NC-17 (MPAA) in Foreign DVDs & Videos

Description:

Adapted from the provocative novel by transgressive postmodern intellectual and author Georges Bataille, MA MERE is set in the visually lush and spiritually empty tourist trap of the Canary Islands. Louis Garrel, projecting the same European sultriness that was perfectly suited to Bertolucci's more warmly erotic film THE DREAMERS, plays Pierre, a sulking and antisocial teenager, willfully indifferent to being on summer vacation with his parents. When his wayward father suddenly dies, his mother Helene (Isabelle Huppert), forces him into her universe of illicit sex--a simultaneously ugly and playful realm inhabited by Gallic sophisticates engaging in orgies and bondage. Pierre, a devout Catholic, is resistant at first--to the point of Catholic guilt-induced attacks of sobbing and hyperventilation. But after fulfilling experiences with Helene's male and female playmates, Pierre obsessively pursues the sexual attention of his own mother, and a disturbing quest toward consummation of the attraction between mere and fils is undertaken. Star Isabelle Huppert's role as Helene is a perfect follow-up to her award-winning turn in the equally shocking LA PIANISTE, which featured the French fatale engaging in illicit acts with both a young male student and her own controlling, elderly mother. With her just barely constrained and visibly volatile sexual energy, the actress has become known as the "go-to girl" for roles that transcend sexual and social taboos and explore the dark and violent side of erotic desire. Her overpowering presence in MA MERE, as all great performances do, make the viewer wonder just how blurry the boundaries between actress and role have become.

Description:

Four jaded European buddies decide to end their boring existence in a hilariously decadent orgy of wine, women and song.

Description:

A high-priced call girl catering to Yakuza captains and ostensibly "respectable" heads of industry makes her way through the smutty sex underground of the titular city, witnessing and experiencing sexual degradation, confusion, and despair. A searing, disturbing, and extremely graphic indictment of the twin hypocrisies of excessive materialism and sexual puritanism, which combine to create an exploited underclass of sex merchants forced to feed the perversions of their powerful tormentors.

Description:

In this powerful semi-autobiographical film, acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, TALK TO HER) tracks the formative experiences of his coming of age in a Catholic boys school. While the film benefits from Almodovar's limitless range of color, beauty, and moving expression, the themes presented are dark and difficult. Pedophilia, lost love, mistaken identity, manipulation, drug addiction, and desperation prevail, giving this otherwise sexy and vibrant film a chilling subtext. Gael Garcia Bernal gives a jaw-dropping performance, playing two of the main characters. First, he plays a screenwriter named Ignacio, who reunites with his childhood friend, Enrique (Fele Martinez), a filmmaker, to sell him a script called "The Visit." He also plays the star of "The Visit"--a gorgeous cross-dresser and drug addict named Zahara. Enrique instantly realizes that the script is the story of their childhood, where they met and fell in love, only to be torn apart by a jealous pedophilic priest, Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenez-Cacho). However, Ignacio looks nothing like the boy that Enrique remembers as his best friend and first love. As the mystery of their past begins to unfold, layers of lies and deception are peeled away to reveal a delicate core of innocence lost. Almodovar's message is not one of hopelessness--it is rather a recognition of the inevitable hardening of the soul that is fundamental to survival in a less-than-perfect world.

Description:

Adapted from the provocative novel by transgressive postmodern intellectual and author Georges Bataille, MA MERE is set in the visually lush and spiritually empty tourist trap of the Canary Islands. Louis Garrel, projecting the same European sultriness that was perfectly suited to Bertolucci's more warmly erotic film THE DREAMERS, plays Pierre, a sulking and antisocial teenager, willfully indifferent to being on summer vacation with his parents. When his wayward father suddenly dies, his mother Helene (Isabelle Huppert), forces him into her universe of illicit sex--a simultaneously ugly and playful realm inhabited by Gallic sophisticates engaging in orgies and bondage. Pierre, a devout Catholic, is resistant at first--to the point of Catholic guilt-induced attacks of sobbing and hyperventilation. But after fulfilling experiences with Helene's male and female playmates, Pierre obsessively pursues the sexual attention of his own mother, and a disturbing quest toward consummation of the attraction between mere and fils is undertaken. Star Isabelle Huppert's role as Helene is a perfect follow-up to her award-winning turn in the equally shocking LA PIANISTE, which featured the French fatale engaging in illicit acts with both a young male student and her own controlling, elderly mother. With her just barely constrained and visibly volatile sexual energy, the actress has become known as the "go-to girl" for roles that transcend sexual and social taboos and explore the dark and violent side of erotic desire. Her overpowering presence in MA MERE, as all great performances do, make the viewer wonder just how blurry the boundaries between actress and role have become.

Description:

In this powerful semi-autobiographical film, acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, TALK TO HER) tracks the formative experiences of his coming of age in a Catholic boys school. While the film benefits from Almodovar's limitless range of color, beauty, and moving expression, the themes presented are dark and difficult. Pedophilia, lost love, mistaken identity, manipulation, drug addiction, and desperation prevail, giving this otherwise sexy and vibrant film a chilling subtext. Gael Garcia Bernal gives a jaw-dropping performance, playing two of the main characters. First, he plays a screenwriter named Ignacio, who reunites with his childhood friend, Enrique (Fele Martinez), a filmmaker, to sell him a script called "The Visit." He also plays the star of "The Visit"--a gorgeous cross-dresser and drug addict named Zahara. Enrique instantly realizes that the script is the story of their childhood, where they met and fell in love, only to be torn apart by a jealous pedophilic priest, Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenez-Cacho). However, Ignacio looks nothing like the boy that Enrique remembers as his best friend and first love. As the mystery of their past begins to unfold, layers of lies and deception are peeled away to reveal a delicate core of innocence lost. Almodovar's message is not one of hopelessness--it is rather a recognition of the inevitable hardening of the soul that is fundamental to survival in a less-than-perfect world.

Description:

Pasolini wrote, directed and stars in this richly textured epic based on eight tales by 14th-century Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio. Pasolini weaves the stories together into a bawdy tapestry of a medieval Italy populated by artists, priests and magicians. Appearing in the role of the great pre-Renaissance painter Giotto, Pasolini guides the viewer through a cinematic landscape ripe with sensuality and irreverent humor. First in Pasolini's "Trilogy of Life," which also includes THE ARABIAN NIGHTS and THE CANTERBURY TALES. Originally rated X by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Description:

In 1936, in the midst of rising Japanese militarism, a former prostitute, Sada, goes to work as a maid in a brothel. The house's handsome owner, Kichizo, soon begins to court her, and Sada eagerly returns his attentions. Their subsequent affair and constant lovemaking grow more and more intense, and their sexual obsession threatens to destroy them both. Nagisa Oshima's long-awaited erotic Japanese masterpiece (initially banned from the New York Film Festival in 1976) is finally available. Contains highly explicit content, recommended for adult audiences only.

Description:

In 1936, in the midst of rising Japanese militarism, a former prostitute, Sada, goes to work as a maid in a brothel. The house's handsome owner, Kichizo, soon begins to court her, and Sada eagerly returns his attentions. Their subsequent affair and constant lovemaking grow more and more intense, and their sexual obsession threatens to destroy them both. Nagisa Oshima's long-awaited erotic Japanese masterpiece (initially banned from the New York Film Festival in 1976) is finally available. Contains highly explicit content, recommended for adult audiences only.

Description:

In 1936, in the midst of rising Japanese militarism, a former prostitute, Sada, goes to work as a maid in a brothel. The house's handsome owner, Kichizo, soon begins to court her, and Sada eagerly returns his attentions. Their subsequent affair and constant lovemaking grow more and more intense, and their sexual obsession threatens to destroy them both. Nagisa Oshima's long-awaited erotic Japanese masterpiece (initially banned from the New York Film Festival in 1976) is finally available. Contains highly explicit content, recommended for adult audiences only.

Description:

This twisted, brave, funny film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar takes an unflinching look at the link between sex, death, and religion. Antonio Banderas stars as Ángel, a sensitive student of matador Diego (Nacho Martinez), whose goring at the horns of a bull has left him obsessed with killing. In order to prove his manhood to Diego, the misguided Ángel tries to rape his model girlfriend (Eva Cobo), and when that fails, he confesses to a string of murders he didn't commit. María (Assumpta Serna), a mysterious, attractive lawyer, takes his case but winds up falling for Diego, revealing some dark secrets of her own. The pair begin a beautifully doomed romance as a police inspector (Eusebio Poncela) begins to fathom who the real killer, or killers, may be. This was the fifth film from the talented Almodóvar, and it reveals a true genius at work in his use of symbolic color, structure, metaphor, and homage to Hitchcock and Welles. MATADOR is fast-moving, disturbing, erotic, and undeniably brilliant in a way most American audiences may not be prepared for but should certainly seek out. Almodóvar regulars Carmen Maura, Julietta Serano, Chus Lampreave, and Verónica Forqué costar.

Description:

This bold tale of passion's dire consequences is one of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's most smoldering films. Antonio Banderas stars as Antonio Benítez, an obsessive fan of writer-director Pablo Quintero (Eusebio Poncela), a cocaine-snorting homosexual hedonist whose last boyfriend, Juan (Miguel Molina), has just moved out. Antonio and Pablo have a few passionate nights, but Antonio's obsessive love soon proves hard for the noncommittal Pablo to escape from. Meanwhile, Pablo's transsexual sister, Tina (Carmen Maura), has problems of her own, including a closet brimming with dark sexual skeletons and Ada (Manuela Velasco), her unofficially adopted daughter. Pablo writes a play for Tina to star in, but when Antonio stalks and murders Juan in a fit of jealousy, the police end up suspecting the character Tina performs in the play. Pablo winds up with amnesia after a car accident, and the troubles just get weirder from there. For American audiences unfamiliar with Almodóvar's style, this film may prove a shocking experience, but his fans know that beneath their transgressive exteriors, his films throb with a palpable love of humanity, life, beauty, and art. This is a fine example of that art, with great music and memorable performances all around.

Description:

Hanka Ordonowna was one of the biggest cabaret stars of Warsaw, and this Polish drama tells her rags-to-riches story.

Description:

In 1936, in the midst of rising Japanese militarism, a former prostitute, Sada, goes to work as a maid in a brothel. The house's handsome owner, Kichizo, soon begins to court her, and Sada eagerly returns his attentions. Their subsequent affair and constant lovemaking grow more and more intense, and their sexual obsession threatens to destroy them both. Nagisa Oshima's long-awaited erotic Japanese masterpiece (initially banned from the New York Film Festival in 1976) is finally available. Contains highly explicit content, recommended for adult audiences only.

Description:

Antonio Banderas caught the world's attention with his portrayal of Ricky, an orphaned mental patient who stalks and kidnaps Marina (Victoria Abril), a porn actress and junkie, in order to make her love him in this decided departure for iconoclastic Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. Suspense, tension, and uneasy humor mingle as Marina grapples with her addictive nature, a very bad toothache, and her own confusion about the need to be loved and the need for freedom. Meanwhile, Máximo (Francisco Rabal), an aging director who has just shot Marina's latest film, finds himself obsessed with her, while sister Lola (Loles León) worries Marina might be back on drugs and starts trying to track her down. The tension mounts as her sister closes in, and Marina becomes torn by her desire to escape and her growing affection for her captor. Almodóvar followed up his hit WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN with this controversial, steamy thriller that contains nudity and some very passionate sex. The cast includes Almodóvar regulars Rossy de Palma, Julieta Serrano, and María Barranco and features a tense musical score by Ennio Morricone.

Description:

Six of Chaucer's classic 15th-century tales presented complete with all their bawdy humor about romance, deception and lust. Second film in the "Trilogy of Life."

Description:

Exotic spectacle and unbridled sensuality collide in Pier Paolo Pasolini's dreamlike retelling of the Arabian fable. In this lush adaptation, a prince goes abroad in search of his beloved slave, whom someone has kidnapped. As he travels from land to land, he listens to erotic tales told by the people he meets--and though the stories entice him, he never can forget the lover he hopes to find again. The film--shot on location in Yemen, Ethiopia, Iran, and Nepal--is the final chapter in Pasolini's "Trilogy of Life" series that includes THE DECAMERON and THE CANTERBURY TALES.

Description:

In this powerful semi-autobiographical film, acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, TALK TO HER) tracks the formative experiences of his coming of age in a Catholic boys school. While the film benefits from Almodovar's limitless range of color, beauty, and moving expression, the themes presented are dark and difficult. Pedophilia, lost love, mistaken identity, manipulation, drug addiction, and desperation prevail, giving this otherwise sexy and vibrant film a chilling subtext. Gael Garcia Bernal gives a jaw-dropping performance, playing two of the main characters. First, he plays a screenwriter named Ignacio, who reunites with his childhood friend, Enrique (Fele Martinez), a filmmaker, to sell him a script called "The Visit." He also plays the star of "The Visit"--a gorgeous cross-dresser and drug addict named Zahara. Enrique instantly realizes that the script is the story of their childhood, where they met and fell in love, only to be torn apart by a jealous pedophilic priest, Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenez-Cacho). However, Ignacio looks nothing like the boy that Enrique remembers as his best friend and first love. As the mystery of their past begins to unfold, layers of lies and deception are peeled away to reveal a delicate core of innocence lost. Almodovar's message is not one of hopelessness--it is rather a recognition of the inevitable hardening of the soul that is fundamental to survival in a less-than-perfect world.

Description:

Four jaded European buddies decide to end their boring existence in a hilariously decadent orgy of wine, women and song.