Hungarian director Marta Meszaros adds unprecedented depth, humanity, and a whole other meaning to the question asked in countless groan-worthy bumper stickers: “Who adopted who?”

A lonely middle-aged widow is picked by a teenage girl from a nearby state-run home for children as a kindred spirit and unlikely ally. Identities like mother, daughter, friend, sister, confident, and advocate are intentionally and unintentionally tried on for size as both struggle against the constrictive demands of the well-meaning, but institutionally-bound men in their lives.

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If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Kinjji Misumi’s The Tale of Zatoichi (1962).

Poverty. Betrayal. Heroin. Death. But, like in a really funny and clever sort of way that’s just a real pleasure to watch. Spend some time with some of your best Scottish friends! Director Danny Boyle fully inhabits, then redefines 90s cinema, in this groundbreaking international phenomenon.

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If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Marta Meszaros‘ Adoption (1975).

Kon Ichikawa sumptuous remake of an Edo-period revenge tale is magnified by lush camerawork, stirring performances, a jazzy soundtrack, and a fascinatingly unexpected exploration of gender, sexuality, and identity. The Kabuki actor Yukinojo performs and lives as a woman, breaks the hearts of all around him (men and women alike), and deftly schemes to enact vengeance on the men who destroyed her family.

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If you’d like to watch ahead for next week’s film, we will be discussing and reviewing Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting (1996).