76 articles
A New Leaf
A New Leaf (1971) is Elaine May's directorial debut, a Paramount black comedy based on Jack Ritchie's "The Green Heart," starring Walter Matthau as a broke playboy who marries heiress botanist Henrietta Lowell (May) to murder her; recut from three hours to 102 minutes, it joined the National Film Registry in 2019.
Bad Boy Bubby
Bad Boy Bubby: 1993 Australian-Italian black comedy-drama by Rolf de Heer, starring Nicholas Hope as a man confined 35 years by his abusive mother. Won five Venice prizes, four AFI awards; binaural sound, 32 cinematographers, cult status.
Black Cannon Incident (黑炮事件)
The Black Cannon Incident (黑炮事件) is a 1986 Chinese satirical film, Huang Jianxin's debut, adapted from Zhang Xianliang's novella; a lost chess piece triggers suspicion of engineer Zhao Shuxin, starring Liu Zifeng, Golden Rooster Best Actor winner.
Buffet Froid
Buffet froid is a 1979 French black comedy by Bertrand Blier, his fifth feature, starring Gérard Depardieu, Bernard Blier, and Jean Carmet as killers in a deserted Paris; it won the 1980 César for Best Screenplay.
Crimes of the Heart
Crimes of the Heart is Beth Henley's 1979 dramatic comedy about the Magrath sisters in Hazlehurst, Mississippi; it won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, ran 535 Broadway performances, and became a 1986 Bruce Beresford film with Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, and Sissy Spacek.
Crows and Sparrows (乌鸦与麻雀)
Crows and Sparrows (乌鸦与麻雀, Crow and Sparrow) is a 1949 Kunlun Film Company satirical comedy directed by Zheng Junli, written by Chen Baichen and others, starring Zhao Dan, about Shanghai tenants resisting the KMT official who seized their house; awarded first prize in 1957 after Zhou Enlai's intervention.
Death by Hanging (絞死刑)
Death by Hanging (絞死刑, Koshikei) is Nagisa Oshima's 1968 Japanese black-and-white satire in which a zainichi Korean man, based on the 1958 Komatsugawa case, survives his execution; a Brechtian ATG New Wave film on capital punishment and anti-Korean discrimination.
Delicatessen (1991 film)
Delicatessen (1991) is a French black comedy and the feature debut of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, set in post-apocalyptic France where a butcher sells human meat to his tenants; it won four César Awards in 1992.
Divorce Italian Style
Divorzio all'italiana (Divorce Italian Style), 1961 Pietro Germi black comedy with Marcello Mastroianni; a Sicilian baron plots an honor killing since divorce was illegal; Oscar-winning screenplay, Cannes 1962.
Eating Raoul
Eating Raoul is Paul Bartel's 1982 American black comedy, also called a cult dark comedy, in which Paul and Mary Bland kill swingers with a skillet to fund a restaurant, with Robert Beltran as Raoul.
El Verdugo
El Verdugo (The Executioner) is a 1963 Spanish-Italian black comedy by Luis García Berlanga, scripted with Rafael Azcona and Ennio Flaiano, in which an undertaker marries an executioner's daughter and inherits the garrote job to keep a state apartment; it won FIPRESCI at Venice 1963.
Ensayo de un Crimen
Ensayo de un crimen, also known as La vida criminal de Archibaldo de la Cruz, is a 1944 Mexican crime novel by Rodolfo Usigli and Luis Buñuel's 1955 film adaptation about a wealthy man who believes he is fated to commit the perfect murder.
Entre Tinieblas
Entre Tinieblas (Dark Habits) is Pedro Almodóvar's 1983 Spanish comedy-drama, his third feature, about bolero singer Yolanda Bell hiding in a convent of drug-using nuns; premiered at Venice, released 3 October 1983.
Giants and Toys (巨人と玩具)
Giants and Toys (巨人と玩具, Kyojin to gangu, aka The Build-Up) is a 1958 Daiei satire directed by Masumura Yasuzo from Kaiko Takeshi's novel, in which three caramel companies wage an advertising war and build a teenage girl into a manufactured celebrity.
Hollywood Shuffle
Hollywood Shuffle is Robert Townsend's 1987 satirical comedy, co-written with Keenen Ivory Wayans, about a Black actor offered only stereotypical roles. Made for about $100,000 partly on credit cards, it grossed over $5 million and became an independent Black cinema landmark.
How I Won the War
How I Won the War (1967) is Richard Lester's British absurdist anti-war comedy, adapted by Charles Wood from Patrick Ryan's 1963 novel, starring Michael Crawford as Lt. Goodbody and featuring John Lennon as Gripweed in his only non-musical film role.
Hyenas
Hyenas (Hyènes, 1992) is Djibril Diop Mambéty's second and final feature, a Wolof-language Senegalese adaptation of Dürrenmatt's The Visit, in which a rich woman offers her village a fortune to kill her former lover; screened in Competition at Cannes 1992.
I'm All Right Jack
I'm All Right Jack: 1959 British satirical comedy by the Boulting brothers, sequel to Private's Progress, starring Peter Sellers as shop steward Fred Kite; BAFTA-winning film satirizing British industrial relations.
If....
If.... is Lindsay Anderson's 1968 British satire starring Malcolm McDowell as rebel schoolboy Mick Travis at an English public school; it won the 1969 Palme d'Or at Cannes and spawned O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital.
Kika
Kika is Pedro Almodóvar's 1993 Spanish-French comedy, his tenth film, starring Verónica Forqué as a makeup artist; produced by El Deseo and Ciby 2000, released 25 October 1993, Goya winner for Best Actress.
Kiss Me, Stupid
Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) is Billy Wilder's sex farce starring Dean Martin, Kim Novak, and Ray Walston, set in Climax, Nevada; condemned by the Legion of Decency, a box-office failure later reassessed.
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997 film)
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997), Thomas Jahn's German road movie crime comedy with Til Schweiger and Jan Josef Liefers as two dying men driving to the sea; Germany's top 1997 film, Selig soundtrack, distinct from the Cowboy Bebop film and Dylan song.
La Dolce Vita
La dolce vita, Federico Fellini's 1960 Italy-France black-and-white comedy-drama starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg; unanimous 1960 Palme d'Or winner, source of the word paparazzi and the Trevi Fountain scene.
La Escopeta Nacional
La escopeta nacional (The National Shotgun) is a 1978 Spanish satirical comedy by Luis García Berlanga and Rafael Azcona, first of the Leguineche trilogy, about a Catalan industrialist staging a hunt to sell intercoms to Franco-era elites; 2,063,043 admissions.
La Grande Bouffe
La Grande Bouffe (La grande abbuffata, The Grande Bouffe, Blow-Out) is Marco Ferreri's 1973 French-Italian black comedy in which Mastroianni, Piccoli, Noiret, and Tognazzi eat themselves to death; a Cannes 1973 scandal that won FIPRESCI.
Le Père Noël est une ordure
Le Père Noël est une ordure is a French farce by the troupe Le Splendid, first staged in 1979 and best known through its 1982 film.
Macunaíma
Macunaíma (1969), Joaquim Pedro de Andrade's adaptation of Mário de Andrade's 1928 modernist novel, stars Grande Otelo and Paulo José as the black and white trickster hero; Cinema Novo's only box-office hit, censored under Brazil's military dictatorship.
Mamá cumple cien años
Mamá cumple cien años (Mama Turns 100) is Carlos Saura's 1979 Spanish comedy-drama, sequel to Ana y los lobos, starring Rafaela Aparicio, Geraldine Chaplin, and Fernando Fernán Gómez; San Sebastián Special Jury Prize and Oscar nominee.
Mecánica Nacional
Mecánica nacional (National Mechanics) is a 1972 Mexican dark comedy written and directed by Luis Alcoriza, starring Manolo Fábregas, Lucha Villa, Héctor Suárez, and Sara García; it won five 1973 Ariel awards including Best Picture.
Naked (1993 film)
Naked is Mike Leigh's 1993 British comedy drama starring David Thewlis as Johnny, a Mancunian drifter on a nocturnal London odyssey; it won Cannes Best Director and Best Actor in 1993.