Cinematic Era: 1984 Vintage

Bollywood 1984

A flock of magpies fly through an open window into a bedroom leaving a wake of destruction and mayhem.

"The Role of Chance" ("La part du hasard") focuses exclusively on drawing and painting techniques used by the painter Henri Dimier. Shot over several weeks in the same artist's studio, the film shows works in their different phases, processes rarely explained or little known. It also addresses many practical issues (choice of paper, pigment grinding, reports drawings, put the tiles, cliches, etc) as well as broader questions of method and inspiration (use of space, the role of contours, power of suggestion perspectives, use of random processes). Patrick Bokanowski sought with this film to restore the spirit of this teaching, showing how to bend a note or sometimes revealing an essential mystery of creation.

This video reconstructs one of the world's most unusual undercover operations. Journalist Peter Watson disguised himself as an art dealer of unsavory reputation and in concert with Sotheby's, Christie's, and members of various law enforcement agencies, set himself up as the center of a sting operation. The object? To recover some of the world's stolen masterpieces of art, including a painting by Renaissance master Caravaggio. ~ Rob Ferrier, Rovi

Yuri Bezmenov, the son of a high-ranking Soviet officer, was a member of the elite propaganda arm of the KGB, known as the Novasti Press Agency. One of his assignments was to accompany journalists visiting the Soviet Union to make sure they did not discover the truth about Soviet life. After becoming disillusioned with the oppressive system, he escaped to the West at great risk to his life. In this interview, conducted by G. Edward Griffin, Mr. Bezmenov tells how the Soviets used propaganda against their own citizens; how he hoodwinked American journalists into publishing Soviet propaganda, how slave laborers are concealed from foreign visitors, and how he escaped to the West posing as an American hippie. Includes many photographs brought with him on microfilm at the time of his escape.

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