The Great Mystical Circus

Wings of Desire

September 1987 •German

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds -- with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk -- that it might be possible for him to take human form.

The Tin Drum

May 1979 •German

Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.

Big Fish

December 2003 •English

Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.

La Strada

September 1954 •Italian

When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.

Viva Maria!

November 1965 •French

An IRA operative escapes to the Americas and teams up with a circus singer to create a popular vaudeville act. When the singer falls for a rebel, they leave the circus behind to become fierce revolutionaries.

If the Father and the Son

August 1955 •German

After Clown Teddy lost his son, he lost his gift for laughter. He opened a joke shop and lives above the shop. His landlady has had a foster son since birth, and Teddy decides to raise the child, who always believed that Teddy was his father. When the mother suddenly appears five years later and wants her son, Teddy decides to run away with the child and goes back onstage with his son. Will the family catch up with them, or will the mother never get her son back?

7 Faces of Dr. Lao

March 1964 •English

An old Chinese man rides into the town of Abalone, Arizona and changes it forever, as the citizens see themselves reflected in the mirror of Lao's mysterious circus of mythical beasts.

The Sideshow

December 1928 •English

Melrose's circus is being threatened by his competitor, who's angry that Melrose has outmanuevered him in bookings; what he doesn't know is that the competitor has also planted a saboteur who creates accidents in hopes of reducing the value of the circus. Meanwhile, he's also hired a beautiful young woman as the magician's assistant, with eyes toward more - but he realizes that, as a midget, she won't have him.

Mela

December 1980 •Malayalam

Govindan Kutty (Raghu) is a clown who works in the circus. He comes to his village looking for a bride. Sharada (Anjali Naidu) is impressed by his charms and seemingly rich lifestyle and agrees to marry him. When they reach back the circus after getting married, things however change considerably. Govindan is an insignificant figure there and is frequently ignored by everyone else. The frustrated Sharada meets a stuntman Vijayan (Mammootty) and gets close to him much to the discomfort of Govindan.

Bogus

September 1996 •English

Recently orphaned, a young boy is taken in by his godmother who is shocked to realize that she can see the boy's imaginary friend: a flamboyant, French magician named Bogus.

Santa Sangre

November 1989 •English

A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his mother – the leader of a strange religious cult – and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.

The Circus Kid

October 1928 •English

In 'The Circus Kid', Buddy, an orphan who runs away from a a harsh orphanage, joins Cadwallader's Circus.

Itinerary of a Spoiled Child

November 1988 •French

A foundling, raised in the circus, Sam Lion becomes a businessman after a trapeze accident. However, when he reaches fifty and becomes tired of his responsibilities and of his son Jean-Philippe, he decides to disappear at sea. However, he runs into Albert Duvivier, one of his former employees. He comes to realise that he has ignored the important things in his life.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

October 2009 •English

A travelling theatre company has more to it than meets the eye.

Altas variedades

May 1960 •Spanish

The Girl on the Bridge

March 1999 •French

It's night on a Paris bridge. A girl leans over Seine River with tears in her eyes and a violent yearning to drown her sorrows. Out of nowhere someone takes an interest in her. He is Gabor, a knife thrower who needs a human target for his show. The girl, Adele, has never been lucky and nowhere else to go. So she follows him. They travel along the northern bank of the Mediterranean to perform.

Katharina Knie

February 1929 •German

"Katharina Knie" is a 1929 German silent drama film directed by Karl Grune and starring Eugen Klöpfer, Carmen Boni and Adele Sandrock. It is based on the 1928 play of the same title by Carl Zuckmayer.

The Three Kings

November 1928 •English

Drama set around a circus at Blackpool. A clown loves a young housekeeper and saves her from a fire caused by a jealous lion tamer.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

April 1983 •English

In a small American town, a diabolical circus arrives, granting wishes for the townsfolk, but twisted as only the esteemed Mr. Dark can make them. Can two young boys overcome the worst the devil himself can deal out?

Mera Naam Joker

December 1970 •Hindi

Raju faces many hurdles and disappointments in matters of the heart throughout his life. But as a clown in a circus, he tries to make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. Along the way, Raju loves and loses, but must always keep a smile on his face because, in the words of his circus manager, "The show must go on."