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. [+]

One of the most powerful and profound films about faith ever made, Carl Dreyer's Ordet (which translates to "The Word") turns a Romeo and Juliet story into a passionately spiritual drama of love and acceptance. Young lovers in a rural farming community are kept apart by the religious differences of their parents. But although the parents appear strict and ascetic, Dreyer gives them tender moments of unspoken love and a quiet dignity, revealing them as thinking, feeling people with deep beliefs who need a crisis to make them face their conflicts. They find unexpected guidance from Johannes, a mad young man who believes he is Christ, preaching love and forgiveness in a sad, hoarse voice as he wanders the fields and pads around his sparsely furnished home. "They believe in the miracles I wrought 2,000 years ago," he cries, "but they have no faith in me now. "Dreyer strips his austere vision to essentials: simple dialogue, a quietly gliding camera, and lovely but unadorned images. Windswept fields of grain and stark homes lit by cold light suggest a chilly existence, but Dreyer reveals a rich, if restrained, emotional world that explodes in feeling at the film's climax. It's a moment of utter cinematic simplicity that resonates with pure love and joy and faith. -Sean Axmaker As one of Carl Dreyer's most celebrated forays into the sound film, Ordet deals directly with the spiritual theme first put forth in The Passion of Joan of Arc: personalized faith versus organized religion. Whereas Borgen the farmer believe.

The renowned sculptor Isamu Noguchi narrates his life story, giving new insight into the evocative fusion of American and Japanese culture that characterizes much of his work.

One of the best American pre-war films to attempt to explain the crisis brewing in Europe, this 1940 MGM film documents the effects of the new Nazi regime on a small, peaceful Alpine village. James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan struggle to understand the unjust changes being forced upon their community by the growing Nazi influence. Helpless to avert the horror unfolding before them, Stewart and Sullavan witness old friends becoming fearful and suspicious. Others cast their lot with the new order and become cruel, jealous, and vengeful-even drunk on Nazi power. The small German village seduced by the corrupt Nazi message is an excellent analogy for what happened in Germany as a whole. At the time, Americans did not want to get involved in another "European war," but films like The Mortal Storm tried to show Americans that what was happening overseas could also happen on Maple Street, USA. -Mark Savary.

Bruce Lee kicked around Hollywood for years looking in vain for an American break when Hong Kong came calling. As Kato in the TV series The Green Hornet he had become an Asian star (the series was renamed for his character when it crossed the Pacific) and ripe for his own vehicle. This raw, low-budget effort, called The Big Boss in its native Hong Kong, is a generic revenge drama enlivened by Lee's intense screen presence and martial arts prowess. He's a country boy who takes a job at a Thailand ice-packing plant and discovers it's a cover for heroin smuggling. Lee is held back through the first half of the film by a promise he made his sweet, gray-haired mom not to brawl (which means you have to wait to see him in action), but his indignation turns to fury as friends and coworkers disappear and the boss sends thugs to take care of the brooding, intense country boy. The final half of the film is a series of violent confrontations, culminating in a marvelously choreographed showdown at the ice plant. Lean, mean Lee, with a physique that looked sculpted in bronze, became an overnight sensation with this film, breaking all Asian box-office records and starting an international kung fu craze, but none of the pretenders ever touched Lee's cool cinematic charisma or his martial arts grace. Lee returned the next year in The Chinese Connection. -Sean Axmaker.

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.

A bizarre and compelling story of family secrets based on the novel by Ian McEwan (who also wrote the novel upon which The Comfort of Strangers is based), this British film tells the complex tale of four children who conspire to hide their dead mother's body to avoid being split apart and sent to an orphanage. Their deception works for a while, as they become a self-sufficient family unit. Soon, however, mistrust and a deeply antagonistic relationship between the older siblings rife with sexual overtones, as well as a snooping suitor with designs on the older sister, threaten to destroy their well-constructed facade. Adapted and directed by Andrew Birkin, this offbeat film is disturbing but a riveting find for anyone interested in new discoveries from the world of international film. -Robert Lane.