish film about juvenile delinquants.

Awantura o Basie (1996) *

Adaptacja powiesci Kornela Makuszynskiego.

Wielki tydzien (1996) *

Mloda Zydowka ukrywa sie przed Gestapo podczas powstania w getcie warszawskim.

Velvet Gloves (1996) **

Directed by Billy Chan. With Jade Leung and Farini Cheung. A Chinese "G.I.Jane".

A True Story (1996) **

An Iranian film director is looking for a young boy to play in his movie. Originally planned as a work of fiction, it ultimately became a cinéma-verité documentary.

Un Tramway a Moscou (1996) **

A fascinating portrait of the Russian society in 1990's.

Tesis (1996) **

Two young students find a videotape with a recording of a real-life torture and murder. A suspense thriller from Spain.

Tato (1996) **

"Bez znieczulenia" (1978) meets "Kramer vs Kramer" (1979).

Tai Chi 2 (1996) **

Fine martial arts film "dealing", among other things, with opium trade. Directed by Yuen Woo-Ping.

Sto lat w kinie (1996) **

Film dokumentalny o polskich filmach i ich wielbicielach.

Stille Nacht (1996) **

A young woman is torn between two men.

Jaya Ganga (1996) *

A young man travels along the Ganges.

Jeunesse sans dieu (1996) *

La jeunesse allemande en 1938.

Mexico (1996) *

A very ordinary travelogue, made in the IMAX format.

The Phantom Lover (1996) *

Directed by Ronnie Yu. With Leslie Cheung and Wu Chien-Lien. Sad melodrama about true love.

Revisor (1996) *

This adaptation of Gogol's play starts well, but soon becomes much too burlesque for its own good.

Sleeping Man (1996) *

Very slow-moving film from Japan. There is pratically no narrative.

The Sun Has Ears (1996) *

In 1920's China, a peasant woman becomes a mistress of a bandit-soldier.

Sexy Sadie (1996) **

Modernist German film about a murderer suffering from a brain tumor.

Score (1996) **

A Japanese "Reservoir Dogs", very violent.

Satan Returns (1996) **

A martial arts/horror movie from Hong Kong. The Devil is searching for his daughter. Nice ending.

Saint Clara (1996) **

Israeli film about school children cheating on exams.

Struggle For Hope (1996) *

Boring film about a kabuki actor.

Super Atragon. Part II (1996) *

A Japanimation feature with impressive sea battles. Directed by Mitsuo Fukuda.

Temptress Moon (1996) *

Like all the other Chen Kaige's films, it's a pretentious melodrama.

The Trap (1996) *

A campy and bizarre thriller from Japan.

Women (1996) *

When a man has two wives, there is bound to be trouble. An Israeli film set in Jerusalem in the late 19th century.

Beyond Hypothermia (1996) **

Stylish film about a female assassin.

Seven Servants (1996) *

Weird German film starring Anthony Quinn.

Punk Lawyer (1996) *

An alcoholic lawyer has troubles with cops.

Party (1996) *

Boring Portugese film consisting of endless conversations.

Gentle Into The Night (1996) *

Italian film about a private detective and a screwy old lady.

Les Affinites electives (1996) *

Tragic story of four people. Italian drama directed by the Taviamio Brothers.