SCIENCE-FICTION, melodrama, comedy, the road movie; big name directors David Cronenberg and Lars Von Trier; and stars such as Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Auteuil, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, and Michael Fassbender, will all feature in the Galway Film Society’s winter/spring season.
The season starts this Sunday and runs until March 18, with a programme of 11 films. The films will be screened in the Town Hall Theatre on Sundays at 8.15pm, except where noted.
What’s on and when
The opening film, to be screened this Sunday, is French film The Well Digger’s Daughter (2011 ). It is the directorial debut of actor Daniel Auteuil, best known for his roles in Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources.
In Provence, an unmarried girl, Patricia, the daughter of the well-digger Pascal (Auteuil ), becomes pregnant. The father-to-be, Jacques (Nicolas Duvauchelle ), is a fighter pilot in the war but has gone missing and is presumed dead. His wealthy family are also unlikely to admit to having anything to do with the pregnant daughter of a humble well-digger. So what will become of Patricia?
Melancholia (Denmark, 2010 ), starring Kirsten Dunst and directed by Lars Von Trier, will be screened on January 22. This sci-fi film from the controversial director opens with a vision of how the world might end, before switching to a lush wedding where melancholic Justine (Dunst ) clashes with her highly strung sister as a rogue planet looms in the sky.
Melancholia features stunning special effects and an outstanding performance from Dunst who won Best Actress for her role in this film at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
The Salt Of Life (Italy, 2010 ) is a sequel to the charming comedy Mid-August Lunch and features actor/director Gianni Di Gregorio being no longer a middle-aged mammy’s boy, but as a married man, with a stroppy daughter, and concerns that his mother is blowing all the family money on expensive food and gifts! And then there is the sexy home help...
Find out how Di Gregorio manages to deal with it all on January 29.
When 13-year-old Sinikka’s bicycle is found in a wheat field, a retired police inspector is certain it is linked to the rape and murder of another girl 23 years earlier. This is The Silence (Germany, 2011 ) which travels back and forth between past and present to dissect a police investigation, the struggle of a family that has lost a child, and the events that led to a murder, to create an elegant mix of crime story, film noir, melodrama, and thriller. See it on February 5.
Set in the 1950s, Hester (Rachel Weisz ) is having an affair with Freddie but when she moves in with him the problems start. Her obsessive and possessive nature reveals itself, alienating Freddie, and pushing Hester close to the edge.
This is The Deep Blue Sea (Britain, 2011 ) and it will be screened on February 12.
Hit French comedy Romantics Anonymous (2011 ) tells the story of Angélique, an unemployed but gifted chocolate-maker with a lifelong case of uncontrollable shyness, and Jean-René who suffers from a similar problem and runs a fledgling chocolate company in desperate need of a new direction. Then Jean-René hires Angélique as the new sales associate. Find out what happens when the film is screened on February 19.
Las Acacias (Argentina, 2011 ) is a gentle and touching road movie about the poignant relationship between a lonely truck driver, Rubén, and single mother Jacinta and her eight-month-old baby Anahí as they travel from Asunción del Paraguay to Buenos Aires.
Las Acacias won the prestigious Camera d’Or, the new filmmakers’ prize, at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. See it on February 26.
After a pope dies the conclave meets so the cardinals may choose his successor. The faithful wait outside St Peter’s for the announcement. Then the white smoke goes up, there is the cry “Habemus papam”, and people look eagerly to see the new Pope, but he does not appear on the balcony. The new leader of the Roman Catholic Church is hit with a panic attack over all the responsibilities he must take on. What will he do and how will he cope?
This is We Have A Pope (Italy, 2011 ), directed by Nanni Moretti, and winner of a Golden Globes award Italy 2011. See it on March 4.
David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method (Germany/Canada, 2011 ) will be shown on March 11. In this film, Cronenberg explores Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud’s tense relationship and eventual falling out over a beautiful, sexually hysterical patient. A story of boundary-testing in the early days of psychoanalysis, it features outstanding performances by Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, and Irish actor Michael Fassbender.
Irish film The Pier (2011 ), directed by Gerard Hurley, tells the story of Jack McCarthy who is coming home to be with his dying father Larry - only that Larry has played a trick. He’s in rude good health. Jack is not amused as he spent the last money he had on a one-way ticket and he has not spoken to his father in 20 years. What will happen? Find out on March 18.
International Women’s Day screening
To mark International Women’s Day, the GFS, NUI Galway’s Global Women’s Studies, and Amnesty International, will screen Tomboy (France, 2011 ) on Thursday March 8 at 8pm.
Ten-year-old Laure is pretending to be a boy and she makes friends with Lisa and introduces herself as Michael. Lisa in turn introduces her friends and soon Laure/Michael is one of the gang. Find out what happens in this exploration of the ways children conform to gender stereotypes and notions of masculinity and femininity. Tomboy won the Audience Award at the 2011 GAZE Festival.
For tickets and booking for all the above films contact the Town Hall on 091 - 569777 and www.tht.ie
