22 Oct 2014 Director: Atiq Rahimi Afghanistan, France, Germany, UK 2012 102 min In this drama from French-Afghan director Atiq Rahimi and based on his own prize-winning novel, a young Afghan woman (Golshifteh Farahani) struggles to care for her husband who has been incapacitated in a shooting. As food becomes short and a war wages… Continue reading The Patience Stone
Category: Film season 2014-2015
Kaze Tachinu – The Wind Rises
19 Nov 2014 Director: Hayao Miyazaki Japan 2013 126 min Miyazaki’s final animated film is a breathtaking dream of flying crafted with hand-drawn attention to detail. A rich treat for the eye and soul alike, the fictional tale is inspired by the life of second world war Zero fighter plane designer, Jiro Horikoshi and the… Continue reading Kaze Tachinu – The Wind Rises
Locke
08 Oct 2014 Director: Steven Knight UK 2013 85 min Tom Hardy plays Ivan Locke, a married construction engineer, who leaves the site of a massive project and drives from Birmingham to Croydon. He spends most of the trip talking on his hands-free telephone and, whilst we hear both ends of each call, no other… Continue reading Locke
The House I Live In
05 Nov 2014 Director: Eugene Jarecki UK 2012 108 min Eugene Jarecki launches an angry and personal attack, from the libertarian left, on America’s war on drugs. Jarecki’s contention is that this is a grotesquely wasteful public-works scheme creating paid activity for the police, the judiciary and the construction companies building prisons by packing poor… Continue reading The House I Live In
Les Intouchables – Untouchable
03 Dec 2014 Directors: Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache France 2011 112min Culture-clash comedy blends with heart-tugging true-life drama in this charming tale of mischievous camaraderie. François Cluzet plays Philippe, an eccentric Parisian millionaire left paralysed from the neck down after an accident. He advertises for a live-in carer and is struck by Driss (Omar Sy),… Continue reading Les Intouchables – Untouchable
The General
17 Dec 2014 Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton USA 1926 80 min Buster Keaton plays Johnnie Gray, a locomotive driver in the south during the civil war, who has the long hair, dreamy gaze and slight build of a romantic poet. When his engine, The General, is stolen by Northern saboteurs, Johnnie single-handedly journeys behind… Continue reading The General
Tian Zhu Ding – A Touch of Sin
21 Jan 2015 Director: Jia Zhangke Jia China 2013 133 min This film tracks four citizens of modern China. Each one tries to find peace and purpose in this enormous nation as outside forces conspire to grind them down. Dahai is a miner who is tired of local worthies enriching themselves. Zhou San is an… Continue reading Tian Zhu Ding – A Touch of Sin
La Jaula de Oro – The Golden Dream
18 Feb 2015 Director: Diego Quemada-Diez Mexico 2013 102 min A Mexican ballad, La Jaula De Oro, tells of the despair of immigrants who have actually made it into the USA. They find it a “golden cage” because America accepts illegals’ cheap labour without allowing them the proper residency papers they need to rise beyond… Continue reading La Jaula de Oro – The Golden Dream
The Selfish Giant
07 Jan 2015 Director: Clio Barnard UK 2013 91 min The Selfish Giant tells the tale of Arbor and Swifty, two young boys growing up in Yorkshire. Struggling to fit in at school, and each facing their own challenges at home, the two friends find their seemingly directionless lives given dubious purpose when they meet… Continue reading The Selfish Giant
All Is Lost
04 Feb 2014 Director: J C Chandor USA 2013 106 min Robert Redford plays an experienced solo yachtsman facing an ordeal in an increasingly desperate situation. He begins the drama asleep in his 39-foot craft when he is awoken to find that a huge metal container unit has fallen from one of the massive ships… Continue reading All Is Lost