Top 5 World Movies

Need some inspiration choosing a DVD from our collection? Below are the top 5 most borrowed World Movies from the Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery collection.

Image credit: http://www.aroyalaffairthemovie.com/assets/downloads/posters/medium/EKAalt-UKartwork.jpg

• A Royal Affair - Based on the book A royal affair by Bodil Steensen-Leth. This is an epic tale of a passionate and forbidden romance that changed an entire nation. Winner of the Best Actor and Best Screenplay awards at the Berlin Film Festival.  Danish dialogue with English subtitles. 
• Hannah Arendt - A brilliant biopic of the influential German-Jewish philosopher and political theorist. Arendt's reporting on the 1961 trial of ex-Nazi Adolf Eichmann in The New Yorker, controversial both for her portrayal of Eichmann and the Jewish councils, introduced her now-famous concept of the 'Banality of Evil'. German and English, with English subtitles and SDH.
• The Rocket - A boy who is believed to bring bad luck to everyone around him leads his family and two new friends through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity-filled journey through a land scarred by the legacy of war, to prove he's not bad luck he builds a giant rocket to enter the most exciting and dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival.  English subtitles.
• Mozart’s Sister -  A re-imagined account of the early life of Maria Anna 'Nannerl' Mozart, five years older than Wolfgang and a musical prodigy in her own right. French with English subtitles.
• Lourdes - "In order to escape her isolation, wheelchair-bound Christine makes a life changing journey to Lourdes, the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees Mountains."-- imdb database. French, Austrian and German with English subtitles.

The library has a great selection of World Movies to choose from. Next time you're in the library  why not browse the collection. If you can’t wait to look through the shelves, you can always search our catalogue to see if we have any of your favourite World movie titles.  

Russian Ark

This has to be one of the most astonishing films ever made. Not just for it's sheer majesty but also for it's technical accomplishments. Russian Ark involves an unseen narrator accompanied by "The Stranger" walking in and out scenes from Russian history as they wander through the Winter Palace (now the Russian State Hermitage Museum) debating Russia's role in European affairs.

From a technical perspective the film is amazing: 2,000 actors, 300 years of Russian history, 33 rooms at the Hermitage museum, 3 live orchestras, filmed in one, 99 minute continuous camera shot (which took I believe three takes due to technical faults. The third take is the final film). No camera trickery or CGI employed at all. It's worth watching this film just for that alone.

Solaris the movie: Orginal vs George Clooney

Recently I stumbled upon the original russian version of Solaris by Tarkovsky in Hurstville Library's Russian DVD collection. The movie is based on a space station orbiting a mysterious planet called Solaris as terrified crew members experience strange phenomena, including weird visitors who are too human. Between you and I, it is a far superior version then the 2002 remake of Solaris directed by Steven Soderbergh and featuring George Clooney. Do not tell that to some of our staff members but, going by some of the paraphernalia on peoples desks, there seems to be a bit of George fan club going on in the work room.