Akira Kurosawa is one of history’s most prolific cinematic artists. The great Japanese filmmaker won international acclaim with epic action films, such as “Seven Samurai,”...

New York City is no stranger to the silver screen. Time and time again, it has set the stage for gritty crime dramas, sappy rom-coms and billion-dollar superhero blockbusters....

“Ganja & Hess” (1973) opens with a somber, gospel-inspired opening song that cryptically refers to crucifixion and blood thirst. A set of intertitles introduces the protagonist,...

A highly divisive film from a director that is no stranger to controversy, Lars von Trier’s “The House That Jack Built” (2018) uses the serial killer genre to delve into...

In “Lucky Grandma” (2019), an archetypal chain-smoking Chinatown curmudgeon is tossed into the chaos of archaic superstitions, organized crime and strained familial relationships....

In Eiichi Yamamoto’s “Belladonna of Sadness” (1973), elegant watercolor vignettes of medieval life — reminiscent of gothic stained glass paintings — are juxtaposed by...

“The Kid with a Bike” (2011) is a gripping and painfully honest entry to the coming-of-age genre. Directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne present childhood through a lens of...

“Ruined Heart,” or “Ruined Heart: Another Love Story Between a Criminal & a Whore,” embodies its title wholeheartedly. For one, its lovelornness is evident from the...

Seijun Suzuki’s 1966 “Tokyo Drifter” is a samurai spaghetti western dressed in a striking pop-art palette and slathered in excessive ’60s Americana. The film is filled...

“Breaker Morant” opens to an orchestra of men, all dressed in military khakis with their pith helmets, playing their brass instruments under the Union Jack. The film then cuts...

“Woman in the Dunes” (1964), directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, is a tale confined to a pit in a sand dune. Amateur entomologist Niki Junpei (Eiji Okada) is on the hunt for a...

There is fission. There is fusion. And there is the immortal science of Marxism-Leninism. In his satirical film “La Chinoise,” Jean-Luc Godard traces the merger and split of...