2nd October -
Far From Heaven
US - 2002 - 107mins - directed by Todd Haynes - cert12A
This film evokes the look, feel and sound of the Douglas Sirk Technicolour film from the fifties “All that Heaven Allows”. This film is set in 1957 but deals with issues that would not be covered in a film made in the fifties. Julianne Moore plays the wife, Dennis Quaid, her husband is revealed as a closeted homosexual and Dennis Haysbert plays the black gardener she falls in love with.
9th October -
City of God
2002 - 135mins - directed by Fernando Meirelles - cert18
This electrifying picture is part tender coming-of-age part warfare epic from the Brazilian slums of Rio. It follows a young mobster as he causes the death of friends and enemies alike to become the Scarface of his world. Intertwined character stories are effectively unified by Shakespearian themes.
16th October -
About Schmidt
USA - 2002 - 124mins - directed by Alexander Payne - cert15
Walter Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) is a retired insurance salesman of 66.His wife dies and his life lacks direction so he decides to try and stop his daughter marrying someone he doesn't like. Excellent cast includes Dermot Mulroney and Kathy Bates.
23rd October -
8 Women
France - 2002 - 110mins - directed by Francois Ozon - cert15
Eight beautiful women, each one a murder suspect. The scene is an isolated mansion in the snowy countryside of 1950s France. Dark family secrets are uncovered, seduction dances with betrayal.
6th November -
Donnie Darko
US - 2001 - 118mins - directed by Richard Kelly - cert15
Donnie (Jake Gyllenhall) is a brilliant but troubled teenager, plagued by terrifying visions. He must unravel the strange occurences affecting his school, his home and his life before a horrifying spectre known only as “Frank” leads Donnie to the edge of his sanity.
13th November -
Frida
US - 2002 - 123mins - directed by Julie Taymor - cert 15
The life of artist Frida Kahlo from her complex and enduring relationship with her husband and mentor Diego Rivera, her controversial affair with Leon Trotsky. Frida was the victim of polio and a childhood accident but lived a bold uncompromising life as a political, artistic and sexual revolutionary.
20th November -
L'Homme du Train
France - 2002 - 90mins - directed by Patrice Leconte - cert 12A
Arriving by train at small town in the provinces, enigmatic loner Milan(Johnny Hallyday) encounters Manesquier (Rochefort) a retired teacher who is as verbose and convivial as Milan is taciturn and reserved. Each man has a secret, each a date with destiny
11th December -
I Capture the Castle
UK - 2003 - directed by Tim Fywell - certPG
Based on the popular Dodie Smith novel. In 1934 seventeen year old Cassandra Mortmain struggles to survive in an English castle. She has a thorny relationship with her father (Bill Nighy),. Cassandra is resigned to living in the shadow of her beautiful sister Rose. Then the estate is inherited by a well-heeled American socialite.
8th January -
The Leopard
Italy/France - 1963 (Restored version 2002)directed by Luchino Visconti - 187mins - certPG
Cut, dubbed and printed in an inferior colour process. Visconti’s film was only recognised as his masterpiece when it was restored twenty years later. The film's superb first two hours, which weave social and historical themes into a personal drama, turn out to be only a prelude to the magnificent final hour - an extended ballroom sequence that leaves history behind to become one of the most moving meditations on individual mortality in the history of the cinema.
15th January -
Talk to her
Spain - 2002 - 112mins - directed by Pedro Almodovar - cert15
The writer/director delivers a film of depth and sensitivity in which silence plays a crucial role in understanding the mystery of communication. It is the story of a friendship between two men, told in relation to their emotional involvement with the two women close to them, who are both in a coma.
22nd January - The Quiet American
USA - 2002 - 100mins - directed by Philip Noyce - cert15
Set in Saigon in 1952. The film takes place against the backdrop of the Vietnamese struggle for independence from French colonial rule. Despite the conflict British journalist Thomas Fowler enjoys a pleasurable existence with his beautiful young Vietnamese mistress, but his complacency is disturbed by the arrival of idealistic aid worker Brendan Fraser.
29th January -
Perfume de Violetas
Mexico - 2000 - 90 mins - directed by Mary Sistach - cert15
Nominated for Oscar for best foreign language film in 2002.This film is about a teenage girl who causes trouble at home and school. Her stepbrother decides to teach her a lesson by hiring a workmate to rape her.
5th February -
Rabbit Proof Fence
Australia - 2002 - 94 mins - directed by Philip Noyce - certPG
It 1931 three aboriginal girls were taken from their mother and moved to a state run facility 1000miles away; they escape and set off for home on foot. Filmed as an epic western by cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
12th February -
Lost in La Mancha
USA - 2002 - directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe 93mins - cert15
Originally intended as the making of Terry Gilliam's “The Man who killed Don Quixote.
This became a memorable portrait of an artist seeing the project he had planned for a decade come crashing down around his ears, featuring Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp.
26th February -
Crime of Father Amaro
Mexico - 2002 - 118mins - directed Carlos Carrera - cert15
The Catholic Church campaigned against this film, which led to it being a box office hit in Mexico. Young priest on the rise Padre Amaro appears a paragon of virtue but his ambition allows him to be manipulated by the regional bishop who is in bed with the drug lords, then he starts an affair with a young girl.
4th March -
Dirty Pretty Things
UK - 97 mins - directed by Stephen Frears - cert15
Stephen Frears gives us another stunning cinematic portrait of London. His film focuses on the capital's illegal immigrants. Okwe, a Nigerian exile works as a hotel porter at night and witnesses some shady goings-on. A decent man, how can he do the right thing and protect those he cares about, given his precarious status
11th March -
Pot Luck
France - 2003 - 122 mins - directed by Cedric Klapiisch - cert 15 (L'Auberge Espagnole)
Xavier is an economics student in his late twenties who goes to Barcelona on an exchange programme. He stays in an apartment of international students who join him on a series of adventures that serve as an initiation to life.
18th March -
The Hours
US - 2002 - 115mins - directed by Stephen Daldry - cert 12A
Uniquely structured drama simultaneously occurs in three time periods resulting in intriguing story parallels and distinctive performances aided by a powerful musical score. Three very different women battle with issues of freedom, responsibility and identity. David Hare has adapted Michael Cunningham's novel.
25th March -
Abouna
France/Chad - 2002 - 84 mins - directed and written by Mahamat Salah Haroun - cert PG
A touching tale of two abandoned brothers who are searching for their missing father. Immaculately photographed with affecting performances from the two boys.
1st April -
Adaptation
USA - 2002 - 114 mins - Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze - cert15
Charlie Kaufman as played by Nicholas Cage is trying to adapt the novel The Orchid Thief. He ends up writing about the dilemma of trying to create the adaptation and invents a twin brother also played by Nicholas Cage. Charlie is the suffering artist. Donald is the amiable hack. Meryl Streep and Chris Carter act out the story
15th April -
Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress
Luo and Ma are trying to survive a Maoist re-education camp in a remote mountain village during the Cultural Revolution. Outmanoeuvring the party official who watches over them, they pursue the beautiful granddaughter of the village tailor, meeting with her secretly, to read outlawed books and to play Mozart. (In Mandarin)
22nd April -
The Dancer Upstairs
Spain/USA - 2002 - 133mins - directed by John Malkovich - cert15
Set in an unnamed South American country. .An ex-lawyer turned policeman Rejas is ordered by his superiors to track down a rebel leader. The film operates on various levels as an investigative thriller, as a thwarted love story and as a portrait of the way a fundamentally corrupt society breeds support for terrorist movements. Excellent performance from Javier Bardem as Rejas.
