Topsham Film Society Current Programme 2010-11 AN EDUCATION                                                            1 October 2010 UK, 2009, Cert 12A, 95 minutes. Director: Lone Sherfig. Starring Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams. A coming-of-age story of a teenager in 1960s London and how her life changes when she meets a playboy twice her age. This sensitive and much-praised film received three Oscar nominations and won Mulligan a BAFTA and a string of other awards. Watch the trailer MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM                                    15 October 2010 Italy/US/UK, 1999. Cert PG, 116 minutes. Director: Michael Hoffman. Starring Kevin Kline, Michaelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Anna Friel.  A cast of modern film actors previously not known for period productions star in this critically-acclaimed version – the fifth on film – of Shakespeare's classic comedy. Two couples, in love with the wrong partners, are finally brought together… Watch the trailer RUSSIAN ARK                                                            29 October 2010 Russia, 2002, Cert U, 96 minutes. Director: Alexander Sukurov. Starring Sergei Dontov.  (Subtitled) This is a remarkable film. In one 96-minute take, a narrator wanders through the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and encounters real and fictional people from the city’s 300-year history. A true one-off, this film is revered by cinema critics. Watch the trailer WALK THE LINE                                                            19 November 2010     US, 2005, Cert 12A, 135 minutes. Director: James Mangold. Starring Joaquin Pheonix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin. An Oscar-winning chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Watch the trailer FROZEN RIVER                                                            3 December 2010 US, 2008, Cert 12A. 93 minutes. Director: Courtney Hunt. Starring Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott. On the little-known border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec, desperate people do desperate things. This is a modern tale of two women from different backgrounds driven to traffic immigrants across borders. Watch the trailer SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS                        17 December 2010 US, 1954, Cert U, 102 minutes. Director: Stanley Donen. Starring Howard Keel, Howard Petrie, Russ Tamblyn Fifty-six years old and still going strong, this is the classic musical set in 1850s Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm…and his six brothers decide that they want to get married too. The perfect Christmas heart-warmer. Watch the trailer THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA                                    07 January 2011 Vietnam/France, 1993, Cert 15, 104 minutes. Director: Tran Anh Hung. Starring: Lu Man San, Tran Nu Yen-Khe, Truong Thi Loc. (Subtitled) Perhaps the most remarkable film you will ever see, this is the story of two periods in the life of a Vietnamese girl named Mui. This film, which has little dialogue, relies extensively on beautiful images, music and sound effects to create atmosphere. Watch thel trailer COLD COMFORT FARM                                                21 January 2011 UK, 1995, Cert PG (TV), 95 minutes. Director: John Schlesinger. Starring Kate Beckinsale, Ian McKellen, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Fry.   In 1930s England, 20-year-old Flora Poste visits distant relatives on Cold Comfort Farm – “the branch of her family with nuts on”. Everyone on the gloomy farm is completely around the twist, but Flora tries to sort everything out...  Watch the trailer THE LAST STATION                                                            4 February 2011 Germany/Russia/UK, 2009, Cert 15, 112 minutes. Director: Michael Hoffman. Starring Helen Mirren, Paul Giamatti, James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer.   A historical drama, nominated for two Oscars, depicting Leo Tolstoy's struggle to balance fame and wealth with his commitment to a life devoid of material things. Mirren received several nominations for her lead role in this film. Watch the trailer THE HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS                        18 February 2011 China, 2004, Cert 15, 119 minutes. Director: Yimou Zhang Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Ziyi Zhang. (Subtitled) It is 859 AD and the Tang Dynasty is in decline. Rebel groups including The House of Flying Daggers fight to win control. Vivid colours, vast set-piece battles and Chinese action from beginning to end. It won a 20-minute ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. Watch the trailer MEMBERS’ CHOICE                                                            4 March 2011 Your choice of film, from the five listed on your Members’ Choice voting paper. MILK                                                                                    18 March 2011 US, 2008, Cert 15, 128 minutes. Director: Gus Van Sant. Starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch. This is the true-life story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay mayor of a US city who fought the police and the establishment for equal rights. The production received many Oscar nominations and Penn won the Best Actor award.  Watch the trailer