| Topsham Film Society Current
Programme 2011-12
MADE IN DAGENHAM 7
October 2011
US, 2009, Cert 15, 138 minutes. Director: Martin
Scorsese.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Ben Kingsley.
Who expected
a comedy about a 1960s strike to be such a gem? Rita (Hawkins), a working mother
sewing seat covers for Ford Cortinas, leads a strike against management - and
the cosy men’s
club running the union as well as the company.
SHUTTER ISLAND 21
October 2011
US, 2009, Cert 15, 138 minutes. Director: Martin Scorsese.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Ben
Kingsley.
This is Scorsese’s homage to Hitchcock. Set in
1954 it shows two policemen trying to find an escapee from “a
hospital for the criminally insane” on an isolated island.
DiCaprio is the officer descending into paranoia in this Denis
Lehane psycho-thriller.
LOOSE CANNONS (subtitled) 4
November 2011
Italy, 2010, Cert 12A, 110 minutes. Director: Ferzan Ozpetek.
Starring Alessandro Preziosi, Ennios Fantastichini, Riccardo
Scarmacio.
The Italians loved this gentle comedy in their
own country, and it travels well. The ailing father of a family
pasta firm in Puglia prepares to hand over to the next generation
- but his two sons are not keen on maintaining family traditions.
THE STATION AGENT 18
November 2011
US, 2003, Cert 15, 90 minutes. Director: Thomas McCarthy.
Starring Babby Cannavale, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams,
Peter Dinklage.
This film is charming, sad and unsentimental.
A man is so unhappy with the reaction of others to his being
a dwarf that he adopts the life of a hermit, but then unexpectedly
finds dignity with three other people seeking love and friendship.
THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE (subtitled) 2
December 2011
France, 1982, Cert 15. 122 minutes. Director: Daniel Vigne.
Starring Gerard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, Roger Planchon, Dominique
Pinon.
In 16th century France, Martin returns years
after disappearing without trace. His wife accepts him but
his village does not. Is Depardieu’s character merely
an older, wiser version of the man who left? Or is he an imposter,
a deserter, a fraud?
THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT 16
December 2011
Australia/Rest of the World, 1994, Cert 15, 103 minutes. Director:
Stephan Elliott.
Starring Terence Stamp, Bill Hunter, Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving.
This cult classic of three drag queens travelling across the
Outback in a camper van called Priscilla is a winner in many
ways - it won plaudits at Cannes, won an Oscar for Best Costume
Design and won an army of new enthusiasts for Australian films.
TAMARA DREWE 06
January 2012
UK, 2010, Cert 15, 114 minutes. Director: Stephen Frears.
Starring Gemma Arterton, Tamsin Greig, Roger Allam, Dominic Cooper.
With more than a nod towards Thomas Hardy, this comic vision
of country life sees Tamara (Arterton) bringing her ‘London
Ways’ to a Dorset village as she returns to her Westcountry
roots to restore an old house, write a best seller and woo a
local lad.
RESTREPO 20
January 2012
UK/USA, 2010, Cert 15, 93 minutes. Directors: Tim Hetherington,
Sebastian Junger.
This non-judgmental documentary shows a year-long
tour of service by a platoon of US infantrymen in Afghanistan.
The soldiers tell their own story of combat, digging trenches, ‘hearts and
minds’ work with locals, and events they will never ever
forget.
STILL WALKING (subtitled) 3
February 2012
Japan/Rest of the World, 2008, Cert U, 114 minutes. Director:
Hirokazu Kore-eda.
Starring Hiroshi Abe, Kirin Kiki, Yoshio Harada, Yui Natsukawa.
An
internationally-acclaimed, sensitive and touching film of ordinary
Japanese family life. Over the 24-hour period of a family summer
reunion we slowly learn the tragic reason for this annual event.
This is beautifully crafted and photographed.
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF 17
February 2012
US, 1958, Cert U, 108 minutes. Director: Richard Brooks. Starring
Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives. This is our Members’ Choice
film, telling the classic story of an alcoholic ex-football player
drinking his days away...until a reunion with his dying father
triggers memories and revelations.
OF GODS AND MEN (subtitled) 02
March 2012
France, 2010, Cert 15, 122 minutes. Director: Xavier Beauvois.
Starring Etienne Comar, Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier
Rabourdin.
Eight French Trappist monks work respectfully
with a Muslim community outside Algiers, but are confronted by
extremists fighting a civil war. This moving picture, loosely
based on a true story, won the Cesar for Best French Film of
2010.
HOPE AND GLORY 16
March 2012
UK, 1987, Cert 12, 113 minutes. Director: John Boorman.
Starring Sarah Miles, David Hayman, Sebastian Rice-Edwards.
This
semi-autobiographical story is an affectionate and Oscar-nominated
description of childhood London life in the early days of World
War Two. Seven-year-old Billy watches wide-eyed as a family of
women struggle for survival on the Home Front. |