New foreign language movies (October 2011)

Dear all,

Over the past month, documentaries and movies in various languages have been recorded from free-to-air TV channels.

These programs are available in the Self Study room (Level 2, Brennan MacCallum building) should you wish to view them.

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Chinese

The Blue Kite

A moving story about the experiences of a Beijing family living under the mandates of the communist Chinese government from 1953 to the Cultural Revolution in 1968.

(1993) (China/English)  Director: Zhuangzhuang Tian

M  S,N  Drama  138 mins

French

Backstage
An ordinary teenager, Lucie, is fixated on an inaccessible pop idol, the platinum blonde Madonna-like Lauren. One day, she steps into an episode of reality television when Lauren shows up at her boring suburban home to give her a personal performance. And for Lucie, fandom soon turns into obsession. From the 2006 French Film Festival.

(2005) (France/French)  Director: Emmanuelle Bercot

M  S,N  Drama  115 mins

The Double Life of Veronique

Veronika lives in Poland. Veronique lives in Paris. They don’t know each other but are physically identical to one another, and strangely aware of each other’s presence. Despite their different backgrounds, both of them have a magnificent, sublime voice and an extraordinary musical talent. Unfortunately, each girl suffers from the same, barely detectable cardiac malformation.

(1991)  (France/French)  Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
M  S,N  Drama  105 mins  Repeat

The Valet

Francois Pignon, a car service valet at a posh Paris hotel, gets caught up in a billionaire industrialist’s marriage infidelities. He and the billionaire’s girlfriend, a beautiful model, must pretend to be a couple for a month.

(2006)  (France/French)  Director: Francis Veber
M  L,S  Comedy  90 mins  Repeat

  

Life With My Father
Diagnosed with a terminal illness, hedonist François helps his two bickering sons reconnect before his death. Winner of the 2005 Toronto Film Festival Audience Award.

(2005) (Canada/English)  Director: Sébastien Rose

M  L,S  Comedy  105 mins

A Real Man
A strikingly original, offbeat comedy about reconciling married life with being oneself. A funny, romantic film with musical interludes and stunning locations in Ibiza and the Pyrenees.

(2003) (France/French)  Directors: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu

M  L,S  Comedy  120 mins

German

The Baader Meinhof Complex
Director Uli Edel explores a dark period in German history with this drama detailing the rise and fall of the Red Army Faction, a left-wing terrorist organisation that became increasingly active in the late 1960s and ’70s.

(2008) (Germany/German)    Director: Uli Edel

M  L, S  Action/Biography  150 mins

Mogadishu: The Hijacking of Flight 181

Based on the real life hijacking of the Lufthansa Flight 181 in October 1977 by four members of the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, this is a breathtaking re-creation of the terrifying event through the eyes of the 86 powerless passengers on board. Winner of the 2009 German Television Award for Best Movie.

(2008)  (Germany/German)  Director: Roland Suso Richter
M  A,L,V  Drama  120 mins  Repeat

Hebrew

Ushpizin

Moshe, a former criminal who recently turned Orthodox Jew, and his wife, Mali, discover how genuine religious practices and true devotion can dramatically change their lives for the better.

(2004)  (Israel/Hebrew)  Director: Giddi Dar

M  A,L,V  Drama  90 mins 

Italian

Days and Clouds

A well-off and sophisticated couple struggles to stay together after the husband loses his job, and his wife suddenly finds herself the breadwinner. A portrait of the faltering effects on a relationship when financial security fades.

(2007) (Italy/Italian)  Director: Silvio Soldini

M  A,L,V  Drama  118 mins

Quiet Chaos

Television executive Pietro’s life takes an irreversible and devastating turn one fateful morning. During a trip to the beach, he saves the life of a drowning woman. He subsequently returns home only to discover that his wife, Lara, has just died from a fall. Struggling to cope with his new role as single parent, Pietro begins to spend his days in the park opposite his daughter’s school.

(2008) (Italy/Italian)  Director: Antonello Grimaldi

M  A,L,V  Drama  105 mins

Spanish

El Greco

An epic tale of an uncompromising artist and fighter for freedom, Domenicos Theotokopoulos, known to the world as ‘El Greco’. Set in the 16th century, El Greco’s search for freedom and love ranges from the courts of Crete and Venice to Toledo in Spain. Here he is confronted by his greatest adversary: the Holy Inquisition. Winner of 10 awards at the 2007 Thessaloniki Film Festival, including Best Film.

(2007) (Greece/Spain/Greek & Spanish)  Director: Yannis Smaragdis

M  A,L,V  Drama  119 mins

Never on a Sunday
A darkly humorous look at the tough underworld of poverty and misery in Mexico, as a family is duped by a mortician who sells their uncle’s corpse to a university medical centre and fills the urn with canine ashes.

(2006)  (Mexico/Spanish)  Director: Daniel Gruener

M  A,L,V  Comedy  125 mins

The Other Side of the Bed

Musical and romantic comedy set in contemporary Spain. Pedro tries to convince his girlfriend Paula that her desire to leave him is just a phase. Paula says she has fallen in love with someone else, and in fact the new man in her life is Pedro’s best friend, Javier. Torn between two beautiful, vibrant women and his oldest friend, Javier scrambles to maintain the status quo through an escalating series of lies and deception.

(2002)  (Spain/Spanish)  Director: Emilio Martínez-Lázaro
MA  L,S  Comedy  110 mins  Repeat