Movies @ Passando Mal

Eleventh-century Spain is divided into Christian kingdoms and Moorish strongholds. The young Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar—dubbed El Cid by his followers—vows to see his country at peace, free from the invader. Vigorously brave and resourceful, the noble knight hates bloodshed and faces treason charges at court for the clemency shown to some emirs. His accuser, Gomez, father of his fiancée, Chimene, dies in the resulting duel. Chimene’s avowed vengeance plot fails and Rodrigo is given her hand; the marriage is not consummated and she enters a convent. On Ferdinand’s death, his kingdom is divided among his three children. Sancho challenges the decision and imprisons Alfonso, who is released by the Cid. The African war-lord, Ben Yssef, takes advantage of the quarrel by having Sancho assassinated. Alfonso now claims that throne, too, and exiles the Cid. Chimene realizes the nobility of her husband and joins him, but returns to the convent with their two children, when he goes into battle against Ben Yussef. The years pass, El Cid becomes a revered warrior, but refuses to aid Alfonso, preferring his own strategy. He lays siege to Valencia, catapulting food into its starving garrison; when the Valencians kill their evil ruler, Al Kadir, they offer the crown to the Cid. He sends it to Alfonso, who rushes, hysterically gratified, to his side. But the Cid has been hit by a stray arrow. Attended by Chimene, he hides the wound from his men and prepares a final bid to drive the Moors from Spain.

A study of the life of Danish noblewoman and storyteller Karen (’Isak’) Dinesen Blixen, from her marriage and departure for Kenya in 1913 until her return to Denmark in 1931. As she struggles to maintain a coffee farm through various struggles and disasters, and strives to improve relations with the local natives, her marriage of convenience to a titled aristocrat gradually gives way to an enduring romance with the noted hunter and adventurer Denys Finch Hatton.

The true story about one of the most brilliant saboteurs during World War II and his battle to overcome his inner demons.

Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold. And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he’s only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.

As the story opens, King Henry II, who ruled England from 1154 to 1189 has entered Canterbury Cathedral to do penance at the tomb of his former friend, Thomas Becket. Bare to the waist, the king kneels to receive a flogging from Saxon monks. He begins to reminisce, recalling at first the carefree, promiscuous adventures with Becket, then his favorite drinking and wenching companion. A violently emotional drama that probes the changing relationship between two young men - between two close friends bound together by similar pride of flesh and spirit who become deadly enemies as they pursue their separate destinies . . . that of king . . . and saint.

“Schindler’s List” is the based-on-truth story of Nazi Czech business man Oskar Schindler, who uses Jewish labor to start a factory in occupied Poland. As World War II progresses, and the fate of the Jews becomes more and more clear, Schindler’s motivations switch from profit to human sympathy and he is able to save over 1100 Jews from death in the gas chambers.

A drama centered around Patty Montanari, the widowed mother of two who went to work for her lover Frank Russo, a captain in a Brooklyn crime family.

A moving and tender depiction of the novelist Iris Murdoch’s descent into Alzheimer’s Disease, covering the period from just before her marriage to intellectual John Bayley until her death. The film is based on the two books by John Bayley (Iris, Iris & The Friends).

The true life story of Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene Jr. In the mid-to-late 1960s, in Washington, D.C., vibrant soul music and exploding social consciousness were combining to unique and powerful effect. It was the place and time for Petey to fully express himself - sometimes to outrageous effect - and “tell it like it is.” With the support of his irrepressible and tempestuous girlfriend Vernell, the newly minted ex-con talks his way into an on-air radio gig. He forges a friendship and a partnership with fellow prison inmate Milo’s brother Dewey Hughes. From the first wild morning on the air, Petey relies on the more straight-laced Dewey to run interference at WOL-AM, where Dewey is the program director. At the station, Petey becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk and Sunny Jim. Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling. Petey was determined to make not just himself but his community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in American history. As Petey’s voice, humor, and spirit surge across the airwaves with the vitality of the era, listeners tune in to hear not only incredible music but also a man speaking directly to them about race and power in America like few people ever have. Through the years, Petey’s “The truth just is” style — on - and off-air - would redefine both Petey and Dewey, and empower each to become the man he would most like to be.

T. E. Lawrence is a young maladjusted lieutenant in the British Army in North Africa during World War One. Unhappy with his current assignment coloring maps, he is ecstatic when he is offered a job as an observer in what is now Arabia. At this point, the story of his life becomes the stuff that legends are made of.

Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, a 19th-century Englishman afflicted with a disfiguring congenital disease. With the help of kindly Dr. Frederick Treves, Merrick attempts to regain the dignity he lost after years spent as a side-show freak.

Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” is the story of a legendary showman’s double life - television producer by day, CIA assassin by night. At the height of his TV career, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris said.

Oliver Stone’s homage to 60’s rock group The Doors also doubles as a biography of the group’s late singer, the “Electric Poet” Jim Morrison. The movie follows Morrison from his days as a film student in Los Angeles to his death in Paris in 1971, at the age of 27. The movies features a tour- de-force performance by Val Kilmer, who not only looks like Jim Morrison’s long-lost twin brother, but also sounds so much like him that he did much of his own singing. It has been written that even the surviving Doors had trouble distinguishing Kilmer’s vocals from Morrison’s originals.

Handsomely-mounted historical epic concerns the birth of the Islamic faith and the story of the prophet Mohammed — who, in accordance with the tenants of Islam, is never seen or heard (as this is offensive to certain islamic schools of thought). In Mecca in the 7th century, Mohammed is visited by a vision of the Angel Gabriel, who urges him to lead the people of Mecca to cast aside the 300 idols of Kaaba and instead worship the one true God. Speaking out against the corrupt political and military leaders who rule Mecca. With the help of his uncle, a brave warrior named Hamza (Anthony Quinn), Mohammed and his followers return to Mecca to liberate the city in the name of God. The Message (originally screened in the U.S. as Mohammed, Messenger of God) proved to be highly controversial during its production and initial release. Unfounded rumors had it that Mohammed would not only be depicted in the film, but that he was to be played by Charlton Heston or Peter O’Toole. This resulted in angry protests by Muslim extremists, until director Moustapha Akkad hired a staff of respected Islamic clerics as technical advisors. The Message was shot in two versions, one in English and one in Arabic (entitled Al-Ris-Alah), with different actors taking over some of the roles due to language r equirements.

The story of General George S. Patton, Jr. during World War II. His battlefield genius garners him fear and respect from the Germans, and resentment and misunderstanding from the Allies. A military historian and poet, he believes he was a warrior in many past lives, and that he is destined for something great during this life, but his stubbornness and controversial methods nearly prevent the fulfillment of that destiny.