1560, Peru. In a beautiful poetic opening scene the conquistadors cross an Andes pass, situated between the peaks and the valleys, between conquered land and unexplored forests, between 'heaven' and 'earth', shrouded in mists, they make their way down a narrow path. Aguirre's meglomania grows as around him his comrades mutiny and die in his search for the lost city of El Dorado. Herzog's best film, an unforgetable tour de force. Made before the director himself gave in to meglomania on a later t find out more...

Atom Egoyan has created a world within a world, shifting between the contemporary and, through the making of a film about the events, the tragic genocidal slaughter of the Armenians in turn of the 20th Century Turkey. Ararat is a thoughtful and thought provoking drama of the highest order. find out more...

At the peak of her international career, Maria Enders is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years ago. But back then she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena. She departs with her assistant to rehearse in Sils Maria; a remote region of the Alps. A young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal is to take find out more...

An acclaimed and gloriously visual epic that follows the life of Avik, a young half-Eskimo boy, in his search for love and identity. It takes him across continents, through the hell of war, and into a painful reunion with Aubertine, his childhood sweet-heart. Moving, beautiful and superbly filmed. find out more...

Leone's superb all-encompassing epic portraying the death of the mythical 'Wild West'. A superb cast, the collaborations of Bertolucci and Argento, and Morricone's brilliantly atmospheric score all add to the incredible style and weight of Leone's creation. A true cinematic masterpiece! A candidate for greatest movie ever made, if you haven't... then you must. find out more...

Astonishingly rich and beautiful film, rightly acclaimed as one of the finest examples of Chinese cinema. A young girl becomes the fourth wife of a powerful clan chief and finds that life revolves around the jealousies of her rivals. A poignant study of one woman's fate under feudalism. find out more...

Ran, Kurosawa's last great epic, is a Jidaigeki (Japanese period drama) depicting the fall of Hidetora Ichimonj, an ageing Sengoku-era warlord who abdicates as ruler in favor of his three sons. His kingdom slowly disintegrates as the sons struggle for power, murdering rivals and laying waste to the land, and Hidetora goes insane after watching his retainers slaughtered in an epic massacre, the centrepiece of the film. As the kingdom crumbles and rival warlords move in for the kill, the Ichimonji find out more...

In the decadent court of pre-revolutinary Versailles an unwitting newly arrived aristo must take part in games of witty repartee and sexual intrigue in order to obtain royal backing and aid to drain his swamp-ridden estate and improve the lot of his impoverished serfs. He soon develops a razor wit and acid tongue in this excellent and biting costumed satire detailing the deceit and moral destitution of pre-Revolutionary Versaille. find out more...

An English clergyman in 1930s Oz is sent to persuade artist Norman Lindsay to remove an erotic painting from an exhibition. The cleric's uptight wife is appalled by the immoral behaviour of Lindsay and his three muses, but is gradually drawn into their sexually liberated lifestyle. Seductive. find out more...

The film version of Kurt Vonnegut Jr's famous anti-war sci-fi novel. Slipping back and forth along his own life line a suburban optometrist experiences the fire bombing of Dresden and captivity on the planet Trafalmardore. A powerful and seemingly unfilmable book that turned out to be a great movie. find out more...