Midnight in Paris
Showing Tues. January 24th
Dir: Woody Allen USA, Paris 2011 94 mins Cert: 12A
Starring: Owen Wilson, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen,
Language: English
Two young Americans, who have been together since their school days and are to be married in the fall, head for a few days to Paris where Gil’s fiancée’s father has a business meeting. While Inez and her mother are overjoyed by a chance meeting with another couple, and together they discover the tourist gems of the city and its luxury stores, Gil soaks up the mysterious magic of places where his most admired authors once experienced “a movable feast.” He feels that in Paris he will find the inspiration that will help him exchange his success as a Hollywood screenwriter for the courage to be a novelist. But his road to discovery comes with an unexpected twist, and at the journey’s end Gil discovers what he truly wants from life. In his new romantic comedy, the American filmmaker expresses his love for a city that he considers, after New York, the most beautiful in the world. “Of course I’m partial to New York because I was born there and grew up there, but if I didn’t live in New York, Paris is the place I would live,” Allen says. “Somebody else could come and shoot Paris in a completely different way. I want to present it my way, projecting my own feelings about it.” - Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2011
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Showing Tues. January 31st
Dir: Lynne Ramsay UK 2011 112 mins Cert: 16
Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Ashley Gerasimovich, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Alex Manette, Kenneth Franklin
Language: English
This cinematic masterpiece sees Tilda Swinton give a truly breathtaking performance as a mother torn apart by the conflicting emotions she feels for her son and his irredeemable actions.
Based on the best-selling novel by Lionel Shriver about a couple and the psychological torture they endure with the arrival of their dysfunctional son, Kevin. British director Lynne Ramsay creates an intriguing, complex and slowly devastating masterpiece. Alternating between a present loaded with guilt and a past full of frustration, Ramsay slowly unfolds the truth about what Kevin has done and, with it, spins a cinematic vision of contemporary hell around Swinton’s mesmerising performance. - Canberra Film Festival 2011 Winner - Best Film at 2011 London Film Festival
The Silence Das Letzte Schweigen
Showing Tues. February 7th
Dir: Baran bo Odar Germany 2011 119 mins Cert: Club
Starring: Ulrich Thomsen, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Sebastian Blomberg, Katrin Sass and Burghart Klaussner
Language: German
This highly-assured sophomore feature about two unresolved murder cases firmly establishes writer–director Baran bo Odar as a major international talent. More melodrama than thriller, it cleverly binds its disparate characters together through themes of loneliness, guilt and atonement.
When 13-year-old Sinikka’s bicycle is found in a wheat field, a retired police inspector is certain it is linked to the rape and murder of another girl 23 years earlier to the day. But the younger investigator on the case, recently widowed, is reluctant to tell Sinikka’s parents until her body—and her killer—is found. As we delve deeper and deeper into the characters inner psyches, questions of “Whodunit?” become less central than concerns over how the characters will cope. Nuanced performances by a talented ensemble cast, exquisitely composed frames, and a dramatic yet restrained pace make for a captivating film going experience. And the quiet but steadily building internal trauma of the victims’ families transforms their silence into a deafening roar. - Palm Springs International Film Festival 2011
Romantics Anonymous Les Emotifs Anonymes
Showing Tues. February 14th
Dir: Jean-Pierre Améris France 2011 77 mins Cert: 12A Starring: Benoît Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carré, Lorella Cravotta, Lise Lamétrie,
Language: French
A recent surprise hit in France, the delectable comedy Romantics Anonymous tells the story of Angélique Delange (Isabelle Carré, Private Fears in Public Places), an unemployed but gifted chocolate-maker with a lifelong case of uncontrollable shyness that prevents her from properly sharing her confectionary talents. Jean-René Van Den Hugde (Benoît Poelvoorde, Coco Before Chanel) suffers from a similar case of terminal abashment and runs a fledgling chocolate company in desperate need of a new direction. When Jean-René hires Angélique as the new sales associate, the two nervous Nellies must face their deepest fears. With the chocolate business hanging in the balance, they are forced to fess up to their hidden sweet affections for each other.
Co-screenwriters Jean-Pierre Améris and Philippe Blasband have prepared a deliciously witty script filled with rich characters that are packed with honesty and humor. Director Améris teases out the fairy-tale quality of this timid romance while grounding the film's charm and spirit firmly in its lovable and authentic protagonists and their quest for emotional freedom. Carré and Poelvoorde give nuanced and hilarious performances and radiate on-screen chemistry. - Genna Terranova / Tribeca Film Festival 2011
Melancholia
Showing Tues. February 21st
Dir: Lars Von Trier Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany 2010135 mins Cert: 15A
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgard, Kiefer Sutherland, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling
Language: English
Always controversial, director Lars Von Trier turns his hand to science fiction drama in this apocalyptic study of how individuals respond differently to impending doom. Opening with a highly stylised vision of how the world might end, Von Trier then takes us to a lush wedding where melancholic Justine (Kirsten Dunst) clashes with her highly strung sister as a rogue planet looms in the sky. Enigmatic, moody and visionary – it’s another unforgettable Von Trier experience. - Canberra International Film Festival 2011
Winner - Kirsten Dunst, Best Actress, Cannes Film Festival 2011
Well Digger’s Daughter, The La Fille du puisatier
Showing Tues. February 28th
Dir: Daniel Auteuil France 2011 107 mins Cert: TBC
Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Kad Merad, Sabine Azema, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Emilie Cazenave
Language: French
Twenty-five years after hemade his name acting in Claude Berri’s adaptations of two ofMarcel Pagnol’smost famous novels, Jean de Florette andManon des sources, Daniel Auteuil returns to theworld of simple country life in Provence (and the place of his own childhood) for his first feature as a director. La fille du puisatier, originallymade as a filmby thewriter himself in 1940, deals with an unmarried girl, Patricia (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), the daughter of the well-digger Pascal Amoretti (Auteuil),who gets herself pregnant just after turning 18. The father-to-be, Jacques (Nicolas Duvauchelle) is not around, having been called up as a fighter pilot in thewar and he has gonemissing, presumed dead. Since he is also the son of awealthy businessman,MrMazel (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), the chances are that since the young couplewere only together on two occasions, neither the boy nor his family – and certainly not his mother (Sabine Azéma) – are likely to admit to having anything to dowith the pregnant daughter of a humblewell-digger. It’s beautifully shot in perpetual sunshine and superbly scored by Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech),whomakes fine use of early 1940s period songs to heighten the atmosphere. The simplicity of Auteuil’s direction gives the film its truly authentic charm. - French Film Festival UK 2011
Deep Blue Sea, The
Showing Tues. March 6th
Dir: Terence Davies UK 2011 98 mins Cert: 15A
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, Simon Russell Beale
Language: English
As the wife of wealthy judge William Collyer, the beautiful Hester lives a privileged but unfulfilled life. For solace she turns to William’s younger friend Freddie, a former pilot. What begins as a passionate affair soon turns into an undying love. To the disapproval of her clique, Hester decides to leave her golden cage and move in with Freddie. But Hester’s obsessive love soon alienates her new lover – and she is left teetering on the verge of an abyss. Then a new man enters her life, a former doctor and fellow outsider. Terence Davies’ new screen adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s classic play sensitively tells of forbidden love, suppressed desires and the fear of being alone. Zurich Film Festival
Las Acacias
Showing Tues. March 13th
Dir: Pablo Giorgelli Argentina 2011 86 mins Cert: Club
Starring: German De Silva, Hebe Duarte, Nayra Calle Mamani
Language: Spanish
In a gentle and deeply touching road movie, a poignant relationship slowly grows between a lonely truck driver, Rubén and a single mother, Jacinta who travels with her 8-month-old baby Anahí. Initially reluctant, Rubén gradually warms to his passengers on the long journey from Asunción del Paraguay to Buenos Aires and the skilfully restrained direction from first-time feature filmmaker Pablo Giorgelli draws deeply resonant performances of few words from his two lead actors. A subtle and rewarding emotional drama, Las Acacias won the prestigious Camera d’Or, the new filmmakers’ prize at Cannes Film Festival. - Leeds International Film Festival 2011
Wuthering Heights
Showing Tues. March 20th
Dir: Andrea Arnold UK 2011 128 mins Cert: 15A
Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Nichola Burley, Oliver Milburn, James Howson, Steve Evets, Amy Wren and Paul Hilton
Building on the success of Red Road and Fishtank and breaking new cinematic ground, Andrea Arnold has cemented her reputation as one of Britain’s leading filmmakers with a bold and sensual adaptation of Emily Bronte’s famous novel. An excellent cast present fresh interpretations of the novel’s larger than life characters including an intense and feral performance from Leeds newcomer James Howson as Heathcliff. Transcending the usual pitfalls of the literary adaptation, the new screen version of Wuthering Heights relies on masterful cinematic techniques rather than excessive dialogue or prosaic storytelling. Superb cinematography, editing and sound design converge in a hypnotic synthesis of sound and image evoking the rugged, weatherbeaten beauty of the Yorkshire landscape, the unsentimental vigour of the natural world and the voyeuristic intensity of the novel’s raw emotional power. Wuthering Heights could be the most tactile literary adaption in film history. - Leeds International Film Festival 2011
