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400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Making the rounds right now is a truly satisfying foreign language film that -- surprise -- was not among the Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language film. It comes from the veteran Italian director Marco Bellocchio, who made his feature debut with Fists in the Pocket all the way back in 1965; various writers such as David Thomson and Pauline Kael agreed that it was one of the great directorial debuts of all time. It told the story of one of the screen's most screwed-up dysfunctional families. In the 45 years since, Bellocchio, hasn't made much of a ripple here in the U.S., though his films My Mother's Smile (2002) and Good Morning, Night (2003) -- which I did not see -- received mostly good reviews.

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar dominated the 2002 European Film Awards on Saturday night - with his acclaimed drama Talk To Her being named Best Film. The All About My Mother filmmaker was also awarded the Best Director award for the controversial film, which centers on a male nurse's love for his comatose patient. The 51-year-old said at the ceremony, held at Rome's Parco Della Musica, "I give thanks to the public. Without them none of this would have been possible. It is important to know that someone else is moved by my work." The ensemble cast of 8 Women, including Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart and Fanny Ardant, shared the European Actress awards, while Italian Sergio Castellitto picked up the Best Actor awards for his performances in Mostly Martha and The Religion Hour (My Mother's Smile). Victoria Abril, star of Almodovar's 1990 film Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! among many others, won the award for Achievement in World Cinema, while Blowup screenwriter Tonino Guerra, won the Lifetime Achievement prize.