La Boheme

La Boheme 1988

8.00

Giacomo Puccini's bittersweet opera of high-spirited bohemians and the doomed love between Rodolfo, the idealistic poet and Mimi, the consumptive flower-maker, is a beautifully balanced series of tableaux depicting the infectious joie de vivre of youth and the tragic waste of disease and separation. The legendary and incomparable partnership of Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti as the two lovers has been captured in this special live recording from stage of the San Francisco Opera. Brian Large has adapted Francesca Zambello's production for video, further illuminating the fascinating interaction of Puccini's characters. Gino Quilico sings Marcello, the colorful and moody painter, whose tempestuous relationship with the flirtatious Musetta (sung by Sandra Pacetti), comically mirrors the more profound love of Rodolfo and Mimi. Nicolai Ghiaurov sings Colline.

1988

Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'

Franz Kafka's 'The Trial' 1988

1

BBC documentary about Franz Kafka played by GREEK TV in 1990.This documentary is one of the ten films of "The Modern World: Ten Great Writers (1988)".

1988

Dance Crazy in Hollywood

Dance Crazy in Hollywood 1990

6.00

American dancer and choreographer Hermes Pan recalls his life and work as he relives the glorious history of the Hollywood musical.

1990

Carmen

Carmen 1994

6.00

Modern adaptation of the classic operatic drama, with a few twists. Micaela, José's Mother, and Mörd (Death) are played by the same dancer. The action is reduced to a single act in 13 scenes. The love scenes are played to a minimum and the working women's fight is adjourned to the last scene [and cut from some DVD editions] that concentrates all the pathos announced throughout by the eerie music.

1994

Enter Achilles

Enter Achilles 1996

1

A funny, cruel exploration of the male psyche, Enter Achilles is set in a typical British pub, a shabby, nicotine-stained boozer. Pop songs tumble out of the jukebox, there is football on the TV, and the eight men lark around, pint glasses in hand. But their blokish fun is balanced on a knife-edge of tension, for beneath the mateyness lurks a disturbing undercurrent of paranoia and insecurity, where weakness is brutally exploited and violence covers up vulnerability.

1996

War and Peace

War and Peace 1991

1

The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov, is intertwined with the "Great Patriotic War" of 1812 against the invading Napoleon's Armies. People of Russia from all classes of society stand up united against the enemy. Both sides suffer tremendous losses during the war, and Russian society is left irrevocably changed.

1991

Profile of a Writer: Borges

Profile of a Writer: Borges 1983

1

This documentary examines Borges' extraordinary life and work, using dramatizations of his most memorable stories and rare interview footage with the author at his Buenos Aires home.

1983

Parsifal: The Search for the Grail

Parsifal: The Search for the Grail 1998

1

Richard Wagner's operatic retelling of the story of the search for the Holy Grail receives a lavish production in this video, which records performances held in Bayreuth, St. Petersburg, and Ravello, Italy. Internationally renowned tenor Placido Domingo leads the distinguished cast; Tony Palmer directs.

1998

Kurt Vonnegut: So It Goes

Kurt Vonnegut: So It Goes 1983

9.00

A documentary featured on BBC's Arena series in 1983. The author discusses his life, his work and his thoughts and opinions.

1983

Mozart: The Magic Flute

Mozart: The Magic Flute 1989

1

A delightful fairy tale, Mozart's final operatic legacy remains a great work in the spirit of the Enlightenment. Intertwining music of awesome purity and beauty with the conventions of musical comedy, it explores Man's search for truth and his confusion between the forces of light and dark. This production from The Drottningholm Court Theatre is conducted by Arnold Ostman and played on authentic period instruments.

1989

Peter Grimes

Peter Grimes 1994

1

Benjamin Britten's opera as performed by the English National Opera, with Philip Langridge in the title role.

1994

A Tribute to Alvin Ailey

A Tribute to Alvin Ailey 1990

1

Alvin Ailey played a key role in the growth of modern dance in USA and his company, founded in 1958, is one of the USA’s oldest dance troupes as well as one of the most youthful and vital on the dance scene. In this two-part program, members of Ailey's dance company celebrate his memory by performing three works choreographed by Ailey himself, as well as a special ballet tribute choreographed by Ulysses Dove. Each piece is introduced by Judith Jamison, the dancer and choreographer whose career was nurtured to stardom by Ailey, and who was, at the time of this production, Artistic Director of the company. The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is uniquely eclectic in range, repertory, and style. As a choreographer, Ailey explored the black experience and went beyond, finding universal human truths in all his work.

1990

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo 1982

1.00

Frida Kahlo: declared a symbol of Mexican national heritage, made into a cult figure by the women's movement, praised by the likes of Picasso and Breton, this film uses images and music to reveal the soul of an icon.

1982

James Joyce's 'Ulysses'

James Joyce's 'Ulysses' 1988

1

From the series "The Modern World: Ten Great Writers", this playful documentary introduces James Joyce's most famous work "Ulysses". It includes fantastic adaptations to film from passages of the novel. It also includes excerpts from a book written by Joyce's friend, the artist Frank Budgen, entitled "James Joyce and the making of Ulysses". Amongst those interviewed is author Anthony Burgess.

1988

Picasso

Picasso 1985

7.00

The opening of the Picasso-National Museum in Paris granted a unique chance for Didier Baussy to document the precious collection in the museum in 81-minutes of film. The museum shows paintings held back by Picasso himself which have been very valuable for his connection to the world and his memories. A sensitive Analysis of these pictures dominantly from the Guernica-phase, grant a deep insight into the history of this artist and man Picasso, a geographical location of the scenes and a glimpse of his sources of inspiration.

1985

An Evening with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

An Evening with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 1986

1

Dazzling, brash and dynamic, yet equally graceful and poetic. DIVINING was Judith Jamison's first major work as a choreographer for Ailey, evoking a strong feeling for African tribal ritual, is set to hauntingly rhythmic drum music. REVELATIONS, often describes as the company's signature tune, has become an American classic. It expresses Ailey's intense feelings for his roots, with Ailey's vivid "blood memories" of the blues, spirituals, gospel music, ragtime and folk songs as well as the hard life of the Southern black during the Depression. Set to Modern Jazz, THE STUCK-UP takes place in modern-day Harlem, about the cruel reality of urban street life as a young man is destroyed by drugs. CRY, choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1971 for Judith Jamison, is one of his most famous pieces. Created as a birthday present for his mother, it is Ailey's tribute to black women and inspires moving emotions with its portrayal of struggle, anger and most importantly, its feeling of celebration.

1986

Philip Glass: Satyagraha

Philip Glass: Satyagraha 1983

10.00

This luminous, visionary opera tells the story of how Mahatma Gandhi developed the philosophy of satyagraha, nonviolent active resistance, as a political revolutionary tool to fight oppression, connecting his lifework to three historical figures who advanced his philosophy: the celebrated Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, the great Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore and the heroic American civil rights leader Martin Luther King. The libretto is comprised of passages from “The Bhagavad-Gita,” India’s greatest philosophical epic, and perfectly complements Glass’ ravishing score, mysteriously transporting the audience with a serene power and an all-encompassing sense of peace.

1983

Arvo Pärt: And Then Came the Evening and the Morning

Arvo Pärt: And Then Came the Evening and the Morning 1990

1

Arvo Pärt is regarded as one of the most original avant-garde composers. This documentary shows Pärt as a deeply spiritual man whose work is bound up with his religious beliefs. Both he and his music defy classification, and he is determined to preserve his aura of mystery.

1990