Free Fire
Based on Sebastian Barry’s acclaimed novel, Jim Sheridan’s first film set primarily in Ireland since The Boxer (1997) explores the life and history of Roseanne McNulty (Vanessa Redgrave), a woman confined to the Roscommon Mental Hospital for 50 years. As the institution is about to close, Dr. Grene (Eric Bana) is sent to see whether she’s fit to be released. He’s intrigued by Roseanne’s eccentricities and her fierce attachment to her Bible, in which she’s been keeping a diary since she was first admitted. As he delves into her past, Dr. Grene gets to know the younger Roseanne (played by Rooney Mara) and eventually learns the terrible truth about her confinement. Shot in the west of Ireland, The Secret Scripture mines a familiar seam in depicting Ireland’s history.
After making his previous film (The Past) in France, Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, About Elly) returns to his native Tehran for this story about a couple forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighbour’s building. Emad and Rana move into a new flat in the centre of Tehran, where an incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the young couple’s life. Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman plays an unexpected part in proceedings, as the nature of honour and violence are explored in typically metaphorical Iranian style.
Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, and with unprecedented access to James Baldwin’s original work, Raoul Peck has completed the cinematic version of the book Baldwin never wrote – a radical narration about race in America that tracks the lives and assassinations of Baldwin’s friends, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers. Whilst partly anchored in the struggle for equality in the ’50s and ’60s, I Am Not Your Negro sees Peck extrapolate from Baldwin’s actual work to make his own statements about what it means to be black in America today.
Maureen is the personal shopper for a German model/designer who demands an endless supply of clothes be procured and delivered to her. But Maureen has just suffered a personal trauma: her beloved twin brother, Lewis, to whom she was intensely attached, has just died. She is also a medium, and attempts to communicate with Lewis while wandering around their cavernous childhood home in Paris, where he died. Gradually, mysterious things begin to occur. On paper that may not sound like much, but this is the second pairing of actress Kristen Stewart and writer/director Olivier Assayas after Clouds of Sils Maria.
When an unknown Indonesian film called The Raid premiered at JDIFF 2011 the Savoy was thunderous in welcoming the furious flying fists and lightning-fast feet of star Iko Uwais. Uwais is the hero of Headshot. A young man washes ashore, an amnesiac with a serious head injury. After being nursed back to health by a young doctor, violence ensues as Ishmael takes on the henchmen of a vengeful drug lord while piecing together his past as a remorseless killing machine. Directors Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel — a.k.a. The Mo Brothers — keep the action coming as Ishmael kicks, punches, ducks, and flips his way through the Indonesian underworld.
“How should we live?” A question long asked by philosophers is one which Seymour Bernstein has been cultivating an answer to over 50 years of playing piano. Bernstein chose to forego a promising career as a concert pianist in order to teach, thus revealing his profound world-view, a breathtakingly clear-headed perspective on art and its essential value. Ethan Hawke, one of his greatest admirers, takes us into Bernstein’s world with this delicately crafted film offering a wise and charismatic reflection on art and life, and even punning on JD Salinger for its title.
Berlin, June 1940. While Nazi propaganda celebrates victory over France, Anna and Otto are grieving their son, who has been killed at the front. They had long believed in the ‘Führer’, but now they realise his promises are nothing but lies. They begin writing anti-Nazi postcards as a form of resistance. Putting their lives at risk, the couple played by Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson distribute these cards all over Berlin. But soon, as with Sophie Scholl, the authorities are onto them.
Stanley, a naive first year drama student meets Isolde and begins a sweet, first love affair. Goaded by Hannah, Kerry Fox’s charismatic, domineering Head of Acting, Stanley uncovers a talent and ambition he didn’t know he had. When his group hits on a sex scandal that involves Isolde’s tennis prodigy sister as fertile material for their end-of-year show, Stanley finds himself profoundly torn.
When MI5 Special Operative Bruce Mindhorn was captured in the late 1980s, his eye was replaced by a super-advanced optical lie detector, which meant he could literally “see the truth.” He escaped and fled to the Isle of Man, to recuperate in the island’s temperate micro-climate, and today has become the best plain-clothes detective the island has ever seen. This cheeky and hilarious send up of television detective shows stars Julian Barratt of The Mighty Boosh and is directed by theatre wunderkind Sean Foley.
A Quiet Passion is Terence Davies’ new biopic of Emily Dickinson; her loves, her struggles, and her magnificent poetry. Shot in Belgium and Massachusetts, A Quiet Passion paints a sympathetic but far from idealistic portrait of one of 19th Century America’s greatest poets. Featuring a finely curated selection of her work read in voice-over by star Jennifer Ehle, this luminous biopic will appeal to existing Dickinson fans and perhaps create new ones at the same time.
David Lynch – The Art Life
David Lynch was once memorably described by his producer Mel Brooks as Jimmy Stewart fro Mars. Lynch takes us on an intimate journey through his idyllic upbringing in small town America to the dark streets of Philadelphia, to trace the events that shaped the career of one of cinema’s most distinctive directors. This portrait gives audiences a better understanding of the man and the artist just as he prepares to welcome back the world to his greatest triumph Twin Peaks.
On the Road
Don’t worry, it’s not another sally at the unfilmable Kerouac classic. Michael Winterbottom joins London 90s throwback band Wolf Alice on the road, capturing 16 different gigs and daily life backstage. The resulting film documents the tour from the point of view of a new crew member and reveals the relentless, sometimes unglamorous side of playing live, night after night. But it also mesmerises, capturing the nuanced musicality of the full band, and the charisma of frontwoman Ellie Rowsell.
Berlin Syndrome
Holidaying in Berlin, Teresa Palmer’s Australian photojournalist Clare meets the charismatic Andi. There is an instant mutual attraction, and a night of passion ensues. But what initially appears to be the start of a romance suddenly takes an unexpected and sinister turn when Clare wakes the following morning to discover Andi has left for work and locked her in his apartment. An easy mistake to make, of course, except Andi has no intention of letting her go again in the latest German-set effort from Australian director Cate Shortland following Lore.
Hounds of Love
Set in Perth in 1987 and inspired by real crimes, this feature debut from director Ben Young takes place in the aftermath of a murderous couple’s abduction of a teenager on a steamy summer evening. Though she’s a captive, 17 year-old Vicki Maloney isn’t powerless. Suspecting the many problems plaguing her captors, and attuned to marital issues following her own parents’ recent split, Vicki fights for her life by trying to expose the imbalances in their relationship.
Neruda
In Neruda Pablo Larraín (Jackie, No) weaves an engrossing meta-fictional fable around the 1948 manhunt for celebrated poet and politician Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco), who goes underground when Chile outlaws communism. He is pursued by an ambitious police inspector (Gael García Bernal), who is hoping to make a name for himself by capturing the famous fugitive. This period saw Neruda produce some of his most memorable work, even while he was constantly on the run.
Talking Movies 