EcoStreet Bookshop - Harrowing, disturbing and compulsive viewing films

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Harrowing, disturbing and compulsive viewing films

	Punishment Park - Masters of Cinema series [DVD] Peter Watkins quasi- documentary film will have you shouting at the screen in disbelief. Prescient, disturbing and oh so appropriate for todays Guantanamo culture.
	The Servant [DVD] [1963] Buy used from: £4.99 Joseph Loseys uneasy, voyeuristic masterpiece starring a never better Dirk Bogarde in a story of class, sexual humiliation and homo-eroticism is stunning.
	Requiem For A Dream [DVD] [2001] Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.94 Darren Aronofskys masterpiece is not easy viewing, one of the most depressing films I have ever seen, it will haunt you. But why must the womans downfall always be of a sexual nature? Still genius.
	The Proposition [DVD] [2006] Buy new: £12.18 / Used from: £2.97 John Hillcoat is a master director and the cinematography is stunning. Nick Caves script and musical score are perfection in a gritty, violent yet beautiful film. Guy Pearce is outstanding.
	Breaking The Waves [DVD] [1996] Buy new: £4.88 / Used from: £7.90 Lars von Triers best film. Raw, harrowing with a truly wondrous ending that had me sobbing. Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgard are quite simply incredible. Astonishing film making.
	Dogville [DVD] [2004] Buy used from: £14.94 Another von Trier masterpiece. All the cast are outstanding and I found the lack of set a good idea as it made me concentrate on the narration instead. Harrowing story well told and mesmerising.
	Get Carter [1971] [DVD] Buy new: £4.18 / Used from: £3.13 Michael Caine has never been better in this raw story of drugs, pornography and retribution. Violent, hard and dark, one of Britains best films. Unsettling viewing.
	Three Kings [DVD] [2000] Buy new: £4.88 / Used from: £0.39 David O Russells great (anti) war film. Blackly funny, uneasy and emotional. 3 soldiers out for gold and end up with a conscience. Not what I expected and the better for it.
	Apocalypse Now [1979] [DVD] Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £3.49 Coppolas masterpiece. Hypnotic, disturbing viewing. Almost 2 separate films but none the worse for it. Unforgettable cinematography and one liners deserves repeated viewing.
	Crash [2004] [DVD] [2005] Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £1.44 Just a tad self righteous but still great. Top notch cast in a very well told story. Look out for Michael Pena who plays Daniel the locksmith, he is outstanding.
	Traffic [DVD] [2001] Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £0.01 One of Soderberghs best. Three interwoven stories shot in different colours. Benicio del Toro is amazing as is Don Cheadle in this gripping film. Stephen Gaghans screenplay is perfection.
	Schindler's List [DVD] [1994] Buy used from: £6.49 A triumph of film making and I am not a Spielberg fan. A shocking, brutal and harrowing film. Leaves no viewer unmoved. A true work of genius. Visit his Shoah Foundation website.
	American History X [DVD] [1999] Buy new: £4.78 / Used from: £1.50 Edward Norton is fabulous as the neo nazi skinhead who has a change of heart after a stint in jail. Brutal violence and a scene around the family dinner table which had me holding my breath. Great.
	The Wild Bunch - 2 Disc Special Edition [DVD] [1969] Buy used from: £5.50 Peckinpahs elegy to the old West is a beautiful and violent film. William Holden and Robert Ryan are perfect together in this haunting tale of 2 men in a changing world. Strangely moral.
	Nightmare Alley - Masters of Cinema series [DVD] Buy new: £10.88 Finally released, this is the bleakest film noir made.Tyrone Power in a noir, who would of thought it? And he comes up trumps. Director Edmund Goulding plumbs the depths of the human soul, astounding.
	The Long Good Friday - 25th Anniversary [1979] [DVD] Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £4.76 Director John Mackenzies bloody and violent British gangster film with a great Bob Hoskins as a Cockney gangster and Helen Mirren in a supporting role. They don't make them like this anymore.
	Don't Look Now (Special Edition) [DVD] [1973] Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.00 Nicolas Roegs erotic, horrifying film starring a fabulous Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland is set in an eerily beautiful Venice. Haunting and terrifying, this is a gem.
	Mysterious Skin [DVD] [2005] Buy new: £6.98 / Used from: £4.00 Gregg Arakis deeply moving and disturbing tale of two young men almost destroyed by their past and how it pervades their every waking moment. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is outstanding. Bleak.
	Platoon [DVD] [1987] Buy new: £4.88 / Used from: £1.40 Oliver Stones autobiographical tale of Vietnam packs a hell of a punch. Distressing viewing, this is phenomenal film making with Willem Dafoe in a role to break your heart. Not easy to watch.
	House Of Sand And Fog [DVD] [2004] Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.30 Vadim Perelmans version of the excellent book is a great film. Heartbreaking to watch the destruction of both sides with an amazing turn from Ben Kingsley. Truly sad.
	Raise the Red Lantern [DVD] [1991] [US Import] Buy used from: £169.00 Zhang Yimous fabulous film stars Gong Li as one of three wives caught up in a tale of jealousy, intrigue and ambition. It is gorgeous to look at and a very human story.
	Paris, Texas [1984] [DVD] Buy used from: £3.19 Wim Wenders beautiful, slow moving film is a testament to the power of love. Intense, quiet and almost unbearably moving. Quite simply stunning.
	Shooting Dogs [DVD] [2006] Buy new: £9.97 Michael Caton-Jones powerful and brutal film of the Rwandan genocide with an amazing John Hurt is a film to break your heart. Makes me ashamed to be human.
	Spy Who Came In From The Cold [DVD] Buy new: £3.48 / Used from: £3.99 Martin Ritts great adaptation of Le Carres classic novel stars a career best Richard Burton in this bleak espionage tale. Claire Bloom is on top form and the cinematography is good too. Unmissable.
	Victim [DVD] [1961] Buy new: £9.88 Basil Deardens daring film about homosexuals in a still criminalised Britain stars the phenomenal Dirk Bogarde as a married gay barrister. Sensitively told.

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