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“The term gaslighting originated from this film. The character Paul uses the gas lamps in the closed off upper floors which causes the rest of the lamps in the house to dim slightly; when Bella comments on the lights dimming, she is told she is imagining things. Bella is persuaded she is hearing noises, unaware that Paul enters the upper floors from the house next door. The sinister interpretation of the change in light levels is part of a larger pattern of deception to which the character Bella is subjected…” Gaslight Discussion Thread
Article: About Gaslight and Gaslighting
1978 Höstsonaten: Autumn Sonata (91:62)
“Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. It tells the story of a celebrated classical pianist who is confronted by her neglected daughter. It was Ingrid Bergman's last performance in a major theatrical feature film, and the film won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1979 Golden Globe Awards. The plot focuses on a prominent concert pianist, Charlotte Andergast who has been neglectful and dismissive of her children, whom she has not seen in over seven years. Charlotte decides to make a visit to her eldest daughter, Eva at her remote house, where she lives with her husband, Viktor. Upon arrival, Charlotte discovers that her other daughter, Helena, who is mentally and physically disabled (and was placed in an institution by Charlotte) is living with and being taken care of by Eva. Wounded by the neglect and selfishness of her mother, Eva begins to spill all of the things she has ever wanted to say to Charlotte, and as the evening progresses, the tension culminates to a wave of harsh words and exposure of true feelings that change their mother–daughter relationship forever." Autumn Sonata Discussion Thread
1993 The Age of Innocence (movie trailer only)“An American film adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel of the same name. Newland Archer is an affluent lawyer in 1870s New York, engaged to May Welland, a beautiful but conventional socialite. Newland begins to question the life he has planned for himself after the arrival of May’s cousin, the exotic and sophisticated Countess Ellen Olenska. Ellen is a passionate lover who is seeking a divorce from her abusive husband, a Polish count, which has made her a social outcast and greatly displeases her family, who are afraid of scandal. As Newland grows to love and care more and more deeply for Ellen, having convinced her not to press for a divorce, he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the society to which he belongs and the idea of entering into a passionless marriage with May. The question at this point, is whether he will follow society's dictates, or those of his heart. The film ends with him as an elderly man, after having raised three children with May. "(link) The Age of Innocence Discussion Thread
“The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine. The film ends as Verdoux is being led to the guillotine in the prison courtyard after dismissing his killing of a few as no worse than the highly-praised killing of large numbers in war." Article: Mr. Verdoux 1947
“The film is set in 1930’s West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Ben Harper is sentenced to hang for his part in a robbery in which two men were killed. Before he is caught he hides the stolen money, trusting only his son John, the main character of the story, with the money's location. John has a much younger sister, Pearl. Reverend Harry Powell, a serial killer and self-appointed preacher with the words ‘LOVE’ and ‘HATE’ tattoed on the knuckles of his right and left hands, shares a prison cell with Harper. He tries to get Harper to tell him the hiding place before his execution, but the only clue he gets is a Bible verse Harper mutters in his sleep: “And a little child shall lead them." Night of the Hunter Discussion Thread
Link: “The title, Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, is plurivalent. der Spieler means the player in German, and can be translated as the gambler, the actor, or the puppeteer. Dr. Mabuse who disguises, plays with emotions and tricks other people, is probably all of them in some sense. Dr. Mabuse is a doctor of psychology and master of disguise. He tricks many people out of money by conning them and using hypnotism. He murders many people, and towards the end sees their ghosts, and goes mad. It is debatable whether he saw the ghosts because he was mad, or that seeing the ghosts made him mad, or if he simply feigns insanity. He is then sent to an asylum which is the setting for the next movie of the series, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, known also as The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse). "
1940 Rebecca (2:05:05)
“Rebecca is a 1940 psychological/dramatic noir thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock as his first American project...the film's screenplay was an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel of the same name. The film is a gothic tale about the lingering memory of the title character, Maxim de Winter's dead first wife, which continues to haunt Maxim, his new bride, and Mrs. Danvers. The film won two Academy Awards, including Best Picture out of a total 11 nominations. Olivier, Fontaine and Anderson were all Oscar nominated for their respective roles. Since the introduction of awards for actors in supporting roles, this is the only film named Best Picture that won no other Academy Award for acting, directing or writing." Rebecca Discussion Thread
1943 Heaven Can Wait (1:48:02)
“The film tells the story of a man who has to prove he belongs in Hell by telling his life story… An aged Henry van Cleve (Ameche) enters the opulent reception area of Hell, to be personally greeted by ‘His Excellency’ (Cregar). Henry petitions to be admitted (fully aware of the kind of life he had led), but there is some doubt as to his qualifications. To prove his worthiness (or rather unworthiness), he begins to tell the story of his dissolute life." Heaven Can Wait Discussion Thread
“Persona is considered one of the major works of the 20th century by essayists and critics such as Susan Sontag, who referred to it as Bergman's masterpiece. Other critics have described it as "one of this century’s great works of art". Persona Discussion Thread
“If you've read Patricia Highsmith's novels about Tom Ripley, you know they can make your skin crawl. Ripley is a criminal of intelligence and cunning who gets away with murder. He's charming and literate, and a monster.” ~Roger Ebert Purple Noon Discussion Thread
“You've got to hand it to Alfred Hitchcock: when he sows the fearful seeds of mistrust in one of his motion pictures he can raise more goose pimples to the square inch of a customer's flesh than any other director of thrillers in Hollywood. He did it quite nicely in “Rebecca" and again in “Suspicion" about a year ago. And now he is bringing in another bumper crop of blue-ribbon shivers and chills in Jack Skirball's diverse production of “Shadow of a Doubt." ~Bosley Crowther Shadow of a Doubt Discussion Thread
“Italian director Luchino Visconti dishes up his usual blend of elegance and decadence in Senso. The international cast includes French film star Alida Valli as a Italian countess married to a Venetian nobleman, and English leading man Farley Granger as an Austrian military officer. The two are swept up in the Austrian empire's evacuation of Italy in 1866. Valli and Granger fall in love, but Valli ultimately realizes that the officer is interested only in her wealth and prestige, whereupon she gives him over to a firing squad.” ~Hal Erickson Senso Discussion Thread
“(Swedish: Sommarnattens leende) is a 1955 Swedish comedy film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was the first of Bergman's films to bring the director international success, due to its exposure at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. In 2005 it was on TIME magazine's "100 Movies" list of the best movies of all time.” Smile of a Summer Night discussion thread
“In 1961 London, Jenny Mellor is a 16-year-old schoolgirl, on track to enter Oxford University when she meets a charming older man, David Goldman, who pursues her romantically. He takes her to concerts, clubs and fine restaurants, and easily charms her parents into approving of the relationship. When Jenny recognizes that David is a con man who makes noney through a variety of shady practices, she is initially shocked by silences her misgivings in the face of David’s persuasive charm." An Education discussion thread
“Zelig is a man so completely and so pathologically without any identity of his own that, without conscious effort, he takes on the physical, mental, and emotional characteristics of any strong personality he's with." Zelig Discussion Thread
“Adapted from expressionist playwright Frank Wedekind’s fin de siècle Lulu cycle, centered on the destruction wrought by unbridled female eros, Pandora’s Box would, in its shockingly modern instinct-driven psychology, end up defining both director and actor.” Pandora's Box Discussion Thread
"The film recounts the death of five-year-old Paulette's parents and her pet dog in a Nazi air attack on a column of refugees fleeing Paris, France during World War II. In the chaos, the traumatized child meets ten-year-old Michel Dolle whose peasant family will take her in."
Mark Whitacre, a rising star at Decatur, Illinois based on Archer Daniels Midland in the early 1900's blows the whistle on the company's price-fixing tactics at the urge of his wife Ginger.The Informant Discussion Thread
A crime drama film about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a former prostitute who was executed in 2002 for killing six men (she was not tried for a seventh murder) in the late 1980's and 1990's. Monster Discussion Thread
1963 Paranoiac
(1:20:02)
Simon Ashby (Reed) is trying to drive his
sister, Eleanor (Scott) insane, so that he can inherit the estate of their
deceased parents. But when a mysterious man (Davion) appears, claiming to be
their long-lost brother Tony, Simon's plans are thwarted. Simon vows to get
revenge on the man and eliminate his sister in the process.1995 Delores Claiborne
is based on the 1992 psychological thriller novel by Stephen King. The book is dedicated to King's mother: "For my mother, Ruth Pillsbury King."
1948 Ruthless (1:46:37) is a drama film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Zachary Scott and Louis Hayward. Horace Vending shows himself to the world as a rich philanthropist. In fact, the history of his rise from his unhappy broken home shows this to be far from the case. After being taken in by richer neighbors, he started to exhibit an obsessive and selfish urge to make more and more money, loving and leaving women at will to further his end.” ~Wiki Link
“(Frederic March & Miriam Hopkins) This book by Robert Lewis Stevenson is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called ‘split personality’, wherein within the same person there are at least two distinct personalities. In this case, the two personalities in Dr Jekyll are apparently good and evil, with completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next."
1980 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with David Hemmings (1:54:19)
1990 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Michael Caine (1:34: 44)
Mommy Dearest Trailer (4:10)
