"Actor: Elena"

• Donizetti: L'Elisir D'Amore (The Elixir of Love) | DVD | (11/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It's hard to think of a couple better suited to play the romantic leads in Donizetti's comedy L'Elisir d'amore than husband-and-wife team Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu. Both are charming on stage, and both have voices to die for: Gheorghiu's dark liquid tones are particularly spine-tingling, and her coloratura abilities awe-inspiring, and though Alagna has mainly concentrated on the more spinto (powerful) roles of the tenor repertoire, in 1996 when this live production was recorded his voice was just a little fresher and lighter and thus perfect for the bel canto gracefulness of Donizetti's writing. His performance of "Una furtiva lagrima", for example, is meltingly sung and free from all temptation to overplay the high notes. Frank Dunlop's 1920s-set production doesn't quite produce the belly laughs some stagings manage (in Dulcamara's patter song, for example), but has a certain small-town wistful charm nonetheless. The orchestral accompaniment under Donizetti expert Evelino Pidò is spot on, and never falls into the banal "oom-pah" trap that such simple writing can often lead to. Overall, it's a production of great charm. On the DVD: L'Elisir d'amore comes to disc with a 52-minute film on the history of the opera and its recording, with contributions from Alagna and Gheorghiu, and subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish and Chinese. The Lyon opera house is particularly well set up for video recording, and Brian Large does a sophisticated job of capturing a live performance: it's hard to believe at some points that the cameras aren't actually on stage in the middle of the action. Just occasionally this leads to the singers not knowing where to look and seeming a trifle lost, but generally the performances work superbly well on the small screen. --Warwick Thomson

• The Punisher | Blu Ray | (09/02/2009) from £13.48   |  Saving you £6.51 (48.29%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Thomas Jane stars as the ultra violent Marvel Comics vigilante, a man who begins to wage a one man war on organised crime following the death of his family.

• Elena | DVD | (11/02/2013) from £10.73   |  Saving you £5.26 (32.90%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Elena and Vladimir come from very different backgrounds. Vladimir is a wealthy, cold man, while Elena comes from a modest background, serving as his docile wife. The two of them have met late in life, each with a child from a previous marriage. Vladimir has a distant relationship with his daughter. In contrast, Elena desperately tries to save her alcoholic son and his family from poverty with means she alone could not provide. When her husband Vladimir has a heart attack, he suddenly realizes his time on earth is limited. A tender but brief reunion with his daughter leads him to name her as the sole heir to his fortune. When Vladimir announces this change to Elena, her hope to help her son quickly vanishes. Submissive housewife Elena then comes up with a plan to provide her son and his family with a real change in life. Special Features: Interview with Andrey Zvyagintsev.

• The King | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £8.98   |  Saving you £13.00 (185.98%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The devil made me do it. After being honourably discharged from the Navy Elvis Valderez returns to him hometown of Corpus Christi in Texas in the hope of finding his father whom he has never met. He soon discovers that he is the pastor of a local Baptist church and married with children. Serving as a reminder of his wayward past Elvis' father rejects him. However Elvis' half-sister and he begin a relationship that leads to tragic consequences.

• Butterfly's Tongue | DVD | (20/11/2000) from £9.43   |  Saving you £6.56 (69.57%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In the summer of 1936 before the outbreak of the civil war that plunged Spain into 3 years of agony and terror 8 year old Moncho is beginning his 1st day of school. At first afraid of his new teacher Don Gregorio- who he has heard flogs pupils - teacher and pupil soon develop an inseperable bond born of their shared interest in insect life. So begins moncho's apprenticeship into life and knowledge guided by his worldly teacher. But as the military marches through Spain and the

• Sex And Lucia | DVD | (28/10/2002) from £7.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  After the loss of her long-time boyfriend Lucia she seeks refuge on a quiet, secluded Mediterranean island. There, bathed in an atmosphere of fresh air and dazzling sun, Lucía begins to discover the dark corners of her past relationship...

• The German Doctor (Wakolda) | DVD | (02/07/2018) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  1960. A travelling Doctor strikes up a relationship with a local Argentinian family, in particular their daughter Lilith, a lonely 12-year-old girl who unknowingly becomes close friends with one of the world's most terrifying Nazi war criminals, Josef Mengele A.K.A. The Angel Of Death, who is on the run for his crimes in Auschwitz. Based on true events, this dark, intense dramatic thriller from acclaimed writer- director Lucia Puenzo (XXY, THE FISH CHILD) is adapted from her novel, WAKOLDA, exposing the hidden identity of the 'German Doctor'.

• Point Blank | DVD | (03/10/2011) from £3.49   |  Saving you £10.50 (300.86%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Everything is going well for Samuel (Gilles Lellouche; Tell Know One Sherlock Holmes Mesrine Little White Lies) and his beautiful wife Nadia (Elana Anaya; The Skin I Live In Sex and Lucia Van Helsing Talk to Her Mesrine). But everything changes when Nadia is kidnapped right in front of Samuel who is knocked out cold trying to stop the kidnapper. When he comes to his phone is ringing; he has just three hours to get Startet (Roschdy Zem; Just Like a Woman The Cold Light of Day) a man who is under police surveillance out of the hospital in which Samuel works. His destiny now lies in the hands of a man who is wanted by the police but if he wants to see his wife again he must act fast...

• Loro | Blu Ray | (24/06/2019) from £10.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Sergio is a guileful businessman who manages a group of young escorts which he uses to bribe local politicians and authority figures. With a desire for increased political leverage, he sets his eyes on bigger game and makes it his duty to work his way into the ranks of a man with a notorious taste for both hedonism and corruption - Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Master filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (Youth, The Great Beauty) teams up once again with longtime collaborator Toni Servillo (Il Divo, The Great Beauty) to reveal the scandalous and, until now, unseen private life of Italy s most infamous politician.

• A dice with five sides | DVD | (27/03/2023) from £9.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Room In Rome | Blu Ray | (18/10/2010) from £8.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (155.73%)   |  RRP £22.99

  A hotel room in the heart of Rome. Two young women who have only just met travel together on an intimate passionate journey that will mark their bodies and souls deeply. Slowly they allow themselves to be borne away each into the unknown terrain of the other until both find themselves transfixed before a completely new love. The story unfolds over twelve hours through the night and into the early morning before each woman departs Alba to Spain and Natasha to Russia.

• Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin | DVD | (04/02/2008) from £11.03   |  Saving you £10.96 (99.37%)   |  RRP £21.99

  Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin performed at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, February 2007.

• First Squad | DVD | (26/12/2011) from £3.00   |  Saving you £14.99 (83.30%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Nadya is a very special 14-year-old girl. With amazing psychic powers and trained as an assassin, she is recruited by the Russian army during World War II to become a member of First Squad, a special fighting unit specializing in combating paranormal forces. When she is the last member left standing in a brutal attack, she is returned to the unit for a special project – to bring her comrades back from the dead to fight Von Wolff, a 700-year-old spirit brought back to life to help the Nazis take over the world. First Squad is a compelling and action-packed new animated movie filled with drama and suspense, containing stunning, atmospheric visuals from Studio 4C, the acclaimed animation studio behind The Animatrix and Halo: Legends.

• Bicycle Thieves | DVD | (20/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The recipient of much international acclaim Vittorio de Sica's Italian Neorealist masterwork Ladri Di Biciclette (US title: The Bicycle Thief) finally makes its way to DVD. After nearly two years of unemployment Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) finally finds work posting bills. But he needs a bicycle to do the job. Unfortunately he was forced to pawn his own bicycle long ago. In a humbling tragic scene Antonio exchanges his family's linen for his bicycl

• The Miracle | DVD | (25/03/2019) from £16.19   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A new event drama series from the makers of The Young Pope. During a police operation, officers suddenly find themselves before a pool of blood. One not due to any killings, but to a plastic statuette of the Madonna. It's about 20 inches tall, made in China and unceasingly cries tears of human blood. In the attempt to control the impact of the event, the first to come into contact with the statuette are the Prime Minister, the head of the secret services, a haematologist and a priest suffering from sex and gambling addictions. There is no answer to the mystery, but the power of the enigma will turn their lives upside down.

• Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky | DVD | (22/11/2010) from £4.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky - based on Chris Greenhalgh's 'Coco & Igor' - pays tribute to the life of Coco after Chanel and as revealed in the title explores the electric relationship between the French fashion icon and the radical Russian-born composer. The two meet at the disastrous premier of Stravinsky's controversial The Rite of Spring a performance that mesmerises Chanel but due to a riot like reception leaves Stravinsky inconsolable. It takes 7 years before they meet again in Paris - now Chanel is both rich and respected whereas Stravinsky is living in exile as a penniless refugee. There is an immediate powerful attraction and she decides to shelter Stravinsky offering him her villa 'Bel Respiro' as a sanctuary for his composing as Chanel herself begins creating the revolutionary iconic perfume No5. Stravinsky moves in straight away with his children and consumptive wife. And so a passionate fiery love affair between two creative giants commence...

• Elena | Blu Ray | (11/02/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Elena and Vladimir come from very different backgrounds. Vladimir is a wealthy, cold man, while Elena comes from a modest background, serving as his docile wife. The two of them have met late in life, each with a child from a previous marriage. Vladimir has a distant relationship with his daughter. In contrast, Elena desperately tries to save her alcoholic son and his family from poverty with means she alone could not provide. When her husband Vladimir has a heart attack, he suddenly realizes his time on earth is limited. A tender but brief reunion with his daughter leads him to name her as the sole heir to his fortune. When Vladimir announces this change to Elena, her hope to help her son quickly vanishes. Submissive housewife Elena then comes up with a plan to provide her son and his family with a real change in life. Special Features: Interview with Andrey Zvyagintsev.

• Fragile | DVD | (10/09/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Calista Flockhart stars in this atmospheric ghost story from director Jaume Balaguero.

• First Squad | Blu Ray | (26/12/2011) from £5.49   |  Saving you £17.50 (76.10%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Nadya is a very special 14-year-old girl. With amazing psychic powers and trained as an assassin, she is recruited by the Russian army during World War II to become a member of First Squad, a special fighting unit specializing in combating paranormal forces. When she is the last member left standing in a brutal attack, she is returned to the unit for a special project – to bring her comrades back from the dead to fight Von Wolff, a 700-year-old spirit brought back to life to help the Nazis take over the world. First Squad is a compelling and action-packed new animated movie filled with drama and suspense, containing stunning, atmospheric visuals from Studio 4C, the acclaimed animation studio behind The Animatrix and Halo: Legends.

• Paganini Horror | Blu Ray | (16/09/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An all-girl Rock group head to a remote villa for a music video shoot, they are in desperate need of a hit single and purchase sheet music from the mysterious Mr. Pickett (the legendary Donald Pleasence). They are told the music is a lost piece from the legendary violinist, Niccolò Paganini, and see this as their ticket to the top of the charts. Little do they know, that this music is cursed and that they have just unleashed hell upon themselves.Soon, the spirit of Paganini is roaming the villa, armed with a murderous violin, and picking off the fame-hungry band members one by one. From the minds of Luigi Cozzi (Contamination) and Daria Nicolodi (Suspiria) comes Paganini Horror a slash-tastic piece of cheesy Euro-horror that could only have been made in the 80s! 88 Films are proud to present this bonkers slice of Italian cult cinema, a camp classic in the making, ripe for re-discovery and destined to be your new favourite worst movie, now even more outrageous thanks to this rocking 2k restoration.