Fabian Bielinsky, 2000, Argentina, 114 min, DV, rated M
Two con artists meet by chance and decide to cooperate in a scam. Fast-paced and unerringly surprising, Nine Queens is an elegant deadpan comedy with a nice performance from Ricardo Darín as a goateed, less-than-perfect hoodwinker.
Abbas Kiarostami, 1990, Iran, 100 min, 35mm, rated G
The fictionalised story of the real-life trial of a man who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. A film about human identity, it features the people involved, portraying themselves.
This affecting character study charts the course of a female friendship during a sweltering, turbulent summer in Berlin. A moving film full of warmth, sincerity and delightful humour. Presented by the Goethe-Institut.
25th May 2010: A personal journey through American Movies
Martin Scorsese, 1998, USA, 225 min, DV, rated PG
Made by the legendary director Scorsese with the British Film Institute, this documentary is an essential history of American movies. A cornucopia of rare gems, pristine prints and snappily spot-on comments.
1st June 2010: The Day The Earth Stood Still (original 1951 version)
Robert Wise, 1951, USA, 92 min, 16mm, rated G
In one of the most enduring and influential science-fiction films, an emissary from a neighboring planet travels to earth to alert its citizens to the threat nuclear weapons pose to the universe. Entertainment with a post-atomic, Cold War sensibility.
An East German man, jailed just before the Berlin Wall came down, is released into a very different world from the one he knew. Remarkably subtle with touches of sly humour. Presented by the Goethe-Institut.
Erik Black and Frauke Sandig, 1999, Germany, 85 min, DV, no rating
A documentary exploring the disturbing aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The film features interviews in English and German with long-time residents from both sides of the former divide as well as foreign visitors. Presented by the Goethe-Institut.
Guy Maddin’s award-winning portrait of his Manitoba hometown is intensely idiosyncratic and hilariously unreliable. In his “docu-fantasia” the avant-garde auteur reveals a penchant for the styles and moods of the early film era. “Dazzlingly imaginative” – Sight & Sound.
“Movies were his passion. Women were his inspiration. Angora sweaters were his weakness.” Biopic of the legendary Ed Wood, the transvestite director of some of the worst movies of all time. Johnny Depp wears the angora and pearls.
An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in Tokyo, but the children have little time for them. One of the masterpieces of Japanese cinema, this “unbearably moving meditation on mortality” is on many critics’ lists of best movies ever made.
13th July 2010: A Bout de Souffle (Breathless, original 1960 version)
Jean-Luc Godard, 1960, France, 89 min, 16mm, rated PG
A seminal film of the French New Wave, Breathless is the tale of a Parisian crim on the run with his American girlfriend. Loose, sexy and stylish, this “yardstick of celluloid cool” changed the way movies were made.
This high-concept gag film recycles footage from 18 films to spoof the detective movies of the 1950s. Steve Martin, in fine form and wearing a very spiffy trenchcoat, stars as a gumshoe whose unconscious just won’t let up.
A documentary valentine to cinema and all its pleasures and powers, introducing us to four theatre owners in four very different parts of the world. Variety described it as “delightful”. Presented by the Goethe-Institut.
Alfred Hitchcock, 1976, USA, 120 min, 16mm, rated PG
Hitchcock’s last film, a lighthearted but meticulously constructed suspense about the tangled web woven by a fake psychic, her con-artist boyfriend, a missing heir and a pair of kidnappers.
Emir Kusturica, 2004, Serbia-Montenegro / France, 154 min, 35mm, rated M
Luka builds a scenic railway to attract tourists to a Bosnian war zone. The result? A brilliantly choreographed, absurdist three-ring circus, complete with lovesick donkey and home-invading bear.
Spy trainer Bob Sharkey suspects his top student is a little too good, but upon discovering his status as a Nazi double agent, decides to play along – with terrible consequences. Screen legend James Cagney stars in this World War II spy thriller.
"You know how to whistle don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow". Lauren Bacall, in her screen debut, smoulders with sensuality alongside Humphrey Bogart in the Howard Hawks classic, a romantic thriller set in World War II Caribbean.
Michel Hazanavicius, 2006, France, 99 min, DV, rated M
A gloriously funny send-up of 1960s spy movies with France’s own precursor to James Bond. Comedian Jean Dujardin plays the preening, chauvinistic lead, sent to Egypt with the mission of making the Middle East safe. L’Austin Powers anyone? Oui baby! Presented by the Embassy of France.
Andrei Kravchuk, 2005, Russia, 99 min, DV, rated M
Vanya, six years old and living in a Russian orphanage, is picked for adoption by Italian parents. Fearing his absent mother will never be able to find him in Italy he escapes to St Petersburg, where he discovers that life on the streets is no picnic. A heart-wrenching blend of realism and fable.
14th September 2010: Topless Women Talk About Their Lives
Harry Sinclair, 1997, NZ, 87 min, 35mm, rated R16
Described as the freshest, cheekiest, most engaging film from New Zealand in years, Topless Women follows a group of dysfunctional friends and their encounters in modern life. Filmed in Auckland and Niue, it’s a refreshing Kiwi comedy and a real treat. Presented by the NZFC.
21st September 2010: Garlic is as good as Ten Mothers and Yum Yum Yum
Les Blank 1980 / 1990, USA , 51min / 31 min, 16mm, no rating
The first film is a foray into the history, consumption, cultivation, culinary and curative power of Allium sativum. The latter a joyous celebration of cooking and eating in Louisiana, with Cajun classics from okra étouffée to goo courtbouillon.
28th September 2010: Les Enfants du Paradis (The Children of Paradise)
Marcel Carne, 1945, France, 185 min, 16mm, rated PG
An epic period romance universally acclaimed for both substance and style and still regarded as one of the finest films of all time. A pantomime artist, a romantic actor and a criminal each fall in love with, and is briefly loved by, beautiful actress Garance.
Bored thirty-something Melanie heads out drinking with friends. She goes home with a charming man (Sam Neill) then wakes on his boat, trying to figure out if she’s going to live through the day. Presented by the NZFC.
12th October 2010: Beyond the Darkside (NZFC Shorts)
Jane Shearer, Kirsty Cameron, Leo Woodhead, Grant Major, Stephen Sinclair, Gaysorn Thavat, NZ, 70 min, 35mm, rated R16
The Cinema of Unease continues in six recent local short films. In this selection: there’s no rest for the wicked; a girl deals with bullying; a child is trafficked; a man finds his life is overgrown; a woman is threatened; a divorcee breaks into his ex’s home for revenge. Presented by the NZFC.
Two musicians inadvertently witness a massacre so they hit the road, taking jobs with an all-girl band. Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe star in a racy cross-dressing farce that is a mix of slapstick and screwball, gangster film and musical. Presented by MGM Channel NZ.
