252 – The Girl King (2015)

spacetime coordinates: 17th century Sweden

The 2015 film The Girl King is a biographical drama about Christina, Queen of Sweden  [(18 December 1626 – 19 April 1689) reigned as Queen of Sweden from 1632 to 1654]. It was directed by Mika Kaurismäki and written by Michel Marc Bouchard who, following writing the screenplay for the film, wrote his stage play Christine, La Reine-Garçonwhich enjoyed a successful run in 2012 at Montreal’s Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and then in English at the Stratford Festival in 2014.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1254322/

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The Pope described Christina as “a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame”.

248 – Neruda (2016)

spacetime coordinates:  Chile, 1948

Neruda is a 2016 internationally co-produced biographical drama film directed by Pablo Larraín,  a fabulous retelling of popular poet and Communist Senator Pablo Neruda‘s  1948 flight from Chile’s fascist government.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4698584/

245 – The Condemned (2013)

In the heart of Russia, in a forest larger than Germany, where winter temperatures drop to -40 degrees, 7 hours from the nearest city, lies a prison like no other. Home to 260 men, responsible for nearly 800 murders, Penal Colony 56 is unique: a prison exclusively for killers.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3164988/

watch on youtube

197 – The Name of the Rose (1986)

spacetime coordinates: 1327 northern Italy

The Name of the Rose (Der Name der Rose) is a 1986 Italian-French-German drama mystery film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on the book of the same name by Umberto Eco. Sean Connery stars as the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Christian Slater is his apprentice Adso of Melk, who are called upon to solve a deadly mystery in a Benedictine abbey.

The exterior and some of the interiors of the monastery seen in the film were constructed as a replica on a hilltop outside Rome, and ended up being the biggest exterior set built in Europe since Cleopatra. Many of the interiors were shot at Eberbach Abbey, Germany. Most props, including period illuminated manuscripts, were produced specifically for the film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091605/

195 – Hugo (2011)

spacetime coordinates: Paris in the 1930s

Hugo is a 2011 historical adventure drama film directed and co-produced by Martin Scorsese and adapted for the screen by John Logan. Based on Brian Selznick‘s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, it is about a boy who lives alone in the Gare Montparnasse railway station in Paris in the 1930s.

The backstory and primary features of Georges Méliès‘ life as depicted in the film are largely accurate: He became interested in film after seeing a demonstration of the Lumière brothers‘ camera; he was a magician and toymaker; he experimented with automata; he owned a theatre (Theatre Robert-Houdin); he was forced into bankruptcy; his film stock was reportedly melted down for its celluloid; he became a toy salesman at the Montparnasse station, and he was eventually awarded the Légion d’honneur medal after a period of terrible neglect. Many of the early silent films shown in the movie are Méliès’s actual works, such as Le voyage dans la lune (1902). However, the film does not mention Méliès’ two children, his brother Gaston (who worked with Méliès during his film-making career), or his first wife Eugénie, who was married to Méliès during the time he made films (and who died in 1913). The film shows Méliès married to Jeanne d’Alcy during their filmmaking period, when in reality they did not marry until 1925. (read more here: Historical references)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970179/

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0187 – La antena (2007)

spacetime coordinates: nameless city “in the year XX”

La Antena (English: The Aerial) is a 2007 Argentine dystopian drama/fantasy film, written and directed by acclaimed film director Esteban Sapir.

This near-silent black and white film from Argentina tells the story of a city that has lost its voice, stolen by Mr. TV, and the attempts of a small family to win the voice back. Similar in design to early German expressionist films.

TRAILER

IMDB, WIKI

147 – The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 1939 – 1945 Warsaw, Poland

The Zookeeper’s Wife is a 2017 war drama film directed by Niki Caro and written by Angela Workman, based on Diane Ackerman’s non-fiction book The Zookeeper’s Wife, (which relied heavily on the diaries of Antonina Żabińska, published in Poland as Ludzie i zwierzęta translated as: People and Animals 1968)., recounting the rescue of Jews from the Nazi invasion. The film stars Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Michael McElhatton and Daniel Brühl.

wiki, imdb