Framed in a wreath of roses we see a lithe Creek dancer, who sways and postures before an epicurean party of ancients, followed by a laurel wreath and encircling a scene showing school children of 1830 receiving their marks of diligence at a distribution of rewards: then the wreath of bay tendered by the Human Senators to Caesar on the culmination of his career; now a beggar receives a loaf called a "crown" from a charitable passerby: Christ is shown crowned with thorns by the rabble; following the divine drama we see the old comedian's wreath presented him at a performance. The next view shows the Emperor Charlemagne crowning his son Lewis. The film closes with the wreath of orange blossoms encircling a bridal party.
In pursuit of the notorious thief “Subashiri no Kumagoro,” the Arson and Theft Investigation Squad corners him. Seizo, who has been actively working as their agent is killed by Kumagoro. Amidst the chaos, Kumagoro manages to escape from the squad. Four years later, Seizo’s widow, Onobu, is raising her young son, Yusomatsu, single-handedly while running a small tea shop. One day, she helps a traveling merchant named Shintaro, who collapses from a sudden illness in front of her shop. The two soon fall in love and promise to start a family together. Shintaro leaves on a business trip and promises to return in a few days. Right after his departure, Onobu is shocked to see a wanted poster delivered by the Arson and Theft Investigation Squad… Kumagoro’s face on the poster is the spitting image of Shintaro.
In 1900, the eyes of the whole world are on Paris. The World's Fair welcomed 50 million amazed visitors, and the city celebrated itself in a glamorous era. This period went down in history as the "Belle Époque." Elaborately restored and colorized historical photographs bring to life the exciting life in Paris between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of World War I in 1914. Bicycles, cars, airplanes, moving pictures, newly founded film studios, revolutionary composers and painters, avant-garde ballet performances, fashion houses, summer resorts on the Atlantic coast – life was intoxicating. People celebrate in the variety shows, cabarets, and revue theaters of Paris. Moulin Rouge, Folies Bergères, Bal Tabarin—in Paris, the nights are long and life is too short to sleep through. It is a dance on the volcano, given the political developments in the world.
Jack Adler is a dreamer. He feels that soulless poetry recitation is an injustice to the meaning between the lines, and he hungers for connection with others who cherish the truth of storytelling as much as he does. When Jack stumbles upon an artistic safe haven, he learns he may not be so alone after all.
Lillian Hall, a Broadway actress, has never missed a performance throughout her long, illustrious career. Yet in rehearsals for a new play her confidence is challenged. People and events conspire to take away her ability to do what she loves most.
Jasmin, once a successful actor in former Yugoslavia, dreams of returning to Sarajevo to continue his career, but fears losing his son Daniel if he follows through with his plan.
In 1868, after the fall of the Shogun-dominated Japan, the new government orders people from Awaji, near Kobe, to re-locate to the northern part of Hokkaido. These people once supported the now displaced Samurais of the older days. After two years, over 500 of them settled in their new land under the leadership of Hideaki, husband of Shino. However, as crops fail he is to go to Sapporo to learn new techniques of farming, leaving his wife and daughter for 5 years. All this time, the new community is constantly watched by the government which choose to again uproot them from their new homes.
It is Christmastime, 1914, and World War I rages. A young French soldier named Pierre who had quietly left his regiment to visit his family for two days is imprisoned when he returns.
Two of the most radical student groups form the United Red Army (URA) and head into the mountains to conduct a training camp. Ideology devolves into despotism, and the URA's leaders begin to arbitrarily persecute their followers, a harrowing ordeal that culminates in violence and murder.
José Ferrer and Horst Buchholz star in this fictionalised account of events leading up to the assassination of Indian spiritual leader and independence campaigner Mahatma Gandhi.
A chronicle of the life of Yasui Santetsu, a 17th century master of go who turned his attention to astronomy and created a new calendar for Japan. Based on the life of Santetsu Yasui (December 27, 1639-November 1, 1715), appointed as the first official astronomer in the Edo Period and would go on to create the Jokyo calendar at the imperial request.
The story of how Norma Jeane Mortenson became Marilyn Monroe (1926-62), a lucid path of self-discovery, from anonymity to stardom: the painful birth of a myth.
Such changes took place in Poland over a period of several months - from the end of 1988 to the end of January 1990? Michał Bielawski, through the prism of official and underground archives, shows the then state of mind of Poles, their fears, hopes and reflections. Film materials from the 1988-1990 period are in harmony with the photographs and diaries written by Poles at that time, as well as with the messages about the changes taking place. We observe the most important political, social and moral events of that period, confronted or reinforced by the comments of their active observers: ordinary people, politicians of the government camp and oppositionists.
Detective Kien investigates a headless body found in a rural Vietnamese village during the Nguyen Dynasty. As supernatural elements emerge, he faces chilling twists in this 19th-century mystery.
When 17-year-old Effi Briest marries the elderly Baron von Instetten, she moves to a small, isolated Baltic town and a house that she fears is haunted. Starved for companionship, Effi begins a friendship with Major Crampas, a charismatic womanizer.
In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…
French Basque Country, year 1609. The men of a small fishing village have gone to sea. Judge Rostegui, who has been charged by the king with ridding the country of the devil's wiles, arrests Ana and her friends and accuses them of witchcraft.