Masochistic

French cinema master Robert Bresson brings his trademark cinematic minimalism to this powerful re-telling of the story of Joan of Arc. Adapted from historical records of the trial and featuring a remarkable cast of non-professional actors, led by Florence Carrez in the title role, the film relays Joan's relentless interrogation and persecution by her captors in a direct, almost documentary-like manner. Bresson transforms Joan's oppression and human suffering into an unforgettabe testament to her purity and spiritual liberation. The final images of the charred remains of the stake are among the most horrifying and moving in all cinema.

The V.I.P.s is a 1963 film gem starring off-screen couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Elizabeth Taylor plays Frances, a pampered society wife neglected by her businessman tycoon husband (Richard Burton). Frances's plan to run away with her suave French playboy lover (Louis Jourdan) is foiled by a flight delay. The situation is further complicated by spurned husband Paul's unexpected appearance on the scene in a last-ditch attempt to win back his estranged wife. Thus, Frances is faced with the predicament of choosing between the two men vying for her affections.

An out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race. When God loses faith in humankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity's only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a desert diner with the Archangel Michael (Bettany).

Forced to spend his summer holidays with his muggle relations, Harry Potter gets a real shock when he gets a surprise visitor: Dobby the house-elf, who warns Harry Potter against returning to Hogwarts, for terrible things are going to happen. Harry decides to ignore Dobby's warning and continues with his pre-arranged schedule. But at Hogwarts, strange and terrible things are indeed happening: Harry is suddenly hearing mysterious voices from inside the walls, muggle-born students are being attacked, and a message scrawled on the wall in blood puts everyone on his/her guard - "The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies Of The Heir, Beware".

An intense, no-holds-barred exploration of perversion, art and sado-masochism. A blind sculptor, with the aid of his mother, kidnaps and imprisons a young fashion model as a muse for his efforts to sculpt the perfect form. Set in a Dali-esque artist's studio covered in sculptures of giant eyeballs, over-sized limbs and assorted body parts, this incredibly visually inventive tale of madness and sexual obsession powers to a climax prefiguring Oshima's In The Realm of the Senses while recalling Franju's Eyes Without A Face. A call-to-arms for Outsider Art.

Historian Bettany Hughes gives her personal take on the diverse cultures of the ancient world in this 2010 documentary series on More 4. The series begins with an examination of Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC to become the world’s first global centre of culture. The programme explores Alexandria’s role as a powerhouse of science and learning, and focuses on the female mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Hypatia, the subject of the feature film Agora, starring Rachel Weisz.

Thirteen years after WWII a concentration camp survivor (Rampling) and her tormentor, currently the night porter at a Vienna hotel, meet again and fall back into their sado-masochistic relationship.

Vittorio is looking for a woman who matches his ideal. Through a classified ad he meets Sonia, a sweet, pleasant, intelligent girl. However, she weighs 125 pounds – which according to Vittorio is way too much. A goldsmith by trade, Vittorio is obsessed with the desire to shape Sonia's body and mind as does a fire with gold. Almost imperceptibly Sonia becomes a passive participant and the relationship grows into a reciprocal masochistic game. When the two lovers isolate themselves in a country house in the Veneto hills, they dangerously lose touch with reality and the rest of the world.

Using the short stories of Raymond Carver as a jumping-off point, american maverick director Robert Altman weaves a tapestry of interlocking tales set against the seedy backdrop of contemporary middle-class Los Angeles. Tracking the various stages of denial, rage, and despair in the lives of several couples–a philandering cop and his masochistic spouse (Tim Robbins and Madeline Stowe); a helicopter pilot who gets revenge on his ex by trashing her house (Peter Gallagher and Frances McDormand); a man and woman whose perfect life falls apart when they lose their son in a hit-and-run accident (Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell); a pool cleaner who listens in mounting frustration to his wife performing phone sex each day while tending her brood of children (Chris Penn and Jennifer Jason Leigh); a wealthy couple who are haunted by an incident from the past (Matthew Modine and Julianne Moore); an aging jazz singer and her suicidal daughter (Annie Ross and Lori Singer); an alcoholic limo driver and his waitress wife (Tom Waits and Lily Tomlin)–Altman reveals their common threads of family dysfunction and marital discord in the unforgiving glare of the Southern California sunlight. The result is a sweeping motion picture that also stands as an important sociological artifact of late 20th century Los Angeles life.