The Monkey Talks

A Desperate Poaching Affray

July 1903 •English

Three hunters surprise two poachers in the act. The hunters take umbrage and give chase over fences and through fields. The hunters fire away, but the poachers have guns as well, and a fight ensues with casualties for the hunters. Two cops appear and so do dogs as the chase continues. Will the poachers escape, or will they, like the game they were after, be trapped?

Attack on a China Mission

November 1900 •English

The titles tell us this film is based on an incident in the Boxer Rebellion. A man tries to defend a woman and a large house against Chinese attackers. They attack with swords, guns, and paddles. He's over-matched. What will become of the mission, its defenders, and its occupants?

The Owl

September 1924 •Russian

The film is about the class struggle in the village between the various strata of society on the eve of Soviet powerformation.

A Motion Selfie

June 2018 •English

"A Motion Selfie" is one-of-a-kind DIY filmmaking: a darkly comic chronicle following a year in the life of a washed-up viral video star and the sexually depraved stalker who becomes obsessed with his work.

Atlantis

December 1913 •Danish

Overwhelmed by personal and professional problems, biologist Friedrich von Kammacher decides to travel abroad in order to regain the joy of living. During his adventurous journey he will meet two very different women, one of whom will be the key to his fate.

Lord Jim

November 1925 •English

Because he deserted his ship and passengers during a collision at sea, a ship's mate loses his certification. Unable to find work at sea, he takes a job at a trading post, and eventually works his way up to managing the business. He falls in love with the owner's daughter, and shares leadership of the local village with the son of the Rajah. One day, however, a band of pirates attacks the village, and the man is astonished to see that the pirates are none other than the tyrannical captain of his former ship and his crew.

The Little Match Girl

December 1914 •English

A poor child strikes matches for warmth and dies in the snow.

Buy Your Own Cherries

June 1904 •English

A barmaid plies a swell with smiles and with cherries from a box that's just been delivered. When she refuses a cherry to a roughly-dressed tradesman who runs a tab at the bar, he pays off his debt in a huff, using all his week's pay. He then storms penniless and without provisions into his ill-furnished house where his wife and two children, ill-clad and ill-fed, cower. Is there any hope for him and for his family? If he does realize how low he's sunk, what help is there to lift him up? Will the family ever know the taste of cherries?

Grandma's Reading Glass

November 1900 •English

A child borrows his grandmother's magnifying glass to look at a newspaper ad for Bovril, at a watch, and then at a bird. The child shows grandma what he is doing. The child looks next at grandma's eye, then at a kitten.

This May Be the End

November 2022 •Finnish

An experimental silent film made with a team of three. Humanity is being wiped out and the last people left are friends May and Pearl. The main themes of the film are friendship that gives strength and hope, as well as current concern for the future of humans and our nature. Could we start over or was this it?

The Love Cheat

August 1919 •English

Henry, a struggling Greenwhich Villiage artist, accidentally finds an invitation to Louise Gordon's coming out party. He goes to the party, falls in love with the pretty socialite, but soon decides to leave as he realizes his financial situation is not up to standards. An old friend recognizes him and encourages Henry into lying that he is a successful businessman.

On Different Shores

April 1926 •Russian

The film is about the opposition between working-class people and the certain power.

The White Door

January 2006 •English

THE WHITE DOOR, starring Giovanni Ribisi, is a more realized version of the Beck 'Lonesome Tears' music video from three years prior and now a love story.

Yotsuya Kaidan

July 1928 •Japanese

From the Manger to the Cross

October 1912 •English

The life of Jesus is played out in tableaux shot in the Holy Land.

Desert Nights

March 1929 •English

A con man with his beautiful accomplice and a hostage steals a half million dollars worth of diamonds but finds they're all lost in the desert without water.

The Magician's Alms

October 1905 •French

A magician transforms a tiny dinner table into a full meal for a homeless man.

The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ

March 1906 •French

The stations of Christ's life are segmented into a series of performative tableaux.

The Stepmother

November 1906 •French

A poor boy is mistreated by his stepmother when his father isn't present.

On the Barricade

August 1907 •

During the Paris Commune, a boy runs across trouble at the barricade.