Identify This Movie

[AK]

I've been trying to figure this out for ages.

This is a film I saw at my friend's when I was really young, so my recollections are hazy at best. Things I remember: (1) an Asian animated film, most likely Japanese, (2) involves a young boy and dragons, (3) somehow the dragon-gods fight against each other, (4) the boy is or becomes one of them or acquires their powers, (5) the dragons are of different colors and this played a part in the film.

I don't remember how the boy ended up with the dragons in the first place. An orphan or just taken away? All that has stuck with me is the amazing atmosphere, involving the dragons flying above the waters and in the sky.

[antnield]

That might by Taro the Dragon Boy - some stills and synopsis here.

[rwiggum]

I'm trying to help a friend find a movie or TV show based on a description of a scene she saw when she was a kid.

There was a prom queen, or princess or someone who got trapped in a burning car. All she remembers is a jarring smash cut to a charred tiara sitting on a dashboard.

I know it isn't much to go on, but does this ring any bells for anyone?

[repeat]

I'm sure that's La femme défendue (1997) by Philippe Harel.

Thanks Martin, that's definitely the one!!

[gosseyn]

A friend was saying to me that he remembers watching TV as a kid and seeing a disturbing image of a tank-tread rolling over a human head and crushing it. We were discussing "Come and See" (which neither of us has seen) when this came up, if that's any help - it might even be that film for all we know.

This reminds me of 'La Pelle' from Liliana Cavani with Marcello Mastroianni, in one of the last scenes an army drives into an italian village and they are received as heroes, then one of the celebrating locals slips and falls under one of the tanks and gets smashed into pulp. It is very graphic and very disturbing...
Hope this helped.

[gosseyn]

Now that I have successfully submitted my first post (hopefully it will put to rest RNL's query) I would like your help in trying to resolve mine.
I have three fuzzy film memories that I would like to solve but I will start with the most enduring of them and then we'll take it from there.
When I was a child (mid 70's), I remember watching on TV what seemed to be a European drama (late 50's to mid 60's I would venture) about a child who got bullied at school. There was this one scene that I can't seem to get out of my head where the main protagonist was being chased by other children after school. The chase ended in a field where the other kids caught up with him and stripped him of his clothes. The only other thing I seem to remember about that film is the fact that the victim of all this bullying died at the end, and it might have been from pneumonia after what the others had done to him. All his schoolmates showed up at the funeral and they all looked very sad indeed.
Anyone?
p.

[gosseyn]

A friend was saying to me that he remembers watching TV as a kid and seeing a disturbing image of a tank-tread rolling over a human head and crushing it. We were discussing "Come and See" (which neither of us has seen) when this came up, if that's any help - it might even be that film for all we know.

Maybe this will help RNL identify his mystery film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHTE_qc5pFM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
p.

[fvs114]

There is one scene i remember from a movie... maybe i saw just an insert...

main character passes by a standing woman (maybe more of them) which removes cover (outer part of her stomach) and reveals "abdominal anatomy" or maybe "fetal anatomy" view... no blood...

My associations are : The Holly Mountain and Fellinis Satyricon... but i dont remember that scene from any of those two films.

Any clue ?

thx.

[gosseyn]

Well, I have settled my own query, turns out the film with the kids bullying another and undressing him in a field then the victim dying at the end is called "Abel, twój brat", by Janusz Nasfeter and it dates back to 1970! Boy it took me a while to find that one out.
So I'll go straight to my second query, and it should be of interest for most people here since it is directly related to Criterion DVDs.
About ten years ago, I probably rented a Criterion DVD at the Ma and Pa Video Store around the corner and when I popped it in the player, there were a few trailers preceding the feature, promotional "montages" of all things Criterion or it could have been a Janus promotional trailer, my memory is hazy on that. Anyway, halfway through the two minute thing, there was this shot of a humanoïd monster in the middle of a forest in what seemed to be a sunset lighting set up, the feel of it was very european and I was under the impression that it was probably taken from a feature such as Jaromil Jires' "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" but after verification, it turns out that I was wrong and I have never been able to identify the provenance of that shot, neither have I been able to find said trailer again, I have been through all my Criterion DVDs but to no avail.
This is driving me crazy, please help!

[dustybooks]

Would this by any chance be the montage you mean? A shot at 0:26 sort of matches your description, though I have no clue what it is.

[antnield]

The shot at 0:26 (the sickle and mask) is from Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.

[Zot!]

I have two I'm curious about

I believe this is a UK dramatic production (BBC?) I saw on public television here in the states. I remember it as playing over multiple nights. It involved some kind investigation into a nuclear installation with cooling towers where some kind of hidden agenda was uncovered.

B&W film but certainly from the color era (possibly the 80s or 90's) that took place at an asylum during winter with very long Bela Tarr-like takes. I remember it being in English, and possibly Canadian?

[triodelover]

I believe this is a UK dramatic production (BBC?) I saw on public television here in the states. I remember it as playing over multiple nights. It involved some kind investigation into a nuclear installation with cooling towers where some kind of hidden agenda was uncovered.

Sounds like it could have been the adaptation of PD James' Devices and Desires that was first shown here on PBS' Mystery when it was a separate program.

[cafeman]

a few childhood favorites have been nipping at me recently:

one is a horror that opens with a group of children playing in an abandoned house with no outer walls in the middle of an open field, the sequence ending with one of the children plummeting to his (?) death. the children run away and, as far as i remember, the rest of the movie plays out in the future, when they're at least teen-aged.

the other one is a weird horroresque grotesquery about a foam-type infection spreading around. the only scene i remember is the one that involves an elderly rotund chinese man bunny-hopping around a playground in broad daylight.

both of these movies are squarely in the b/cult/camp wheelhouse.

[domino harvey]

The first one is Prom Night

[cafeman]

yes! i was sure it's one one of the big ones, but just couldn't pinpoint it.

the other one's title was something like shivers, but obviously not the cronenberg movie.

[colinr0380]

I believe this is a UK dramatic production (BBC?) I saw on public television here in the states. I remember it as playing over multiple nights. It involved some kind investigation into a nuclear installation with cooling towers where some kind of hidden agenda was uncovered.

Sounds like it could have been the adaptation of PD James' Devices and Desires that was first shown here on PBS' Mystery when it was a separate program.

Or maybe the original 80s mini-series of Edge of Darkness.

[Zot!]

I believe this is a UK dramatic production (BBC?) I saw on public television here in the states. I remember it as playing over multiple nights. It involved some kind investigation into a nuclear installation with cooling towers where some kind of hidden agenda was uncovered.

Sounds like it could have been the adaptation of PD James' Devices and Desires that was first shown here on PBS' Mystery when it was a separate program.

Or maybe the original 80s mini-series of Edge of Darkness.

That's gotta be it, I remember the daughter being a protester. Thanks!

[gosseyn]

B&W film but certainly from the color era (possibly the 80s or 90's) that took place at an asylum during winter with very long Bela Tarr-like takes. I remember it being in English, and possibly Canadian?

Could it be Titicut Follies?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titicut_Follies" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Zot!]

B&W film but certainly from the color era (possibly the 80s or 90's) that took place at an asylum during winter with very long Bela Tarr-like takes. I remember it being in English, and possibly Canadian?

Could it be Titicut Follies?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titicut_Follies" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No this is not a documentary, and I'm not even sure if it is a mental health facility or some other kind of health institution. I remember mostly tracking shots....and snow. Bela Tarr's style is the closest reference I have.

[warren oates]

B&W film but certainly from the color era (possibly the 80s or 90's) that took place at an asylum during winter with very long Bela Tarr-like takes. I remember it being in English, and possibly Canadian?

Could it be Titicut Follies?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titicut_Follies" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No this is not a documentary, and I'm not even sure if it is a mental health facility or some other kind of health institution. I remember mostly tracking shots....and snow. Bela Tarr's style is the closest reference I have.

Could it be Inside/Out(1997) by Rob Tregenza who actually has worked with Bela Tarr?

[Zot!]

No this is not a documentary, and I'm not even sure if it is a mental health facility or some other kind of health institution. I remember mostly tracking shots....and snow. Bela Tarr's style is the closest reference I have.

Could it be Inside/Out(1997) by Rob Tregenza who actually has worked with Bela Tarr?

You guys are good. That's the one! I guess my Tarr reference was not far off at all. I definitely recommend this one to any fans of Tarr....as best as I can remember.

[gosseyn]

Would this by any chance be the montage you mean? A shot at 0:26 sort of matches your description, though I have no clue what it is.

That's exactly the one, great work. We are winding down my queries way faster than I expected. My first two queries having been put to rest, here is the last one that is still pending: The scene belongs to a children's movie I watched in my grade school years (mid 70's). It must have seen it on a sick day I spent home. Chances are it was one of Aleksandr Rou's films, or simply one that had the same feel, it was from the same era, that is a given. Colour film with a winter thematic. The scene is that of a hero that has to make a choice between two ice bridges crossing a chasm. There was also, I seem to remember but I might be wrong about that part, a blind man involved in the whole process. Anyway, turns out the hero chooses the wrong bridge and it collapses upon his attempt to cross it. That's it.
Again, thanks for the help.
g

[Tom Hunter-Watts]

I'm at a loss to identify this one:

Some kind of terrorist thriller, from the 70s. Of course there were lots of those. Terrorists hijack a plane (probably) and the lady terrorist comes up with the idea of the passengers having to sing a song in order not to get shot. A black woman sings Black is the colour of my true love's hair and loses the competition, as the terrorists think the song is too gloomy. It all ends happily with the terrorists themselves getting shot.

[jamiersale]

When I watch movies on my computer I will occasionally take screenshots. The problem is that the pictures arent labelled. So I was browsing my screenshots and cannot remember what film this comes from. I know it is japanese and it is most likely from the 60s. If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it