1560, Peru. In a beautiful poetic opening scene the conquistadors cross an Andes pass, situated between the peaks and the valleys, between conquered land and unexplored forests, between 'heaven' and 'earth', shrouded in mists, they make their way down a narrow path. Aguirre's meglomania grows as around him his comrades mutiny and die in his search for the lost city of El Dorado. Herzog's best film, an unforgetable tour de force. Made before the director himself gave in to meglomania on a later t find out more...

Ran, Kurosawa's last great epic, is a Jidaigeki (Japanese period drama) depicting the fall of Hidetora Ichimonj, an ageing Sengoku-era warlord who abdicates as ruler in favor of his three sons. His kingdom slowly disintegrates as the sons struggle for power, murdering rivals and laying waste to the land, and Hidetora goes insane after watching his retainers slaughtered in an epic massacre, the centrepiece of the film. As the kingdom crumbles and rival warlords move in for the kill, the Ichimonji find out more...

Rural France, 1542; after several years of unhappiness in his village, a young man suddenly disappears, leaving his wife and farm. Nine years later he returns from a war a changed man, his story is convincing, his wife accepts him wholeheartedly, and his farm prospers, but doubts about his true identity are sown. The story is a legend in France, a fascinating tale of deception leading to a love that deserves to last, but is spoilt by the ugliness of human nature. A great re-creation of the medie find out more...