Widely regarded as Kenji Mizoguchi's (Sansho the Bailiff, Ugetsu) best pre-war film, Sisters of the Gion marks the beginning of the acclaimed director's mature style. Filled with compositions as exquisite as they are realistic, the s.

The French painter who wanted to contribute to modern art and the flamboyant Spanish expatriate who wanted to change it began as mentor and student, became rivals, and ended up friends according to this PBS documentary based on a Kimball Art Museum exhibition. Curator Yve-Alan Bois sets the informational stage, aided by the writings of Picasso's companion Francoise Gilot. This 25-minute program explores how their rivalry pushed Matisse to become more adventurous and Picasso to become a better colorist. Eventually, the two became compatriots and even confidants, honoring each other through their work. Visually, their story is told mostly through their paintings, with the occasional photographs and newsreel. Salome Jens narrates, Genevieve Bujold provides the voice of Gilot, and Miguel Ferrer and Robert Clary voice Picasso and Mattisse, respectively. A viewer's only possible complaint would be that the program's brevity leaves one wanting more. -Kimberly Heinrichs.

It's hard to believe that this fantastical tale of a schoolboy rebellion was banned in its native France for 12 years following its initial 1933 release (for supposed anti-French sentiment). Perhaps the French authorities were remembering director Jean Vigo's father, a famous French anarchist who died in prison, or just concerned that Vigo was revealing too much of his own unhappy youth spent in boarding schools. They needn't have worried. Zero in Conduct is much more a childhood fantasy than a social critique, focusing on three particularly naughty boys who are constantly being threatened with a "zero in conduct" for their bad behavior. The rebellion in question is no armed revolt but a raucous pillow fight and a few stones thrown from a roof, all to the chant "Down with teachers, down with school. " Filmed in magical black and white by Boris Kaufman-winner of the Academy Award for cinematography in 1954 for On the Waterfront (and brother of filmmakers Mikhail Kaufman and Dziga Vertov)-Zero in Conduct is a film for film lovers. Jean Vigo died in 1935, when he was 29 years old, leaving behind only three films. But his influence, strongly evident here in the surrealism and fascinating early special effects (including a drawing that springs to life on the page), long outlives him. Each year a filmmaker with "independence of spirit and quality of directing" is honored with the French award in his name. -Laska Jimsen High-Definition transfer, with new electronic subtitles. [+]