Friday, December 29, 2006

My Summer of Love


Set in contemporary Yorkshire, it charts the relationship that blooms one hot summer between two very different 16-year-old girls, Mona (Natalie Press) and Tamsin (Emily Blunt).
Mona is working class, rebellious, bored with life and with the newfound religious convictions of her ex-con brother Phil (Paddy Considine). Tamsin is well educated, spoiled and cynical. Each girl is wary of each other's differences when they first meet, but this coolness soon melts into mutual fascination and attraction.
The director of this drama is Pawel Pawlikowski.
My Summer of Love.

Alice


Widely acclaimed as one of the best Portuguese films of the last few years.
Marco Martins’ beautifully shot debut film and Bernardo Sassetti’s haunting soundtrack mix together perfectly to create a mood that perfectly depicts the desperation of a father who has lost his child.
193 days have passed since Alice was last seen. Everyday Mário (Nuno Lopes), her father, leaves his house and repeats the same route he made the day Alice went missing. His obsession in finding her leads him to install a series of video cameras that record the movement in the streets. In the middle of all those faces, of that anonymous crowd, Mário searches for a lead, some help, one signal… The brutal pain caused by Alice’s absence has changed Mário into a different person, but this tragic search may be the only way he can keep on believing that his daughter will eventually be found.
Official web site of the film.

Breakfast on Pluto


Set in the 1970’s, Breakfast on Pluto follows the exploits of Patrick "Kitten" Braden (Cilian Murphy), an endearing, but deceptively tough young man. Abandoned as a baby in his small Irish hometown and aware from a very early age that he is different, Patrick survives this harsh environment with the aid of his wit and charm, plus a sweet refusal to let anyone and anything change who he is.
This film is a black comedy from Neil Jordan that is based on a novel "Breakfast on Pluto" by Pat McCabe.
Breakfast on Pluto in details.

Sherrybaby


Three years after entering prison for robbery as a 19-year-old heroin addict, Sherry Swanson (Maggie Gyllenhaal) begins her first day of freedom, clean and sober. A model prisoner who has undergone personal transformation, she immediately sets out to regain custody of her young daughter Alexis (Ryan Simpkins), who has been cared for in her absence by her brother Bobby (Brad William Henke) and his wife Lynn (Bridget Barkan).
The director of this film is Laurie Collyer.
Sherrybaby.

Fyra Veckor i Juni/ Fout Weeks in June


In a remote Swedish town, Sandra, a troubled young woman, develops an unexpected friendship with Lilly, a secretive Holocaust survivor. Although Lilly bears the memory of forbidden love during wartime, she encourages Sandra to open herself up to the attentions of a handsome worker from Poland. Four Weeks in June features nuanced performances by Tuva Novotny and celebrated Danish actress Ghita Nørby.
The director of this drama is Henry Meyer.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Kunsten at græde i kor/ The Art of Crying


The director of the film claims that this film is a domestic drama-comedy-horror movie, based on the celebrated novel by the Danish writer Erling Jepsen.
South Jutland, the early 1970s. Life isn't easy for 11-year-old Allan. His father has “psychic nerves” and regularly threatens to kill himself. His mother has given up, his older brother has moved out and the family's small dairy store isn't doing well. When his older sister stops spending the night on the couch with their father, it's up to Allan to keep the family together. His father lives for the times he gets to recite his famously eloquent eulogies and make the mourners weep in chorus. Soon, Allan is lending a hand to make sure there are enough funerals to keep his father happy.
The director of this drama is Danish - Peter Schønau Fog.
Official blog of the film.

When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan

Partly a concert film and partly sociological study, this documentary travels between concert venues and cultures to give an inside look at Romani (Gypsy) music. It follows five top Romani bands during their tour in the United States before accompanying the musicians to their home countries, where the joys and struggles of their domestic lives are captured.
The director of this documentary is Jasmine Dellal.
Official film web site.

Monday, December 25, 2006

En Soap/ A Soap


32-year-old Charlotte could have it all, but she doesn't want any of it. When she moves away from her boyfriend, she happens to become the upstairs neighbour of the transsexual Veronica. Veronica prefers to keep to herself with her little dog and a romantic soap show on TV, while Charlotte gets through the nights with one-night stands. An assault, a new bed and some white curtains bring the two of them together and they end up as the main characters of their own turbulent love story.
The director of this movie is Pernille Fischer Christensen, she is Danish.

Paul Dans Sa Vie/ Paul in His Life


A documentary by Remi Mauger.
Paul is almost seventy-five. An old bachelor, he is a farmer, a fisherman and the local beadle. He lives on a farm from another age with his two younger sisters, both single too. This year, they've decided to retire. "They'll leave a gap in the landscape." The landscape is that of the Hague Cape. The air there is sharp, the winds unpredictable, the granite rough and the horizon endless. Paul was of course born here. He'll die here. He's getting ready for that. But not before doing what has to be done: passing on his legacy.

The Science of Sleep


Every day life is too boring for Stefan (Gael Garcia Bernal) so he escapes from it in his own imagined TV show. Soon he realizes that this small entertainment can be a barrier for him and his relationships with other people including lovely neighbour Stefany (Charlotte Gainsbourg).
The director of this film is Michel Gondry.
More about the science.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Mans vīrs Andrejs Saharovs/ My Husbans Andrei Sakharov


Andrei Sakharov - father of Soviet hydrogen bomb and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
His widow Yelena Bonner and the last secretary general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev are two brightest participants of this indirect debate in the film, which not present facts and their interpretations but also use unique KGB materials.
Andrei Sakharov`s widow does not tell her memories about a genius but about her beloved husband. This documentary is unique report because of the fact that she avoids from publicity and interviews.
This documentary is a French-Latvian co-production directed by Inara Kolmane.
Attached photo portrays Inara Kolmane and Yelena Bonner.

Idir Dha Shaol/ Between Two Lives


A documentary about Irishman - Willie Walsh from Connemara who left Ireland in 1968 and ended up in London being homeless. Willie has lost everything, he tells about it in his own language - Irish. The language is the only thing he still has.
The director of this film is John Mallon.

Short Order


The action of this film is taking place in a restaurant in which food is prepared, personalities are mixed and the environment is eccentric. All this to get a delicacy.
So tasty..

L`enfant/ The Child

Dardenne Brothers film that is pessimistic from the beginning and it gets worse when the action of the film starts to develop.
A young girl has given a birth to a baby, after a child delivery she has no appartament any more because her boyfriend has rented it to strangers, to get some money her boyfriend decides to sell the baby.
More about the film.

Vai viegli būt jaunam?/Is It Easy to Be Young?


A bit similar documentary to "The Road to God Knows Where". This documentary also have a continuation. The name of the second part is "Vai viegli būt..?"/ "Is It Easy to Be?". The first part of the documentary is taken 1986 but the continuation was taken in 1998. "Is It Easy to Be Young" tells about high-schoolers looking for their places in life, a young mother worried about the future of her daughter after the Chernobyl catastrophe, a young man believing in Krishna (being religious was generally discouraged by the Soviet government, not to mention any 'unusual' religions), young adults returning from having been forced to fight in the war in Afghanistan and having become ones of 'the lost generation'.
This docimentary got several awards.
The direcor of the first movie is Juris Podnieks, but the second on is directed by Antra Cilinska.
A few glimpses of "Is It Easy to Be Young?"