Drama and Erotic films

Cheeky is actually a much better film than most of the crappy softcore porn stuff out there. It's directed by Tinto Brass; the same director who gave us "Saloon Kitty", a film that I've been meaning to see for ages and have never got round to, in spite of the fact that I have a copy. Anyway, for most of this film the camera focuses on Yuliya Mayarchuk's backside, but it's a nice backside so that isn't really a flaw. Yuliya Mayarchuk and her backside take the lead role, and she stars as a girl named Carla; who is on the lookout for some flats, right near a park filled with perverts and horny couples. She goes to an estate agent and meets a sexy woman named Moira, who wants her. She rents a large apartment and Moira gets her own way, and this causes trouble as Carla is in a relationship with a young man named Matteo. Naturally, Matteo is none too pleased with the way that his girl parades her assets all around town. He comes to London, and the pair has an argument over the pictures that he found in Carla's bedroom.

How much you like this film will largely depend on exactly what you want to get out of movies. If you're looking for something deep and meaningful, don't see Cheeky - but if you just want some cheap and cheerful softcore porn, then this could be for you. There's plenty of nudity, and the leading lady's body gets completely exposed on numerous occasions. There is a lesbian subplot, which is always nice to see and the scenes between the women are actually quite well done. The fact that they're both really hot helps a lot. There are also some regular sex scenes, and plenty of teasing and general nudity. It's all extremely light-hearted; there's plenty of scenes that see the lead in a flimsy short skirt which is being blown about by the wind, and if you ask me; that sort of stuff pretty much sums this film up. It's always obvious where the plot is going - usually another sex scene - so there's not a lot of surprises. There's a couple of scenes that take place to music which are decent, and that's pretty much all I have to say about this one.

This review is for the unrated version of this magnifecent film.

Before Rome. Before Gladiator. The most controversial film of all time as you've never experienced it before! Combining lavish spectacle and top award-winning stars, this landmark production is now presented in a beautiful new hig-definition transfer from recently uncovered negative elements. From the moment he ascends to the throne as Emperor, Caligula (A clockwork Orange's Malcolm McDowell) enforces a reign like no other as power and corruption transform him into a deranged beast whose deeds still live on as some of the most depraved in history. Also starring Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia and Academy Award winners Helen Mirren (The Queen) and John Gielgud (Arthur), this unflinching look at the decandence of Ancient Rome shall startle and amaze you like no other film ever made.

This is actually a pretty good film. Perhaps the intense nudity and graphic-ness was not likeable but the movie was very closely tied to the facts and history of Caligula himself. You don't see many movies that actually stick with the facts instead of making it 'Hollywood.' I reccommend this to people who "know" about Caligula in advance so that they know what their seeing instead of going into the film not having a clue what its about. I don't think they could've made the movie any better that relates to Caligula- he was a psychopath and it showed in this movie.

Tons of great scenes, and it showed what the "real" Rome was like. Brutal and harsh and misgiving.

Sèverine is perfect, she's Catherine Deneuve. She consciously inhabits her subconscious and the comings and goings are tinted with pristine, erotic decadence. Her perfection includes outrage without rage, panic without fear. Having or not having is the question she never asks. Her husband Pierre, the exquisite Jean Sorel, is like one of her garments. There, stunning, understated, reliable, existing without existing. Marcel, in the other hand, the riveting Pierre Clementi, seems determined to provoke. Provoke what? Where is that need creeping from? I love to meander through "Belle de Jour" allowing Luis Bunuel to have his fun. He deserves it. His puzzle is just that, a puzzle and his genius, challenge us to find the non existent pieces. The pieces are ours coming from our own wishes, wantings and longings.

The earlier film by Julio Médem (Lovers of the Arctic Circle) is a prelude to the kind of cinematography that this Spanish film director/writer presents here. I have read most of the other comments, but they don't do justice to it, mainly because of the lack of understanding the original tongue of this film. The screenplay is excellent, full of metaphors and a rich use of very carefully chosen words. People who consider this film just an excuse for depicting sex scenes as the highlight of the movie are pretty much clueless. It is more than that, it is the complex storytelling that tangles the characters in this movie and the way that is told. Compelling and breath-taking. A must see.

A very beautiful film with that special Antonioni atmosphere. I can identify with the feeling of emptiness and the people who can´t really communicate with each other. Modern life and adulthood seems shallow and a bit soulless. You have to fill it with something and make it human again.

The first time I saw it I was disapointed but it improved greatly with the second viewing and I want to see it again. There are new things to discover each time as with all of Antonionis´ films.

There are some films that are designed to shock, some designed to titillate, some that delight in disgusting the view. For Makavejev, shock, disgust and titillation are never the purpose, but a means to a form of psycho-liberation. Makavejev in Sweet Movie hurtles us head first into the confronting theses of Post-Freudian Wilhelm Reich. We are forced to confront our relationship to our primal beings. He literally smears our consciousness with faeces, vomit and carnality.

We cannot watch orgiastic scenes of regressive acts, a sensual striptease played out inches from the faces of young boys, Carol Laure masturbating in a pool of molten chocolate without a visceral reaction. We are forced to confront our own repressed desires and shine a light in the dark recesses of our own psyche.

Here is revolution at it's most personal, montaged together with lashings of wild humour. Allow your head to give up control and come along for the ride. Recommended to anyone who is willing to put their concept of themselves on the line a risk a flirtation with prurient madness.

For his movie "Die Büchse Der Pandora (Panodra's Box)", G.W. Pabst took together the tragedies "Der Erdgeist" and "Die Büchse Der Pandora", forming the famous Lulu-diptych written by German dramatist Frank Wedekind (1864-1918), an important ancestor of literary expressionism, who wrote amongst other works "Frühlings Erwachen" that caused many scandals.

What is congenial about this movie, is not only the fact, that Louise Brooks is doubtless the best Lulu ever seen (in theater as well as on the screen), but how G.W. Pabst managed to amalgamate this two literary masterpieces of the time of sexual liberation in Europe.

It is a real pity, that not more of Pabst work can be reached in the US and that most of his work is not available at all on DVD.

This is a love-it-or-hate-it film, as reflected by the deep divisions in critical response. It is a serious piece of film-making but there are two major components that you may love or hate - extreme sexual explicitness and modern rock music.

The rock music is mostly from live concerts. If the music that people pogue and stage dive to is not for you, you probably won't want to sit through an hour of it (check the soundtrack listings - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Von Bondies, Salif Keita, Franz Ferdinand, Primal Scream, Dandy Warhols, Goldfrapp, Super Furry Animals, Elbow - do you recognise/like a few of them?) The sexual explicitness is a matter of personal taste - and tastes in sexuality vary a lot. If you can identify or empathise to some extent to this 20-some young couple and feel comfortable seeing how their relationship develops through sex and rock music you may, as I did, find it beautiful and intimate. The lovemaking is so natural that it is in sharp contrast to the fictionalised and very artificial sex scenes in mainstream films. There's also some wonderful symbolism in contrasting shots and details of Antarctica (connected to the daytime work of the main character). It's also a triumph British cinema that the Censors have allowed it to reach mainstream cinemas uncut.

ome films are made to just be provocative. Add some sex sequences and some violence and you get a wave of anger and insult in response of what the director wanted to point out. Baise Moi is a masterpiece which should be seen by consentant adults ready to face reality and who want to live open minded. Yes this film is X rated for adults only but it is not pornographic !!! It is just to tough for young audiences. Baise Moi belongs to these Feature-Realism category where you find Cassavetes, Godard and others. You get in touch with the truth of what these people live, breath and feel. It tells the story (which could be real !) of two women in a world where being a women souds like hell. What about feeling compassion for Serial Killers ? What about understanding how a human being could turn himself into a monster ? What would our life mean if it doesn't worth anything to anybody ? This film shows you what you are not ready to watch and hear. This film connects you with these people frightenning us everyday and against who we protect ourselves without hearing the sound of their sufferings. It's tough, brutal, rough and so true ! Rape yourself and learn ! I want to thank the two directors and the actresses. They are more than gifted and deserve a great future !

Bill Nighy gives another brilliant performance as Lawrence, a middle-aged, lonely politician who one day, while sneaking out of work for a short coffee break, comes across a young girl in the café. Cramped conditions lead to him having to share a table with this girl, leading to an awkward series of uncomfortable conversations. A series of conversations, that both however enjoy. Nighy's shy and nervous Lawrence manages to pluck up the courage to invite this young girl, Gina, out to lunch. And so the strange relationship ensues, Attracted by his sweet naivety in relationships and women, Gina soon falls for Lawrence, as he does with her. However, things are not what they seem, many problems begin to occur. Lawrence's job as a member of the G8 conflict with Gina's personal opinions. And when Lawrence invites her to join him when he goes to the g8 conference, many more conflicts happen, soon resulting in Lawrence having to choose between his love, and his job.

This is a fantastic film, a total surprise for me, as I, in fact, was not expecting much when i was first told to it, but by the end of the film i was loving every character. This is a surprisingly dramatic film that plucks at the heart strings of anyone who has ever felt loss in their life.

I am a big fan of Christian Bale and, for many years more, of John Hurt. They both do their very best with these characters and I'm certain that with less talented actors this could have been an abysmal film. There are noticeable flaws in the logic of the plot and some pretty tacky direction which in combination make it seem rather like a B-grade afternoon kids soapie.

Too many scenes are either unnecessary or painfully drawn out. It's very likely that some artful editing would have made a vastly superior 80 minute feature from this 112 minutes.

Being vegetarian and an animal lover, I felt some empathy for the main characters but there's not all that much depth to them. The evil step-father is portrayed as just too much of a villainous cliché.

I really enjoyed this film - the whole dream thing for Dudley followed by him actually managing to pull this lovely young thing... it's the stuff of dreams! It also shows that you should never give up on your dreams, but also that dreams are often better than reality (hence he ended up not going through with it) - it's a quality film that deserves more showings on TV than it gets! Of course the gratuitous nudity helped pass along the more boring moments.. and which red-blooded male wouldn't do as Dudley does? Telescopes are definitely NOT useless during the day despite what Patrick Moore might say! So, for sheer eye candy, coupled with getting an ugly man an attractive girl, this film is great to watch - plus it has many comic moments too of course! Marvellous!

This is truly a beautiful film.

Well written and superbly acted it tugs at the heartstrings harder than almost any other movie. The way it sets up an obvious story line and then like a gentle roller-coaster suddenly takes you in another direction is unequalled in this type of film.

There are so many points of genuine sadness and whenever you think you have guessed the story you suddenly turn to find an outcome more surprising than you thought.

Major characters die, major characters do not "fall in love" and major characters are not allowed to cop-out; it is as a film should be.

Remarkable well written, produced with care and acted with understatement and love - it is a beautiful film.

Watch it.

A dazzling epic of coincidence and fate during one day in the San Fernando Valley. This opens with a short story about some "true-life" examples of coincidence designed to show us that these things can't "just happen" and that there must be more to it than that. It then flies into the lives of a handful of different characters in a exhilarating introduction to a game show host, a sex guru, a police officer, a dying father, a male nurse, a drug addict to name a few. After this the speed slows down slightly and the characters are given time to develop and the stories begin to interlink.

Paul Thomas Anderson continues to get better and better with Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and now this. Here he gives a human touch to the director where someone like Altman would have been colder and more clinical. He seems to care about these characters and encourages us to do likewise. The direction is astonishing - it moves at a fast pace when it needs to, it is still and watching when appropriate and, at times, it is downright beautiful in a visionary way. Anderson's tries some audacious tricks and manages to pull them off - a scan round all the main characters singing an Aimee Mann track while they contemplate what's become of their lives is not only daring but works as one of the most moving moments in the film.

The acting is flawless - Cruise deserved the Oscar for this performance, but he is only one of an amazing range of actors including Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Philip Baker Hall etc. They are all excellent in their roles and make you care for all their characters - no matter how terrible they seem or how bad their crimes.

Direction is faultless, performances border on the brilliant, the script is totally convincing and moving. The only weak link is the biblical ending which may annoy some but I think fits in well with the tone of the film, after all, like the film says, "but it did happen".

If only all films could meet the standards achieved by this beautiful piece of work.

Boogie Nights is full of surprises, nothing quite prepares one for it its soul. Yes, it does have soul, whilst tackling the tackiest of subject matter, with both a wry smile and respect. Brillantly cast and wonderful character development, the performances somehow combine the best of stage acting with improvisation within a cinema verite style.

The plot proved richer than I expected and the underlying themes are teased out quite profoundly as each "B grade" human being is brought, through crisis, into perspective.

A sociologist's dream case study, the film resonates the raw truth of what we all know about self-esteem, parental love and lack of it, attention/love deficit and its manifestation in adulthood, the desperate need to belong. Something for everyone here.. almost camouflaged as issues of untouchables and their separate milieu but of course they are universal.

The film works on a number of levels. The ironic loop is that the milieu portrayed exists only because of the voyeur, who happens to be watching the film...

Boogie Nights is non judgmental of its subject matter and characters, a rarity. It deserves every accolade it has achieved and more.

"Somersault" is a vivid, interesting coming-of-age tale about a young girl who runs away from home, and quickly has encounters and experiences that force her to grow up fast.

Heidi (Abbie Cornish) is a lively teenage girl living at home with her single mother (Olivia Pigeot). When she's caught kissing her mum's creepy tattooed boyfriend, she does a runner, ending up in a lowly ski resort. She charms her way into a job and a place to stay, but soon her abundant sexuality and immaturity mean she eventually becomes unstuck...

This is a bleaker depiction of Australia than is seen in most popular soap operas. Shot in shades of grey and blue, it is shown to be a cold, barren wasteland inhabited by disconnected, lonely human beings. Director Cate Shortland shows this off to good effect, but could have done without the arty shots of falling leaves, and slow-motion captures of passing countryside and kept the story told in a more straightforward way.

The coming-of-age plot is a standard hook, naive teenage girl uses newfound sexuality to achieve intimacy, people exploit her, she defeats this and becomes hardened and wiser as a result. "Somersault" does not quite follow this path, and while there is a suggestion that Heidi has become wiser by the end, it is clear she still has a lot of growing up to do. Throughout, the girl seems dazed and disconnected by the real world around her, and in this the parallel between her and an autistic boy she encounters is not exploited nearly enough.

As Heidi, Abbie Cornish gives a performance that is at once sultry and naive. With blonde hair, fresh face and husky voice, Abbie captures the girl's sensuality and insecurity very well. The only flaw is the primordial scream she lets out on losing her job at a serving station. That is the only false note in her entire performance. Sam Worthington plays Joe, the only character in the film who truly understands her, while dealing with demons and anxieties all his own. Sam delivers a subtle, noteworthy performance.

Not perfect and a tad too arty in places, "Somersault" should nevertheless be the basis for more Australian pictures.

How Can You Find Yourself if No One Can See You?

Plot: A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist and her strict father during the Gulf War.

I got really, really, but I mean, really lucky to catch this at the Deauville American Film Festival. Can you imagine it? I flew all over to France to see Alan Ball's new movie. Well, I did it. Anyway, Nothing is Private (or Towelhead, as it is called now) is the new film written for the screen, produced and directed by Alan Ball and based upon the novel Towelhead by Alicia Erian. Some people say this movie is a porno and that is sick. But, I can, proudly, compare it with "American Beauty" (also one of my favourite movies, also). You can call me whatever you want and say that I'm nuts, but that's my point of view.

The film is set on the year 1991 on the Gulf War. When I first read the novel I thought: Well, this doesn't looks like a book that no one will ever adapt to the cinema. But, when I saw the film I thought: Oh, my God! What a great adaptation of the book. And, besides, I really loved American Beauty. And it has beautiful and hauntingly dark screenplay, intelligent direction and superb performances. I mean, Summer Bishil's performance is one of the most unforgettable ones of the last decade. Some may find it offencive, but you have to have an open mind to watch this. The most sexually explicit and disturbing movie I've ever seen since Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut'. I correct; since Bernardo Bertolucci's 'The Dreamers'. When you first watch this you feel like gut-punched. But, if you can get over the whole movie, and you have an open mind, you'll enjoy and love it. This is a true masterpiece. I believe that with the direction, with the screenplay and with the performances, this will get more than one Academy Award.

Verdict: One of the most daring, talking on a mature sexual way, movies of the last 50 years. Stunningly satirical and darkly and shockingly disturbing. A sexist teenage satire on the style of 'Juno' and 'Ghost World'. A superb drama. Simply, a Great Movie. Quite disturbing, not recommended to people that doesn't have an open criterion.

Nothing Is Private. Warner Independent Pictures. 2008. 116 min. UK: No Certificate. US: R. Written for the screen and directed by Alan Ball. Based upon the novel Towelhead by Alicia Erian. Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Peter Macdissi, Summer Bishil, Maria Bello and Toni Collette.

I think that it's safe to say that American Beauty and M. Night Shyamalan's supernatural-thriller The Sixth Sense were definity the sleeper hits of 1999.

Here Kevin Spacey shows the amazing form that he's been showing for the last ten years, in films like The Life of David Gale, K-PAX, Pay it Forward, L.A. Conifedencial and Swimming With Sharks. It's also funny that this is called an American Classic when the director, Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition), is in fact English.

Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a loser who hates his wife (Annette Benning- The Grifters, Mars Attacks) and whose daughter (Thora Birch- Patriot Games, Ghost World) hates him, whose life changes when he black mails his boss, falls for his daughters best friend (Mena Suvari- Atomic Train, American Pie 1 & 2, The Musketeer) and is introduced to the world of drugs by his neighbour (Wes Bentley-Ghost rider).

I know wrote in a previous review that I see "To End All Wars as better film-making triumph" and I still stand by that, but you just can't help but to be drawn in to this wonderful movie by the amazing Academy Award winning combination of Alan Ball's screenplay, Mendes's direction and Spacey performance.

In her film debut,the attractive Alicia Silverstone plays Darian Forrester,a mentally disturbed 14 year old girl who develops an unhealthy obsession with her neighbour,Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes)a baby faced blonde hair,blue eyed journalist who has no sexual interest in her.Silverstone shines in her role as the villain,making life hell for Nick,who wants nothing more than a friendship with the girl next door.Darian's desperate attempts to seduce the older man are unsuccessful,driving her deeper into her obsession and making her more psychotic.Silverstone's acting is superb,but her facial expressions are what is so convincing about her performance.Alicia superbly transforms herself from sweet and innocent into scary and psychotic giving new meaning to the phrase,'When she was good she was very very good,and when she was bad she was horrid'. The film has you on the edge of your seat as the plot unravels,and truths are discovered about sweet little Darian Forrester who is crazier than anyone thought.Her anger at Nick for leading her on goes to the extreme until she comes up with a plan she hopes will destroy his reputation.Nick is oblivious to Darian's feelings for him and believes its nothing more than a silly school girl crush that will pass until he discovers just how dangerous Darian really is.

Quite simply put, it's one of the best films I have ever seen. Putting aside the facts that some of it is not quite accurate, it is still brilliant.

I'd heard of this film some years ago but never had the opportunity to see it. But recently, I decided to give it a shot, not knowing I was about to be put through one hell of a ride.

It's probably Angelina Jolie's best acting to date - I've always liked her anyway, but in this she really shines, vividly showing us the wild and tragic life of Gia in a way that I doubt very, very few actresses of today could carry out. She flies from mood to mood with an honesty so passionate that it is hard to believe Jolie herself isn't truly Gia.

Elizabeth Mitchell plays her off-and-on lover, Linda with such care and understanding that you want to fall in love with Linda as well as Gia. The chemistry between the two of them is incredible. Mitchell is, very unfortunately, one of the most underrated actresses around. Critics and fans alike are right to wonder why on earth this woman hasn't won some kind of award for her pure talent.

Put these two together and you get a recipe for one of the most well-acted films of the last fifteen years. And adding Faye Dunaway to the mix... well, what can I say.

The film follows the tragic life of Gia Carangi, America's first supermodel. From beginning to end you are assaulted with anger, sadness, happiness, and a growing sense of falling and dread so intense that after it finished I let out a breath as if I had been holding it the entire way through the film. For days afterwards the film kept itself firmly in my mind until I just had to watch it again and put myself through the almost harrowing experience that it is.

Harrowing, yes. It is a film that can be hard to watch. But it is worth it.

This is a fairly enjoyable tale set in the art world of 1920s Paris. The look of the film and the mood it creates are the most important things; far more important than the enjoyable, yet slow-moving plotline.

It is highly imaginative and its representation of icons such as Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein add an extra dimension to the film.

The only true weak points are some of the dialogues between the two leads; it is sometimes out of place and almost too 'modern'!

All the performances are good but John Lone and Keith Carradine are especially suited to their parts.

If you can even get the chance to see this one, you'll be riveted and at the same time shocked at how bloody awful it is! The makers of "Night of the Living Dead" take a stab at early '70s sexually-liberated cool and end up in jaw-dropping oh-my-god-what-the-hell-were-they-thinking territory. Highly recommended.

Stage Beauty is another adaptation of a play. Yawn? Well don't, because it also happens to make a highly successful transition from stage to screen thanks to the genius that is director Richard Eyre.

It tells the tale of Ned (Billy Crudup), a young actor who specialises in portraying women on stage. In a world where only men are allowed to tread the boards, Ned's "Desdemona" (from Shakespeare's Othello) is the closest thing 17th century audiences get to femininity in theatre. However, a young upstart in the form of Maria (played by Clare Danes) wants to change all that. She has a passion for drama and unfortunately the bisexual Ned. With the help of King Charles II (Rupert Everett), she may just get her wish, changing theatre forever, and hopefully pick up Ned on the way.

When thinking of the themes of the film, many people dismiss it as a clone of Shakespeare in Love. This is unfair- the film is more thought provoking, substantial and better acted than the aforementioned Oscar snaffler. It explores themes of sexuality and gender with insight and intelligence as well as telling (and, in fact enthralling us with) a love story. As previously referred to, the acting is exceptional, especially the two leads (Danes and Crudup) who shine. The supporting cast is strong too, with Richard Griffiths as a heterosexual prequel to his role in Withnail and I, Tom Wilkinson brimming with quiet intensity as Betterton and Everett hamming it up wonderfully as the King.

Even if it does end on a slightly trite note (not to give too much away, but its' "birth of method acting" shtick irritates), Stage Beauty is a funny, heart-warming and occasionally quite cerebral meditation on love and art. What more could any theatre, or film lover for that matter, want? And don't say Shakespeare In Love!

Home Room deals with a Columbine-like high-school shooting but rather than hashing over the occurrence itself the film portrays the aftermath and what happened to the survivors, their trauma, guilt and denial.

*Spoilers* The shooting itself is treated as a foregone conclusion, with no action footage other than the reaction of an almost teenage SWAT commando after shooting the high school killer. The film has three protagonists; the detective investigating the crime of which no guilty parties are left to convict and two teenage girls surviving the incident, played by a very young Erika Christensen and Busy Philipps.

The two girls having nothing in common besides the shooting are put together because of it and the drama ensues.

Erika Christensen, though only 24 has been around the block so much that film viewers are pretty much acquainted with her solid and reliable style of acting. Busy Philipps, three years older than Christensen and altogether unknown to me, blew me away with her overwhelming dramatic strength and screen presence. This girl was the part.

It's a great movie and it connects to you with its intimate focus on the fragile yet growing relationship between the two traumatized girls. Gus van Sant's Elephant (2003) though good, seems almost superficial and paltry compared to Home Room when it comes to dramatic flair and acting. What I can see this film got very little screen time and exposure - so much more a loss for an equally traumatized America.

This movie is realistic, cruel, provocative and sexy but at the same time so very elegant and pure. Belen Fabra is a wonderful actress who is one hundred percent suitable for the role and she is the reason I liked this movie so much. She gives a magical sense to it. She makes you feel whatever she feels. The directing is unique and although the movie presents a lot of "raw material", for some reason,it is so delicate and sophisticated. It's not an other (soft) porn movie, it is a movie which conveys some of the greatest values in life and presents them in a way we have not been used to seeing. This is what makes it so special. I strongly recommend it to mature and open-minded audiences, with a hard stomach.

Down in The Valley What a great film...very layered and subtle. It is beautifully shot and the four main characters are original and yet painfully familiar in their alienation, anger, and despair. The Cowboy character played by Edward Norton (who is amazing) seems so simple at first but as he is drawn into the family his character and the truth unravels in ways that left me at a stand still near the end of the film. The character played by Rory Culkin, "Twig", says very little throughout the film and yet he conveys a sense of yearning and loneliness almost too painful to bare. But even he undergoes an unexpected transformation by the end of the film. The lead is a beautiful creature on the screen. Her relationship with the Cowboy seemed unlikely at first and then became completely believable, especially in the bathtub scene. This is a film for lovers of independent film and psychological kinds of cinema. There are also several scenes that border on surrealism. This film will leave you thinking and wondering about your life

The European arthouse movie, since the 50s at least, has been generally seen in opposition to Hollywood. Instead of relying on cartoonish genre, broad comedy and loud, violent action, it supposedly offers analysis, detail, character, critique, context, civilised intelligence. Crudely put, Hollywood appeals to the senses, European films to the mind.

LA GRANDE BOUFFE is an almost archetypally European movie - a Franco-Italian co-production, directed by a noted auteur, Marco Ferreri, and starring arguably the three greatest of all European actors, Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli and Phillipe Noiret. It features allusions to philosophy, art history and literature, and is confined, Bunuel-like, to the single set of a decaying town mansion. It is also about four middle-aged men stuffing themselves to death, blocking toilets until they messily explode, and, er, breaking wind.

Ferreri treats his theme of excess - food, sex, self-pity - with an almost Oriental restraint, matching lengthy, static long shots so dense with detail and so darkly lit that it's often difficult to make anything out, to extreme close-ups, pitilessly exposing yet also strangely moving: a bit like Ozu filming Fellini.

It's hard to know how to recommend this film - and I do, very strongly. Four professionals - a cook, a pilot, a TV producer and a judge - convene at the latter's unused mansion to spend a weekend non-stop eating a prodigiously elaborate feast made from the choicest meats: many prospective meals are walking about in the garden.

We gradually learn that they have come here to die, but Marcello is unable to continue without sex, so they hire some prostitutes, as well as inviting a local, seemingly innocent, teacher, who is soon revealed to have appetites equal to any of the men. And so the men eat. And eat. And eat. They sometimes have sex, watch antique 'erotic' slides, drive cars, get sick. But mostly they eat. They even have competitions to see who can eat the fastest.

This, ironically, does not sound very appetising for the viewer. There is no narrative drive for instance - any conflict possibly brought by the pure, innocent Andrea, a symbol of life in an atmosphere of decay, to whom Phillipe proposes marriage, are quickly dashed by her own taste for depravity. The men decide to die, and we watch them do it. The film begins with a methodical introduction to all four characters, and ends as methodically picking each one off.

So what is the film about? Is it an allegory - a group of fairly representative French bourgeois gathered in a knackered mansion with a sparse, dying garden, might suggest so. But an allegory of what? The decline of French masculinity, patriarchy, capitalism? The judge and TV producer especially are examples of the most powerful, potentially corrupting forces in Western society, the law and the media. The women all escape and survive, although the closing shot of Andrea returning to the home is highly ambiguous.

BOUFFE is very Bunuellian, from the EXTERMINATING ANGEL-like idea of bourgeoisie trapped in a mansion (figured in the inability of Marcello to leave in his sportscar, doomed to drive up and down the avenue), to the profusion of animals, observing the men's descent into bestiality, as they grunt and hoot and growl, and become fatal slaves to their appetites. Is it a study in decadence - there are many shots framed like grotesque parodies of Renaissance paintings; that optimistic project is flatulently shot here. There are allusions made to both Boileau - the father of French neo-classicism - and Brillat-Savarin, whose Physiognomy of Taste is a famous combination of philosophy and gastronomy which the four men take to nihilistic limits. Is it a death knell of film, as the parody of Don Corleone suggests, as four old men watch slides like a corruption of early cinema?

I don't know. But for me the pleasures were many. The home itself, stuffed with so much bric-a-brac you can barely make out the characters. The fragmentary motifs returning in the coolly formal style - the replaying of certain scenes and shots; the repetition of the inchoate, beautiful, yearning tango music, which is connected to one character but shifts as he becomes a ghost. The museum of the dead culminating in the extraordinary, triangular shot of the sprawled Ugo, with Marcello and Michel behind him. The limitless, ingenious, grotesque variations on sex and food. The gross comedy. The genius compositions. The colours. The sight of three actors who have starred in some of the 20th century's supreme artistic achievements running from faecal rivers, and putting the rump back into rumpo.

Winona Ryder has a big collection of forgotten but first-rate movies, and this is no exception. The acting was really good, and the music on the soundtrack made it memorable. Well worth a look, and a second, and a third...