Inside this conventionally structured biopic resides an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man. William Wilberforce was the parliamentary spokesman for a group of radicalised young Evangelists (and Quakers), who despised the money politics and corruption of late 18th Century UK politics and who fought for many reformist policies, the most notable of which was the one this film annotates, the abolition of slavery, a process that took years of political skulduggery and the slow passage of find out more...

Immaculate costumes, a brilliant script and two star-crossed lovers in a battle of wits in this tale of the unconsummated romance between Thailand's reformist King Mongkut (Rama 4) and Anna Leonowens, his son's English tutor. All this set a backdrop of court intrigue against the still running Rama dynasty. Very good. find out more...

Victor Hugo's classic novel of a prisoner on the run gets a reworking by Josee Dayan in this 3 hour film version. The highlight of this film (other than the beautiful lack of overblown musical maladies) is the casting. Gerard Depardieu uses his ambiguous persona to great effect as Jean Valjean; the captivating Charlotte Gainsbourg as Fantine; an angelic Virginie Ledoyen as her orphaned daughter and the menacing urbanity of John Malkovich is excellently projected onto Valjean's nemesis Javert. As find out more...

Manipulative English mercenary Sir William Walker is posted to a Portuguese colony in the Caribbean and, once there, he uses his skills to engineer a slave revolt as part of his calculated plans for the English to seize control. 'Queimada' is a fine example of Pontecorvo's unique filmmaking talent and Brando's portrayal of a man who is both a gentleman and a scoundrel, a revolutionary and a colonialist, ranks amongst his best performances. Ennio Morricone's haunting music underscores a very powe find out more...

This Russian version of Tolstoys War and peace is more faithful to the novel than the 1956 Hollywood version. More than this it is also the most expensive movie ever made and every rubel shows on screen! With more than 10 000 extras and 300 speaking parts director Sergei Bondarchuk recreates every aspect of Tolstoys classic. Most noticeable are the scenes of Natashas first ball, the battle of Borodino and the burning of Moscow. Bondarchuk rendition is on such a grand scale that you actually b find out more...