Polanski's first, and arguably his finest, feature film is an economically brilliant exercise in tension. Sparse of cast and props, the atmosphere grows painfully taut as a young couple on a yachting trip and the hitcher they've picked up engage in ever more dangerous emotional games. find out more...

Barbet Schroeder made this directing debut in 1969 with this story set in the youth culture of the Sixties. Stefan, a young German student, hitchhikes to Paris to begin the search for himself with the usual assistance offered by sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. At a wild Left Bank party he falls in love with Estelle, an off-beat American girl who gives him his first joint. When the pair meet up again in Ibiza , it becomes apparent that Estelle is getting deeper and deeper into the drug scene, with tr find out more...

Monika is a reckless free spirit when she meets Harry, together they spark immediately and their relationship swiftly blossoms into fully consummated love. An idyllic summer spent cruising the rivers on a boat is brought to a harsh conclusion when Monika discovers she is pregnant. Agreeing to marry the couple settle down to bring up their child, but what should have been a distant but warmly remembered first love deteriorates into a world of domestic drudgery and Monica reaches breaking point wh find out more...

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs might be Japanese filmmaker Mikio Naruse's finest hour, a delicate, devastating study of a woman, Keiko, played heartbreakingly by Hideko Takamine, who works as a bar hostess in Tokyo's very modern post-war Ginza district. Sly, resourceful, but trapped, Keiko comes to embody the conflicts and struggles of a woman trying to establish her independence in a male-dominated society. A profoundly moving masterpiece. find out more...