Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell - DVD

Described as Inchseductive and well-actedInch (The Guardian), Cocoon tells the coming-of-age transformation of Nora, a 14-year-old from Berlin, over the course of one blisteringly hot summer. A shy girl with a troubled mother and loving but boy-crazy older sister, Nora must contend with the many tribulations of early teenage years largely by herself. She gets her period for the first time, falls in love with another girl, has her heart broken, and, inevitably, learns to stand up for herself and what she wants. Shot with a deep understanding of teenage-girl desires, Cocoon is a sun-soaked tale of one girl's self-discovery on the cusp of young adulthood.

In his first straight drama, writer/director Woody Allen delivered a moody, nervously funny, and starkly Bergmanesque portrait of a splintered family. A trio of sisters (Diane Keaton, Mary Beth Hurt, Kristin Griffith) are forced to table their lifelong wrestling with rivalries on the news that their lawyer father (E.G. Marshall) was throwing over their depressive mother (Geraldine Page) for an earthier new paramour (Maureen Stapleton). Richard Jordan, Sam Waterston also star. 93 minutes

Set during the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Caterpillar tells the story of a Japanese soldier who returns home horrifically mutilated. Liutenant Kurokawa is literally nothing but a human torso he has lost both his arms and legs, and with burns covering half his face, he is also unable to speak. His wife, Shigeko (Shinobu Terajima), is given the grueling task of looking after him, which, in addition to feeding and washing him, includes the job of satisfying his sexual desires - impulses that remain as strong as ever in spite of his disabled condition. Taught to be dutiful and to do her part for her country, Shigeko bears her burden - but as she realizes that her husband's life lies entirely in her hands, she begins to question the role she has accepted. A film that won Shinobu Terajima the Silver Bear award for Best Actress at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival, Caterpillar is at heart a powerful indictment of Japan's militaristic, nationalistic past. From acclaimed director Koji Wakamatsu (United Red Army).