of Death of Love

The scars that have devolved on succeeding generations from the Japanese Imperial Army’s “Rape of Nanking” on the eve of World War II have gained prominence in the news of recent years. We recall how the Japanese government has only been able to go so far in recognizing a national culpability. A book of that title written by Iris Chang came into prominence three times at least – the first time upon publication in 1997, on the suicide of its author in 2004, and again at the release of an incendiary documentary inspired by her book in 2007, the year that it was at last published in a Japanese translation. Given raw feelings are on both sides 70 years after the destruction of the city, the prospect of a mainstream feature film dealing with that period is likely to be met with concern and trepidation. The wonder is that director Lu Chuan finds humanity in the suffering on both sides, and has made a film both impossible to watch and yet hypnotically seductive.

During World War II, a Jewish woman (Bisset) saves her life thanks to a love affair with a doctor in charge of human experiments in a Nazi concentration camp. The woman then marries and moves to New York, where she raises two emotionally stunted sons. The eldest son (Lucas) battles his sense of disconnection from life while working at a scam modeling agency, where he befriends a charming young co-worker (Brody) who begins to restore in him a sense of excitement and purpose. The neurotic younger son (Haas) is locked in a compulsive, co-dependent relationship with his mother.

Paris, 1887. Douce, a young woman of 17 years, lives with her invalid father, Engelbert de Bonafé, and her domineering grandmother, la comtesse de Bonafé. She is in love with her father’s steward, Fabien, and plans to elope with him. However, Fabien loves Douce’s private tutor and companion, Irène. It was through him that Irène found her current position and he expects her to repay him by starting a new life with him in North America. Irène has higher aspirations, however, and when Engelbert de Bonafé reveals his intentions to marry her, she rejects Fabien. Realising her moment has come, Douce reveals her love to Fabien and tells him she is prepared to give up everything for him. The two lovers plan to set sail for a new life together, but their happiness proves to be short-lived…

One of Spanish cinema’s great auteurs, Carlos Saura brought international audiences closer to the art of his country’s dance than any other filmmaker, before or since. In his Flamenco Trilogy - Blood Wedding, Carmen, and El amor brujo - Saura merged his passion for music with his exploration of national identity. All starring and choreographed by legendary dancer Antonio Gades, the films feature thrilling physicality and electrifying cinematography and editing - colorful paeans to bodies in motion as well as to cinema itself.

Werner Schroeter's unique melodramas about love and death are fascinating amalgamations of opera, theater and cinema elements. Art and kitsch, high and low brow, Maria Callas and Caterina Valente, myths and genre elements. The 2-disc DVD set presents the first two feature-length films by Schroeter in beautifully restored versions. Additionally it offers a new reconstruction of Schroeter's legendary two-screen projection Argila and excerpts of a talk with Werner Schroeter, lead by Dietrich Kuhlbrodt during the Werner Schroeter Tribute at the Viennale 2008.

Hallucinogenic drugs, smart-aleck heroines, jewel thieves, macho tabloid reporters, strippers, intrepid police inspectors, plus crazy chases, brutal fist fights, spiked-metal gloves and myriad use of the zoom lens – not to mention delirious nightclub scenes, escalating body counts and countless red herrings! NoShame is proud to present for the first time on DVD uncut two deranged examples of the sexy, Italian thriller genre - the giallo.

“I was born under unusual circumstances …” Thus begins The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the Academy Award–winning film starring Brad Pitt as a man who is born in his eighties and ages backward, and Cate Blanchett as the woman he is destined to love forever. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a monumental journey—as unusual as it is epic—that follows Benjamin’s remarkable adventure of romance and redemption from the end of World War I through the twenty-first century. Directed by David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a powerful testament to life and death, love and loss.

It’s been a year since the Alaskan town of Barrow’s population was decimated by vampires during its annual month long sunset. Riddled with grief over the death of her husband, bound by nightmares and void of all emotions beyond hate and sorrow, Stella (Sanchez) has spent the past months traveling the world, trying to convince others that vampires exist. Met with skepticism and laughter, Stella is ready to throw in the towel when a group of lost souls (Coiro, Baird and Perrineau) offers an incredible opportunity: the chance to exact revenge upon Lilith (Kirshner), the vampire queen responsible for the assault on her sleepy Alaskan town….

Roddy has a camera implanted in his brain. He is then hired by a television producer to film a documentary of terminally ill Katherine, without her knowledge. His footage will then be run on the popular TV series, "Death Watch"…