Adrift in the vast expanse of the ocean, a solitary boat carries three castaways—a man and two women. Stranded and devoid of any glimmer of rescue, they find solace in recounting the tales of their lives to one another. As they delve into their personal narratives, reminiscing about the circumstances that led them to this desolate predicament, they navigate through the depths of three distinct destinies. Bound by the confines of their shared space, every aspect of their existence becomes a boundary, underscoring their plight.
In 1921, we follow two women - Marie and Grete - from the same poor Viennese neighborhood, as they try to better the lives of themselves and their families during the period of Austrian postwar hyperinflation.
Left penniless by her vengeful ex-husband, Madeline is forced to become a pickpocket to pay for a new wardrobe. One of her victims is a Mr. Finlay, who threatens to turn her over to the police -- until he hears Madeline's woeful tale of her cruel, possessive husband.
A nervous and unsettling young boy takes a mysterious old suitcase across London... to a twisted and surreal conclusion.
German silent film
How They Lie
The plot is the embodiment of everyday belief about the impact of a certain evil force on a person. The action develops in a peasant environment.
Martin Hollmann, a young gardener meets his significantly older wife's daughter from her first marriage. Liesbeth Kröger is from his generation and they both get along well straight away. Shortly after his wife's death, Martin brings Liesbeth into his house as a housekeeper, and they both fall in love. The couple live together and soon decide to get married when Liesbeth becomes pregnant by Martin. But now the tragedy begins, because when registering at the registry office, Martin and Liesbeth, in the form of a strict bailiff, are officially declared that they have committed incest in accordance with Section 173 of the Criminal Code.
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.
The young Anselmus Aselmeyer fulfilled a long cherished dream: He travels to Venice, the city of his dreams. Once there, the porter Pipistrello directs him immediately to the hotel of his boss, and Anselmus lands in the middle of a wedding party. Mestre Mangiabene, a wealthy oilman, marries the beautiful but completely depleted Marchesina dei Bisognosi. But the secretly loves an officer.
Two friends, Fritz and Theodor, make the acquaintance of Christine and Mizzi, who are also friends. Fritz is immediately captivated by Christine, who is bashful and modest as opposed to the eager, effervescent Mizzi. But even though the love between the two grows, Christine is not the only woman in Fritz’s life. His affair with a married woman will prove to have fatal consequences.
Fickle Women
Charlotte Baker is drugged and taken to a brothel by Paul, her fiance, who in reality is a pimp. To find her, Charlotte's family contacts the celebrated detective Bob Macauley.
Lafayette Jordan (Davis), financier, plans to inundate Caribou Canyon and turn it into a reservoir, but the villagers will not sell him their land. Among the resentful villagers is Judson Forrest (Harlan), who wants to be an inventor. Mary Jordan (Bellamy), daughter of the financier, is hurt and spends a night at his home. Learning of his attitude toward her father, she poses as a domestic at the Jordan home. Later, in New York, Judson looks her up. He is trying to sell his invention and, to get funds, he mortgages his home. The village banker, in league with Jordan, sells the financier the mortgage, and a foreclosure threatens when Jordan's business agent Henry Mogridge (Miljan) double-crosses Judson. The youth thinks Mary working against him. Friends come to Judson's aid and he pays off the mortgage in the nick of time. He learns that Jordan knew nothing of the methods employed by his agent and that Mary loves him.
At the urging of his sweetheart, Rosemary Smith, a man (William Fairbanks) leaves his soft job in the east and goes west to settle a dispute over oil lands owned by Rosemary's father. This man evicts the wrong party and later must return west in order to set things right, protecting the honor of a girl from the advances of the crooked foreman.
Young Cabiria is kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in Carthage. Just as she's to be sacrificed to Moloch, Cabiria is rescued by Fulvius Axilla, a good-hearted Roman spy, and his powerful slave, Maciste. The trio are broken up as Cabiria is entrusted to a woman of noble birth. With Cabiria's fate unknown, Maciste punished for his heroism, and Fulvius sent away to fight for Rome, is there any hope of our heroes reuniting?
The film consists of a series of tightly interlinked vignettes, the most sustained of which details the story of a man and a woman who are passionately in love. Their attempts to consummate their passion are constantly thwarted, by their families, by the Church and bourgeois society in general.
A British engineer in India takes a simple native girl as his bride, an act which defies social strictures and leads to tragedy.
The Count sets out to make a private room for him and his Countess, built in such a way no one can see, hear, and most importantly, disturb them. But unbeknownst to the Count, his wife has set her eyes on the court minstrel. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's “The Cask of Amontillado” and Honoré de Balzac's “La Grande Breteche”.
Anna Moore, a poor orphaned country girl, and her little brother, Tommy, live with hypocritical Squire Simpson, who conspires with his son to acquire the inheritance due the girl.