Topsham Film Society Current Programme 2008-9 Happy Go Lucky 3 October 2008 UK, 2008, Cert 12, 118 minutes. Director: Mike Leigh. Starring Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman. A charming story of a relentlessly optimistic teacher embarking on a new romance. Peppered with fine performances, this is Mike Leigh’s most life-affirming film in years, yet it utterly avoids cliché or cloyingness. It won awards at Berlin and Cannes. Lives Of Others 17 October 2008 Germany/France, 2006, Cert 15, 137 minutes. Director: Florian von Donnersmarck. Starring Ulrich Muhe, Ulrich Tukur, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch. (Subtitled) This gripping drama is about an actress and her dramatist partner, two intellectual stars in the former East Germany, who are spied on by the secret police under orders from the Ministry of Culture. This is a BAFTA and Oscar winning film. Don’t Look Now 31 October 2008 UK/Italy, 1973, Cert 18, 110 minutes. Director: Nicholas Roeg. Starring: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason. Laura and John Baxter go to Venice to forget a family tragedy. Amidst accidents and coincidences Laura meets two sisters, one of whom claims to be a psychic. This classic and intelligent masterpiece is the perfect viewing for Hallowe’en. Manon des Sources 21 November 2008 France/Italy, 1986, Cert PG, 113 minutes. Director: Claude Berri. Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Beart, Yves Montand. (Subtitled) Topsham’s film lovers cherished Jean de Florette when it was shown earlier this year - this is the sequel. It is 10 years after her father’s death but Manon still roams the hills overlooking the Provence farm stolen from her family by the Soubeyrans. Members’ Choice 5 December 2008 This year our members choose the film to be shown in the lead up to Christmas. There are six titles, each a fine example of a different genre. Full details on NEWS page. Secrets & Lies 2 January 2009 UK, 1996, Cert 15, 140 minutes. Director: Mike Leigh. Starring Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall, Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Hilarious and gruelling by turn, Secrets & Lies proves that a film can have a big heart and a harsh edge as it tells the story of a young woman who traces her mother and discovers she is part of an eccentric family. Another Cannes winner for Mike Leigh. Henry V 23 January 2009 UK, 1944, Cert PG, 137 minutes. Directors: Laurence Olivier and Reginald Beck. Starring Laurence Olivier, Leslie Banks, Robert Newton. Once more unto the breach with this exhilarating and remastered version of Shakespeare’s story, containing a dominant performance by Olivier and clear echoes of the modern bloody battles being fought at the time the film was being made. Water 6 February 2009 India, 2005, Cert 12A, 114 minutes, Director: Deepa Mehta. Starring John Abraham, Lisa Ray, Sarala, Seema Biswas. (Subtitled). Water is set in the religious Indian city of Varanasi, where two child brides are companions in a home to which Hindu widows are consigned for the rest of their lives. This moving story is set against the rise of Gandhi. Notorious 20 February 2009 US, 1946, Cert PG, 101 minutes, Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Ingrid Bergman, Louis Calhern. This taut Hitchcock thriller is about a fearless woman, enlisted by the US government for a dangerous mission, who falls in love with her target. Hitchcock was pursued by the FBI after discussing uranium with experts during research for this classic film. Carmen 6 March 2009 UK, 2003, No cert, 200 minutes. Director: David McVicar. With Anne Sofie von Otter, Marcus Haddock Laurent Naouri, Lisa Milne Glyndebourne Chorus, the London Philharmonic Orchestra. (Surtitled). An exhilarating new Carmen from Glyndebourne. Note – this production will start promptly at 7pm and there will be an interval. (Bar from 6.30pm and during interval). The Kite Runner 20 March 2009 US, 2007, Cert 12A, 122 mins. Director: Marc Forster Starring Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, Homayon Ershadi, Khalid Abdalla, Zekeria Ebrahimi. A deeply moving and human story that works on two levels – the first about how children can betray each other yet ultimately seek redemption, the other about how exile and war can disfigure parts of the world for generations.