Peter Brook

Charismatic and resourceful, seducer and daredevil, Jean-Paul Belmondo has always played his roles as he lived, at a thousand miles an hour. He had only one passion: to entertain the public with his smile, his naturalness, his energy, his stunts. But contrary to appearances, his destiny was full of pitfalls. This film lifts the veil on a founding childhood that allowed him to overcome many obstacles throughout his life thanks to the tutelary figures of his father and mother. Told from the inside with the help of his autobiography, interviews and unpublished archives, this epic story traces the career of this turbulent young actor who launched the New Wave in Breathless before becoming the popular Bebel, an indestructible and provocative vigilante. From film to film, this documentary paints an intimate portrait of a man who built himself up to reach the top: his triumphs but also his trials, his doubts, his secrets, his angers, his clowning, his disappointments or his personal dramas.

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An account of the life of actress Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017), a true icon of the New Wave and one of the most idolized French movie stars.

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With hindsight, we can see exactly how wrong the labels given to Samuel Beckett have been, since it has been said that his writing was sad, negative and desperate. Nowadays, it can be said that several of his pieces submerge us in the reality of human existence, but with an element of humor - and it is this humor that has saved us. Beckett rejects every theory, every core belief, looking for the truth. He observes people amid the darkness and takes them into what is vast and unknown about life, so they can discover their truth by taking a look at themselves and others. Like Beckett, we share their uncertainty, their search, their pain. This theatrical reflection by the masters of European theater, Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne, incorporates parts of Fragments, a piece premiered in 2008 and filmed in 2015 and which contains the short plays Rough For Theater I, Rockaby, Act Without Words II and Neither.

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An eulogy to Giorgio Strehler, the first real director in the italian theatre. He was a master, knowing all aspects of the show, from the set techniques up to narrative influences. The documentary tells the personal life and the artistic career: it starts from that Christmas day in 1997, when the news broadcasts opened with the news of Strehler's death, to summarize the story of the Piccolo Teatro, the first municipal theatre in Italy.

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A brief comedy about a visit from a legendary theatre maker and his legion of fans.

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The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-85), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter, a master of theater and radio, a modern Shakespeare, a magician who was always searching for a new trick to surprise his audience, a romantic and legendary figure who lived only for cinema.

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Filmed with five hidden cameras, The Tightrope is a total immersion into the creative process behind legendary theater director Peter Brook's work -- powerful, intimate, and emotionally thrilling. In this unique and deeply personal film, we get a dizzying glimpse from the Tightrope and an inkling of what it takes to make theater real...

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A captivating history of the nation's oldest performing arts center - which largely mirrors the evolution of experimental and progressive performing arts in 20th century America - BAM150 chronicles the vibrant past, present and future of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Through footage of recent performances, intimate interviews, and an astonishing treasure trove of 150 years' worth of archival materials, BAM150 is a testament to the power and stamina of the institution that established Brooklyn as a cultural mecca-serving as a home to such greats as Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, Edwin Booth, Merce Cunningham, Robert Wilson, Mark Morris, Laurie Anderson, and Pina Bausch.

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A portrait documentary tracing the inspiration, philosophy and imagination of the celebrated theatre and screen writer - and Bunuel's long term collaborator - Jean Claude Carrière. Carrière predicts that between the house he was born in and the cemetery in which he will end there is a life journey of just 250 meters. "Carrière: 250 Meters" follows him as he reflects on the wealth of global traditions of storytelling, travelling through past and present, across countries and cultures from Paris to New York, Mexico and India and joined by his family, friends and collaborators. A testament to the life and work of an extraordinary man and a key architect in contemporary cinema.

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Director Peter Brook discusses his move from theater to film, his approach to adapting LORD OF THE FLIES, and the film's complicated production history.

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An intimate portrait of director Peter Brook by his son, Simon Brook.

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Full Blossom: The Life Of Poet/Actor Roberts Blossom takes a look at Blossom's work onscreen, as well as the man behind the camera, examining his political and spiritual convictions, his belief in reincarnation (Blossom is certain his son was Michelangelo in a previous life), his career as a poet, and his relationship with his family.

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Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."

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British director Peter Brook talks about his theatre experience from his first directing gigs of Oxford to the foundation of a company of international actors coming from different acting schools and cultures.

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A Documentary about the Making of Peter Brook's "Mahabharata".

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In 1970, British stage and film director Peter Brook created the International Centre of Theatre Research in Paris. In the autumn of 1973, the Centre conducted a five week work period at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, performing and giving demonstrations of exercises, in which members of the audience participated, and exchanged ideas with the New York theatre community. This is a film of one day's work.

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Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema were welcomed by Christian Defaye on his show Spécial cinéma. Between intimate confessions from actors and immersion in the world of the greatest filmmakers, Christian Defaye took viewers on a journey into the fascinating world of cinema for nearly thirty years.

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A documentary following US, Peter Brook's experimental play about the moral issues surrounding the Vietnam War, Benefit of the Doubt is the only known film record of the Royal Shakespeare Company production. It was filmed by Peter Whitehead concurrently with his Tonite Let's All Make Love in London (1967), on the surface a very different film, yet both share a central concern with the war, protest and Britain's political and cultural relationship with America.

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In this abridged television production, Lear vows revenge against his conniving daughters after they try to take swift control of his power.

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The Mahabharata is a 1989 film version of the Indian epic based on the history of India, Mahabharata directed by Peter Brook. Brook's original 1985 stage play was 9 hours long, and toured around the world for four years. In 1989, it was reduced to under 6 hours for television. Later it was also reduced to about 3 hours for theatrical and DVD release. The screenplay was the result of eight years' work by Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carrière and Marie-Hélène Estienne. For the casting an international selection of actors was intentionally chosen, to show that the nature of the Indian epic is the story of all humanity.

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Jealousy and hatred is what separates the Pandavas and Kauravas. The Kauravas fear the Pandavas are after the throne of their father. Yudhishthira of the Pandavas gets told by the deity, Krishna, that he will become king. A war is inevitable.

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In Belle Époque Paris, a 19th-century Parisian aristocrat falls in love with a lower-class prostitute who seduces him but never loves him.

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The story of G.I. Gurdjieff an Asian mystic who after a lifetimes study developed a form of meditation incorporating modern dance.

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An opera singer, dressed in full costume and dress, must navigate through the busy city streets to get to the theater in time for his performance. Filmed for the shelved portmanteau film 'Red, White and Zero' in 1967.

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King Lear is a proud man who solicits praise from his three daughters in return for inheritance of the kingdom. Daughters Goneril and Regan profess their affection vehemently. Cordelia, who does not respect the process her father has chosen, does not humor him. Lear's perceived rejection from Cordelia leads to her banishment, thus splitting the kingdom between the other two. This hasty decision becomes his fatal error.

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Adapted and directed by Peter Brook from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘production-in-progress US’, this long-unseen agitprop drama-doc – shot in London in 1967 and released only briefly in the UK and New York at the height of the Vietnam War – remains both thought-provoking and disturbing. A theatrical and cinematic social comment on US intervention in Vietnam, Brook’s film also reveals a 1960s London where art, theatre and political protest actively collude and where a young Glenda Jackson and RSC icons such as Peggy Ashcroft and Paul Scofield feature prominently on the front line. Multi-layered scenarios staged by Brook combine with newsreel footage, demonstrations, satirical songs and skits to illustrate the intensity of anti-war opinion within London’s artistic and intellectual community.

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Composed of three shorts – Ride of the Valkyrie, The White Bus, and Red and Blue – from three of Britain’s most-celebrated directors - Lindsay Anderson, Peter Brook, and Tony Richardson. Comic legend Zero Mostel stars as an opera singer (in full costume) navigating the London transport network as he attempts to reach Covent Garden in 'Ride of the Valkyrie'. Scripted by Shelagh Delaney, 'The White Bus' blends realism, drama, and poetry as a despondent young woman travels home to the North of England. And Vanessa Redgrave stars in Tony Richardson’s romantic reverie and musical featurette 'Red and Blue'. Produced in 1967, but ultimately shelved.

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Following a plane crash a group of schoolboys find themselves on a deserted island. They appoint a leader and attempt to create an organized society for the sake of their survival. Democracy and order soon begin to crumble when a breakaway faction regresses to savagery with horrifying consequences.

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In this abridged television production, Lear vows revenge against his conniving daughters after they try to take swift control of his power.

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A London "spiv" enters an outdoor telephone booth. He dials a number and asks if there's a message for him. As he goes to leave, the phone rings - it is a girl who is trying to find her boyfriend and has the wrong number. The spiv is on the run from gangsters and is looking for help. He tries various people but they reject him. Eventually the gangsters catch up with him.

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