Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Country of origin: Japan
Year of release: 1953
Running time: 136'
Language: Japanese, with English subtitles
One of the masterpieces of world cinema, Tokyo Story follows the lives of an elderly couple, Shukichi and Tomi, after they set out from their small seaside hometown to visit their children and grandchildren in bustling postwar Tokyo. When they arrive, however, they are disappointed to find that the children, busy with their own families, jobs and lives, have little time to spend with them.
The children send their parents to a cheap spa resort, after which Tomi goes to stay with her war-widowed daughter-in-law, Noriko. Noriko is the only person who has taken a genuine interest in the elderly couple’s visit, and Tomi tries to convince her to get remarried. After Shukichi and Tomi decide to return home, Tomi falls seriously ill, and the neglectful children rush to be at her side.
Considered the greatest film by arguably the most visually distinctive director in film history, Tokyo Story is calmly understated, yet deeply moving. Though uniquely Japanese in its style, its profound meditations on life—in particular its exploration of how, with the passage of time, the different generations inevitably grow apart—make it a universal film, and a timeless one.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Screening for Monday 23rd November: The Piano
Director: Jane Campion
Country of origin: Australia-New Zealand
Year of release: 1993
Running time: 122'
Language: English, Maori, Sign Language, with English subtitles
Set in the mid-nineteenth century, The Piano is the story of Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter, in an Academy Award-winning role), a mute Scotswoman who is married off by her father to Alistair Stewart (Sam Neill), a New Zealand frontiersman. Ada is sent out to her new home with her young daughter, Flora (Anna Paquin, who also won an Academy Award), and her piano.
Ada is forced to leave the piano on the beach by her new husband, who claims there is no space for it in their house. Stewart then makes a deal with Baines (Harvey Keitel), a European who has taken on many of the indigenous Maori ways, to give Baines the piano and playing lessons from Ada, in exchange for some land.
Furious, Ada goes along with the scheme in order to be near her beloved instrument. Soon she is drawn into an affair with Baines. Stewart finds out about the affair, and makes Ada vow not to see Baines again. But then Stewart discovers, through Flora, that Ada is actually in love with Baines—a discovery that will have profound consequences.
Country of origin: Australia-New Zealand
Year of release: 1993
Running time: 122'
Language: English, Maori, Sign Language, with English subtitles
Set in the mid-nineteenth century, The Piano is the story of Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter, in an Academy Award-winning role), a mute Scotswoman who is married off by her father to Alistair Stewart (Sam Neill), a New Zealand frontiersman. Ada is sent out to her new home with her young daughter, Flora (Anna Paquin, who also won an Academy Award), and her piano.
Ada is forced to leave the piano on the beach by her new husband, who claims there is no space for it in their house. Stewart then makes a deal with Baines (Harvey Keitel), a European who has taken on many of the indigenous Maori ways, to give Baines the piano and playing lessons from Ada, in exchange for some land.
Furious, Ada goes along with the scheme in order to be near her beloved instrument. Soon she is drawn into an affair with Baines. Stewart finds out about the affair, and makes Ada vow not to see Baines again. But then Stewart discovers, through Flora, that Ada is actually in love with Baines—a discovery that will have profound consequences.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Screening for Monday 16th November: Mr Deeds Goes to Town
Director: Frank Capra
Country of origin: USA
Year of release: 1936
Running time: 115'
Language: English
Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a Cinderella Man screwball comedy from the golden age of Hollywood. In it, Gary Cooper plays Longfellow Deeds, a simple small-town dweller who loves nothing more than playing his tuba. One day he unexpectedly becomes the inheritor of $20 million, and that’s when his troubles start.
Thrust into the big city, Deeds must struggle to maintain his integrity, especially against those trying to prevent him giving away his wealth to the poor. Enter Louise “Babe” Bennett (Jean Arthur), a hard-nosed reporter who, for the sake of a story, poses as a damsel in distress to get close to Deeds, before inevitably falling in love with him.
Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a romantic comedy that regards the broader themes of innocence and corruption, and the power of the common man to fight the forces of a greedy, unjust establishment. It wields a message that would have been gratifying to the Depression-era audiences who first saw it, and remains a funny and supremely entertaining experience.
Country of origin: USA
Year of release: 1936
Running time: 115'
Language: English
Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a Cinderella Man screwball comedy from the golden age of Hollywood. In it, Gary Cooper plays Longfellow Deeds, a simple small-town dweller who loves nothing more than playing his tuba. One day he unexpectedly becomes the inheritor of $20 million, and that’s when his troubles start.
Thrust into the big city, Deeds must struggle to maintain his integrity, especially against those trying to prevent him giving away his wealth to the poor. Enter Louise “Babe” Bennett (Jean Arthur), a hard-nosed reporter who, for the sake of a story, poses as a damsel in distress to get close to Deeds, before inevitably falling in love with him.
Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a romantic comedy that regards the broader themes of innocence and corruption, and the power of the common man to fight the forces of a greedy, unjust establishment. It wields a message that would have been gratifying to the Depression-era audiences who first saw it, and remains a funny and supremely entertaining experience.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Screening for Monday 9th November: Hyenas
Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty
Country of origin: Senegal
Year of release: 1992
Running time: 110'
Language: Wolof, with English subtitles
Hyenas tells the story of Linguère Ramatou, who as a young woman fell in love with and became pregnant for a certain Dramaan Drameh. Dramaan denied paternity of the child, and bribed two men to say they had slept with Linguère. Disgraced, Linguère was driven from her village.
Years later Linguère, now miraculously wealthy—“as wealthy as the World Bank”—returns to the village seeking revenge. She offers the villagers untold material riches if they will kill Dramaan. Seduced by this lure, the people all join together in the name of greed to effect Linguère’s wishes. Inexorably, the village descends into a mad hell of corruption, degeneration and decay.
A striking and surreal satire of neocolonialism and consumerism, Hyenas blends compelling imagery and symbolism with a unique voice and perspective. The result is a brilliantly original example of African cinema, the last feature film from perhaps the continent’s most distinctive filmmaker.
Country of origin: Senegal
Year of release: 1992
Running time: 110'
Language: Wolof, with English subtitles
Hyenas tells the story of Linguère Ramatou, who as a young woman fell in love with and became pregnant for a certain Dramaan Drameh. Dramaan denied paternity of the child, and bribed two men to say they had slept with Linguère. Disgraced, Linguère was driven from her village.
Years later Linguère, now miraculously wealthy—“as wealthy as the World Bank”—returns to the village seeking revenge. She offers the villagers untold material riches if they will kill Dramaan. Seduced by this lure, the people all join together in the name of greed to effect Linguère’s wishes. Inexorably, the village descends into a mad hell of corruption, degeneration and decay.
A striking and surreal satire of neocolonialism and consumerism, Hyenas blends compelling imagery and symbolism with a unique voice and perspective. The result is a brilliantly original example of African cinema, the last feature film from perhaps the continent’s most distinctive filmmaker.
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