Old Movies

I think the film you're looking for is called Diva. I haven't actually seen the film myself, but I remember the reviews.Here's a link to the IMDb entry: Diva (1981) - IMDb

---

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible

One of the films I really love is Kind Hearts and Coronets. It's a black comedy in which the hero (Dennis Price) aims to kill the eight people who stand between him and the Dukedom (all eight being played by Alec Guinness of course!), only to find ... but I won't spoil it by revealing the twist(s).It's one of the most perfectly pitched films I've ever seen. I can watch it over and over again and find different qualities to love in it each time.

---

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible

The Petrified Forest (1936). A surprisingly intelligent and witty gangster siege movie starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart.Sib (The Apple) (1998). This Iranian film by Samira Makhmalbaf is about two young girls who have spent all their lives locked up by their parents. When I read the summary of the story I expected a serious, social-realist film about injustice and cruelty, but it's nothing like that. Makhmalbaf asked the parents and the children to play themselves in this movie, and she explores their lives without making the expected easy judgements. What you get as a result is an extremely moving film (I must admit I cried several times, as much at the old man's sense of humiliation as at the children's suffering - I also laughed a great deal, especially when Makhmalbaf follows the young girls outside the house). I can't recommend this film enough.Incidentally, if you haven't seen any modern Iranian films, I suggest you go and find some on DVD. In the last twenty years Iranian cinema has produced some really high quality films.

---

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible

Yes Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my favourites too.Three other pre-war American comedies I love are:The Philadelphia Story
Bringing Up Baby
The Thin Man(Actually Arsenic and Old Lace was mid-war, but it's close enough).

---

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible

I've only ever seen the original Thin Man film. Are the other films in the series just as good?Being English, the Margaret Rutherford films were part of my childhood, inescapable on weekend afternoons. As soon as I read your message I could hear the music!

---

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible