edgepedia

Released 1939 to 1997

76 articles

The Rules of the Game

The Rules of the Game (La Règle du jeu), Jean Renoir's 1939 French comedy-drama satirizing aristocrats and servants at a Sologne hunting party; booed, banned, cut, reconstructed in 1959, now a top-ranked masterpiece.

The Ruling Class

The Ruling Class (1972) is a British black comedy by Peter Medak, adapted from Peter Barnes's play, starring Peter O'Toole as the mad Earl of Gurney who believes he is Jesus Christ, then Jack the Ripper; Oscar-nominated, Cannes entry, Criterion Spine #132.

The Swissmakers

The Swissmakers is a 1978 Swiss satirical comedy directed by Rolf Lyssy, following two naturalization policemen investigating three citizenship applicants; it set a Swiss box office record.

The Warlord (1972 film)

The Warlord (大軍閥, Da jun fa) is a 1972 Shaw Brothers Mandarin satirical comedy directed by Li Han-hsiang, starring Michael Hui in his debut as warlord Pang Ta Fu; it earned HK$3,464,724, Hong Kong's second-highest 1972 gross.

The Witness (1969 film)

The Witness (A tanú) is Péter Bacsó's 1969 Hungarian satirical feature film about a naive dyke-reeve made star witness in a 1950s show trial; banned for a decade, it premiered at Cannes in 1981 and became Hungary's leading cult film.

Three Colors: White

Three Colors: White (Trois couleurs: Blanc, Trzy kolory: Biały) is Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1994 dark comedy, second of the Three Colors trilogy, about Polish hairdresser Karol Karol's divorce, return to Warsaw, and revenge, exploring equality; Silver Bear winner.

Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (一个字头的诞生)

Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (一个字头的诞生) is Wai Ka-fai's 1997 Hong Kong triad film, Milkyway Image's debut, following Lau Ching-wan's gangster through two diverging fates after a fortune teller's prediction.

Trainspotting (film)

Trainspotting (1996) is Danny Boyle's British black comedy drama adapted from Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel, starring Ewan McGregor as Edinburgh heroin addict Mark Renton; a £1.5-1.7m film that grossed about $72 million worldwide and defined 1990s Cool Britannia cinema.

Twin Town (1997 film)

Twin Town (1997) is Kevin Allen's Welsh black comedy crime film set in Swansea, starring Rhys Ifans and Llŷr Ifans as vengeful brothers; Danny Boyle executive produced, and it became a cult Welsh film.

Weekend (1967 film)

Weekend (Week-end) is Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 French-Italian satirical film in which a bourgeois couple drive from Paris to collect an inheritance amid apocalyptic traffic jams and cannibal guerrillas, famous for its 300-metre traffic-jam tracking shot and its closing "End of Cinema" title.

Welcome Mr. Marshall!

Welcome Mr. Marshall! (Bienvenido, Mister Marshall) is a 1953 Spanish comedy by Luis García Berlanga, written with Bardem and Mihura, satirizing a Castilian village's failed Marshall Plan welcome; Cannes 1953 International Prize winner.

What Have I Done to Deserve This?

What Have I Done to Deserve This? (¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto?) is Pedro Almodóvar's 1984 Spanish comedy-drama, his fourth film, starring Carmen Maura as Gloria, an amphetamine-addicted housewife in a Madrid outskirts flat, an Italian-neorealist homage from the Movida era.

Where's Poppa?

Where's Poppa? (1970), also re-released as Going Ape, is a Carl Reiner dark comedy starring George Segal and Ruth Gordon, adapted by Robert Klane from his novel, about a lawyer trying to escape his senile mother.

Withnail and I

Withnail & I (also Withnail and I) is a 1987 British cult comedy by Bruce Robinson, starring Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann as unemployed 1969 London actors on a disastrous Lake District holiday.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) is Pedro Almodóvar's 1988 Spanish comedy about abandoned actress Pepa, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas, an Oscar-nominated, five-Goya international breakthrough.

Xala

Xala is a 1975 Senegalese satirical film by Ousmane Sembène, adapted from his 1973 novel, about a corrupt businessman cursed with impotence on taking a third wife; a neocolonialism satire in Wolof and French.