1. Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970) dir. Jerry Schatzberg, at Anthology

Structurally inspired by Godard, Schatzberg uses the stylish techniques he learned as a fashion photographer for this film about a former model sequestered in a beach house, guzzling wine and remembering her glorious past. Faye Dunaway has never been stranger or more striking than she is here, and Puzzle deserves to have a DVD release and a reputation at least as good as Who Are You Polly Magoo?

2. The Letter Never Sent (1959) dir. Mikhail Kalatozov, at Walter Reade

A group of Russian scientists searching for diamonds becomes caught in a Siberian forest fire that never seems to end. The cinematography is breathtaking, as the camera pushes through smoldering branches and leaves, the actors’ faces drip with sweat and soot, and the atmosphere becomes increasingly claustrophobic.

3. Man’s Favorite Sport? (1964) dir. Howard Hawks, at Anthology

A kooky, pastel-hued screwball comedy that harks back to Hawks’ own Bringing Up Baby; Paula Prentiss is a charming combination of quirky, smart and sexy, and Rock Hudson deadpans through moments of weird humor as a man who pretends to be an expert angler, but has never actually been “fishing.”

4. The Way You Wanted Me (1944) dir. Teuvo Tulio, at BAM

Following the rapid decline of an innocent young girl who moves from the country to the city, then falls into a life of debased whoring,the relentless degradation goes on and on, while the glittering close-ups of tear-stained cheeks, burning cigarettes and half-full champagne flutes construct a dark and brilliant mise en scène.

5. Eden et Apres (1970) dir. Alain Robbe-Grillet, at BAM

Featuring one of the most beautiful, yet unknown, actresses of the Sixties and Seventies, Catherine Jourdan, this dreamy, modish film draws on elements of Persona and La Chinoise to tell the opaque story of a scantily clad woman seeking an unknown something in a series of brooding and exotic locales.