Caramel (Lebanon, 2007) 96´. 12/04/2012

A Beirut beauty salon serves as a microcosm of modern society of Lebanon. While single Layale (Nadine Labaki, who also is the director of the film) struggles with her growing attraction to a married man, Muslim Nisrine (Yasmine Al Masri) is going to be marry, and Rima (Joanna Moukarzel) wages a futile war against her lesbian instincts. As with many women who frequent the salon, Jamale (Gisèle Aouad)  does everything within her power to reverse the visible effects of aging. As Rose (Sihame Haddad) laments the fact that she has sacrificed her own happiness in order to care for her older sister.

The film won several awards, in San Sebastian Film Festival of 2007 it received Youth Award , TCM Audience Award and Sebastiane Award. On the other hand, it has had good reviews.
"It is sweet but not saccharine, an intimate film that doesn't stint on the desperation and anxiety that go along with the search for love." Kenneth Turan. Los Angeles Time. (01/02/2008).
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbKy__9g4MQ

American History X (USA, 1998). 118´ 05/04/2012

Directed by Tony Kaye, the film tells the story of two brothers, Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) and Daniel "Danny" Vinyard (Edward Furlong) of Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. Both are intelligent and charismatic students. Their father, a firefighter, is murdered by a black drug dealer while trying to extinguish a fire in a South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, and Derek is drawn into the neo-Nazi movement.


Edward Norton was nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Actor for his performance and the film received critical acclaim.
"Though its story elements are all too easily reduced to a simple outline, ''American History X'' has enough fiery acting and provocative bombast to make its impact felt. For one thing, its willingness to take on ugly political realities gives it a substantial raison d'etre. For another, it has been directed with a mixture of handsome photo-realism and visceral punch." Janet Maslin. New York Times. 01/01/2000
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXaZENPQrsw

Please be aware that this film contains sexual and violent images.

The help. (USA, 2011) 146´ 29/03/2012

Directed by Tate Taylor and set in Mississippi during 1960´s, the film tells the story of Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone), a young white women who moves back home after graduating from the university. There she gets fed up with the racist attitude of her circle of acquaintace, specially when one of them wants to present a proposed bill to provide separate bathrooms for black people. This incident encourages her to write a book about black maids who serve the white rich families.
In this aim, Skeeter has the support of Aibileen Clarck (Viola Davis), the black woman who brought up her when she was a child.

The film won several awards including The Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer).
"Airbrushed fairytale it may be, but The Help's account of the push for racial equality in 1960s Mississippi is rousingly effective" Xan Brooks. The Guardian. 27/10/2011.
Trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbuKgzgeUIU

Take my eyes. (Spain, 2003) 107´ 22/03/2012.

This Thursday, the film is going to be hosted by Shakti Women´s Aid. This organisation was founded in 1986 and tries to help minority ethnic women, children and young people who are experiencing or fleeing domestic abuse.
Take my eyes tells the story of Pilar (Laia Marull), who one night, fleeing her violent husband Antonio (Luis Tosar), leaves home with just a suitcase and her young son. Taking refuge in her sister's flat, she wavers in the face of her son's desire to see his father and the fact that she still loves her husband.


It won seven Goyas Awards, including Best Film.
"Victimising Pilar for the sake of tension, the thriller elements threaten to overturn the drama. Fortunately, Bollain realises that this gripping film is intense enough without resorting to too many cheap tricks. Building on an electric performance from Marull and a terrifying turn from Toscar (whose raging eyes and too-taut facial muscles suggest a man who's capable of exploding at any moment), Take My Eyes hints at the inescapable complexities of loving an abuser." Jamie Russell. BBC Movies. 14/11/2004.
Read the full review in http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/11/09/take_my_eyes_2004_review.shtml
More information about Shakti Women´s Aid: http://www.shaktiedinburgh.co.uk/index.html

The man who wasn´t there. (USA, 2001) 116´ 15/03/2012

It is a neo-noir film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set it in and around Santa Rosa, California 1949, the movie follows Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton), a suburban barber, married to Doris (Frances Macdormand) a bookkeeper with a drinking problem. Doris' boss at Nirdlinger's, the local department store, is "Big Dave" Brewster (James Gandolfini)  a loud, boisterous man, who constantly brags about his combat adventures in the Pacific during the Second World War. Ed suspects that Doris and Big Dave are having an affair.
 
"The ever astonishing Coen brothers say their film was inspired by the spirit of James M. Cain's novels about ill-fated dopes. But the Coens transcend Cain. If this were not such great American-vernacular moviemaking--hilarious yet hypnotic--one would be tempted to see something Greek in the tragedy that Ed never comprehends." Richard Shickel. TIME Magazine. (13/10/2009)
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htxvLcSnOU0

Bandit queen (India, 1994) 120´. 08/03/2012

Directed by Shekhar Kapur, the film is based in the true story of legendary female warrior Phoolan Devi (rol played by Seema Biswas). Devi is married at age 11, abandoned by her husband when she resists his advances, and turned into a social outcast who, at one point, is gang-raped by the upper-caste men of one village. She later leads a band.

It won different prizes in India, including Best Actress in the National Film Award.
"An exciting movie that brings Devi's story to life with passion but without passing judgment." Richard Corliss. TIME Magazine. 01/01/2000.
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66uIVFb6ATA

YOU CHOOSE 02/03/2012

This Thursday you are going to have the chance of choosing what to watch. There are two options.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. 100´ (United Kingdom, 1966)
This wild Stpehn Sondheim comedy about a raucous gaggle of ancient Romans is a flip, glib and sophisticated, yet rump-slappingly bawdy and fast-paced look at the seamy underside of classical Roma through hipster´s shades.
When a wily, witty, lying, lazy, cheating slave discovers that his master´s son is in love with the girl next-door - a virgin courtesan- he promises to help win her heart in exchange for his freedom. But the road to romance is blocked with stunning surprises, cunning disguises.

The film was nominated for a Golden Glove as "Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy" in 1967, and it won Oscar "Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment" that year.
"Perhaps the first modern film musical -- breaking with and even making sport of the theatrical artifice that had been bogging down the genre for nearly a decade". Ken Hake. Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) 21/07/2002.
See one of the scenes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPds0-hZ1tM&feature=endscreen

THE SEVENTH SEAL. 96´ (Sweden. 1957)

Maybe one of the most famous films by Ingmar Bergman, it tells the story about knight (Max von Sydow) who returns from the crusades to his plague-ridden homeland and engages Death (Bengkt Ekerot) in a game of chess. This leads the knight to ponder the question of whether or not God exists and about a possible afterlife.

The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. Even, it has been regarded since its release as a masterpiece of cinematography, it was Ranked #8 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.
"The Seventh Seal was always my favourite film, and I remember seeing it with a small audience at the old New Yorker Theatre. Who would have thought that the subject matter could yield such a pleasurable experience?" Woody Allen, "Through a Life Darkly," New York Times Book Review (1988).
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtkFei4wRjE

THE IDIOTS. (Denmark, 1996) 117´ 23/02/ 2012

This week film on at the Tollcross Community centre at 6:15pm - 9:15pm is:

The idiots by Lars von Trier.

Set in present-day Denmark, it begins with a chance encounter between the timid Karen and a group of drop-outs engaged in a strange, informal experiment where they pretend to be mentally disabled. Initially shocked, Karen finds herself compelled to stay and eventually joins them in the experiment. However, as the group's acts of 'idiocy' grow more extreme, and the reality of the outside world becomes more intrusive, the border between liberation and self-destruction begins to blur.



The film is influenced by the realist Dogme 95 movement. This movement was an avant-garde filmmaking movement started in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vow of Chastity". These were rules to create filmmaking based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology.[1] They were later joined by fellow Danish directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, forming the Dogme 95 Collective or the Dogme Brethren. Dogme is the Danish word for dogma.

The genre gained international appeal partly because of its accessibility. It sparked an interest in unknown filmmakers by suggesting that one can make a recognised film of a quality to gain recognition, without being dependent on commissions or huge Hollywood budgets. The directors used European government subsidies and television station funding instead. If you want to know more about Dogme 95 check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_95

The idiots was nominated for Best Film, for instance Cannes or Valladolid, and won the FIPRESCI prize in Lodon Film Festival (1998).

The film provoked a storm of publicity and debates.

"The Idiots suggests that if Danish iconoclast Lars von Trier's filmsare getting tougher, they're also continuing to reward the patient". Kevin Thomas. Los Angeles Times. 14/02/2001.

See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr1vPnJebgk

The proposition (Australia, 2005). 100`. 16/02/2012

Directed by John Hillcoat, the film is set in Outback Australia of the 1880s, the movie follows the turn of events after the horrific rape and murder of a settler family by Charlie and his brothers. Guy Pearce stars as Charlie Burns who is offered a proposition by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), whereby he and his younger brother Mikey can go scot-free of the crime they have committed if Charlie kills his older brother Arthur, an outlaw that Captain Stanley is intent on bringing to justice. If Charlie fails to comply, Mikey will be hanged on Christmas Day. Rural Australia in the late nineteenth century: Capt. Stanley and his men capture two of the four Burns brothers, Charlie and Mike. Their gang is held responsible for attacking the Hopkins farm and and murdering the whole family. Arthur Burns, the eldest brother and the gangs mastermind, remains at large has and has retreated to a mountain hideout. Capt. Stanleys proposition to Charlie is to gain pardon and - more importantly - save his beloved younger brother Mike from the gallows by finding and killing Arthur within nine days.

The film was presented in the Toronto Film Festival (2005) and Sundance Film Festival (2006), its aesthetic has stuned public and press.
"This Australian western, written by the darkly moody musician and author Nick Cave, tells a story of murder in the outback that is as cruel as it is aesthetically flamboyant." Manohla Dargis.  New York Times. 4/05/2006.
"Why do you want to see this movie? Perhaps you don't. Perhaps, like Bloom, it will take you more than one try to face the carnage. But the director John Hillcoat, working from a screenplay by Nick Cave, has made a movie you cannot turn away from; it is so pitiless and uncompromising, so filled with pathos and disregarded innocence, that it is a record of those things we pray to be delivered from." Roger Ebert. Chicago Sun-Times. 19/05/2006.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7V-CW_SUos 

Waltz with Bashir (Israel, 2008). 87´. 09-02-2012

The film is based on the true story of the director Ari Folman, an Israeli army veteran who realises he can´t remember nothing of the 1982 Lebanon War in which he fought, the film charts his journey to uncover the secrets of the past. As he delves deep into the mystery, fragments of memory creep up in surreal images as the truth of what happened begins to unravel.

This movie has been nominated and won a lot of awards, among them the Golden Globe Award for the Best Foreign Language Film. It has also received good reviews.
"The animated documentary Waltz With Bashir is a memoir, a history lesson, a combat picture, a piece of investigative journalism and an altogether amazing film." A.O. Scott. New York Time (29-12-2008).
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylzO9vbEpPg.