FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Gianni Amelio - The Stolen Children 

If we translate the Italian title exactly, Gianni Amelio's winner of the 1992 Cannes Film Festival should be called The Child Thief. The Child Thief kidnaps children out of great desperation, but only for the reason of showing them for a few days that life can also be full of joy. This is the heart-touching story of a man who acts as a friend to children - almost like a better parent. The story begins in Milan. There, eleven-year-old Rosetta lives with her little brother Luciano and their mother, who forces Rosetta to work as a prostitute. However, this repugnant element of the film is not explored further. Both children are taken away from their mother. They are placed in the care of the young policeman Antonio (Enrico Lo Verso), who is supposed to take them to a children's home. Antonio is not enthusiastic about the task and the children are suspicious and withdrawn after years of abuse. This is to change. At the church children's home, the children are turned away. Their terrible past could be passed on to the other children. Without further ado, Antonio takes them to Sicily and slowly a bond develops between the three. The Stolen Children is a road movie. The people and experiences along the roads bring about a development in the strange trio: Antonio learns to love the children and they learn to trust an adult for the first time. It is small events that change everything, right up to that magical day on the beach when the children from the oppressive Milanese slum neighbourhood run across the white sand. But what they all don't know yet; a scandal is brewing around the disappearance of the children.... If you want a list of the most beautiful films of the 90s: The Stolen Children is definitely one of them!

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE You, Me & Marley 

If you drop by our Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo on a Tuesday, you'll get to know (and understand, which takes a while) Aoife. She comes from Belfast. And if you read up a bit on Belfast and the Northern Ireland conflict, you'll come across two newspaper stories: 1. in the early 90s, a couple of teenagers were shot dead by a policeman who was later released. 2. the trend of "twocking" and "hotting" = stealing cars and organising illegal races. This is what You, Me & Marley is about. Basically about antisocial youths, but presented with understanding and complexity. They live in a society that has nothing for them: Catholic Irish in Northern Ireland. What could be more natural than making fun of the establishment? And what can guys as different as the oddball Marley (Michael Liebmann), the intelligent Frances (Bronagh Gallagher) or the retarded Sean (Marc O'Shea) believe in? Northern Ireland is corrupt and deeply brutalised. That's exactly how we learn about it in the film. The RUC has lost all moral compass, ready to beat up teenagers. But Richard Spence's TV film finds the IRA and any paramilitaries even worse. Hypocritical, according to the IRA's actions, profiting from stolen cars. And the common people? In another worse film, they would be innocent. But not here. Effective measures are demanded, but supposedly no one knows anything about vigilante justice. At one point Mary is tied to a lamppost and women douse her with paint: "I am a hood". The great thing about You, Me & Marley is these believable and morally complex characters in the bleak landscape of Northern Ireland. Who is to blame? But that would be the wrong question. Instead of simple solutions, we are offered a humanistic lament for wasted lives and the culture of blame.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Yasujiro Ozu - I Was Born, But 

Here comes a silent film by Ozu and like all Ozu films, must-see for all of us who LOVE films! It is the story of Kennosuke (Tatsuo Saito), a businessman who moves to the suburbs of Tokyo with his wife and rather naughty sons. The boys are disappointed in their father, who (in their opinion) is too subordinate at work. Their experiences contrast with those of the father. The father is an adult, whatever that means. But what does it mean to be an adult? Ozu doesn't believe that growing up has identifiable starting points or even a conclusion. It simply means struggling, being seduced (and resisting). It is an experience. Ozu never falls into kitschy platitudes; instead, he has made a tender and gentle coming-of-age film. The camera is always at eye level. Sometimes in the perspective of the children, sometimes at the height of the adult. When the children ask the father why he makes a fool of himself in front of his boss, they realise for the first time that adults are not necessarily role models. Basically, they act just as childishly and chaotically! We have goals, but ultimately little control over our future. We are born, grow older and then at some point we become adults - whatever that means.