Eurocinema - New Films from Europe
by Andre Soares
Between June 7-17, the American Cinematheque in both Hollywood and Santa Monica will be presenting a series of new European releases, most of which will never — however unfortunately — reach American screens outside the festival circuit, for U.S. exhibitors are much too busy playing the latest Pirates of the Caribbean, while already gearing up for the next Ben Stiller smorgasbord of idiocy.
The Eurocinema screenings will be held at the following locations:
June 7 at the Egyptian’s Rigler Theatre
June 8 - 14 at the Aero’s Palevsky Theatre
June 14 - 17 at the Egyptian’s Spielberg Theatre
Screenings include John Boorman’s The Tiger’s Tail (top), nominated for 7 Irish Film & Television Awards, Alex van Warmerdam’s Waiter / Ober, a comedy that was nominated for 7 Nederlands Film Festival Awards; Claire Denis’s dance documentary Vers Mathilde / Towards Mathilde; and Theo Angelopolous’s Trilogia I: To Livadi pou dakryzei / Trilogy: Weeping Meadow, which was nominated for 4 European
Film Academy Awards back in 2004.
Also, Fien Troch’s Een Ander zijn geluk / Someone Else’s Happiness, nominated for three Joseph Plateau Awards (the Belgian Oscars); Michal Rosa’s Polish drama Co slonko widzialo / What the Sun Has Seen; Stefan Krohmer’s Sommer ‘04 / Summer ‘04, a psychological drama starring Martina Gedeck of Das Leben der Anderen / The Lives of Others; and Sergio Rubini’s La Terra, nominated for 6 David di Donatello Awards (Italy’s Oscars).
The screenings were made possible by the non-profit organization European Languages and Movies in America.
The schedule/synopses are from the Cinematheque’s press release:
Thursday, June 7 at 7:30 PM
THE TIGER’S TAIL - Los Angeles Premiere!
2007, Ireland, Moviehouse Entertainment, 103 min. NOT ON DVD
Directed by John Boorman
Liam O’Leary (Boorman’s long time collaborator Brendan Gleeson, THE GENERAL), an Irish property developer of humble origins, made it big and fast on the back of the Celtic Tiger. Wildly over-extended, Liam finds himself struggling in a receding market. Stressed, he seems on the verge of a mental breakdown when he sees his doppelganger.
Preceded by Run Wrake’s Rabbit (UK, 9 min, 2006). Eye-catching animated black comedy about two children who have much to learn….and to lose.
Friday, June 8 at 7:30 PM
Drama Double Feature:
SUMMER ‘04 (SOMMER ‘04 AN DER SCHLEI) - Los Angeles Premiere!
2007, Germany, The Cinema Guild, 97 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Stefan Krohmer
Miriam (Martina Gedeck) and her husband André (Peter Davor), are joined on their holiday by their 15-year-old son, Nils (Lucas Kotaranin) and his young precocious girlfriend, Livia (Svea Lohde). Though it seems that there are no taboos in Miriam’s life, the flirtatious Livia, with the handsome intruder Bill (Robert Seeliger), challenge her liberal principles. It’s difficult to predict where this story of five people on a stressful seaside idyll will go. A successfull drama evoking the moral tales of Eric Rohmer.
Discussion in between films with director Stefan Krohmer
SOMEONE ELSE’S HAPPINESS (EEN ANDER ZIJN GELUK) - Los Angeles Premiere!
2005, Belgium, Celluloid Dreams, 98 min. In Dutch with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Fien Troch
Flemish female writer-director Fien Troch’s debut feature film has received enormous acclaim at prestigious international film festivals. With superb cinemascope compositions, Troch examines the life of a small village after a child is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and the inhabitants start looking at each other suspiciously. What could be a bleak and distant tale filled with silences, turns into a gripping illustration of human loneliness and an inability to communicate. With veteran actor Jan Decleir.
Saturday, June 9 at 7:30 PM
Comedy Double Feature:
WAITER (OBER) - Los Angeles Premiere!
2006, Netherlands, Fortissimo Films, 97 min. In Dutch with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Alex van Warmerdam
Take elements of ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, throw in a little of writer Charlie Kaufman, infuse with an off-kilter sense of humor and add a pinch of surrealism, and you may have an idea of what awaits you in king of Dutch deadpan comedy writer-director Alex van Warmerdam’s delightfully sophisticated black comedy. Edgar, a waiter (van Warmerdam himself), quietly takes life’s indignities ranging from belligerent customers to a chronically ill wife and his demanding mistress. Until he gets plain fed-up, when the waiter then goes to complain about his miserable existence to his creator. Some of the jokes are belly-laugh funny and many more are moments of wry intelligence. Great performances, including Ariane Schluter as Edgar’s demanding
mistress.
THE TIGER’S TAIL
2007, Ireland, Moviehouse Entertainment, 103 min. NOT ON DVD
Directed by John Boorman
Liam O’Leary (Boorman’s long time collaborator Brendan Gleeson, THE GENERAL), an Irish property developer of humble origins, made it big and fast on the back of the Celtic Tiger. Wildly over-extended, Liam finds himself struggling in a receding market. Stressed, he seems on the verge of a mental breakdown when he sees his doppelganger.
Preceded by Run Wrake’s Rabbit (UK, 9 min, 2006). Eye-catching animated black comedy about two children who have much to learn….and to lose.
Sunday, June 10 at 5:00 PM
TOWARDS MATHILDE (VERS MATHILDE) - Los Angeles Premiere!
2005, France, Celluloid Dreams, 84 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Claire Denis
Director Claire Denis (I CAN’T SLEEP; BEAU TRAVAIL), whose feature films have been often described as choreographed, transcends mere documentary in a film that explores the birth, formulation, and performance of a radically new dance piece. Claire Denis, with 8mm and a 16mm cameras, follows the creation of a work-in-progress by Mathilde Monnier, a choregrapher trained in post-modern dance by Viola Farber – neither abstract nor minimalist, a kinetic investigator par excellence.
Sunday, June 10 at 7:30 PM
TRILOGY: WEEPING MEADOW (TRILOGIA I: TO LIVADI POU DAKRYZEI)- Los Angeles Premiere!
2004, Greece, New Yorker Films, 170 min. In Greek with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos
Greek master Theodoros Angelopoulos’ new film is a vast historical tableau with the narrative split between big history and personal drama. Eleni (Alexandra Aidini) is a Greek immigrant from Russia who has run off with the unnamed Young Man (Nikos Poursanidis) to Thessaloniki. There, he tries his luck as a musician while she raises their two sons. In search of a better life for his family, the Young Man departs to America. Eleni is left behind in Greece to suffer the ravages of World War II and the Greek Civil War.
Wednesday, June 13 at 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
LA TERRA - Los Angeles Premiere!
2006, Italy, Film Italia, 92 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Sergio Rubini
A remarkable piece of cross-genre Italian cinema from the director of THE STATION with a clever screenplay, some astonishing performances and very colorful scenery. Luigi Di Santo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), exiled after killing his father as a teenager, returns to his native Puglia for some legal paperwork and is thrown into the violence of the south. Director Sergio Rubini brilliantly plays the wife-beating nightclub owner Tonino.
WHAT THE SUN HAS SEEN (CO SLONKO WIDZIALO)
2006, Poland, 108 min. In Polish and Norwegian with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Michal Rosa
Unknown to each other, little boy Seba (Damian Hryniewicz), young teenage girl Marta (Dominika Kluzniak) and fifty-year-old Jozef (Krzysztof Stroinski) are each desperate to raise a certain amount of money. Set in a large Silesian city in southern Poland, director Michal Rosa’s third feature follows them in their determination to succeed in spite of all the obstacles and disappointments that befall them along the way, and eventually their lives begin to intertwine. Based on newspaper articles and scenes he observed on the street, these tales create a touching portrait of the struggle for human dignity in a land that still bears the scars of war.
Thursday, June 14 at 7:30
SUMMER ‘04 (SOMMER ‘04 AN DER SCHLEI)
2007, Germany, The Cinema Guild, 97 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Stefan Krohmer
Miriam (Martina Gedeck) and her husband André (Peter Davor), are joined on their holiday by their 15-year-old son, Nils (Lucas Kotaranin) and his young precocious girlfriend, Livia (Svea Lohde). Though it seems that there are no taboos in Miriam’s life, the flirtatious Livia, with the handsome intruder Bill (Robert Seeliger), challenge her liberal principles. It’s difficult to predict where this story of five people on a stressful seaside idyll will go. A successfull drama evoking the moral tales of Eric Rohmer.
Discussion in between films with director Stefan Krohmer
Friday, June 15 at 7:30 PM
SOMEONE ELSE’S HAPPINESS (EEN ANDER ZIJN GELUK)
2005, Belgium, Celluloid Dreams, 98 min. In Dutch with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Fien Troch
Flemish female writer-director Fien Troch’s debut feature film has received enormous acclaim at prestigious international film festivals. With superb cinemascope compositions, Troch examines the life of a small village after a child is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and the inhabitants start looking at each other suspiciously. What could be a bleak and distant tale filled with silences, turns into a gripping illustration of human loneliness and an inability to communicate. With veteran actor Jan Decleir.
Saturday, June 16 at 7:30 PM
WAITER (OBER)
2006, Netherlands, Fortissimo Films, 97 min. In Dutch with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Alex van Warmerdam
Take elements of ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, throw in a little of writer Charlie Kaufman, infuse with an off-kilter sense of humor and add a pinch of surrealism, and you may have an idea of what awaits you in king of Dutch deadpan comedy writer-director Alex van Warmerdam’s delightfully sophisticated black comedy. Edgar, a waiter (van Warmerdam himself), quietly takes life’s indignities ranging from belligerent customers to a chronically ill wife and his demanding mistress. Until he gets plain fed-up, when the waiter then goes to complain about his miserable existence to his creator. Some of the jokes are belly-laugh funny and many more are moments of wry intelligence. Great performances, including Ariane Schluter as Edgar’s demanding mistress.
Sunday, June 17 at 7:30 PM
LA TERRA
2006, Italy, Film Italia 92. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Directed by Sergio Rubini
A remarkable piece of cross-genre Italian cinema from the director of THE STATION with a clever screenplay, some astonishing performances and very colorful scenery. Luigi Di Santo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), exiled after killing his father as a teenager, returns to his native Puglia for some legal paperwork and is thrown into the violence of the south. Director Sergio Rubini brilliantly plays the wife-beating nightclub owner Tonino.
Pedro Costa at Cinematheque Ontario
Movies on the Mind: Psychology and Film Since Sigmund Freud
GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA and DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE Screening
David di Donatello - 2007 Italian Academy Awards
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