Kisbye's 500<400 - 2016 edition
Every September, members of the Unofficial iCheckMovies Forum vote for the top 500 films with fewer than 400 checks on iCM (at the time of voting). Films released in the current or previous year are ineligible.
This is my contribution.
More info: http://s15.zetaboards.com/iCheckMovies/topic/8540540
This is my contribution.
More info: http://s15.zetaboards.com/iCheckMovies/topic/8540540
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- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsDaniel OlbrychskiWojciech PszoniakAndrzej SewerynThree friends hope to build a factory but their plans are quickly jeopardized by local politics and one of the partner's dangerous love affair.
- DirectorStanislaw RózewiczStarsHenryk HryniewiczBeata BarszczewskaAndrzej BanaszewskiThree episodes dealing with the harsh situation of children at the time of war. They stay at orphanages, wait for their parents to come back, help the soldiers, hide in the forests and do their best to survive.
- DirectorKarel KachynaStarsIva JanzurováJaromír HanzlíkLudek MunzarA WW2 story of a young Austrian soldier running from the Russian army and a woman whom he forces to come along in order to save his wounded mate.
- DirectorSergiu NicolaescuStarsAmza PelleaIon BesoiuOlga TudoracheAt the end of the 16th century Wallachian ruler Prince Michael the Brave overcame the adversity of the Ottoman and Austrian Empires to unite Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania into one country.
- DirectorKonstantin LopushanskiyStarsGregory HladyLeonid MozgovoyAleksey KortnevThe writer is invited to the town of Tashlinsk by the mutants who emerged after an unnatural and constant rain causing the evacuation of the city, and by the children who are studying the unearthly knowledge of mutants.
- DirectorRyszard BugajskiStarsKrystyna JandaAdam FerencyJanusz GajosTonia goes out drinking. She wakes up in prison, not having a clue why she's there. She is tortured to encourage her to confess to a crime she is not aware of.
- DirectorEdvin LaineStarsKosti KlemeläHeikki SavolainenReino TolvanenThe tale of a platoon of soldiers during the Continuation War. Based on Väinö Linna's book of the same name.
- DirectorGrigoriy ChukhrayStarsIzolda IzvitskayaOleg StrizhenovNikolay KryuchkovAn unexpected romance occurs for a female Red Army sniper and a White Army officer.
- DirectorAleksander FordStarsUrszula ModrzynskaGrazyna StaniszewskaAndrzej SzalawskiIn the 15th century the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is facing a hard struggle against the neighboring Teutonic Order.Frequent clashes between the two powers finally culminate in 1410 with the Battle of Grunwald.
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsOmero AntonuttiEusebio PoncelaLambert WilsonThe film tells the epic story of an expedition that took place between 1560 and 1561, headed by Pedro de Ursúa, in search of "El Dorado." The territory they explored subsequently became Colombia. Three hundred men sold their property and souls to travel down the biggest and least known river in the world. After the rebellion of Lope de Aguirre (who took over command) against Philip II, the king of Spain, this expedition became one of the best-known episodes in the conquest of "The New World." Accompanied by a team of all types, Lope de Aguirre's adventure will end in tragedy, exposing the full range of human miseries.
- DirectorRaymond BernardStarsPierre BlancharGabriel GabrioCharles VanelWorld War 1 begins and a young man enlists to fight for his country.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsKinuyo TanakaKyôko KagawaEiji OkadaA teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.
- DirectorAleksander FordStarsMieczyslawa CwiklinskaJerzy LeszczynskiWladyslaw GodikThe story of Polish and Jewish families living side by side in one Warsaw street. Everything changes once and for all with the Nazi invasion.
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsNascimento FernandesVital dos SantosAntónio PalmaThe story takes place in the old streets of Porto and by the banks of the Douro River. A gang of very young kids has just accepted a new member, Carlitos, a shy boy who has "played it tough" by stealing a doll in a shop. Carlitos soon has a crush on Terezinha, the only girl in the group. The trouble is that Eduardo, the gang boss, is also in love with the pretty girl. And he will not allow any rival to challenge him.
- DirectorChris GerolmoStarsStephen ReaDonald SutherlandMax von SydowDuring the 1980s, Soviet authorities hunt for a serial killer who picks his victims in railway stations and commuter trains and lures them into the woods.
- DirectorGunnar SommerfeldtStarsAmund RydlandKaren PoulsenRagna WettergreenAfter the Nobel prize winning Knut Hamsun-novel, with it's criticism of industrialization, urbanizing and loss of values. The farmer Isak makes a farm out of barren soil, together with Inger and their two sons. She kills the third.
- DirectorFrantisek VlácilStarsPetr CepekJan KacerVera GalatíkováOndrej, a young boy who loves bees and bats, is introduced to his new mother, a woman much younger than his father. He brings her a basketful of flowers which she starts to throw in the air and then gives out a shriek, as she discovers several bats in the bottom of the bowl. In a rage, Ondrej's father picks the boy up and hurls him against the wall. As the boy lays on the ground paralyzed the father promises the Holy Virgin to dedicate the boy to her if she spares his life. Ondrej survives and is raised in a strict Knightly Order, where he is mentored by a devout monk, Armin. But one day, an extraordinary event makes him doubt the Order and remember where he came from.
- DirectorAnn HuiStarsGeorge LamCora MiaoSeason MaA Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".
- DirectorZdenek PodskalskýStarsVlastimil BrodskýRudolf HrusínskýMilos KopeckýThis castle has its own ghost - a mysterious White lady. She emerges from the painting on the wall when someone speaks out magic formula. White lady is good ghost, she can make someone's wishes true. Even if it is a new duct. But a miracle is not the thing that Communist leaders want in the town.
- DirectorPiotr SzulkinStarsJerzy StuhrKrystyna JandaKalina JedrusikA man searches for survival after nuclear war forces people into an underground bunker. The inhabitants await rescue while their refuge decays around them.
- DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsIssei OgataRobert DawsonKaori MomoiThird part in Aleksandr Sokurov's quadrilogy of Power, following Moloch (1999) and Taurus (2001), focuses on Japanese Emperor Hirohito and Japan's defeat in World War II when he is finally confronted by General Douglas MacArthur who offers him to accept a diplomatic defeat for survival.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTetsurô TanbaSachiko HidariShinjirô EbaraOne woman's search to find the truth about her husband's death in World War II.
- DirectorJean-Xavier de LestradeStarsAnn FinnellPatrick McGuinnessJames WilliamsOscar-winning documentary that documents a murder trial in which a 15-year-old African-American is wrongfully accused of a 2000 murder in Jacksonville, Florida.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsLéonor GraserNikolai IzvolovKira ParamonovaThis documentary tells the story of film director Aleksandr Medvedkin, throughout his life a sincere believer in communism, whose films were repeatedly banned in the Soviet Union. Modern Russian film students express their excitement at seeing his film HAPPINESS for the first time, and his contemporaries shed light on his life and work.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsLeslie BanksC.V. FranceValerie TaylorAn English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.
- DirectorKôhei OguriStarsTakahiro TamuraMariko KagaNobutaka AsaharaIn post-War Japan, a boy from a noodle store-owning family befriends a neighboring boy living in poverty.
- DirectorFrance StiglicStarsDusica ZegaracBoris DvornikBranko TaticIn order to save Jewish girl from the Nazis and their colaborators, Croatian family arranges her to be wed to their young son. Young man is displeased with sudden end to his careless youth and he doesn't seem to like the girl or the whole idea. However, when she gets caught in a street raid, it is too late - he must face the fact that he loves her. Young man starts looking for her, even if it means hat he would go to the very center of concentration camp - the Ninth Circle.
- DirectorEuzhan PalcyStarsGarry CadenatDarling LégitimusDouta SeckSet in 1931, Sugar Cane Alley paints a rich impasto of native life under French colonial rules, filtered through the coming-of-age of a bright, sweetly opportunistic boy.
- DirectorSvend MethlingStarsGunnar HansenSeminal Danish documentary about Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in the Second World War between 1940 and 1945.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsBertrand CantatDieudonnéLéon SchwartzenbergParis 2002. Yellow cats appears on the walls. Chris Marker is looking for these mysterious cats and captures with his camera the political and international events of these last two years (war in Iraq...).
- DirectorWen JiangStarsYu XiaWei ChenShaobo DaiBeijing, 1970s. Now that the CR has driven most adults to the provinces, 14-year-old Monkey and his pals have free reign over the city. They hang around, get up to no good, and discover that unsolvable mystery referred to as "girls."
- DirectorDavid HandWilfred JacksonStarsBilly BletcherPinto ColvigWalt DisneyMickey must save Pluto from a mad doctor's lair.
- DirectorDavid O'ReillyStarsJulian BarrattPearl BrilmyerAdam BuxtonIn a funny looking yet very bleak world, a boy learns to play piano while a cat and various other animal characters encounter all sorts of drugs, sex, violence and profanity, with numerous references to pop culture phenomena.
- StarsPierre DorisJacqueline DufranneAgathe NatansonRealistic chronicle of everyday life during the Great War. A ranger collects in his family several Parisian children refugees because of the conflict. All share the life of the country village, the school, the news from the front.
- DirectorRaoul PeckStarsIdris ElbaCarole KaremeraPamela NomveteWhen the Hutu nationalists raised arms against their Tutsi countrymen in Rwanda in April 1994, the violent uprising marked the beginning of one of the darkest times in African history which resulted in the deaths of almost 800,000 people.
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsSergey BondarchukPavel BoriskinZinaida KirienkoA Soviet soldier, Andrei Sokolov, has been separated from his family by World War II. Suffering in German captivity, he dreams of meeting his darlings after the victory. But cruel fate turned out otherwise.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsSimone SignoretJorge SemprúnDavos HanichFrench essay film focusing on global political turmoil in the 1960s and '70s, particularly the rise of the New Left in France and the development of socialist movements in Latin America.
- DirectorFrank WisbarStarsJoachim HansenWilhelm BorchertWolfgang PreissIn the winter of 1943, against the background of battle scenes, a young German Lieutenant who increasingly distrusts the inhuman Nazi ideology struggles with the concept of war.
- DirectorÉlie ChouraquiStarsAndie MacDowellScott AntonElias KoteasWhen a Newsweek photojournalist disappears in war-torn Yugoslavia, his wife travels to Europe to find him.
- StarsVolker BruchTom SchillingKatharina SchüttlerFive friends go out to war and promise each other to be back for Christmas.
- DirectorPatricio GuzmánStarsSalvador AllendeCarlos AltamiranoFernando CastilloFilmmaker Patricio Guzmán tracks the deterioration of Salvador Allende's position following the attempted coup d'état of 29 June 1973, and analyzes the 10 weeks before Augusto Pinochet's CIA-backed seizure of power.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsYvetteSolbjørg HøjfeldtAnne-Lise GaboldA troubled and solitary woman who suffers from an acute light sensitivity summons the strength to escape her persistent trials; however, the fateful morning which is only hours away, still seems so distant and pale. Can she take the step?
- DirectorMohammed Lakhdar-HaminaStarsYorgo VoyagisMohammed Lakhdar-HaminaLeila ShennaA meticulous chronicle of the evolution of the Algerian liberation national movement. The film demonstrates that the Algerian War was a slow process of revolts and suffering, uninterrupted, from the start of colonization of Algeria in 1830
- DirectorJerome HillAn experimental short by Jerome Hill in which footage of a bullfight is painted on the film.
- DirectorAndrzej MunkWitold LesiewiczStarsAleksandra SlaskaAnna CiepielewskaJan KreczmarWhile aboard a transatlantic passenger ship, a German woman, Liza, notices someone who looks like Marta, a former inmate at Auschwitz, where Liza used to be a guard.
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandRenato SalvatoriO.E. HasseUsing the interrogation of a US counterinsurgency agent as a backdrop, the film explores the consequences of the struggle between Uruguay's government and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas.
- DirectorAleksey GermanStarsRolan BykovAnatoliy SolonitsynVladimir ZamanskiyA Soviet POW joins the partisan guerrillas and proves his loyalty fighting the Germans.
- DirectorPéter BacsóStarsFerenc KállaiLajos ÖzeZoltán FábriBanned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'The Witness' has since then achieved unparalleled cult status in its native land. Known as the best satire about communism, 'The Witness' has become a cult classic, which was also well received by critics and general audiences alike when it was finally released outside of Hungary. Its candid and realistic portrayal of the incompetent communist regime has earned great acclaim for both the director and the film itself when it was shown at Cannes Film Festival in 1981. 'The Witness' takes place during the height of the Rákosi Era, which was closely modeled after the ruthless and brutal Stalin regime. The film follows the life of an ordinary dike keeper, József Pelikán, who has been caught for illegally slaughtering his pig, Dezsõ. Instead of doing hard time for his "heinous" crime, Pelikán is elevated into an important position, generally reserved for the communist elite. Of course, Pelikán is utterly clueless about his newfound luck, not to mention his new job. Even his new benefactor, the mysterious Comrade Virág, is reluctant to reveal the real reason behind Pelikán's preferential treatment. Thus, begins Pelikán's hilarious adventure deep within the "sophisticated" communist society. One failure after another the incompetent Pelikán is elevated higher and higher on the communist echelon, all the while remaining completely clueless about his promotions. Until one day, when he gets called for to return the "favour" by falsely testifying against his long-time friend in a mock-up show trial.
- DirectorAnders ØstergaardStarsGeorge W. BushJoshua Min HtutKo MuangUsing smuggled footage, this documentary tells the story of the 2007 protests in Burma by thousands of monks.
- DirectorJehane NoujaimStarsSamir KhaderJosh RushingGeorge W. BushA documentary on perception of the United States's war with Iraq, with an emphasis on Al Jazeera's coverage.
- DirectorJerzy KawalerowiczStarsLucyna WinnickaMieczyslaw VoitAnna CiepielewskaA priest is sent to a small parish in the Polish countryside which is believed to be under demonic possession and there he finds his own temptations awaiting.
- StarsJoseph BottomsTovah FeldshuhRosemary HarrisThe saga of a Jewish family's struggle to survive the horror of Nazi Germany's systematic marginalization and extermination of their community.
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsBademaBayaertuVladimir GostyukhinA curious friendship develops between Gombo, a young Mongolian shepherd living with his wife and family in a hut, deep in the wilderness of the steppes, and Sergei, a Russian worker whose truck breaks down not far from Gombo's hut.
- DirectorAndrea ArnoldStarsNatalie PressDanny DyerJodie MitchellA struggling single mother is determined not to let her four young children be an obstacle in the pursuit of starting a relationship with an old acquaintance.
- DirectorBill DouglasStarsRobin SoansWilliam GaminaraStephen BatemanThe story of "The Tolpuddle Martyrs". A group of nineteenth century English farm laborers who formed one of the first trade unions and started a campaign to receive fair wages.
- DirectorWolfgang StaudteStarsPaul EsserIrene KorbKarl Heinz DeickertThe life of the worker Hans Behnke and his family from 1925 to 1945 in Berlin. Hans ultimately does join the Nazi party, but still shows signs of disagreement with their ideology.
- DirectorVictor KossakovskyStarsAnna Fyodorovna BelovaMikhail Fyodorovich BelovVasiliy Fyodorovich Belov"Belovy (the Belovs)" is a breathtaking portrait of a troubled peasant family. It's poetry in the form of a documentary that won many prizes. Beautifully shot in vintage black and white, the film tells the story of two times widow Anna Belova who lives together with her brother Mikhail. Blending the two personalities, Kosakovsky characterizes the true Russian soul: she is the rational worker, honest and strong - he is the drunken poet, the idealist, his philosophy fades into radical nonsense time after time.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand CharpinAfter Fanny's boyfriend leaves her and sails away, she finds out she's pregnant.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsEdward G. RobinsonGeorge SandersFrancis LedererFBI agent Ed Renard investigates the pre-war espionage activities of the German-American Bund.
- DirectorEvangelina LoguercioDiego PanichLaura TusiStarsLuciano BerriatúaPaula Felix DidierCary GrantArgentine film historians find a complete print of "Metropolis" and take it to Germany for restoration. The story includes the discovery itself, the history of the 35mm print (later converted to 16mm), a showing in 1959, what historians knew about the missing scenes, and the often-frustrated search. Fernando Martin Pena and Paula Felix-Dider carry the narration, Enno Patalas verifies the discovery, and scholars at the Murnau Institut and the Deutsche Kinemathek are on camera when they see the print. The story concludes with evidence of multiple takes available for distributors to construct their own prints, which varied greatly from country to country.
- DirectorLajos KoltaiStarsMarcell NagyBéla DóraBálint Péntek14-year-old György's life is torn apart in WWII Hungary, as he is deported first to Auschwitz and then to Buchenwald, where he is forced to become a man in the midst of hatred, and what it really means to be Jewish.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsFrançois PérierSophie GarnierBibiane KirbyA computer generates conflicting hypotheses about the future of trade unions.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldStarsMatthew KnollElliot RuizEric MehalacopoulosAn investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb.
- DirectorJim LoachStarsEmily WatsonAisling LoftusStuart WolfendenSet in 1980s Nottingham, social worker Margaret Humphreys holds the British government accountable for child migration schemes and reunites the children involved -- now adults living mostly in Australia -- with their parents in Britain.
- DirectorAnthony PageStarsWilliam DevaneRalph BellamyHoward Da SilvaIn October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- DirectorPeter RaymontStarsGerry CaplanBill ClintonHillary ClintonThe story of Canadian Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire and his controversial command of the United Nations' mission to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.
- DirectorJennifer CapraruRoger SpottiswoodeStarsRoy DupuisOwen SejakeJames GallandersThe story of General Romeo Dallaire's frustrated efforts to stop the madness of the Rwandan Genocide, despite the complete indifference of his superiors.
- DirectorJames MollStarsBill BaschMartin BaschRandolph BrahamIn late 1944, even as they faced imminent defeat, the Nazis expended enormous resources to kill or deport over 425,000 Jews during the "cleansing" of Hungary. This Oscar-winning documentary, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, focuses on the plight of five Hungarian Jews who survived imprisonment in Auschwitz.
- DirectorRob LemkinThet SambathStarsThet SambathNuon CheaPol PotOne of the most harrowing and compelling personal documentaries of our time, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE exposes for the first time the truth about the Killing Fields and the Khmer Rouge who were behind Cambodia's genocide.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsSusan StrasbergLaurent TerzieffEmmanuelle RivaA young Jewish girl leads an escape attempt from a concentration camp.
- DirectorVeit HelmerStarsDenis LavantChulpan KhamatovaPhilippe ClayIn a desolate and colorless landscape stands a dilapidated bathhouse run by a puffed-up blind man, his long-suffering wife, and their son Anton, who does all the work. He's lonely and unsophisticated, and he falls in love with the beautiful Eva, who comes to bathe with her father. When Eva and her father lose their home, they come to the bathhouse to stay, but bits of the ceiling fall on the old man and he dies. Eva blames Anton, and she seems to seek the arms of the brute Gregor. Can Anton win back her heart, get the bathhouse through a rigorous government inspection, and help keep his parents employed? Waiting out there somewhere is the paradise isle of Tuvalu.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCharles BoalEric BoothKeith BrookesSongs, poems and experiences of the Miners' Strike, 1984.
- DirectorLev KuleshovStarsAleksandra KhokhlovaSergey KomarovVladimir FogelA five-person team of gold prospectors in the Yukon has just begun to enjoy great success when one of the members snaps, and suddenly kills two of the others. The two survivors, a husband and wife, subdue the killer but are then faced with an agonizing dilemma. With no chance of turning him over to the authorities for many weeks, they must decide whether to exact justice themselves or to risk trying to keep him restrained until they can return to civilization.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsWojciech PszoniakEwa DalkowskaTeresa Budzisz-KrzyzanowskaThe last days of life of the legendary Polish pedagogue Dr. Janusz Korczak and his heroic dedication to protecting Jewish orphans in the Warsaw Ghetto.
- DirectorAugust BlomStarsOlaf FønssCarl LauritzenEbba ThomsenA comet, passing by Earth, causes rioting, social unrest, and major disasters that destroy the world.
- DirectorBjarne Henning-JensenStarsTove MaësKaren PoulsenRasmus OttesenDitte grows up with her grandparents. When the mother moves with Lars Peter, Ditte is taken home to take care of her siblings. She comes to work at Bakkegården, but is thrown out as she awaits children.
- DirectorEmile de AntonioStarsHarry S. AshmoreDaniel BerriganJoseph ButtingerA documentary chronicling the background to, and history of, the Vietnam War.
- DirectorRussell BarnesStarsYousef Al-KhattabRichard DawkinsTed HaggardRichard Dawkins' highly critical documentary attacks the pulsing heart of all mainstream religion- faith; with special focus on Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Contains repeated references to sectorial schools as child abuse and faith as the stepping stone to terrorist activity.
- DirectorLindsay AndersonStarsBette DavisLillian GishVincent PriceTwo aged sisters reflect on life and the past during a late summer day in Maine.
- DirectorDaniel GordonStarsDaniel GordonHyon Sun PakSong Yun KimA British documentary that follows two young North Korean girls as they prepare for the Mass Games, the world's largest choreographed gymnastics performance.
- StarsPaul Andre GibbonsJarrod EmickFrederic ForrestThe story of the most notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp in the American Civil War.
- DirectorAnders Thomas JensenStarsUlrich ThomsenJens Jørn SpottagJohn MartinusOn his way to the polls, an idealist yet absent-minded voter must endure continuous waves of racist cab drivers and their offensive remarks.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsMelvyn DouglasPatricia GozziDean StockwellAgnes, a lonely teenage girl, and her father befriend an escaped convict, named Joseph, who arrives at their farm in Brittany, France. When Joseph develops an attraction to Agnes, her father threatens to break up the union.
- DirectorChadi Abdel SalamStarsAhmed MareiAhmad HegaziNadia LutfiAn Upper-Egyptian clan robs a cache of mummies and sells the artifacts on the illicit antiquities black market. After a conflict within the clan, one of its members goes to the police, helping the Antiquities Service find the cache.