Eastern European Cinema
Again this category lumps a lot of countries together where the Alice collection is not large enough to warrant separate shelf-space for each country represented. Eastern European films are often categorised by a healthy black humour, an ability to look hardship in the eye and laugh - if somewhat bitterly at times. Included here are films from Poland, Austria, Yugoslavia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. To look for films from a specific country refer to the 'By Country' link on the left.
Vodka Lemon (2003)
6.8/10
Director: Hiner Saleem
Starring: Romen Avinian, Lala Sarkissian
Kurdish filmmaker Hiner Saleem earned critical comparisons to Fellini, Kusturica, Iosseliani, and Kaurismaki with this breakout comedy. A whimsical, f... Read more
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
8.3/10
Director: Bela Tarr
Starring: Hanna Schygulla, Lars Rudolph
Bela Tarr's gravely haunting, challenging existential meditation is set in a bleak and wintry Hungarian village which is visited by a distinctly odd t... Read more
When Father Was Away on Business (1985)
7.9/10
Director: Emir Kusturica
Starring: Moreno D'e Bartolli, Miki Manojlovic
Celebrated Balkan filmmaker Emir Kusturica won his first Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's highest honour, for this exuberant portrait of 1950s Y... Read more
WR - Mysteries Of The Organism (1971)
6.9/10
Director: Dusan Makavejev
Starring: Milena Dravic, Jagoda Kaloper, Tuli Kupferberg
WR is Dr Wilhelm Reich, eulogized here in the documentary section as one who advocated orgasm as a means of releasing inhibition, includes such bizarr... Read more
Zelary (2003)
7.7/10
Director: Ondrej Trojan
Starring: Ana Geislerova, Gyorgy Cserhalmi, Ivan Trojan, Miroslav Donutil
Based on Kveta Legatova's novella about Eliska (Ana Geislerova) a nurse involved in the Czech resistance movement in Prague. When forced to flee into... Read more