Contemporary Europe
Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All about my mother)
Pedro Almodóvar (Spain, 1999)
SALU/DVD/AMM/SF
Language: Spanish.
Subtitles: Chinese, English
A mother in modern-day Madrid loses her son in a tragic accident. She sets out to find his father in Barcelona - who has by now changed identity and gender ...
A single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his 17th birthday as he runs to seek an actress's autograph. She goes to Barcelona to find the lad's father, a transvestite named Lola who does not know he has a child. First she finds her friend, Agrado, also a transvestite; through him she meets Rosa, a young nun bound for El Salvador, and by happenstance, becomes the personal assistant of Huma Rojo, the actress her son admired. She helps Huma manage Nina, the co-star and Huma's lover, and she becomes Rosa's caretaker during a dicey pregnancy. With echoes of Lorca, "All About Eve," and "Streetcar Named Desire," the mothers (and fathers and actors) live out grief, love, and friendship. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185125/plotsummary)
Hable con ella (Talk to her)
Pedro Almodóvar (Spain, 2002)
SALU/DVD/TTH/SF
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, Chinese
The love of two men for a female bullfighter, who now lies in coma in a hospital ...
http://www.clubcultura.com/clubcine/clubcineastas/almodovar/hableconella/sinopsiseng.htm
Mona Lisa
Neil Jordan (UK, 1986)
SALU/DVD/ML/SF
Languages: English, German
George, after getting out of prison, begins looking for a job, but his time in prison has reduced his stature in the criminal underworld. The only job he can find is to be a driver for Simone, a beautiful high-priced call girl, with whom he forms an at first grudging, and then real affection. Only Simone's playing a dangerous game, and when George agrees to help her, they both end up in a huge amount of trouble with Mortwell, the local kingpin. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091538/plotsummary)
My Beautiful Launderette
Stephen Frears (UK, 1986)
SALU/DVD/MBL/SF
Language: English
Omar, is a young restless Asian man caring for his alcoholic father in Thatcherite London. His only escape comes in the form of his uncle's many and varied business ventures. Omar dreams of success so works to achieve it. Along the way he meets up with old school-friend Johnny, who has fallen in with a group of neo-nazis. Omar soon has Johnny working for him and his uncle. Turning the tables on him and forcing Johnny to rely on the very people he has been taught to hate. Johnny is continually followed and watched by his old gang of friends who taunt him a for associating with Omar and his family whilst making almost no effort to better themselves; something which ambitious Omar strives to do. Feelings develop between the two young men and a gay mixed-race romance ensues.
Written by Hanif Kureishi and directed by Stephen Frears, My Beautiful Launderette gives us a perfect slice of Thatcherite Britain. (http://www.intermix.org.uk)
Out of Rosenheim (Bagdad Café)
Percy Adlon (Germany 1987)
SALU/DVD/OOR/SF
Language: German, Bavarian-American
Subtitles: German
104 min
See trailer (YouTube)
a somewhat surreal comedy set in a down-at-heel truck-stop café and motel in the Mojave Desert. An ill-assorted cast of characters are assembled, including a plump German tourist (Sägebrecht as Jasmin) who has left her husband after a row in the middle of the desert, the short-tempered owner of the café (Pounder as Brenda) who has just thrown her husband out, Brenda's two children and grandchild, a strange ex-Hollywood set-painter (Palance), and a glamorous tattoo artist (Kaufmann). Through a passion for cleaning and for magic tricks, Jasmin transforms the café and all the people in it. (Wikipedia)
Rosalie Goes Shopping
Percy Adlon (Germany 1989)
SALU/DVD/RGS/SF
Language: German, English
Subtitles: German
“Rosalie Goes Shopping” is the story of just how far one woman can go on credit. In this satire on American consumerism, Rosalie, the German born matriarch of the Greenspace family, ensures that her large family gets only the very best in life. The Greenspaces have seven children and they all live together in a vast, sprawling ranch-style home in Arkansas. Dad, Ray–otherwise known as Liebling–flies his plane for a seed company. Rosalie ‘handles’ all the finances, and she’s developed her money management style into a fine art. Between juggling bank accounts, bouncing checks, and plying her 37 credit cards, she manages to keep the family afloat and blissfully unaware of her creative financing methods.
The fine balance Rosalie maintains between solvency and debtor’s prison almost comes to a grinding halt when her family’s demands exceed even her ability to defraud local businesses and bankers, but then she gets her hands on a computer, and new horizons beckon. (...) (phoenixcinema)
The Cook the Thief his Wife & her Lover
Peter Greenaway (UK, 1989)
SALU/DVD/CTW/SF
Language: English
The wife of a barbaric crime boss engages in a secretive romance with a gentle bookseller between meals at her husband's restaurant. Food, colour coding, sex, murder, torture and cannibalism are the exotic fare in this beautifully filmed but brutally uncompromising modern fable which has been interpreted as an allegory for Thatcherism. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0097108/plotsummary)
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Aris Kaurismäki (Finnland, 1989)
SALU/DVD/LC/1/SF
Language: English, Finnish
Subtitles: German, French
The Leningrad Cowboys, a group of Finnish musicians, and their manager, travel to America seeking fame and fortune. As they cross the country, trying to get to a wedding in Mexico, they are followed by the village idiot, who wishes to join the band. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097728/plotsummary)
"This is without question one of the greatest rock and roll movies ever made."
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Aris Kaurismäki (Finnland, Germany, France 1994)
SALU/DVD/LC/2/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: German
Sequel to "Leningrad Cowboys Go America
The Crying Game
Neil Jordan (UK / Japan, 1992)
SALU/DVD/CG/SF
Languages: English, German, Spanish, Polish
Subtitles: English, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Croatian, Slovenian
An unlikely kind of friendship develops between Fergus, an Irish Republican Army volunteer, and Jody, a kidnapped British soldier lured into an IRA trap by Jude, another IRA member. When the hostage-taking ends up going horribly wrong, Fergus escapes and heads to London, where he seeks out Jody's lover, a hairdresser named Dil. Fergus adopts the name "Jimmy" and gets a job as a day laborer. He also starts seeing Dil, who knows nothing about Fergus' IRA background. But there are some things about Dil that Fergus doesn't know, either... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104036/plotsummary)
Lisbon Story
Wim Wenders (Germany/Portugal, 1994)
SALU/DVD/LS/SF
Language: German, Portuguese, English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
This movie is, without the question, the most beautiful movie ever written about the city of Lisbon. It shows on the inside, all the old houses and narrow streets that Portuguese people hold so dearly...
The plot is pretty simple: Phillip Winter (Rüdiger Vogler) is a sound ingeneer for a German director who moved to Lisbon, and he receives a letter from his friend to come to Portugal and help him do this movie about the capital, through sound capturing of all the people, small noises, and even feelings that float in the air. Vogler accepts the challenge, and goes on a trip to Lisbon.
In the city, he gets acquainted with a local band, Madredeus (who perform a beautiful soundtrack for Lisbon Story), and some of the local kids... After a few weeks, he realizes he's in love with this town, so full of charm and emotion all over, and the rest I leave for you to see. There is also a bit of romance, between the main actor and Teresa, the lead singer of Madredeus (which is, in fact, a beautiful Portuguese girl).
Wim Wenders, as always, has great directing on this one, showing the places that we never thought that would contain so much beauty as they do. He's a great director, and this is a great picture, in a way of a documentary, but greatly captured.
Strong feelings are expected. Wonderful movie. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110361/usercomments)
See also: Lisbon Story
Beautiful Thing
Hettie McDonald (UK 1996)
90 min
Languages: English /German
Subtitles: German
SALU/DVD/BTH/SF
A tender love story set during a hot summer on a South-East London housing estate. Jamie, a relatively unpopular lad who bunks off school to avoid football, lives next door to Ste, a more popular athletic lad but who is frequently beaten up by his father and older brother. Such an episode of violence brings Jamie and Ste together: Sandra (Jamie's mum) offers refugee to Ste, who has to 'top-and-tail' with Jamie. Hence, the story tells of their growing attraction for one another, from initial lingering glances to their irrefutable love, which so magnificently illustrated at the end of the film. In deals with the tribulations of coming to terms with their sexuality and of others finding out, in light of Sandra's unwavering loyalty and defence of Jamie and the fear of repercussion should Ste's family find out. The plot is set against sub-texts of Sandra's desire to manage her own pub... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115640/)
Trainspotting
Danny Boyle (UK 1996)
SALU/DVD/TSP/SF
Language: English; Thai
Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Bahasa
A wild, freeform, Rabelaisian trip through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the latter affects his relationship with family and friends: Sean Connery wannabe Sick Boy, dimbulb Spud, psycho Begbie, 14-year-old girlfriend Diane, and clean-cut athlete Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/)
East is East
Damien O’Donnell (UK, 1999)
SALU/DVD/EIE/SF
Language: English, German
Subtitles: English, German
92 min
In early 1970s England, a Pakistani father finds the authority he has previously maintained challenged by his increasingly Anglicized children. (imdv)
Pianese Nunzio, 14 anni a maggio (Sacred Silence)
Antonio Capuano (Italy 1996)
SALU/DVD/PN/SF
Language: Italian
Subtitles: German
A young priest crusades against organized crime in his Naples neighbourhood but falls in love with a 13-year old boy. It's the chance the gangsters were waiting for to get rid of the thorn in their side. Will they be able to force the boy to accuse the priest of sexual harassment and have his reputation destroyed? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117336/plotsummary)
Carne trémula (Live Flesh)
Pedro Almodóvar (Spain, 1997)
SALU/DVD/CT/SF
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English
Victor Plaza (Liberto Rabal), a prostitute’s son born in a Madrid bus -- and on the very day in 1970 that Franco cracked down on personal liberties in Spain -- gets in serious trouble as a young man, goes to prison, and emerges while still in his twenties, eager to claim his personal freedom in a newly energized country. Franco is dead, and the reborn Victor -- the hero of Pedro Almodóvar’s Live Flesh -- has a galvanizing effect on everyone he meets. A lover with dark eyes and a small goatee, Victor is neither evil nor violent, but he’s an inexperienced, hungry young man, and things go out of control when he’s around (Rabal has rough edges that his predecessor in such roles, the handsomer, more skilled but more predictable Antonio Banderas, did not have). Live Flesh, the best movie from Almodóvar since that Iberian screwball classic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, turns into a happy joke about passion as destiny, eros as the dominating force in life. Apart from eros, of course, there isn’t much life in Almodóvar -- the world of work and family hardly exists. But this Spanish bad-boy writer-director does the comedy of sexual passion better than anyone else. The entire history of Spanish repression and guilt seems to gather inside the heads of his men and women ... (NYT)
Seven Years in Tibet
Jean Jacques Annaud (Italy 1997)
SALU/DVD/SYT/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Heinrich Harrer is an Austrian mountaineer who is forced to be a hero for the Nazi propaganda. He leaves Austria in 1939 to climb a mountain in the Himalayas. Through a series of circumstances (including POW camp), he and fellow climber Peter Aufschnaiter become the only two foreigners in the Tibetan Holy City of Lhasa. There, Heinrich's life changes forever as he becomes a close confidant to the Dalai Lama (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120102/plotsummary)
Buena Vista Social Club
Wim Wenders (Germany/Cuba 2000)
SALU/DVD/BVSC/DF
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English
A group of legendary Cuban musicians, some as old as their nineties, were brought together by Ry Cooder to record a CD. In this film, we see and hear some of the songs being recorded in Havana. There is also footage from concerts in Amsterdam and New York City's Carnegie Hall. In addition, many of the individual musicians talk about their lives in Cuba and about how they got started in music.(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186508/plotsummary)
Anatomie (Anatomy)
Stefan Ruzowitzky (Germany 2000)
SALU/DVD/ANA/SF
Language: German, English
Subtitles: German, English
Medical student Paula Henning wins a place at an exclusive Heidelberg medical school. When the body of a young man she met on the train turns up on her dissection table, she begins to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, and uncovers a gruesome conspiracy perpetrated by an Antihippocratic secret society operating within the school.(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187696/plotsummary)
Billy Elliott
Stephen Daldry (United Kingdom / France 2000)
SALU/VCD/BE/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Set against the background of the 1984 Miner's Strike, Billy Elliot is an 11 year old boy who stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family's set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes!
1984: In a northern England mining town, miners are on strike and the atmosphere is tense. Eleven-year old Billy Elliot, whose father and brother are participating in the strike, whose mother has died quite some time ago and whose grandmother is not completely aware of what's going on, doesn't like the brutal boxing lessons at school. Instead, he falls for the girls' ballet lessons. When his folks find out about this unusual love of his, Billy is in trouble. Being supported by the ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, he keeps on training secretly while the work situation as well as the problems at home get worse. Finally, Mrs. Wilkinson manages to get Billy an audition for the Royal Ballet School, but now he also has to open his heart to his family.
Against the background of an increasingly bitter miners' strike that his elder brother and father are involved in, young Billy Elliot finds he prefers joining in the girls' ballet class at the local hall to the boxing he's there for. The ballet mistress soon realises he has real potential, but no-one, least of all his family, is likely to go along with a lad doing dancing. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0249462/plotsummary)
I Kina spiser de Hunde / In China essen Sie Hunde (In China They Eat Dogs)
Lasse Spang Olsen (Denmark 1999)
SALU/DVD/CHHU/SF
Languages: German/Danish, English, Serbo-Croatian
Subtitles: German
The action takes place in inner-city Copenhagen, Denmark, and knowing the background culture and language of this location is a very large part of being able to fully appreciate this film.
The story starts out as a relatively normal one about a bank clerk who averts a bank robbery, mostly by chance, is interviewed on national television, yet somehow still manages to bore his girlfriend enough for her to dump him, all in the same day. It then takes a surreal twist as the wife of the now jailed bank robber barges into his apartment and gives him a guilt trip about why he couldn't just have let the bank robber take the money so she could get the expensive operation she needs for them to be able to have a much-wanted baby. The bank clerk is mightily confused by all this, and approaches his criminal brother with ideas of robbing one of the bank's cash-transport vehicles (in a rather special way) and helping the bank robber of of jail in order to reunite them and make things well again.
This is when one discovers the true nature of the film.
The bank clerk's brother is basically a complete psycho with his own very special right/wrong codex (at one point he tells us how in China it is ok to eat dogs, and that it's up to oneself what is right and wrong - hence the title). As things progress, it becomes clear the movie is quite un-serious, and it becomes very easy to just sit back and enjoy the bizarre and often twisted situations that arise.
Two young chain-smoking chefs working for the criminal brother deliver the much-needed comical relief, responding to the brother's orders of dumping yet another corpse out in the Danish marsh with lines like "But.. but we're just cooks"!
It is impossible to really do the movie justice with any form of narration. Much of the action would sound very disturbing if retold, but when seen along with the characters' expressions and in light of the whole movie, including the refreshingly unexpected ending, it is hard to take very seriously.
The dialogue of the movie, reminiscent of classics like Pulp Fiction and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, is what really shines through. As the story unfolds and becomes more and more far-fetched, each line of dialogue becomes a stand-alone punchline in as of itself, leaving most audiences (at least the ones I've been with) roaring with laughter.
Kim Bodnia of "Nattevagten" (1994), "Pusher" (1996) and "Bleeder" (1999) fame delivers yet another stunning performance as the psycho criminal brother who puts his version of family values above anything else in life (including the lives of anybody else in his way) - just like the rivaling gang of ethnic heritage do in the film.
A must-see for anyone with an appreciation for twisted humor, especially if one is in a position to appreciate all the references to the background culture - though probably a bit hard to swallow for some (read: reserved) people. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180748/#comment)
See also: YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm-83UhZHPI (German)
101 Reykjavik
Baltasar Kormakur (Iceland 2000)
SALU/VCD/101R/SF
Language: Icelandic
Subtitles: English, Chinese
A 30 year old man still lives with his mother and spends his days drinking, watching porn and surfing the net. His mothers Spanish flamenco teacher (Victoria Abril-Lola) moves in with them for Christmas. On New Years eve, while his mother is away he finds out Lola is a lesbian, but also ends up having rampart, drunken sex with her. His mother returns only to break the news she is also a lesbian and her and Lola are in love. Lola becomes pregnant with his child and she and his mother plan to bring the baby up together. Failing in his suicide attempt, he matures, gets a job, and lives together with his mother, her lover and their (his) baby boy. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237993/plotsummary)
Lucia y el sexo (Sex and Lucia)
Julio Medem (Spain 2001)
SALU/DVD/SL/SF
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Lucía is a young waitress in a restaurant in the centre of Madrid. After the loss of her long-time boyfriend, a writer, she seeks refuge on a quiet, secluded Mediterranean island. There, bathed in an atmosphere of fresh air and dazzling sun, Lucía begins to discover the dark corners of her past relationship, as if they were forbidden passages of a novel which the author now, from afar, allows her to read. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0254455/plotsummary)
No Man's Land
Danis Tanovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina 2001)
SALU/DVD/NML/SF
Language: Serbo-Croatian, English
Subtitles: English, Chinese
After various skirmishes, two wounded soldiers, one Bosnian and one Serb, confront each other in a trench in the no man's land between their lines. They wait for dark, trading insults and even finding some common ground; sometimes one has the gun, sometimes the other, sometimes both. Things get complicated when another wounded Bosnian comes to, but can't move because a bouncing mine is beneath him. The two men cooperate to wave white flags, their lines call the UN (whose high command tries not to help), an English reporter shows up, a French sergeant shows courage, and the three men in no man's land may or may not find a way to all get along. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283509/plotsummary)
Callas Forever
Franco Zeffirelli (Italy/France/Spain/UK/Romania 2002).
SALU/DVD/CALLF/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
A fictionalized account of the last days of opera singer Maria Callas
The year is 1977, and we find opera legend Maria Callas (Fanny Ardant) in virtual reclusion, haunted by the ghosts of her career. Longtime friend and music promoter Larry Kelly (Jeremy Irons) is in town -Paris- promoting a punk rock band, and decides to call on Callas. She, however, will not see him due to a disastrous Japanese tour set up for her by Kelly, and on which Callas was very disappointed with her performances. But after some rather aggressive persuasion, he gets in to see her. After chatting a bit, Kelly reveals his primary purpose for the visit: a new project for the aging diva. He proposes that she appear in a series of film versions of her greatest opera roles, but her voice would be dubbed from her best previous recordings. Initially resistant, citing her inability to bring anything new and fresh to roles she has played hundreds of times, she finally consents to doing a film version of Bizet's Carmen, as she has never performed that role live on stage, only in recordings. Carmen goes into production, and with the help of Kelly, another longtime friend and journalist Sarah Keller (Joan Plowright), her director and costars, Callas rediscovers the thrill of artistic creation that she thought she had lost, and the love and adoration that millions of fans still have for the diva and her iconic voice. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274407/synopsis)
Heaven
Tom Tykwer (Germany/Italy/Britain 2002).
SALU/DVD/HEA/SF
Language: Italian, English
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Tom Tykwer - the director's name is known international since "Run Lola Run". In old tradition his works' main themes are love relationships ("Der Krieger und die Kaiserin", "Deathly Maria"). Cate Blanchett, a young teacher, wants to prevent her students from drug dealers. As this mission fails she finds herself in a police office, accused for murder. This is where we begin. Fate, that she meets Giovanni Ribisi ("Saving Private Ryan")that day. The introverted young man is torn away from his earlier life, finding out that nothing else in his life is of any importance except her. Both actors are astonishing in their characters: Blanchett embodies a strong young woman whose life crumbles to pieces - in silent moments her despair seems to crawl from the screen into the auditorium... In the beginning Ribisi asks: Why is it not possible to fly higher with a helicopter? Ribisi wears his naivety like an raincoat through the whole movie - because all the things we really want are possible - even for a short time. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246677/usercomments?start=70)
Cate Blanchett ("Elizabeth," "The Talented Mr. Ripley") stars as Philippa, a British teacher living in Turin, Italy, who has seen many friends, including her husband, fall victim to drug overdoses. Philippa has repeatedly contacted the police with information about Turin's biggest drug dealer but, complicit in his dealings, they have completely ignored her. So Philippa decides to dole out her own form of justice with a home-made bomb -- setting her off on a journey that moves through retribution and redemption, innocence and crime, hope and desire as she goes from young widow to fugitive on the run.(http://www.countingdown.com/movies/1275)
Herr Lehmann
Leander Haußmann (Germany 2002).
SALU/DVD/HL/SF
Language: German
Subtitles: English
In October 1989, the part of the West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg called SO 36, had been largely shut off by the Wall from the rest of the city for 28 years. A lethargic sub-culture of students, artists, bohemians and barflys had flourished among crumbling buildings. Part of that microcosm is barkeeper Frank, semi-formally called 'Herr Lehmann' by friends and patrons. He hangs out drinking, sports utter disregard for anything beyond SO 36 and lazily pursues an affair with cook Katrin. His lifestyle is gradually disturbed, when his parents show up for a visit, things go awry with Katrin and his best friend Karl starts to act strange. Meanwhile, political turmoil mounts on the other side of the Wall. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0322545/plotsummary
Good Bye Lenin!
Wolfgang Becker (Germany 2003)
SALU/DVD/GBL/SF
Language: German
Subtitles: English, Chinese
October 1989 was a bad time to fall into a coma if you lived in East Germany - and this is precisely what happens to Alex's mother, an activist for social progress and the improvement of everyday life in socialist East Germany. Alex has a big problem on his hands when she suddenly awakens eight months later. Her heart is so weak that any shock might kill her. And what could be more shocking than the fall of the Berlin Wall and the triumph of capitalism in her beloved country? To save his mother, Alex transforms the family apartment into an island of the past, a kind of socialist museum where his mother is lovingly duped into believing that nothing has changed. What begins as a little white lie gets more and more out of hand as Alex's mother, who feels better every day, wants to watch TV and even leaves her bed one day…
In a wonderful, touching and comic manner, Good Bye, Lenin! tells the story of how a loving son tries to move mountains and create miracles to restore his mother to health - and keep her in the belief that Lenin really did win after all! (German Cinema de)
See also here
Politiki kouzina (A Touch of Spice)
Tassos Boulmetis (Greece 2003)
SALU/DVD/TOS/SF
Language: Greek
Subtitles: English, Chinese
"A Touch of Spice" is a story about a young Greek boy (Fanis) growing up in Istanbul, whose grandfather, a culinary philosopher and mentor,teaches him that both food and life require a little salt to give them flavor; they both require... A Touch of Spice. Fanis grows up to become an excellent cook and uses his cooking skills to spice up the lives of those around him. 35 years later he leaves Athens and travels back to his birthplace of Istanbul to reunite with his grandfather and his first love; he travels back only to realize that he forgot to put a little bit of spice in his own life.(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378897/plotsummary)
Lilya4ever
Lukas Moodysson (Sweden 2002)
SALU/VCD/LF/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Chinese
A Baltic country shortly before the EU enlargement. The film follows a young girl dreaming of a better life in the European West - only to be forced into prostitution in Sweden ... See also:http://www.theblurb.com.au/Issue33/Lilya4ever.htm
The Piano Teacher
Michael Haneke (France/Austria 2002)
SALU/DVD/PT/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Director Michael Haneke forces upon us, in his The Piano Teacher, a lacerating vision of masochism and domination set in the conservative conservatories of Vienna.(http://www.moviemartyr.com/2002/pianoteacher.htm)
See also here: http://www.kino.com/pianoteacher/
Bend It Like Beckham
Gurinder Chadha (United Kingdom / Germany 2002)
SALU/VCD/BILB/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Chinese
A comedy about bending the rules to reach your goal, Bend It Like Beckham explores the world of women's football, from kick-abouts in the park to freekicks in the Final. Set in Hounslow, West London and Hamburg, the film follows two 18 year olds with their hearts set on a future in professional soccer. Heart-stopping talent doesn't seem to be enough when your parents want you to hang up your football boots, find a nice boyfriend and learn to cook the perfect chapatti.
Of East Indian origin of the Sikh faith, the Bhamra family have been settled in Great Britain for several years. They have two daughters, Pinky and Jessminder. While Pinky is in the process of getting married, Jessminder is preparing to play football - which is not acceptable to her parents. But Jessminder knows she is good at the sport, and she does receive considerable encouragement. Her parents are clearly uncomfortable with their daughter running around in shorts, chasing a big ball, instead of being clad in a traditional salwar khameez, and learning to cook East Indian recipes. Jessminder must now decide what's important for her. To make matters worse, a football tournament is arranged on the very day of her sister's marriage. Will Jessminder be able to play, or will her dreams be shattered?(http://imdb.com/title/tt0286499/plotsummary)
Swimming Pool
François Ozon (France/UK 2003)
SALU/DVD/SWI/SF
Language: English/French
Subtitles: Chinese
Sarah Morton is a famous British mystery author. Tired of London and seeking inspiration for her new novel, she accepts an offer from her publisher John Bosload to stay at his home in Luberon, in the South of France. It is the off-season, and Sarah finds that the beautiful country locale and unhurried pace is just the tonic for her--until late one night, when John's indolent and insouciant French daughter Julie unexpectedly arrives. Sarah's prim and steely English reserve is jarred by Julie's reckless, sexually charged lifestyle. Their interactions set off an increasingly unsettling series of events, as Sarah's creative process and a possible real-life murder begin to blend dangerously together. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324133/plotsummary)
Le Temps qui reste (Time to Leave)
François Ozon (France/UK 2005)
SALU/DVD/TTL/SF
Language: French
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Nothing feels rushed in Time to Leave, the second in Ozon's planned trilogy on the subject of mourning. As with part one (Under the Sand), the film has more sincerity and less irony that we might sometimes expect from this director. Romain (Melvil Poupaud), a good looking young fashion photographer with a successful career, a cute boyfriend and seemingly everything to live for, collapses during a shoot. His initial concern that he might have AIDS is obliterated by a diagnosis which reveals untreatable terminal cancer. Faced with the knowledge that he has only a few months to live, he decides to tell no-one except his grandmother, who he chooses to talk to because she herself is close to death. As Romain bears the weight of his knowledge alone, we see him struggle through anger and denial, to reach an acceptance of sorts. To Ozon's credit, Romain is never sanctified or made heroic, and the reconciliations he makes are with himself rather than with others. Time to Leave is an intimate, minimalist and moving work in which Melvil Poupaud excels in the demanding central role, physically diminishing before our eyes. (http://www.lff.org.uk/films_details.php?FilmID=873)
Grande école
Robert Salis (France 2004)
SALU/DVD/GE/SF
Language: French
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Paul and Agnes have been going out for quite a while and Agnes is shocked to learn that he'd rather live with two roommates on campus than move in with her. As soon as he meets one of his roommates, Louis-Anault, Paul's behavior changes - he is attracted to Louis without realizing so himself. Agnes, on the other hand, gets quite jealous and offers a bet: Whoever gets to have Louis-Anault first, wins... If she does, Paul will no longer explore his homosexual desires, if he does - she'll walk away. Meanwhile, Paul meets Mecir, a young Arab worker, who shows him there's more to life than elite colleges... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340137/)
Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)
Walter Salles (Germany/France/Argentina/Chile/Peru 2004)
SALU/DVD/MD/SF
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: "Wandering around our America has changed me more than I thought. I am not me any more. At least I'm not the same me I was." - "What do we leave behind when we cross each frontier? Each moment seems split in two; melancholy for what was left behind and the excitement of entering a new land."
The Motorcycle Diaries is an adaptation of a journal written by Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Bernal) when he was 23 years old. He and his friend, Alberto Granado (de la Serna) are typical college students who, seeking fun and adventure before graduation, decide to travel across Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela in order to do their medical residency at a leper colony. Beginning as a buddy/road movie in which Ernesto and Alberto are looking for chicks, fun and adventure before they must grow up and have a more serious life. As is said in the film itself, it's about "two lives running parallel for a while." The two best friends start off with the same goals and aspirations, but by the time the film is over, it's clear what each man's destiny has become.(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318462/plotsummary)
Gegen die Wand (Head On)
Fatih Akin (Deutschland 2004)
SALU/DVD/GDW/SF
Language: Deutsch
Subtitles: Turkish, Deutsch
Cahit is a German Turk at his late 30's. He has given up with his life after his beloved wife's death, and he's living a miserable life right in the core of cocaine and excessive drinking. One night, he semi-intentionally crashes into a wall, and barely survives. At the hospital he's taken to, he meets a girl, Sibel, another German Turk who's tried to commit suicide. She's sick and tired of her family's ultra-traditional issues, and asks Cahit to carry out a white marriage with her out of the blue, so that she can become a married woman and get rid of her family's revolting pressure. Cahit is turned off by the idea at first, but then he agrees to take part in this plan. As Sibel tells him straightaway that she's interested in absolute freedom involving other men and he agrees, they live as roommates with separate private lives for a while. Then things take a different turn, and they're no longer two indifferent roommates. But their love story won't be anywhere as simple as any other...(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347048/plotsummary)
See also: http://www.gegendiewand.de
Mar adentro (The Sea Inside)
Alejandro Amenábar (Spain 2004)
SALU/DVD/MAR/SF
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Life story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity. Film explores Ramón's relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living. Through the gift of his love, these two women are inspired to accomplish things they never previously thought possible. Despite his wish to die, Ramón taught everyone he encountered the meaning, value and preciousness of life. Though he could not move himself, he had an uncanny ability to move others.(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369702/plotsummary)
Europäische Visionen (Visions of Europe/Visions européennes)
SALU/DVD/EF/DF
Languages: various
Subtitles: various
25 short films by directors from all over Europe (France/Germany 2004)
Am Anfang stand die Idee: 25 Regisseure aus den Ländern der erweiterten EU sollten je einen Kurzfilm drehen und darin einen ganz persönlichen Blick auf das gegenwärtige oder künftige Leben in Europa richten: Europäische Visionen. Die vorliegende DVD vereint die Ergebnisse dieses spannenden und außergewöhnlichen Projekts. Zu sehen sind Kurzfilme von Barbara Albert, Stijn Coninx, Christos Georgiou, Sasa Gedeon, Christoffer Boe, Arvo Iho, Aki Kaurismäki, Tony Gatlif, Fatih Akin, Constantine Giannaris, Theo van Gogh, Béla Tarr, Aisling Walsh, Francesca Comencini, Laila Pakalnina, Sharunas Bartas, Andy Bausch, Kenneth Scicluna, Malgorzata Szumowska, Teresa Villaverde, Martin Sulik, Damjan Kozole, Miguel Hermoso, Jan Troell und Peter Greenaway. (arte)
El Crimen Ferpecto (The Ferpect Crime)
Alex De La Iglesia (Spain 2004)
SALU/DVD/FC/SF
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, Chinese
El Crimen Ferpecto is absurdly funny from beginning to end. Rafael Gonzalez (played by a man who looks like the Spanish Dennis Miller) is a fearless lady's man from the moment he pops on screen and reveals his philosophy on life – he goes for what he wants, and he only wants the best. That's why he doesn't mind working at an upscale department store. He's constantly surrounded by perfect things and beautiful co-workers. His perfect world comes crashing down, however, when Rafael and his boss get into a brutal fight that leaves a clothes hanger in Rafael's throat and a coat hook in the back of his boss's neck. His ugly, sex-starved, co-worker Lourdes helps him dispose of the body and cover-up the murder, and then blackmails him for all the sex, love, and affection he can give. Just when you think Rafael's life can't get any worse, it does, and every new punishment Lourdes inflicts on him is better than the one before. Pure entertainment. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395125/)
Munich
Stephen Spielberg (USA 2005)
SALU/VCD/MUN/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Set after the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Steven Spielberg's film, Munich, follows a secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and kill the 11 Palestinians suspected of having planned the attack. Critic Kenneth Turan says Spielberg's film is about the "murkiest, most divisive of real world issues." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5067266)
Crossing the Bridge – The Sounds of Istanbul
Fatih Akin (Germany 2005)
SALU/DVD/CTB/SF
Language: Deutsch, Turkish
In his new film "Crossing the Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul," Turkish-German director Fatih Akin embarks on a musical search for traditions. The result is a glowing homage to Istanbul's vibrant, diverse and inspiring music scene. (http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-194/_p-1/i.html)
This is a wonderful music film you can enjoy even without having mastered German or Turkish.
Volver
Pedro Almodóvar (Spain, 2006)
SALU/DVD/VOL/SF
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Three generations of women survive the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition and even death by means of goodness, lies and boundless vitality.
They are Raimunda (Pénelope Cruz), who is married to an unemployed labourer and has a teenage daughter (Yohana Cobo); Sole (Lola Dueñas), her sister, who makes a living as a hairdresser; and the mother of both (Carmen Maura), who died in a fire along with her husband. This character appears first to her sister (Chus Lampreave) and then to Sole, although the people with whom she has some unresolved matters are Raimunda and her neighbour in the village, Agustina (Blanca Portillo).
Volver is not a surrealistic comedy although it may seem so at times. The living and the dead coexist without any discord, causing situations that are either hilarious or filled with a deep, genuine emotion. It's a film about the culture of death in my native La Mancha. The people there practice it with an admirable naturalness. The way in which the dead continue to be present in their lives, the richness and humanity of their rites mean that the dead never die.
Volver destroys all the clichés about "black" Spain and offers a Spain that is as real as it is the opposite. A Spain that is white, spontaneous, funny, intrepid, supportive and fair.(http://www.sonyclassics.com/volver/main.html)
See also: http://www.sonyclassics.com/volver/
The Constant Gardener
Fernando Meirelles (UK/Germany 2005)
SALU/DVD/CG/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: Chinese
A man discovers a deadly secret when he tries to find out who killed the woman he loves in this suspense drama based on a novel by John_Le_Carré. Justin Quale (Ralph_Fiennes) is a low-level British diplomat who has been given a new assignment in Kenya. Justin's wife, Tessa (Rachel_Weisz), is an activist with a keen interest in issues of poverty and social justice; Justin urges her to avoid getting too deeply involved in the people living in Kenya, who are constantly dogged by poverty, but she shows little interest in obeying these instructions. This isn't the only area where Tessa has disregarded her husband, who suspects that she may have had an affair - for she started spending time with a handsome doctor once they settled in Kenya. One day, Tessa disappears, and is found brutally murdered; officials believe that she was murdered by the doctor after some sort of argument. However, before long Justin becomes convinced that there was a larger scheme that led to Tessa's death, and he begins digging into areas where he's not especially welcome, given his reputation as a man willing to let the wealthy and powerful do as they will. (Starpulse)
Moartea domnului Lazarescu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu)
Cristi Puiu (Romania 2005)
SALU/DVD/DMRL/SF
Languages: RomanianSubtitles: English
Take another glance at the title of this Romanian film and you have its story, climax and all: Mr Lazarescu will die. We know this from the start, which means that we can concentrate fully on directorCristi Puiu’s real purpose, which is to show, almost in actual time over one night in Bucharest, the indignity, sadness and sheer mundanity with which an unexceptional, lonely 62-year-old man can leave this earth within hours of reporting a suspicious headache to the emergency services. The terrible, meditative power of Puiu’s film is that while we, the viewer, are all-knowing from the off, Mr Lazarescu himself knows nothing of his impending fate. He dies, delirious and muttering about his family, headaches and painkillers, in the company not even of strangers but alone on a hospital trolley, naked and his head shaved ready for surgery. No hails of bullets, weepy farewells, hysterical resuscitation efforts or soppy flashbacks for Puiu; this is death as cinema rarely does it – credibly. (time out)
Trailer (YouTube)
Caché (Hidden)
Michael Haneke (France 2005)
SALU/DVD/CA/SF
Languages: French, German
Subtitles: German
A stiletto-stab of fear is what Michael Haneke's icily brilliant new film delivers - not scary-movie pseudo-fear, but real fear: intimately horrible, scalp-prickling fear. It is a stalker-nightmare with a shiver of the uncanny and a double-meaning in the title: hidden cameras and hidden guilt. A famous Parisian TV presenter receives menacing, mysterious "surveillance videos" at his home, showing scenes from his private life. How on earth has the stalker filmed these? There is no dramatic musical score, none of the traditional shocks or excitements, just an IV-drip-drip-drip of disquiet leading finally to a convulsion of horror. (guardian)
Sechs Wochen Angst (Six Weeks of Fear)
Hansjörg Thurn (Germany 2006)
SALU/DVD/SWA/SF
Language: German
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Sascha met Julia months ago, and immediately knew she was the woman for him.
Julia flies to Turkey for a week to attend a conference. When Sascha goes to the airport to pick her up he discovers that she was never on the returning flight. Instead, he is told that she died in a diving accident in the Mediterranean. Sascha, shocked, is soon plunged into the depths of despair.
Until he sees her again - on television! In Iraq, an unknown group has seized several Europeans and is holding them hostage. Sascha is convinced that the one woman among the hostages is Julia. In Berlin, Sascha does everything possible to help his newfound love. The involves his researching her past, which - he slowly realizes - she had been concealing from him...(http://www.hmv.com.hk/product/dvd.asp?sku=714354)
Lights of the Dusk (Lichter der Vorstadt)
Ari Kaurismäki (Finland 2006)
SALU/DVD/LV/SF
Language: German, English
In Helsinki, a lonely night watchman is caught up in a series of misadventures with a femme fatale and a crooked businessman.
Koistenin is a sad sack, a man without affect or friends. He's a
night-watchman in Helsinki with ideas of starting his own business, but
nothing to go with those intentions. He sometimes talks a bit with a
woman who runs a snack trailer near his work. Out of the blue, a young
sophisticated blonde woman attaches herself to Koistenin. He thinks of
her as his girlfriend, he takes her on her rounds. She's in league with a
crook who's planning a jewel robbery, and Koistenin is their patsy.
Will he ever wise up? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458242/)
Das Parfüm - Die Geschichte eines Mörderers (Perfume - The Story of a Murderer)
Tom Tykwer (Germany 2006)
SALU/DVD/PAR/SF
Language: German, English
Subtitles: German
Das Parfüm by Patrick Süßkind has been one of the most successful German novels since 1945.
Perfume is set in the colourful backdrop of 18th century France centering on the life of an unfortunate boy, Jean Baptiste, born in the slums of a Paris fish market. Left for dead amongst rotting fish guts, he inhales the plethora of scents around him. He is rescued by some passers by and is subsequently placed in an orphanage. He is an odd child and a social outcast. Possibly as a result of his traumatic birth, he is blessed with outstanding olfactory senses: from early childhood he displays an uncanny ability for discerning the individual smells of everything around him. The twists and turns of his early life are one continuous tragic story. His quest is to learn the art of perfume making and, once taught, Jean Baptise desires to make the ultimate perfume. His skilfully crafted perfumes have the ability to provoke unexpected reactions in both the wearer and the recipient. During his apprenticeship, he discovers he has no personal smell and is initially devastated. On his journey to create olfactory perfection, he seeks alternative ingredients to his perfumes and, in doing so, leaves a grisly trail... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396171/synopsis)
See also: european-films.net
The Queen
Stephen Frears (UK 2006)
SALU/DVD/QUE/SF
Language: German, English
Subtitles: German
Diana the 'People's Princess' has died in a car accident in Paris. The Queen (Mirren) and her family decide that for the best, they should remain hidden behind the closed doors of Balmoral Castle. The heartbroken public do not understand and request that the Queen confronts her people. This also puts pressure on newly elected Tony Blair (Sheen), who constantly tries to convince the monarchy to address the public.
The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436697/plotsummary)
Notes on a Scandal
Richard Eyre (UK 2006)
SALU/DVD/NSC/SF
Languages: English, Thai
Subtitles: Chinese, Thai and others
If you want to see explosive acting, just watch Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett ignite in this film version of Zoe Heller's 2003 novel. Director Richard Eyre (Iris) basically puts Patrick Marber's juicy script in front of these two queens and lets them dig in. Here's what you should know: Blanchett plays Sheba Hart, a new art teacher at London's St. George School. Beautiful and upper-class, Sheba has an older husband (the ever-amazing Bill Nighy) and a son with Down syndrome. She is also having it on with Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson), one of her fifteen-year-old students. It's Sheba's bad luck that she's caught by Barbara Covett (Dench), a lesbian teacher who agrees not to make a scandal if Sheba will become her friend. (Rolling Stone)
Fados
Carlos Saura (Portugal/Spain 2007)
SALU/DVD/FADO/SF
Languages: Portuguese, Spanish
Subtitles: English
Fado is a type of traditional Portuguese music, still popular in its original mode as well as updated forms. In its combination of nostalgia, regret, romanticism, and sensuousness it occupies a similar place in Portuguese culture as flamenco does in Spain. Like flamenco, it echoes with lost times and lost loves. But fado is sweeter, more rounded, the accents less jabbing. Its exotic element comes from Africa and Brazil, rather than North Africa as in flamenco.
But fado is little known outside its own country (I italicize fado because, unlike flamenco, it has not entered the English language -- MS Word puts it on that platform of faint red dots that means, "Typo alert").
The director Carlos Saura has made a beautiful film featuring fado performers that could be a revelation to many who are unfamiliar with the art form. Indeed, although I have several prized CDs of fadosinging, it quite expanded my appreciation. (reflight)
The Da Vinci Code
Ron Howard (USA 2006)
SALU/DVD/DVC/SF
Languages: English, Thai
Subtitles: Chinese, English, Korean, Thai
The story tells the investigation started by symbolist Robert Langdon and a good-looking cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, around the murder of a Museum Louvre's curator. In fact, the unfortunate murdered man was Sophie's grandfather, and the corpse was found with a series of symbols and codes, like a pentagram and a Fibonacci number sequence. But police detective Fache will begin to chase Langdon, who escapes after receiving a warning about the captain's real intentions. Sophie has with her a kind of key with dots and number 24 engraved on it, which opens to her and Langdon a big complex investigation that involves a supposedly heretic theory: Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were, in fact, a couple who produced a daughter named Sara. A millenarian sect called The Priory of Sion has kept for centuries the secret of that matter. A masochist and kind of psychopath albino monk, Sibilas, an Opus Dei member, will chase Langdon and Sophie as well, in order to impede that they solve the mystery of Christ and Mary Magdalene, and also the real meaning and location of the Holy Grail. A passionate British researcher, will help Langdon in his quest, revealing to them several symbolisms in Da Vinci's master work The Last Supper, traveling to mythical places in the UK, such as The Church Temple, where it is believed that a group of Templars Knights are buried, and Sir Isaac Newton's tomb at Westminster Abbey, where are located some of the main keys to solve the Holy Grail's mystery. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382625/plotsummary)
Angels & Demons
Ron Howard (USA 2009)
SALU/DVD/AD/SF
Languages: English, Thai
Subtitles: Chinese, English, Korean, Thai
After the death of the Pope, the conclave has gathered in a locked room to choose his successor among four cardinals named "preferitti". However the quartet is abducted by the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood that was supposed extinct. The symbologist, Robert Langdon, and the scientist, Vittoria Vetra, who had her powerful and dangerous prototype of antimatter research stolen, are invited by the Vatican police to help them in their investigation. They are received by the receptive Camerlengo, Patrick McKenna, and by the reluctant Commander Richter. They are informed that the Illuminati have promised to kill each cardinal every hour from 8:00 PM and then explode the Vatican City with the antimatter. Robert and Vittoria have a few hours to unravel the clues and discover where the lethal weapon might be hidden. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808151/plotsummary)
Czlowiek, który zostal papiezem / Karol, un uomo diventato Papa
(Karol: A Man Who Became Pope)
Giacomo Battiato (Poland/Italy 2005)
SALU/DVD/KAR/SF
Language: English, Spanish, Polish, Italian
Subtitles: English
The life of the pope John-Paul II, from his youth as a writer, actor, and athlete in war-torn occupied Poland to his election as Pope at the age of 58. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435100/)
Persepolis
Vincent Paronnaud / Mariane Satrapi (France 2007)
SALU/DVD/PERS/SF
Languages: French, English
Subtitles: Chinese, English, French
Marjane is precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl who was nine years old during the Islamic Revolution when the fundamentalists first take power--forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. She cleverly outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden, while living with the terror of government persecution and the Iran/Iraq war. Then Marjane's journey moves on to Austria where, as a teenager, her parents send her to school in fear for her safety and, she has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Marjane eventually gains acceptance in Europe, but finds herself alone and horribly homesick, and returns to Iran to be with her family, although it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past. (rottentomatoes)
Gomorrah
Matteo Garrone (Italy 2008)
SALU/DVD/GOM/SF
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English
"Gomorra" is a contemporary Neapolitan mob drama that exposes Italy's criminal underbelly by telling five stories of individuals who think they can make their own compact with Camorra, the area's Mafia. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929425/)
The Last Enemy
Ian B. MacDonald (UK, 2008)
SALU/DVD/LE/1-2/SF
TV Miniseries (309 MIN)
English (only)
Researcher Dr. Stephen Ezard returns home to the UK after the reported death of his brother, Michael Ezard, only to find that his widow, Yasim Anwar, is harboring a wanted yet deathly ill illegal immigrant. Yasim, on the rebound from her husband's death, becomes very intimate with Stephen. But after the death of Yasim's immigrant friend, she disappears with the body, leaving more questions than answers. Stephen is then hired as a consultant and promoter of a new computer system, T.I.A. (Total Information Awareness). Using his expert computer skills, he secretly tracks down Yasim, unaware that he is a pawn in a government conspiracy. (Imdb)
In Bruges
Martin McDonagh (UK 2008)
SALU/DVD/IBR/SF
Languages: English, German
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Holed up in Bruges, Belgium after a difficult job, two hit men begin to differ on their views of life and death as they become used to local customs.
London based hit men Ray and Ken are told by their boss Harry Waters to lay low in Bruges, Belgium for up to two weeks following their latest hit, which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander. Harry will be in touch with further instructions. While they wait for Harry's call, Ken, following Harry's advice, takes in the sights of the medieval city with great appreciation. But the charms of Bruges are lost on the simpler Ray, who is already despondent over the innocent death, especially as it was his first job. Things change for Ray when he meets Chloe, part of a film crew shooting a movie starring an American dwarf named Jimmy. When Harry's instructions arrive, Ken, for who the job is directed, isn't sure if he can carry out the new job, especially as he has gained a new appreciation of life from his stay in the fairytale Bruges. While Ken waits for the inevitable arrival into Bruges of an angry Harry... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/)
Allt flyter (Männer im Wasser / The Swimsuit Issue)
Mans Herngren (Sweden 2008)
Languages: German, Swedish
Subtitles: German
Trailer (German) / Trailer (English)
Inspired by such pick-yourself-up Britcoms as The Full Monty and Calendar Girls, this cute comedy deftly mixes slapstick with insights on such issues as gender rivalry, homophobia, and the unfashionability of middle-aged men. Unemployed, divorced, and estranged from his daughter, Frederik (Jonas Inde) is stuck in Loserville when a botched prank gives him the idea to mold his motley buddies into Sweden's only all-male synchronized-swimming team, with the World Cup finals in Berlin as the seemingly unattainable goal. (Tribecafilm)
Siehe auch: Männer im Wasser – Der Film
Improvvisamento l'inverno scorso (Suddenly, Last Winter)
Gustav Hofer / Luca Ragazzi (Italy 2008)
SALU/DVD/SLW/SF
Language: English, Italian
In 2006, a general election in Italy gave a slim majority to a center-left coalition that promised legislation to provide civil unions and other rights to gay couples. In 2007, the government proposed a piece of moderate legislation, "diritti di coppie conviventi" (rights for cohabiting couples) or DICOs; it's quickly clear they face tough sledding in the Senate. Luca Ragazzi and Gustav Hofer, a couple for eight years, with camera in hand, follow the Senate proceedings weekly, seek interviews with politicians, attend anti-DICO rallies, and ask questions of persons in the street. The focus includes the meaning of family and Italy's implicit union of church and state.(imdb)
Io sono l'amore (I am Love)
Luca Guadagnino (Italy 2009)
SALU/DVD/IL/SF
Languages: Italian
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Over two decades ago, Emma left Russia to follow Tancredi Recchi, the man who had proposed to her. Now a member of a powerful industrial Milanese family, she is the respected mother of three. But Emma, although not unhappy, feels confusedly unfulfilled. One day Antonio, a talented chef and her son's friend and partner, makes her senses kindle. It does not take long before she embarks on a passionate affair with the sensuous young man. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226236/)
Der Patriarch (The Patriarch)
Carlo Rola (Germany 2010)
SALU/DVD/PAT/SF
Language: German
Subtitles: English, Chinese
TV Miniseries (3 parts)
Vandenberg Coffee, run by Gero Vandenberg, is a huge and successful family empire. The company maintains roasting facilities and coffee plantations throughout the world. However, any appearances of a blissful, contented and fabulously wealthy family are an illusion.
Gero’s second wife Nina is an admitted alcoholic. Her drinking not only threatens to destroy their marriage, it is also damaging the relationships she has with her daughter Finja and her son Nils. In the midst of Nina’s attempts to get a handle on her alcohol problem, her husband tragically dies in a plane crash. In the plane’s wreckage, a huge and suspicious cache of money is discovered. Now Nina must pull herself together and take charge of the business. Having always remained in the background, she isn’t at all familiar with its day-to-day operation and feels ill at ease in her new role. To make matters worse, the authorities now suspect Nina Vandenberg of being involved in the movement of illicit funds, compelling her to flee to Africa with her daughter Finja to prove her innocence.Once at the Vandenberg’s plantations in Kenya, Nina begins a nerve-racking search for the money that is now so necessary for the company’s survival. Nina is convinced that only within Kenya could the money have been moved, over the years, between secret accounts. She thinks back to the massive scale on which the plantations were sold years ago, wondering if there’s a connection.(http://www.sevenoneinternational.com/fiction/events_unlimited/drama/patriarch.php)
Il Divo
Paolo Sorrentino (Italy/France 2008)
SALU/DVD/DIVO/SF
Languages: Italian
Subtitles: English
Il divo is an Italian film directed in 2008 by Paolo Sorrentino. It is a biopic based on the figure of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.
The story of Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who has been appointed Prime Minister, by the President of the Republic, seven times since 1946. The narration spans the period since the seventh election of Andreotti as Prime Minister of Italy in 1992, the failed bid of presidency of the Italian Republic, Tangentopoli (which he managed to escape), until the trial in which he was accused of collusion with the Mafia. (wikipedia)
The Last Enemy
Ian B MacDonald (UK, 2008)
TV Mini-Series (5 parts)
SALU/DVD/LE/1-2/SF
Language: English (no subtitles)
Researcher Dr. Stephen Ezard returns home to the UK after the reported death of his brother, Michael Ezard, only to find that his widow, Yasim Anwar, is harboring a wanted yet deathly ill illegal immigrant. Yasim, on the rebound from her husband's death, becomes very intimate with Stephen. But after the death of Yasim's immigrant friend, she disappears with the body, leaving more questions than answers. Stephen is then hired as a consultant and promoter of a new computer system, T.I.A. (Total Information Awareness). Using his expert computer skills, he secretly tracks down Yasim, unaware that he is a pawn in a government conspiracy. (imdb)
Lourdes
Jessica Hausner (Austria/France/Germany 2009)
SALU/DVD/LOUR/SF
Languages: French, German
Subtitles: English
A woman searching for a miracle seemingly finds one -- but what comes next? Christine (Sylvie Testud) has spent most of her life confined to a wheelchair, unable to use her arms and legs, and while she has a keen mind and the means to seek treatment, she looks for a solution to her condition in faith as well as medical science. Christine has made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the village in Southwestern France where a celebrated miracle is said to have occurred, and she checks into an upscale clinic where a young nurse named Maria (LÃ (C)a Seydoux) is assigned to look after her. Christine imagines that she and Maria are becoming fast friends, but the nurse prefers to spend her time with her co-workers rather than her patients, and she often flirts with Kuno (Bruno Todeschini), a handsome man who also works at the clinic. Christine finds herself having several conversations with Mme. Hartl (Gilette Barbier), who has a powerful belief in the healing powers of the waters of Lourdes, and after several days of treatment, Christine is amazed to find that she's regained the full use of her arms and legs. But once she's experienced the miracle she hoped for, Christine's interest is less in thanking the Lord and more in pursuing Kuno. (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lourdes/)
Trailer (French)
A Single Man
Tom Ford (USA 2009)
SALU/DVD/SM/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Chinese
It's November 30, 1962. Native Brit George Falconer, an English professor at a Los Angeles area college, is finding it difficult to cope with life. Jim, his personal partner of sixteen years, died in a car accident eight months earlier when he was visiting with family. Jim's family were not going to tell George of the death or accident let alone allow him to attend the funeral. This day, George has decided to get his affairs in order before he will commit suicide that evening. As he routinely and fastidiously prepares for the suicide and post suicide, George reminisces about his life with Jim. But George spends this day with various people, who see a man sadder than usual and who affect his own thoughts about what he is going to do. Those people include Carlos, a Spanish immigrant/aspiring actor/gigolo recently arrived in Los Angeles; Charley, his best friend who he knew from England... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1315981/)
3 Idiots
Rajkumar Hirani (India 2009)
SALU/DVD/3ID/SF
Language: Hindi
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Not European but Highly Recommended
Two friends are searching for their long lost companion. They revisit their college days and recall the memories of their friend who inspired them to think differently, even as the rest of the world called them "idiots". (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187043/)
The Infidel (Alles koscher!)
Josh Appignanesi (UK 2010)
SALU/DVD/INF/SF
Languages: English, German
Subtitles: German
An identity crisis comedy centred on Mahmud Nasir, successful business owner, and salt of the earth East End Muslim who discovers that he's adopted - and Jewish. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424003/)
Four Lions
Chris Morris (UK 2010)
SALU/DVD/FL/SF
97 min
Language: German, English
Subtitles: German, English
Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce. In a storm of razor-sharp verbal jousting and large-scale set pieces, Four Lions is a comic tour de force; it shows that-while terrorism is about ideology-it can also be about idiots. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1341167/)
Rien à declarer (Nichts zu verzollen / Nothing to Declare)
Dany Boon (France 2010)
SALU/DVD/RD/SF
104 min
Languages: French, German
Subtitles: French, German
On 1 January 1993, two customs officers, one Belgian and the other French, learn of the future closure of their small customs post situated between Courquain in France and Koorkin in Belgium.
Both a hereditary francophobe and an over-zealous Belgian customs officer, Ruben Vandevoorde is forced to join the first Franco-Belgian mobile squad. The first French volunteer for the squad is Mathias Ducatel, Vandervoorde's personal bete noire. Ducatel also has the misfortune to have fallen in love with Vandervoorde's sister Louise, who is afraid to show her feelings towards him because of the trouble she knows it will cause within her family. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_to_Declare_(film)
Home for Christmas
Bent Hamer (Norway/Sweden/Germany 2010)
SALU/DVD/HFC/SF
96 min
Language: Deutsch
Following a prologue set in war-torn former Yugoslavia, the film follows several different Christmas celebrations in the small Norwegian town of Skogli. Paul is a thirty-three-year-old laborer who marches into his doctor's office demanding a prescription, then proceeds to lay bare all his woes. The doctor is beleaguered by his own marital and financial difficulties (he's left his upset wife to work emergency calls on Christmas Eve). There's also an elderly man preparing an esoteric ritual, a vagrant who runs into an old flame, a middle-aged couple in the throes of passion, a boy hopelessly in love with his Muslim neighbor and a young émigré couple whose car breaks down as the woman goes into labor. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1722515/)
Obcan Havel (Citizen Havel)
Miroslav Janek/ Pavel Koutecký (Czech Republic 2008)
SALU/DVD/OH/DF
119 min
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English
A documentary revealing former Czech president Vaclav Havel's private moments and backroom dealings.
A fascinating cinema verite-style portrait: Vaclav Havel confirms his status as one of the most likable men to ever win office in this intriguing film, made over nearly a decade. It's a measure of the man that he's prepared to be so open (joking about his hopes to lose the election, complaining about American food) and shows the contrast with most of today's micro-managed spin-friendly gravy train riders. Many of his meetings take place in smoke and alcohol filled rooms, further marking him as a politician of the old school. The action centres not so much on political decision making (the president is largely a ceremonial position) but more the niceties of diplomacy, both foreign and working with a prime minister he despised. There are plenty of laughs to be had as well as poignant episodes such as the death of his first wife, which is sensitively handled. One of the most illuminating political films of the 21st century. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0843329/)
Odchazeni (Leaving)
Vaclav Havel (Czech Republic 2011)
SALU/DVD/ODCH/SF
91 min
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English
An absurdist look at the life of an ex-politician.
A bitter sweet comedy that follows a highly appointed Chancellor who set to step down from his position after years of service to his country. With just two last days left to enjoy his palatial villa before he is finally evicted, his situation gradually goes from bad to worse. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1464251/)
Le Havre
Aki Kaurismäki (Finland/France/Germany 2011)
SALU/DVD/LH/SF
94 min
Languages: French, German
Subtitles: German
In this warmhearted portrait of the French harbor city that gives the film its name, fate throws young African refugee Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a well-spoken bohemian who works as a shoeshiner. With innate optimism and the unwavering support of his community, Marcel stands up to officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. A political fairy tale that exists somewhere between the reality of contemporary France and the classic cinema of Jean-Pierre Melville and Marcel Carné, Le Havre is a charming, deadpan delight. (http://www.janusfilms.com/lehavre/synopsis.html)
See also: http://www.janusfilms.com/lehavre/
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
John Madden (UK 2012)
SALU/DVD/EXMH/SF
119 min
Languages: English, French, German, Spanish
Subtitles: French, German, Spanish, Turkish
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel follows a group of British retirees who decide to "outsource" their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. Enticed by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and bolstered with visions of a life of leisure, they arrive to find the palace a shell of its former self. Though the new environment is less luxurious than imagined, they are forever transformed by their shared experiences, discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past. (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_best_exotic_marigold_hotel_2012/)
Et si on vivait tous ensemble? (Und wenn wir alle zusammenziehen?)
Stéphane Robelin (France/Germany 2011)
SALU/DVD/UWZZ/SF
100 min
Languages: French, German
Subtitles: German
Annie, Jean, Claude, Albert and Jeanne have been friends for over forty years. But they are growing old and old age tends to be synonymous with reduced autonomy, loss of memory, illness, retirement home and, worst of all, separation. One day, one of the five friends suggests to say no to isolation and loneliness: what if they lived together? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1674057/)
UFO in Her Eyes
Guo Xialolu (Germany 2011)
SALU/DVD/UFO/SF
110 min
Languages: Chinese, Deutsch/English
Subtitles: Deutsch, English
A mysterious Chinese peasant woman one day claims she has seen a UFO, from that day the world turns to upside down. The film is a metaphoric political satire on post-Mao era China. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1632728/)
Intouchables (The Intouchables)
Oliver Nakache / Eric Toledano (France 2011)
SALU/DVD/INT/SF
112 min
Language: French
Subtitles: English, Chinese
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caretaker. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/)
Amour (Liebe)
Michael Haneke (France/Germany/Austria 2012)
SALU/DVD/LIE/SF
Language: German, French
Subtitles: German
Georges and Anne are a couple of retired music teachers enjoying life in their eighties. However, Anne suddenly has a stroke at breakfast and their lives are never the same. That incident begins Anne's harrowingly steep physical and mental decline as Georges attempts to care for her at home as she wishes. Even as the fruits of their lives and career remain bright, the couple's hopes for some dignity prove a dispiriting struggle even as their daughter enters the conflict. In the end, George, with his love fighting against his own weariness and diminished future on top of Anne's, is driven to make some critical decisions for them both. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1602620/)
Habemus Papam (We have a Pope)
Nanni Moretti (Italy 2011)
SALU/DVD/HP/SF
101 min
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English
At the Vatican, following the demise of the Pope, the conclave to elect his successor settles on Cardinal Melville. But the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square wait in vain for the new Pope to step out on the balcony. What is going on? Behind the thick walls of the Vatican panic has set in. After uttering a terrible howl of fear, the Cardinal refuses the office. The officials do everything to try to reason with Melville, including a psychoanalyst, appointed by the Vatican... Do we really have a Pope? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1456472/)
Reality
Matteo Garrone (Italy 2012)
SALU/DVD/REAL/SF
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, French
Luciano is a charming fishmonger whose unexpected and sudden obsession with being a contestant on a reality show leads him down a rabbit hole of skewed perceptions and paranoia. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1846487/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_2)
Chatroom
Hideo Nakata (UK 2010)
SALU/DVD/CHAT/SF
Language: German, English
Subtitles: German
When jaded teens Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online, they're seduced by his charisma. But William isn't what he seems. He's calculating and manipulative and doesn't have time for people in the real world. Jim is vulnerable and he has no idea how dangerous his new friendship with William will be. When Jim confesses he's on anti-depressants, William knows he's found a victim. He vows to help Jim off his drugs, and the rest of the group fall in line. What begins as friendly advice to help Jim becomes twisted and Eva and Mo realise the deadly game William's playing, but the wheels are in motion. Jim is set on a path of self- destruction, and is going to do the unthinkable. As Eva, Emily and Mo try to save Jim, William begins a terrifying game of cat and mouse chasing them across the internet, shutting down their systems, and cutting them off from his victim. Fantasy meets reality when William and Jim are face to face in rush hour on the underground. Without the faceless security of the online world, everything becomes real. It's now a race against time to save Jim, but the clock is ticking... and we fear someone must die. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1319704/synopsis?ref_=tt_stry_pl
Suicide Room
Jan Komasa (Poland 2011)
SALU/DVD/SR/SF
Language: Polish
Subtitles: English
Dominik is an above-average high school boy. He's got loads of friends, the hottest girl in school, rich parents and money to spend on brand-name clothes, but one innocent orgasm with a mate changes everything. Humiliated, he begins to isolate himself from the outside world. Spending all his time on his computer, he meets an anonymous girl who introduces him to the "suicide room", a place from which there is no escape. Caught in a trap woven of his own emotions, Dominik becomes entangled in a web of intrigue and gradually loses what he cherishes most. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1808454/)
Trailer
Interview with Director
Nicostratos le pélican / Ein griechischer Sommer
Olivier Horlait (France 2012)
SALU/DVD/GS/SF
Languages: German, French
Subtitles: German
Yannis a 14 ans et vit sur une petite île grecque qui a su demeurer sauvage. Depuis la mort de sa mère, la relation qui l’unit avec son père, Démosthène, s’est durcie. Lors d’un voyage à Athènes, il sauve d’une mort probable un jeune pélican du nom de Nicostratos. Contraint de l’élever en cachette pour soustraire à la colère paternelle, Yannis devient bien malgré lui une vedette dans son île qui se trouve transformée par le tourisme grâce à ce magnifique pélican blanc, le plus grand oiseau d’Europe ! C’est un été unique, celui dont on se souvient tout le reste de sa vie. Yannis y découvrira l’amour que son père lui porte et qu’il n’avait jamais su lui témoigner.
Nach dem Tod der Mutter lebt der vierzehnjährige Yannis (Thibault Le Guellec) mit seinem Vater allein und in ärmlichen Verhältnissen auf einer kleinen griechischen Insel. Das Verhältnis zum Vater ist schlecht. Dieser ist oft fordernd und jähzornig. Das bereits angespannte Verhältnis wird auf die Probe gestellt, als Yannis einem Pelikan das Leben rettet und ihn mit nach Hause bringt. Aus Angst vor dem Vater versteckt er den Pelikan zunächst in seinem Zimmer. Er gibt ihm den Namen Nicostratos. Es ist der Beginn einer wunderbaren Freundschaft. Doch mit der Zeit wird Nicostratos immer größer und damit schwerer zu verstecken. Im Sommer lernt Yannis dann auch die siebzehnjährige Angéliki (Jade-Rose Parker) kennen, von deren Leichtfüßigkeit er sofort eingenommen ist und die ihm neue Lebenswege aufzeigt. Die Erfahrungen, die der Junge in diesem Sommer macht, werden viel verändern. Es wird der bedeutendste Sommer in Yannis' Leben. (allocine)
Quartet
Dustin Hofman (UK 2012)
SALU/DVD/QUA/1-2/SF
90 min
Language: English, German
Subtitles: German
Cecily, Reggie, and Wilfred are in a home for retired musicians. Every year, on October 10, there is a concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday and they take part. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva, but she refuses to sing. Still, the show must go on... and it does. (IMDB)
(Includes documentary Tosca's Kiss by Daniel Schmid/Switzerland)
The Hunt
Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark/Sweden 2012)
SALU/DVD/HUNT/SF
Language: Danish
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Lucas is a Kindergarten teacher who takes great care of his students. Unfortunately for him, young Klara has a run-away imagination and concocts a lie about her teacher. Before Lucas is even able to understand the consequences, he has become the outcast of the town. The hunt is on to prove his innocence before it's taken from him for good. (IMDB)
Paulette
Jérome Enrico (France 2013)
SALU/DVD/PAU/SF
84 min
Language: French, German
Subtitles: German
Paulette lives alone in a housing project in the Paris suburbs. With her meager pension, she can no longer make ends meet. One evening when she attends a curious traffic incident outside her building, Paulette sees the sign of destiny. She decides to start selling cannabis. After all, why should she not? Paulette was formerly pastry chef. Her gift for trade and cooking skills are assets towards finding original solutions in the conducting of her new business. (IMDB)
The Fifth Estate
Bill Condon (Belgium, USA 2013)
SALU/DVD/FE/SF
123 min
Language: English
Subtitles: English
The story begins as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) team up to become underground watchdogs of the privileged and powerful. On a shoestring, they create a platform that allows whistle-blowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes. Soon, they are breaking more hard news than the world's most legendary media organizations combined. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society-and what are the costs of exposing them? (IMDB)
Philomena
Stephen Frears (UK 2013)
SALU/DVD/PHI/SF
94 min
Language: English, German
Subtitles: German
Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, PHILOMENA focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Dench), mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock - something her Irish-Catholic community didn't have the highest opinion of - and given away for adoption in the United States. In following church doctrine, she was forced to sign a contract that wouldn't allow for any sort of inquiry into the son's whereabouts. After starting a family years later in England and, for the most part, moving on with her life, Lee meets Sixsmith (Coogan), a BBC reporter with whom she decides to discover her long-lost son. (rottentomatoes)
La Grande Bellezza
Paolo Sorrentino (Italy 2013)
SALU/DVD/LGB/SF
135 min
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, Italian
Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty. (IMdb)
La cage dorée (Portugal mon amour)
Ruben Alves (France 2013)
SALU/DVD/PMA/SF
Languages: French, German
Subtitles: German, French
For thirty years now Maria and José Ribeiro have been living on the ground floor of a Haussmannian building in one of the most exclusive districts of Paris. Everybody loves this nice couple of Portuguese immigrants, Mario for being a topnotch caretaker, José, a construction site supervisor by trade, for helping to do all kinds of jobs in the house. So, the day Maria and José announce their wish to return to Portugal, everybody is crushed. No, they just can't let them do a thing like that...! (IMDB)
Trailer (German)
Trailer (French)
Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu? (Monsieur Claude und seine Töchter)
Philippe de Chauveron (France 2013)
SALU/DVD/MCST/SF
Languages: French, German
Subtitles: German, French
The Verneuils are Catholic. They are also a well-off, well-educated , well-intentioned, well-thought of couple. Everything would be for the best in the best of worlds if three of their daughters had not married three young men... of different religions and origins. So, the day their fourth girl tells them that she is going to marry a Catholic they are on cloud nine... (IMDB)
Trailer (English/French)
Trailer (German)
Mr. Morgan's Last Love
Sandra Nettelbeck (Germany/France/Belgium/US 2013)
SALU/DVD/MMLL/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Matthew Morgan is a retired American professor in his 80s, a widower. He lives in Paris and speaks no French. Since his wife's death, he's marking time. His curiosity is piqued when he meets Pauline Laubie, half his age, a dance instructor. She's also a solitary person but wants the connection of family. She believes she's found that in Matthew, and she attends to him during a hospitalization. When his two adult children arrive from the U.S. to check on their father, they are certain Pauline is a gold digger, and she's confounded by the distance between father and children. The daughter heads home, the son remains. Is there any way that Pauline fits in? (IMDB)
PK
Rajkumar Hirani (India 2014)
SALU/DVD/PK/SF
Language: Hindi
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Not European but Highly Recommended
A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, P.K.'s innocent questions and childlike curiosity will take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2338151/)
The Casual Vacancy
Jonny Campbell (UK 2015)
SALU/DVD/CV/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Mini series based on the novel by J.K. Rowlings
When Parish Councilman Barry Fairbrother unexpectedly dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. An English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, Pagford is not what it first seems. What lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war - rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest battle the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? (IMDB)
Borgen
TV Series (Denmark 2010)
SALU/DVD/BORG/1-4/SF
Language: Danish
Subtitles: English
Sidse Babett Knudsen stars in the acclaimed Danish drama about politician Birgitte Nyborg, who becomes her nation's prime minister (and first female leader) after a series of events tip the balance of power away from the main Liberal and Labour parties to her party, the Moderates, during an election cycle. The first episodes of Season 1 chart the election and her ascension, which proves rocky due to the nature of parliamentary politics. The remainder of the season chronicles the difficulties she encounters, including passing a budget, pursuing her party's equal-opportunity agenda and grappling with possible corruption. At the same time, she deals with foreign affairs—and a faltering marriage. (rottentomatoes)
Arvingere (The Legacy)
TV Series (Denmark 2014)
SALU/DVD/LEG/1-4/SF
Language: Danish
Subtitles: English
The Legacy is a modern family portrait which tells the story of four siblings trying to cope with their mother’s death which has turned all of their lives upside down.
The Legacy starts out at the legendary manor Grønnegaard on southern Funen, where the internationally renowned artist Veronika Grønnegaard has lived an eccentric and colorful life since the wild sixties.
The series follows Veronika’s four adult children whose free and chaotic childhood at Grønnegaard has left its mark on them in very different ways. They live scattered to the four winds until Veronika unexpectedly dies and they are forced to gather to wind up the estate.
Just before she dies, Veronika leaves the manor to her daughter Signe, who was given up for adoption. Signe lives with her partner in a quiet residential area in the local town and has never known the truth of her parentage.
So, what was meant to be a quick and painless estate division becomes the start of a journey into secrets and lies that turns everyone’s lives upside down and forces them to look at each other and themselves with new eyes. (nordicdrama)
Dior and I
Frédéric Cheng (France 2015)
SALU/DVD/DAI/DF
Languages: English, French
Documentary
Frédéric Tcheng's solo directorial debut brings the viewer inside the storied world of the Christian Dior fashion house with a privileged, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Raf Simons' first haute couture collection as its new artistic director-a true labor of love created by a dedicated group of collaborators. Melding the everyday, pressure-filled components of fashion with mysterious echoes from the iconic brand's past, the film is also a colorful homage to the seamstresses who serve Simons' vision. (rottentomatoes)
La Giovinezza (Youth)
Paolo Sorrentino (Italy 2015)
SALU/DVD/YOU/SF
Languages: Italian, English
Subtitles: Italian
YOUTH is about two longtime friends vacationing in the Swiss Alps. Oscar winning actor Michael Caine plays Fred, an acclaimed composer and conductor, who brings along his daughter (Rachel Weisz) and best friend Mick (Harvey Keitel), a renowned filmmaker. While Mick scrambles to finish the screenplay for what he imagines will be his last important film, Fred has no intention of resuming his musical career. The two men reflect on their past, each finding that some of the most important experiences can come later in life. (rotten tomatoes)
Trailer (English & French)
Trailer (Italian)
The Young Pope
Paolo Sorrentino (Italy/France/Spain/UK/US 2016-)
TV Series
SALU/DVD/YP/1-3/SF
Language: English
Subtitles: English
The first season of this limited drama series follows the early years of young, American-born Pius XIII's (Jude Law) pontificate. Pius XIII, who was born Lenny Belardo, quickly demonstrates that he will not be a mere figurehead for the Vatican, as the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Voiello (Silvio Orlando), was hoping for. Instead, Pius XIII is arrogant, self-serving, and power hungry. He publicly criticizes and questions his people's devotion to God, but the people around him begin to wonder if he even believes in God himself. (rotten tomatoes)
God’s Own Country
Francis Lee (UK 2017)
SALU/DVD/GOC/SF
Language: English, German
Subtitles: German, French
Spring. Yorkshire. Young farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker for lambing season ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path. (imdb)
Wallander
SALU/DVD/WALL/SF/1-3
UK/Sweden (2008-2012)
TV Series, 1-3
Language+Subtitles: English
A television show centered on a soul-searching Swedish cop.
Existential detective Kurt Wallander must battle his own demons as he works to solve a series of bizarre crimes in southern Sweden. This series is made up of four distinct films, each one a mysterious journey into murder, deception, and baffling crimes. Follow Inspector Kurt Wallander - a disillusioned everyman - as he struggles against a rising tide of violence in the seemingly sleepy backwaters in and around Ystad in beautiful southern Sweden. Brilliantly acted and visually dazzling, Wallander is based on the bestselling Swedish crime novels by Henning Mankell.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1178618/