Author cinema at home

In addition to excellently produced series and exciting blockbusters, cineastes may also enjoy a film gem from international auteur cinema. GloriousMe has two favorite portals for arthouse cinema at home on the couch.

Between midnight and dawn

At every film festival that takes place in Cannes, Los Angeles, Locarno, Venice, Berlin or Hof, we rush to cover it.

We enthusiastically read the reviews of the film highlights and hope that we will manage to see one or the other film later in the cinema or between midnight and dawn on ARTE.

The yield was scarce even before the pandemic and was more like a fluke. Now the art-house cinemas we love are closed and the future is uncertain for some.

Pearl fishers and stargazers

Partly as a result of the pandemic, a larger offering has now developed that brings sophisticated cinema fare to the home screen via streaming.

The market is relatively confusing. This is due to the dynamic development, but also to the very strict licensing and broadcasting rights for individual markets and countries.

Because you know what you are looking for

The easiest way, if you already know what movie you’re looking for, is to use the search portal “Wer streamt es”(werstreamt.es), which searches over 150,000 movie and series offerings from currently 33 video-on-demand providers.

You enter the name of the movie or series you want to watch in the search function and get an overview of the platforms on which you can watch the movie.

Due to their market size, Amazon, Netflix and AppleTV are then usually found on the first ranks.

Fast and efficient. If you already know what you want.

Gourmet menu instead of fast food menu

Sometimes, however, you want to go on a voyage of discovery. Even in a gourmet restaurant, the most beautiful moment is opening the menu: Discovering something new and whetting your appetite.

This is what specialized film portals for auteur films offer.

We have tested several portals and recommend the two portals where we have made ourselves comfortable on many a rainy evening at home on the couch with cinematic highlights and a good glass of wine and finger food.

The two most important criteria for us were the attractive range of international auteur films and a smooth process of registration and payment.

MUBI

This streaming service went online back in 2017 and is one of the most perfect offerings in this area. Mubi sees itself as a portal and curator for sophisticated film fare.

Every day a new movie is added, which in most cases remains available for 30 days.

A look at the current film selection is like the menu of a three-star restaurant from the Michelin Guide: International. Perfectly presented.

Do you also love previews at the cinema?

If you love previews of upcoming movies in the cinema, then you will spend a lot of enjoyable time with the trailers already on the entrance portal.

Before the appetizers, in this case the short summary of a movie, comes the data collection. You can only access the trailers of the films as a registered MUBI user. A 7-day free trial option is available, but you must provide your email address and credit card information at this point.

Then you can jump in and enjoy great cinema at home. Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard, the wonderful French actress who currently also represents Chanel N° 5, in “The Immigrant”.

Or films like Family Romance by Werner Herzog about a trend in Japan to hire relatives. The film comes with a charmingly enthusiastic introduction by Werner Herzog and is a cinematic treat for any fan of Werner Herzog or lover of Japan.

You won’t find the most recent Oscar-nominated films here. This is because these films are initially intended for other marketing channels.

But a film about the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “A Life for Justice,” which was nominated for an Oscar in 2018, is still well worth watching in 2021.

Already the selection is a pleasure

Categories like:

• In the mood for love
• Film Festival Favorites
• The new Brazilian cinema
• American Indies
• Artist portraits (at the moment for example Banksy, Callas and Christo)
• …

make even the search for a film a joy compared to some other portals, where you initially look on the first page at a crude mixture of film titles that you would rather classify as B- or C-movie.

In view of the elegantly presented film offerings at Mubi, however, one would prefer to drop everything else and only watch films.

I always wanted to see that

At MUBI, we have already discovered one or two auteur films that we had missed in our local art house cinema or that we had not yet heard of.

Tonight “Malmkrog” is on our program. Award-winning at the 2020 Berlinale, the film features high-level conversations on Christmas Eve in a Russian mansion. The trailer’s images also promise breathtaking elegance and elegy.

The subscription to MUBI costs Euro 9.99 per month or Euro 5.99 if you pay Euro 71.88 per year.

MUBI also offers a gift option: for only 29.99, you can give a movie lover a gift of MUBI’s movie selection for three months. A good idea for cinema-loving friends who, before the pandemic, sat in front of the screen in the dark cinema hall at least once a week.

ARTFILM.CH

See Also

CHAMPAGNE NOT ONLY AS APERITIF

The film portal Artfilm from Lausanne, Switzerland, focuses on Swiss films. Much of what was successful at the Locarno Film Festival can be seen here.

In addition to feature films, the portal also offers a wide selection of documentaries.

For example, we were impressed by the film “From Galicia to Aargau”. The memory of Jerzy Czarnecki, who as a Jewish child had to flee from the small Galician town of Mosty Wielkie, then in Poland, now in Ukraine, first to Warsaw and later as a student from there to Switzerland.

60 years later, after his retirement, he ventures a journey from the Swiss Aargau to the place of his childhood.

For all Bruno Ganz fans

You can also find a great selection of short films here and Bruno Ganz, who we actually like in every film, is well represented at Artfilm.CH. Among other things, in the film “Rich Colors Before Black” with Senta Berger.

The story of the couple Anita and Fred. A film about love, self-determination and death. The GloriousMe rating: Very worth seeing.

The long movie night at home

What we like about Artfilm, besides the many films in Swiss sound, is the possibility to buy a day pass for the price of Swiss Francs 7.

Ideal if you don’t want to lose track of all the subscriptions and just want to treat yourself to a very long movie night on your sofa at home.

As with all portals, there is also a subscription option. For Swiss Francs 30,- you can buy a movie pass for 30 days.

The annual subscription costs Swiss francs 80. Everything is done simply and correctly through Swiss Post Finance, with the possibility of credit card payment.

Quality before quantity

We know your time is short and the online offering is growing daily. Quality before quantity.

Maybe while waiting for the next James Bond (our cocktail shaker is already ready for a neat martini cocktail for debriefing) you will find time and leisure to treat yourself to a movie highlight from our two favorites.

A small sign of solidarity with the auteur film, which is not equipped with a huge marketing budget and despite the best quality often finds only a small audience until the art house cinemas open again. Curtain up or screen on.