This early Max Ophüls melodrama became his first big success. A young philandering army officer, trapped in a loveless affair with the wife of a strutting baron, falls in love with a shy young seamstress but cannot escape repercussions of his past. As the giddy lovers frolic through an idyllic romance (a lovely sleigh ride through the snow-covered forest becomes a swooning expression of their emotional innocence), the suspicious baron demands honor be served. Based on a play by Arthur Schnitzler (whose Reigen Ophüls later adapted for La Ronde), Liebelei contrasts the obsession with appearances and social decorum of high society with the rash sincerity and energy of youth in a style more visual than verbal. The restless camera of Ophüls's later work is only hinted at here, but the handsome photography and lush décor create a constrictive world where tradition rules. The opening opera house scene is especially striking, where character and class become defined simultaneously, and the haunting climax is so effective that Ophüls revived and refined it for The Earrings of Madame de. The 1933 production was subsequently suppressed by the Nazis for its jaundiced view of honor and Prussian authoritarianism, and they attempted to destroy all copies of the film. [+]

Granada Television's powerful adaptation of John Galsworthy's novels about the sprawling, fractious and aristocratic Forsyte family moves into the 1920s with Series Two, based on the author's To Let. The drama shifts to a new generation shouldering the burdensome legacies of an aging Soames (Damian Lewis) and his failed marriage to free-spirited Irene (Gina McKee). The lovely Fleur (Emma Griffiths Malin), Soames's daughter by second wife Annette (Beatriz Batarda), and strapping Jon (Lee Williams), son of Irene and Soames's bohemian cousin, Jolyon (Rupert Graves), develop a romance much to the dismay of their feuding parents. But the long reach of the elder Forsytes' sins-and the tenderness with which they seek redemption through their children-ultimately undercuts the young lovers' happiness. Meanwhile, sundry characters move in and out of the Forsytes' orbit, including a French businessman (Michael Maloney) stirring more troubles for Soames and an art dealer (Oliver Milburn) with designs on Fleur. As with Series One, all this will feel familiar to anyone who has seen the 26-part, 1967 version of The Forsyte Saga (the program that arguably created public television as we know it). Yet this updated effort renews and redefines the Forsytes' overlapping tragedies, with a more interior feel and a first-rate contemporary cast. As with its legendary predecessor, this Forsyte Saga depends heavily on the seemingly soulless Soames's slow evolution to humanity; Damian Lewis carries the load brilliantly. -Tom Keogh.

Anglophiles and Britcom aficionados will welcome the video of this delightful 1974 series based on the books by Charlotte Bingham. Happily, the sparkling dialogue and engaging characters wear much better than the actors' horribly dated '70s wardrobes. John Alderton and his real-life wife, Pauline Collins, star as C. D. and Clara, the George Burns and Gracie Allen of Hampstead, right down to the "Say goodnight, Clara" that closes each episode. This boxed set contains the first seven episodes of the series. Episode 1 sets the stage as C. D. and Clara, who have been married, Clara notes, "nearly 10 years next Thursday a week on Monday," recall how they met at "Freddie's awful party. " Framed by the couple's light banter, each of these episodes flashback chronologically to their often comically confused courtship and marriage. [+]

One of Ingmar Bergman's best comedies, A Lesson in Love belongs to that trio of films (Dreams, Smiles of a Summer Night) Time called a "lewdly hilarious trilogy. " This witty look at marriage and adultery re-unites Gunnar Bjorns.

Before she became America's sweetheart in Felicity, Keri Russell adopted an Irish brogue and starred as a willowy, wealthy lass with a passion for dancing in this coming-of-age romantic comedy. She's the object of affection for working-class William Ash, a football-loving lad who signs up for classes, hoping to acquire a little of the Latin flair of a Brazilian soccer superstar with moves like Fred Astaire. "We don't run with the ball, we dance," and so does Ash when he falls for snooty class star Russell. Imagine an adolescent mix of Strictly Ballroom and Shall We Dance dropped into 1980s Belfast amid the Troubles, complete with "the big dance contest," romantic complications, and a splashy happy ending. The charismatic Russell is a fine dancer and shows moxie between icy stares and swoony looks. Unfortunately Ash is never more than a generic, spunky street kid with a heart of gold. Writer-director John Forte injects the working-class edge of British comedies with his off-handed inclusion of political tensions and prickly classist remarks. Nothing too surprising ever complicates the romance as the gritty world melts into an unlikely fairy tale in a silly but rousing climax. The film's not really credible, but Russell's charms and the sheer energy and color of the dancing give it the innocence of an old-fashioned musical amid the tense realities of real life. -Sean Axmaker.

John Boorman's 1985 South American epic never quite gets all of its gears working simultaneously, but it remains an often startling work with an extraordinary performance by the director's own son, Charley Boorman. Powers Boothe plays an American engineer working on a dam project in Brazil. When his young son is seemingly absorbed one day into the dense perils and beauty of the Amazon rain forest, Boothe's character goes on a protracted, 10-year search for him. In the interim, Boorman puts his full storytelling powers to work by characteristically exploring the arcane rhythms and dangers of an indigenous world hidden from ordinary view. Specifically, Boorman leads us into the life of a forest tribe who have assimilated the missing child and who will ultimately send him back with the opposite of his father's pro-development sensibility. The movie is gorgeous to behold, and it's great fun watching Boorman find ever-novel ways of making the same film again and again. But the environmental message and the emotion of the core relationship get in each other's way a bit, preventing the film from uniting on every front. Still, this is a must for Boorman fans. -Tom Keogh.

Stuart, Vince and Nathan are back for one last wild, outrageous adventure on Canal Street. But amongst the fabulous nights out, the one-night stands, the clubbing, all is not well. Someone's trying to blackmail Stuart Jones. Stuart is no one's victim. Now he's out for revenge. Big time! As Stuart fights back, Vince is facing a dilemma. Stuart's revenge is taking him on the wrong side of the law, and could even get someone killed. Just when it seems that they might finally get together, Vince thinks Stuart's gone too far. Will Nathan ever get over Stuart? Will Vince ever get his man? Can Stuart ever be stopped? In this witty, exciting drama, only one thing is for sure: No straight person is ever going to call a gay boy "queer" again.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder paid tribute to his mentor, Douglas Sirk, with this loose adaptation of All That Heaven Allows, the classic American soaper of a widow falling for younger man to the disapproval of family and friends. Fassbinder combines the Sirk melodrama with the story told in his own The American Soldier. An aging, lonely charwoman (sweet old Brigitte Mira) befriends a Moroccan guest worker (El Hedi ben Salem) at least 20 years her junior. Finding comfort and happiness in one another's company, they suddenly marry. Her kids are aghast, his friends appalled, and the neighborhood turns its back, so the two pull together for support. Their relationship ironically begins to unravel when the pressure of community prejudice eases and they must confront the gulf between them. Combining melodrama with social commentary, Fassbinder offers a sharp, incisive portrait of prejudice in modern Germany grounded in contemporary social conditions. Mira delivers a tender, vulnerable performance and Fassbinder molds Salem's stiffness into a distinctive character trait of a man ill at ease in German society. It's an assured and beautiful film, full of gliding camerawork and evocative images, and invested with intimacy and gentleness. Even Fassbinder's characteristically grim conclusion defies tragedy for a glimmer of hope, a welcome and affecting rarity in his career. [+]