The King’s Speech (12A)

Thursday 18th November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Dir: Tom Hooper. Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall, Jennifer Ehle, Derek Jacobi. US-Australia 2010.118mins.

Based on the true story of the King George VI’s struggle to overcome a stammer when he reluctantly became King, this is an outstanding period drama combining a brilliant, witty script and powerful and compelling performances from a stellar cast.

The film opens in 1925 as Prince Albert, The Duke of York (Colin Firth) attempts to deliver a speech at the British Empire Exhibition and address the nation through the new medium of radio. His lack of confidence and ability to communicate causes him acute embarrassment and so with the support of his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) he starts to see a line of various ineffectual ‘experts’ before visiting Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Initially flummoxed by Logue’s progressive techniques, Albert’s stiff and troubled persona begins to loosen with Logue’s firm guidance and warmth – although flashbacks reveal the depth of the psychological problems behind the stammer.

After the death of his father and abdication of his brother Edward (Guy Pearce) to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson, Albert is forced to become King. But when a king speaks he must command attention and with the country hurtling towards war he is faced with his greatest challenge.

With an exceptional performance from Colin Firth at its heart this is a wonderfully moving and charming film; the deserved winner of the Audience Award – and standing ovations – at the recent Toronto Film Festival.

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The American (15)

Friday 19th November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Director: Anton Corbijn. Starring: George Clooney, Violante Placido, Johan Leysen, Paolo Bonacelli, Thekla Reuten. USA 2010. 104 mins.

George Clooney is Jack, a methodical hitman in the latest feature from Anton Corbijn, director of the Joy Division biopic, CONTROL.

After a messy shootout in Sweden, Jack retreats to the Italian countryside and begins to foster relationships with a priest called Benedetto, who urges him toward absolution, and local prostitute, Clara. Jack initially struggles with his inherent distrust of others, but begins to realise that companionship is what he needs most. He has, however, committed to one last assignment for his boss Pavel; to build a gun for another assassin, Mathilde.

THE AMERICAN’s distinctive pace and style and Corbijn’s ability to sensitively express isolation sets this observation of a clinical cold-blooded occupation apart from conventional Hollywood action films. THE AMERICAN is minimalist and unsettling with an understated and focused performance from Clooney as the inscrutable and solitary assassin.

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Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Friday 19th November, 11.00pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Dir: Jalmari Helander. Finland 2010. 77mins.

“This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus” reads the tagline of RARE EXPORTS: a bizarre Finnish black comedy about a team of scientists who find Santa buried in the depths of the Korvatunturi Mountains and foolishly decide to release him from his icy prison. The town’s livestock is slaughtered and the children start to go missing …

The film is based on two short films previously shot by the director, Jalmari Helander, which became something of an online phenomenon and retains their twisted blend of humour and horror. Inventive and macabre and destined to become a cult success, this is a Yuletide like no other.

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Never Let Me Go (12A)

Saturday 20 November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Director: Mark Romanek. Starring: Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightly, Andrew Garfield, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins. UK/ USA 2010. 103mins.

Based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s unsettling bestseller, NEVER LET ME GO features an impressive fusion of British talent amid much talk of potential awards success.

Alex Garland (28 DAYS LATER, THE BEACH) wrote the screenplay which is vividly brought to life by the three leads: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield (the new Spider-Man) and Keira Knightley. Narrated by Kathy (Mulligan) who is now in her thirties, she recalls the friendship she shared with Tommy and Ruth at a seemingly idyllic boarding school. Sheltered from the outside world, as they grew older they learn of the dark secret that hangs over their lives while deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal threaten to pull them apart.

The superb cast also features Charlotte Rampling as the headmistress, Sally Hawkins, who co-starred with Mulligan in An Education, has a supporting role as teacher Miss Lucy. Beautifully shot, the exceptional English countryside locations provide a stark contrast to this haunting and other-wordly story of love and loss.

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Of Gods And Men (15)

Sunday 21st November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Dir: Xavier Beauvois. France 2010. 120mins

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and France’s official selection for the Oscars.

In a Cistercian monastery in North Africa in the 90s, eight monks live in harmony with the local population, dispensing medicine and good advice, as well versed in the Koran as the Bible. But the war-torn country is in the grip of fundamentalist violence and the brothers for their own safety are under pressure to leave. Amid much soul-searching and crises of faith they will not be forced from their calling and home.

The ensemble cast with Michael Lonsdale superb as Brother Luc the resident doctor, capture the quiet dignity as they go about their monastic life; there is an especially tender scene where they enjoy a ‘Last Supper’, a glass of wine and each other’s company while listening to ‘Swan Lake’. Tragedy and violence are never far away but the film has a real poignancy and sense of restraint showing (the former enfant terrible) Xavier Beauvois (Don’t Forget You’re Going To Die, Le Peteit Lieutenant) has matured into a masterly director.

The film is inspired by real events, the still not entirely explained kidnap and murder of seven monks in Algeria in 1996.

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Le Quattro Volte

Sunday 21 November, 11.45am
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Dir: Michelangelo Frammartino. Italy / Germany / Switzerland. 2010. 86mins

One of the real highlights of this year’s Cannes film festival was this almost wordless film of striking beauty and originality. Set in remote, rural Calabria in southern Italy it is a delicate and wryly funny meditation on rural life.

Quasi-documentary in form and with a pace exquisitely matched to that of the village itself the main subjects are an elderly goatherd, baby goat, dog, fir tree and smoking charcoal kiln. There is no dialogue as such but a rich soundscape of goat bells and howling winds, church bells and burning wood. The film’s titles translates as ‘The Four Times’ derived from a Pythagorean text identifying man’s nature as mineral, vegetable, animal and rational; the overall feel is of something elemental, primordial even.

In LE QUATTRO VOLTE one can find echoes of the poetry of SLEEP FURIOUSLY or the dry humour of HUKKLE (2003) but this is a rare and wondrous work.

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Fleurs Du Mal (15)

Monday 22nd November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Director: David Dusa. Starring: Rachid Youcef, Alice Belaidi. France 2010. French & Persian with English subtitles. 100 mins.

An imaginative and original drama exploring the powerful voice the internet provided in Iran after the 2009 presidential elections. Outraged at the rigging of the election Iranian citizens took to the streets to demonstrate their anger. The government arrested journalists and retaliated with shocking violence and the people organised movements through twitter and revealed the horrific reality with mobile ‘phone footage.

Anahita, a young woman from an affluent family, is sent from Tehran to Paris for her safety. She meets Rachid, a bellhop at her hotel and a tender relationship develops between them. Technology brings them together yet alienates at the same time; Anahita lives her life vicariously through twitter, and anxiously awaits updates from her friends in Tehran, while Rachid’s comparative freedom is expressed through his fluid leaps through the streets and rooftops of Paris as his parkour online-persona Gecko.  With YouTube videos, blogs and Twitter updates, Dusa’s film captures the fragmented experiences flooding the internet and how it is changing our relationships and perception of the world.

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Howl

Tuesday 23rd November, 6.30pm
Duke of Yorks Picturehouse

Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman. Starring: James Franco, Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeff Daniels. USA 2010. 90 mins.

James Franco is Allen Ginsberg in this innovative interpretation of Ginsberg’s seminal poem. Acclaimed documentary film-makers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK), were originally commissioned by Ginsberg’s estate for a documentary, but in their commitment to delivering a piece that would capture the essence of Ginsberg they found the project expanding into this imaginative hybrid of a film. HOWL unfolds through three threads; an interview with Ginsberg, the court case charges of obscenity that challenged the ‘artistic merit’ of Howl, and animations of Ginsberg’s vivacious, erotic and neurotic imagination. Nominated for the Golden Bear at Berlin and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, HOWL boldly evokes the intense energy of its eponymous poem – the urgency, the absurdity and the exhilaration – and conjures up the force of Ginsberg like a wild incantation from one of those smoky nights in a San Francisco bar.

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West Is West + Introduction by actor Emil Marwa

Friday 26th November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Director: Andy De Emmony. Starring: Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Lesley Nichol, Emil Marwa, Jimi Mistri. UK 2010. 103mins.

The sequel to Bafta-wining EAST IS EAST (Dir: Damien O’Donnell 1999). Reuniting several of the key talents involved including writer Ayub Khan-Din, WEST IS WEST takes up the story of Pakistani father George Khan (Om Puri) and his English wife Ella (Linda Bassett). While most of the children have now flown the nest the youngest son Sajid is playing truant to avoid bullying at school and clashing with his traditionalist father. George decides that a trip to Pakistan is just what father and son need. Returning to the farm, family and first Mrs Khan George left behind thirty years ago things get even more complicated when Ella arrives from England to reclaim her family.

Warm-hearted and poignant WEST IS WEST is a colourful crowd-pleaser exploring cultural roots and family ties.

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Biutiful (15)

Saturday 27th November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Starring: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Eduard Fernandez. Spain/ Mexico 2010. English & Spanish with English Subtitles.

Breaking away from his multi-narrative style, BIUTIFUL is the new feature from the critically acclaimed Alejandro González Iñárritu (AMORES PERROS, BABEL). Javier Bardem delivers a superb performance as Uxbal, navigating a life of adversity in the Barcelona underworld. He cares for his two young children while his bipolar, alcoholic wife embarks on an affair and assists his brother in the arrangement of exploitative and hazardous work for illegal immigrants; coordinating Chinese factory workers and African street vendors who sell counterfeit merchandise. With his health dramatically failing, death hovers over Uxbal’s shoulder, but he resolutely bears the weight alone, fearful for the future of his children and solemnly aware of his diminishing time.

Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Amorres Perros, Brokeback Mountain, Lust, Caution) strikingly illuminates the beauty in the decay and captures the sense of other-worldliness that permeates Uxbal’s life.

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Cadencia (U) + Q&A

Sunday 28th November, 7.00pm
Sallis Benney Theatre

Director: Darren Bartlett. 70 mins.

Director Darren Bartlett first visited CINECITY in 2007 with his documentary O ZELADOR about Brazilian Capoeira. In his second feature documentary he returns to Brazil to explore the multi-faceted and vibrant culture that stretches across the country’s social divides.  It is a study of Rio from its picture postcard beaches through to the tough suburbs, using informed commentary from academics, artists and footballers (including legendary 80′s Brazilian captain Socrates) and last but not least O Povo (the people). From this diverse selection CADENCIA builds a picture of Rio’s sports and cultures, it’s divisions, it’s traditions, and the cohesion that creates the strong unified image Brazil projects to the world. Finely crafted with a strong visual style the film clearly reflects Bartlett’s own enthusiasm and love of the country and is an engaging exploration of the rapidly developing nation.

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Patagonia + Q&A

Monday 29th November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Dir: Marc Evans. Starring Matthew Rhys, Matthew Gravelle, Duffy, Nia Roberts. Argentina / UK 2010. 113mins. Welsh / Spanish with English Subtitles.

The cultural and linguistic connection between Wales and Patagonia forms the backdrop to this intriguing relationship drama from Marc Evans (SNOW CAKE) featuring the acting debut from pop singer Duffy.

In the late 19th Century a small group of Welsh men, women, and children left to escape the cultural oppression of the English and landed in Patagonia, on the southern tip of South America, where a Welsh-speaking community survives to this day.

Switching between Argentina and Wales the film follows two pairs on very different journeys; elderly Patagonian Cerys ends up with her neighbour’s teenage son in Wales in a quest to find the family home before she dies; photographer Rhys (Matthew Gravelle) travels with his girlfriend Gwen (Nia Roberts) on a commission to photograph the isolated missionary churches of Patagonia.

With strong performances throughout their stories unfold against the beautifully photographed panoramic landscapes of the two countries.

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Nénette

Tuesday 30th November, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Director: Nicholas Philipert. France 2010. French with English subtitles.

Nicholas Philipert established his reputation with the multi award winning ETRE ET AVOIR; a tender and humorous observation of a French single roomed school. With NENETTE, he returns to another small space; the confined enclosure of a zoo. Philipert’s focus is on the orangutan Nénette, the oldest inhabitant in the Jardin du Plantes in Paris who has remained while staff have come and gone. Now in her forties, she has had three mates and lives with one of her offspring. Philipert’s film follows the orangutans and listens in on the human reactions to Nénette and her habitat. She is serenaded, admired and absurdly insulted by a string of visitors who seem as oblivious to the observing camera as she is to their judgments. It is the casual observations and projections of these visitors that open up a remarkable and engaging exploration on the notion of subject and audience; and the nature of humanity.

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La Yuma

Thursday 2nd December, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Director: Florence Jaugey. Starring: Alma Blanco. Nicaragua 2009. 90mins. Spanish with English subtitles.

The first feature film made in Nicaragua for over twenty years, LA YUMA is the story of a headstrong young woman who dreams of escaping poverty using her talent for boxing. Newcomer Alma Blanco lends a tangible air of authenticity to the lead role, portraying the title character with a subtle layer of vulnerability beneath her tough and streetwise exterior. Berlin Film Festival winner French director Florence Jaugey (who also co-wrote the screenplay) offers us a fresh take as the film takes us around the capital city of Managua, crossing class and cultural barriers along the way. A cross-section of Nicaraguan life is represented here as we see everything from a poor, gang-controlled neighbourhood to a University campus – via a rock concert and a male strip club. A surprise hit back in its native country and a success across Latin America, LA YUMA is multi-award winning cinema and a rare chance to glimpse a part of the world not often committed to film.

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The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec

Saturday 4th December, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Dir: Luc Besson. Starring Louise Bourgoin, Mathieu Amalric. France 2010. 105mins. French with English Subtitles

A glorious romp through 1910s Paris in this big screen comic book adaptation from French action-auteur Luc Besson (LEON, FIFTH ELEMENT).

Based on Jacques Tardi’s much loved comic books, Louise Bourgoin stars as the beautiful novelist whose fantastical and mystical globe-trotting adventures involve Egyptian mummies, bucktoothed baddies and a giant flying dinosaur wreaking havoc on Paris. An Indiana Jones type heroine of the Belle Epoque this is perhaps the kind of strong female lead one would expect from the director of NIKITA.

Colourful, boldly imaginative and a lot of silly fun THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES of ADELE … is a visual delight.

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Submarine

Sunday 5th December, 6.30pm
Duke of York’s Picturehouse

Director: Richard Ayoade. Starring: Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor, Paddy Considine. UK 2010. 97mins.

An original and affecting coming-of-age comedy from IT Crowd actor Richard Ayoade, his first feature as director.

Adapted from Joe Dunthorne’s cult 2008 novel about fifteen-year-old Swansea schoolboy Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts). Oliver is obsessed with the idea of losing his virginity, hopefully to Jordana (Yasmin Paige), and is also desperate to save his parents’ (Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor) faltering marriage. Oliver suspects his mother is having an affair with her old flame, mullet-haired new-age evangelist Graham (Paddy Considine).

In addition to comedy writing and performing Ayoade has directed music videos for a range of bands and the soundtrack features five new songs by Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys.

One of the discoveries of the Toronto Film Festival, SUBMARINE is a funny, clever and delightful look at the trials and tribulations of adolescence.

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