Monday, November 24, 2014

Miss Violence - Sunday 30th November 5pm

Our film this Sunday is one that will make for challenging viewing, exploring themes that some may find disturbing. Miss Violence (18) is one of the new wave of films from Greece and begins with the suicide of a young girl during her 11th birthday party.

Rich Cline’s review (contactmusic.com) said:

Even fans of chillingly oblique new Greek cinema (see Dogtooth and Alps) will find this pitch-black drama utterly terrifying simply because it doesn't look like a horror movie. But it is. With subtle observation and fiercely clever acting and filmmaking, everything about this movie worms its way under the skin, leaving us shaken by both what we see and how it makes us feel about the world around us.

Superficially, this looks like a happy, normal family grappling with a personal tragedy. But there's much more going on here, and as the tension builds the film becomes increasingly alarming in its implications. This is a fiercely inventive exploration of dark human urges most people resist and almost no one is willing to discuss. And as it closes in around us, we're too busy being horrified to notice that it's the combination of strikingly clever writing, directing and acting that makes it work so well.



Monday, November 17, 2014

Of Horses And Men - Sunday 23rd November 5pm

This week we have what might win the "most unusual film of the year" award; as a starter, "Of Horses and Men" comes from Iceland which makes it pretty rare; as Kate Muir says in the Times "Of Horses and Men is the best Icelandic noir equine comedy I have ever seen. OK, it's also the only one, but I urge you to seek out this unexpected movie".

Set in a wild, beautiful, remote valley where their horses are an all important part of their lives, the few inhabitants get up to some very strange goings-on, watched as closely by the horses as by their neighbours...The film is a series of vignettes observing these events – love, violence, absurdity – resulting in what Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian says "is a hugely enjoyable film from the wild side of the wild side...and it really resembles nothing else around".


Monday, November 10, 2014

Pluto - Sunday 16th November 5pm

We travel to South Korea for this week's film Pluto.

The film is a biting satire on the country's education system, the pressures it puts upon its students and the lengths they will go to get the grades and university places they (and their 'tiger parents') crave.

The film was shown last year at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and made a lasting impression on the reviewer:

"Usually when I watch a film with an intense atmosphere (horror, thriller suspense genres), every tense effect that the film had over me dissipates when I step out into the natural light outside of the theatre. However, despite walking out of the .. press screening of 'Pluto' at the Edinburgh International Film Festival into extremely bright sunshine, the online exploits I had witnessed and the underlying themes of the film stayed with me long into the night. It took all day for me to fully absorb and come to terms with the meanings of the film and to rationalise everything in my head.

The film helps audiences to understand the pressures of the South Korean education system and is dripping with gritty realism. This is most likely due to writer and director Sin Su-won who has experienced these immense pressures first hand. Shin Su-won graduated from Seoul National University (the same elite university that the characters in Pluto are all vying for a position at) and started a career as a teacher."

Think 'If...' for the 21st Century.

Monday, November 03, 2014

Beyond The Edge 3D at Rheged - Sunday 9th November 5pm

We come to the weekend of our club outing to Rheged to watch Hillary and Tenzing fight their way up Everest in ‘Beyond the Edge’. We have always tried to make the trip to Rheged worthwhile and it was the prospect of seeing some amazing mountain views on their giant screen AND to see them in 3D that did it for us this time.

Director Leanne Pooley is from New Zealand, where they have a special place in their hearts for Hillary. She set out to make a docudrama of the events of 1953 that makes it feel as though we are there with them, not seeing it with 21st century eyes. She has picked actors who look very much like the original climbers so that the 1950s footage blends as nearly as possible with the re-enactments. So expect some interviews with the climbers, some shots of the climb back then and some fantastic 3D mountain shots filmed last year with the actors.

If this isn’t enough to entice you along, don't forget we have the optional Peter Sidwell meal afterwards for just £10 to finish off our trip.