Foreign Films on DVD

The Stj rsnberg Academy has a great reputation but when Erik (Andreas Wilson) enrolls there after getting expelled from his previous high school he discovers an institution that is spiralling violently out of control. As the students inaugurate a reign of terror Erik befriends his roommate Pierre (Henrik Lundstr m) and tries to stay out of trouble.System Requirements:Running Time 110 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 876964000284 Manufacturer No: 10028

A chilling horror film, SAUNA explores the space between Christianity and paganism. The year 1595- a long and brutal war is finally over. Brothers Knut and Erik- who are part of a commission marking the border between Finland and Russia- commit a terrible sin as they leave a young girl to die a horrible death. As the commission crosses the uncharted swamp, the girl returns to haunt them. Weary men find solace from the nameless village and find a sauna- the sauna where all sins are washed away. Seeking forgiveness the brothers step in

The poignant, deadpan films of Aki Kaurismäki are pitched somewhere in the wintry nether lands between comedy and tragedy. And rarely in his body of work has the line separating those genres seemed thinner than in what is often identified as his Proletariat Trilogy, Shadows in Paradise, Ariel, and The Match Factory Girl. In these three films, something like social-realist farces, Kaurismäki surveys the working-class outcasts of his native Finland with detached yet disarming amusement. Featuring commanding, off-key visual compositions and delightfully dour performances, the films in this triptych exemplify the talents of a unique and highly influential film artist.

Studio: Vanguard Cinema Release Date: 03/30/2004 Run time: 123 minutes Rating: Nr

The spare and quirky comedy of Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismaki is in delightful form in The Man Without a Past. A man (Markku Peltola) awakens after a brutal mugging with no memory; he wanders into the outskirts of Helsinki with his face wrapped like an escapee from a classic horror film. A destitute family helps nurse him back to health and a Salvation Army worker named Irma (Kati Outinen) helps him get a job. Though bureaucrats and policemen who can't seem to cope with this amnesiac's lack of established identity, the amnesiac plants potatoes, manages a rock & roll band, and romances Irma as he builds a new self. Kaurismaki weaves his movies out of small details and careful, cautious steps forward--but by the end, The Man Without a Past has become a rich, engrossing, and very funny portrait of the possibilities of life. --Bret Fetzer

Taavi is a wealthy and artistic young man who goes nowhere without his camcorder. On his 18th birthday, he inherits his deceased parents' mansion, and immediately throws a wild party. Of course, he tapes the entire drunken spree. The next morning, Taavi shows the film to his best friends. They are inspired to form a club, with one simple agenda: At each meeting, members must bring a videotape of his latest sexual adventure. The tape can be shot openly or covertly, with a partner or a stranger. What starts as a simple game quickly degenerates into dangerous compulsions, as their girlfriends' refuse to be taped, and the boys turn to prostitutes and swingers to find new material. Soon, fun and games turn to the darker currents of coercion and abuse, and the young men are forced to confront their own mortality in the viewfinder.

Beirut, Lebanon's capital has a long history of political and social unrest that still makes headlines today. Globe Trekker's Beirut City Guide captures the city in more optimistic days, two weeks before the latest outbreak of hostilities in Lebanon between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in July 2006. Globe Trekker Megan McCormick explores the neighborhoods of Basta, Solidere, Gemayze and the Hezbollah District and finds a city in the midst of regeneration. She gets a glimpse at Beirut's future when meeting up with a group of young Arabic hip hop artists, who are eager to live in peace and put the country's political troubles in the past. On a day trip out of the city she visits the ancient fishing village of Byblos and heads to the hills to unearth fish fossils. Before returning to Beirut, Megan visits Jeita Grotto, a beautiful series of underground caves and lakes. The program also revisits Globe Trekker Ian Wright's trip to Beirut in the mid 1990's to show the evolution of this fascinating city. Along the way.... Learn the ancient art of belly dancing. Soak up the atmosphere with a stroll along the Corniche. Stop in for a drink at one Beirut's famous juice bars. Visit Martyrs Square and the Holiday Inn to get a vivid sense of the city's war scarred past. Bonus Program Planet Food Lebanon The producers of Globe Trekker and presenter Merilees Parker take you on a culinary tour of Lebanon. The journey begins in Beirut, where Merilees samples the capital's street food. She travels south to the ancient port of Tyre to meet up with local fishermen. The next leg of the journey takes Merilees to the Chouf mountains to learn the art of pickling and preserving before visiting Zahle to sample its famous mezes. Then she heads to Tripoli to seek out the delicacies of Lebanon's second largest city.

Antero, a speed skater, and Venla, a psychologist, are a modern, long-time unmarried couple in Finland. But their relatioship is in crisis: Venla wants them to finally marry and have a family. Antero is fine with marrying, but definitely does not want children, particularly as he believes it will interfere with his success in sports. Fearful of losing Venla, Antero proposes, but secretly, he also gets a vasectomy. Frustrated and angry-and determined to have a child-Venla concocts a plan to have an "after hours" insemination at the fertility clinic where she works. But to her surprise, she begins to develop feelings for Satu, the sympathetic female doctor in on the scheme.

LIGHTS IN THE DUSK concludes the trilogy began by DRIFTING CLOUDS and THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST. Where the trilogy's first film was about unemployment and the second about homelessness, this final installment is about loneliness. Koistinen searches the hard world for a small crack to crawl in through, but both his fellow beings and the faceless apparatus of the society conspire to crush his modest hopes, one after another. Criminal elements exploit his longing for love and his position as a night watchman in a robbery they pull off, leaving Koistinen to face the consequences. Thus Koistinen is deprived of his job, his freedom, and his dreams. A poignant reminder of the lot of the emotional 'have-nots' in our world, this dark jewel of a film glows with genuine warmth and a small but enriching glimmer of hope.