Welcome to another update on our growing library of independent, international and classic cinema at MUBI. More films are added each week in different countries, but here are some of my favorites that we’ve added this week:
Films by José Mojica Marins
The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures, Hellish Flesh, The Strange World of Coffin Joe, and the documentary The Strange World of Mojica Marins.
We’re expanding our cult offerings this week with a small but intense group of films by Brazilian cult-horror maestro José Mojica Marins, the legendary creator, director, and actor of the famed Coffin Joe films. Don’t take my word for it, but rather let me point to our honorable comrade in arms Christoph Huber, who profiled Marins for the wonderful Canadian film magazine Cinema Scope on the occasion of the auteur resurrecting his famous bogeyman in 2008 for a new film: The Man, The Myth, Mojica: Zé do Caixão’s incredible comeback. We also include in this series a documentary, The Strange World of José Mojica Marins, for some background on the subject; a film Huber calls “an excellent introduction to [Marins'] work (and myth).”
Available in: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, Denmark)
After shocking the film industry with the Dogme 95 manifesto of filmmaking restrictions, Lars von Trier prototypically does an about face to break all the rules he himself set up. (He would later make a single Dogme film, The Idiots, but then return to the aesthetic of Breaking the Waves digitally with Dancer in the Dark.) Breaking the Waves marked a new phase in the career of one of the most prominent international filmmakers of our time, shifting from the baroque stylization of his previous genre pastiches and pushing towards the heightened emotionalism, bordering on sensationalism and bitter sentimentality, of melodramas. Instead of blowing up the emotions into ornate domestic sets and explosive colors like the American melodramas of the 1950s, von Trier applied aspects of his Dogme philosophy to present a brutally, affectingly stripped down approach to the inner turmoil of a married couple’s grappling with faith and with each other. One of the most memorable films of the 1990s.
Available in: Australia, Ireland, Italy , Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland
Afterschool (Antonio Campos, USA)
Amongst endless American indie films about mushmouthed-talking, emo-acting “naturalistic” or “realistic” young adults living in the States today, Antonio Campos’ debut feature functions as a startling correction, and an immediate declaration of a new talent in the country. The closest comparison for Afterschool isn’t ramshackle, lo-fi romantic comedies but rather the psychological thrillers of alienation and violence of Austrian provocateur Michael Haneke. Taking place in a remote boarding school, a young student accidentally films the death of two classmates, and as the school reels in shock, the young student pursues his own path of paranoia and obsession.
Available in: Portugal
Soul Kitchen (Fatih Akin, Germany)
Award-winning filmmaker Fatih Akin (Head-On, The Edge of Heaven) is one of the most well-known and well-regarded directors currently working in Germany. After two serious dramas Akin here lightens things up by focusing on two resplendent cultural specialties: food and music. Soul Kitchen played in competition at the Venice film festival, winning a special jury prize, as well as playing at Toronto and Tribeca, among others.
Available in: Norway
The Blues: Feel Like Going Home (Martin Scorsese, USA)
Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island, Taxi Driver) joins the ranks including Wim Wenders, Charles Burnett, and Clint Eastwood by directing an entry in The Blues, the acclaimed American documentary series on—you guessed it—blues music. Scorsese’s rich, colorful entry looks at the movement of musical traditions from Africa to the Mississippi Selta.
Available in: France, Switzerland
7 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 24 February, 2011 at 2:23 pm by X201
James, is that a picture of Ross trying to escape from the store?
Posted on 24 February, 2011 at 2:39 pm by James Gallagher
Haha, you know we only open that little window on Wednesdays.
2
Posted on 24 February, 2011 at 3:28 pm by guitain
So Denmark isn’t getting a von Trier movie? How did this happen? :O
Posted on 24 February, 2011 at 4:30 pm by Danny Kasman
Because Denmark has had enough of Von Trier
. Actually the reality is the film is distributed in different countries by different companies, so the company that has the rights for it in Denmark is different from the one that has it in the countries we’ve listed here.
3
Posted on 24 February, 2011 at 3:29 pm by babe18
there should be an easier way of seeing what films are free and available. it takes 20 minutes to search through the library waiting for thumbnails to load. an option to just list free films would be very useful.
Posted on 24 February, 2011 at 4:31 pm by Danny Kasman
Hi Babe18! If you go to WATCH you can easily find which films are available to watch.
4
Posted on 24 February, 2011 at 8:08 pm by Rytteren
im loving mubi:) even the small list of movies in denmark, is stil worth it – if you ask me. still need battle royale ::(
5
Posted on 25 February, 2011 at 9:10 am by makingdamage
Hello Mubi!
Could you please make it easier to find out the category of the movies and what the subtitles are. This information should be included in that information box you see when you highlight (NOT click on a movie) a movie. It´s too much hassle having to click on each movie to see what kind of subtitles are included, and too find out what the category of the movie is (documentary, drama, horror etc.).
Also, what´s the point of having movies without subtitles at all? It seems like most of the movies are not in english which makes it impossible for us swedes to understand them.
Cheers!
6
Posted on 25 February, 2011 at 10:08 am by playmartelli
I think you have to think of a better way for the score system as at the moment it doesn’t really give a good indication of what the films are like. I’ve seen some stinkers with a high score and some amazing films with just 3 or so stars. What i’m doing now is going through the list with my iphone IMDB app and sorting out the jems from the misses.
It would be great to somehow include a IMDB link to the film?! Also the sort system in watch now is a bit frustrating. If i put recently added, it just gives a mixture of the newest ones added and doesn’t display in chronological order… I find it a all a bit messy. Maybe you could include the date also of when the film was added to mubi on the film info page.
I’ve really enjoyed some films on MUBI such as: -
The Garden
Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom
Last Night
Mad Detective
The Herd
The Hole
The Bothersome Man
And finally more FILMS!!!!!
7
Posted on 27 February, 2011 at 11:35 am by wiktorclunk
When POLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????
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