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Janus Films

Janus Films
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Foundation date 1 january 1956
Creator Bryant Haliday

Janus Films is a film distribution company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstein, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, François Truffaut, Yasujirō Ozu and many other well-regarded directors. Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957) was the film responsible for the company's initial growth. Janus has a close relationship with The Criterion Collection regarding the release of its films on DVD and is still an active theatrical distributor.

The company's name and logo come from Janus, the two-faced Roman god.

Best films

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Filmography of Janus Films (33 films)

Display filmography as list

Production

Time Bandits, 1h56
Directed by Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, David Warner, Sean Connery, Katherine Helmond, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Peter Vaughan
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Seafaring films, Films based on mythology, Films about religion, Transport films, Time travel films, RMS Titanic in fiction, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology, Disaster films, Films about seafaring accidents or incidents, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology
Actors Craig Warnock, Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond

Eleven-year-old Kevin has a vivid imagination and is fascinated by history, particularly Ancient Greece; his parents ignore his activities, having become more obsessed with buying the latest household gadgets to keep up with their neighbours. One night, as Kevin is sleeping, an armoured knight on a horse bursts out of his wardrobe. Kevin is scared and hides as the knight rides off into a forest setting where once his bedroom wall was; when Kevin looks back out, the room is back to normal and he finds one of his photos on the wall similar to the forest he saw. The next night he prepares a satchel with supplies and a Polaroid camera, but is surprised when six dwarves spill out of the wardrobe. Kevin quickly learns the group has stolen a large, worn map, and are looking for an exit from Kevin's room before they are discovered. They find that Kevin's bedroom wall can be pushed, revealing a long hallway. Kevin is hesitant to join until the visage of a menacing head – the Supreme Being – appears behind them, demanding the return of the map. Kevin and the dwarves fall into an empty void at the end of the hallway.
I Am Curious (Yellow), 2h2
Directed by Vilgot Sjöman
Genres Drama
Themes Films about films, Medical-themed films, Films about racism, Films about sexuality, Erotic films
Actors Lena Nyman, Vilgot Sjöman, Börje Ahlstedt, Peter Lindgren, Marie Göranzon, Anders Ek

Director Vilgot Sjöman plans to make a social film starring his lover Lena Nyman, a young theater student who has a strong interest in social issues.

Distribution

Jellyfish Eyes, 1h41
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Animation
Actors Takumi Saito, Masataka Kubota, Asuka Kurosawa, Shota Sometani, Kanji Tsuda, Eihi Shiina

Masashi Kusakabe (Takuto Sueoka) has just moved to a suburban town, where lush, green rice paddies stretch out on both sides of the road, to start a new life alone with his mother, Yasuko (Mayu Tsuruta). Although overwhelmed with sadness after losing his father (Kanji Tsuda), Masashi acts cheerfully for the sake of his mother. As he goes about carrying boxes into their new apartment, Masashi feels a mysterious presence in the room.
George Washington, 1h29
Directed by David Gordon Green
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Paul Schneider, Eddie Rouse, Will Janowitz

The film follows a group of kids growing up in a depressed rural town in North Carolina, as seen through the eyes of 12-year-old Nasia. After breaking up with her show-off boyfriend Buddy (played by Curtis Cotton III), she withdraws from her delinquent friends and becomes romantically interested in a strange, introverted boy named George who is burdened by the fact that his skull never hardened after birth. Tragedy strikes when George accidentally kills Buddy, and the group, fearing punishment, decides to hide his body. In its aftermath, George takes up the unlikely role of town hero.
Until the End of the World, 2h38
Directed by Wim Wenders
Origin France
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Romance
Themes Films about computing, Seafaring films, Post-apocalyptic films, Films about religion, Transport films, Films set in the future, Political films, Road movies, Cyberpunk films, Dystopian films, Disaster films
Actors Solveig Dommartin, William Hurt, Sam Neill, Tom Waits, Max von Sydow, Chick Ortega

The film takes place in late 1999. India has an out-of-control nuclear satellite in orbit that is about to re-enter the atmosphere at any time, contaminating large areas of the Earth. This has caused a massive panic, with everyone trying to flee the likely impact sites. Caught in a traffic jam, impatient and disconnected Claire Tourneur (Solveig Dommartin) escapes the highway congestion by taking a side road. Her dashboard computer system announces she has left the map zone database and is on her own. She then has a couple of odd encounters, first with a pair of bank robbers (which leaves her with a large amount of cash), then with a hitchhiker being pursued by an armed party. Claire discovers, after falling in love with the enigmatic fugitive, that he is the son of a scientist (played by Max von Sydow), and has absconded with the prototype of a secret research project. Multiple government agencies and freelance bounty hunters are chasing him to recover the device.
Mala Noche
Mala Noche (1986)
, 1h18
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Gus Van Sant

The story follows relationship between Walt (Tim Streeter), a gay store clerk, and two younger Mexican boys, Johnny (Doug Cooeyate) and Roberto Pepper (Ray Monge). Walt and his female friend (Nyla McCarthy) convince them to come over for dinner, but Johnny and Pepper have to return to their cheap hotel because another friend is locked out. Walt makes his first pass at Johnny by offering him $15 to sleep with him. Johnny refuses and runs to his hotel room, leaving Roberto locked out with nowhere to spend the night but Walt's. Settling for second best, Walt lies down next to Pepper and allows him on top for sex. However, he does not give up on trying to win over Johnny. The film progresses from there into not always clearly defined relationships, unbalanced by age, language, race, sexuality and money.
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, 3h21
Directed by Chantal Akerman
Origin Belgique
Genres Drama, Thriller
Themes Feminist films, Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Erotic thriller films
Actors Delphine Seyrig, Henri Storck, Chantal Akerman, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze

Jeanne Dielman examines a single mother's regimented schedule of cooking, cleaning and mothering over three days. The mother, Jeanne Dielman (whose name is only derived from the title and from a letter she reads to her son), prostitutes herself to a male client daily for her and her son's subsistence. Like her other activities, Jeanne's prostitution is part of the routine she performs every day by rote and is uneventful. But on the second day, Jeanne's routine begins to unravel subtly, as she drops a newly washed spoon and overcooks the potatoes that she's preparing for dinner. These alterations to Jeanne's existence prepare for the climax on the third day.
Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1h55
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Historical
Themes Seafaring films, Films about suicide, Transport films
Actors Anne-Louise Lambert, Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Kirsty Child, John Jarratt

At Appleyard College, a girls' private school, near the town of Woodend, Victoria, Australia, the students are dressing on the morning of St. Valentine's Day, 1900. Miranda (Anne-Louise Lambert), Irma (Karen Robson), Marion (Jane Vallis), Rosamund (Ingrid Mason), waifish Sara (Margaret Nelson), and outsider Edith (Christine Schuler) read poetry and Valentine's Day cards.
Effi Briest, 2h20
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Origin German
Genres Drama, Historical
Themes Films about sexuality
Actors Hanna Schygulla, Wolfgang Schenck, Karlheinz Böhm, Ulli Lommel, Lilo Pempeit, Irm Hermann

The film begins with Effi Briest using a swing set in her family’s back yard, where her mother, Louise Briest, comments on her wild nature, saying that she has an aerial spirit. Later, Effi is seen talking to some of the other teenage girls outside her house about when Baron Instetten was younger. She recalls a story her mother had told her about Instetten visiting her at her family estate while he was still a soldier. However, the man who would become Effi’s father was already in the council of nobles and owned Hohen-Cremmen, so when he asked to marry Effi’s mother she chose to accept. Afterward, Instetten chose to resign from the army and study law. When Effi returns inside, Effi’s mother informs her that Baron Instetten has asked for her hand. With her parent’s encouragement, along with her own desire for prestige, she accepts the proposal.
The Invitation, 1h40
Directed by Claude Goretta
Origin Suisse
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about the labor movement
Actors Jean-Luc Bideau, Lance Henriksen, François Simon, Jean Champion, Michel Robin, Cécile Vassort

The Invitation tells the story of a group of office workers, one of whom inherits a large country house and invites his co-workers to a party. At the party, they gradually let go of their inhibitions and get to know one another.
Mon oncle Antoine, 1h44
Directed by Claude Jutra
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Christmas films
Actors Monique Mercure, Olivette Thibault, Claude Jutra, Lionel Villeneuve, Hélène Loiselle, Roger Garand

Le film se déroule dans les années 1940 au Québec à Black Lake (maintenant Thetford Mines). Dans les villages de cette taille, le magasin général est le pôle d’attraction et le lieu d’échanges de toute la communauté. Les habitants s'y réunissent donc la veille de Noël. Gérant du magasin, l’oncle Antoine, avec son humour et ses gorgées de gin, anime les lieux sous l’œil intéressé de son neveu Benoît (15 ans), qui est orphelin et qui vit chez son oncle.
Two English Girls, 2h10
Directed by François Truffaut
Origin France
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Themes Sculpture
Actors Jean-Pierre Léaud, Kika Markham, Philippe Léotard, Irène Tunc, Georges Delerue, Sylvia Marriott

The film begins in Paris around the year 1902 when Claude Roc and his widowed mother are visited by Ann Brown, daughter of an old friend. Ann invites Claude to spend the summer on the coast of Wales with her widowed mother and sister Muriel. While she enjoys Claude's company, her hope is that he may be a husband for her introverted sister. In the event, Claude and Muriel do start to fall in love and Mrs Brown, with the agreement of Madame Roc, says they must live apart for a year.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, 1h17
Directed by Jaromil Jireš
Origin Tchecoslovaquie
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Fantasy, Adventure, Horror, Romance
Themes L'adolescence, Films about children, Films about magic and magicians, Films about music and musicians, Films about religion, Films about sexuality, Bisexuality-related films, LGBT-related films, Vampires in film, Teen LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, Films about virginity, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Jaroslava Schallerová, Helena Anýzová, Josef Abrhám

The film starts out with 13-year-old Valerie (Schallerová) sleeping in a gazebo. A thief comes in the night and steals her earrings; when she goes to investigate, she sees a horrific man before he covers his face with a weasel mask. The next day she is swimming in a pool and is then watching the water when the thief's arms suddenly return her earrings to her.
The Troublemaker, 1h20
Directed by Theodore J. Flicker
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Tom Aldredge, James Frawley, Buck Henry, Theodore J. Flicker, Godfrey Cambridge, Michael Currie

A young, naive chicken farmer from New Jersey moves to Greenwich Village to open a coffee shop.
A Hard Day's Night, 1h27
Directed by Richard Lester
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Transport films, Rail transport films, Musical films, Les Beatles
Actors John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Wilfrid Brambell, George Harrison, Norman Rossington, Ringo Starr

Bound for a London show, the Beatles escape a horde of fans. Once they are aboard the train and trying to relax, various interruptions test their patience: after a dalliance with a female passenger, Paul's grandfather is confined to the guard's van and the four lads join him there to keep him company. John, Paul, George, and Ringo play a card game, entertaining schoolgirls before arriving at their destination.