New foreign language movies (Jan-Feb 2011)

March 7, 2011 at 1:57 pm Leave a comment

Dear all,

Over the past months, documentaries and movies in various languages have been recorded from SBS & ABC channels.

These programmes are available in the Self Study room (Rm 222, Brennan MacCallum building) should you wish to view them.

Arabic

Go In Peace, Jamil

An age-old hatred between two feuding religions in the Arabic community in Denmark reignites after a revenge killing. Winner of the Grand Prix Award at the Warsaw International Film Festival 2008.

Dar Salim, Khalid Al-Subeihi, Elias Samir Al-Sobehi

(2008)  Denmark  Director: Omar Shargawi

MA  V,L  Drama  95 mins  Repeat

 

Chinese

One Last Dance

An assassin is hired to kill the men responsible for kidnapping an important man’s son. With every death, the killer gets closer to the last kidnapper’s name. Nominated for the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival 2006.

(2005) Singapore. Francis Ng, Lung Ti.

MA  Action  Cantonese, English

English

Immigration Nation: the Secret history of us

At Federation in 1901, Australia had a dream to create a democratic Utopia. But the nation’s leaders believed this vision would only be achieved by closing the country to anybody who wasn’t white. This paradox and the draconian laws known as the White Australia Policy that followed caused great human suffering and ironically helped realise the very threat Australia feared the most – invasion from the Asian North.

French

The Accursed Kings: The Iron King

When the Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Templar refuses to loan gold to King Philippe IV, the king has him burnt at the stake. As he burns, he issues a curse upon the king and Pope Clement.

Guillaume Depardieu, Julie Depardieu, Gérard Depardieu, Jeanne Moreau

(2005) (France/French)  Director: Josee Dayan

Drama 80 mins

Persepolis

Beginning during the Islamic Revolution, this is a poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl. It follows Marjane as she outsmarts the ‘social guardians’ and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden while living with the terror of government persecution and the Iran/Iraq war. Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature.

(2007)  (France / USA/French)  Animation  105 mins

Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux

 

The Sea Wall = Un barrage contre le Pacifique

A widow tries to make a living with her two children, growing rice in a swampy coastal area of the southern part of Indochina in the 1930s, during the French rule. Used and abused by the corrupt colonial powers, she has invested all her savings in this worthless, regularly flooded farmland. In desperation, she throws all of her energy into the building of a sea wall.

Isabelle Huppert, Gaspard Ulliel and Astrid Berges-Frisbey

(2008)  France/Cambodia/Belgium  M  L,A,S  Drama  120 mins  Repeat

Secrets of State

Diane, a young student, is recruited to the French Secret Service and trained to infiltrate a terrorist network. At the same time, Pierre, a troubled youth, is attracted to Islamist circles where he becomes involved in a plot to attack Paris. Both are drawn into a chain of events from which they seem incapable of escaping.

(2008)  (France/French, Arabic)  Director: Philippe Haïm
MA  V,S  Thriller  105 mins

Gérard Lanvin, Vahina Giocante, Nicolas Duvauchelle

To Be and to Have (Hot Docs)

A fly-on-the-wall documentary from Nicolas Philibert about a one-room school in rural France where the students (ranging in age from 4 to 11) are educated by a single, dedicated teacher. Winner of the Best Documentary Award at the 2002 European Film Awards.

(2002)  (France/French)  G  Documentary  110 mins  Repeat

 

German

Cherry Blossoms

Multi-award-winner at the 2008 German Film Awards, this touching film follows a dying man as he goes on an evocative journey to Japan in an attempt to accomplish his late wife’s unfulfilled dreams.

(2008)  (Germany/German, English, Japanese)  Director: Doris Dörrie
MA  N  Drama  135 mins  Repeat

 

The Counterfeiters

Salomon ‘Sally’ Sorowitsch is an expert Jewish counterfeiter enjoying the good life until he’s sent to Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. Sally manages to survive for five years before transfer to Sachsenhausen, where he is assigned to produce perfect forgeries of British and US banknotes for the Third Reich. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2008.

(2007)  (Germany/German)  Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
M  Drama  105 mins

 

Hebrew

The Band’s Visit

A band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab cultural centre, only to find themselves stranded, penniless and still wearing their sky-blue uniforms in the middle of nowhere. Winner of three awards at the Cannes Film Festival 2007.

Sasson Gabai, Ronit Elkabetz, Saleh Bakri

(2007)  (Israel/France/USA/Arabic, English, Hebrew)  Director: Eran Kolirin
M  Action  95 mins

 

Live and Become

In the mid-1980s, Schlomo, a Christian Ethiopian boy from a poverty-stricken family, is forced by his mother to pretend he is a Jewish orphan so that he has a chance at being adopted by an upper-class Jewish family in Israel. A multi-award-winning film.

(2005)  (France/Hebrew, Amharic, French)  Director: Radu Mihaileanu
M  A,L,V  Drama  150 mins  Repeat

A Walk in the Park

The fight is on for the holiest city in the holy land. The Israelis say Jerusalem must never be divided; the Palestinians say the east of the city is theirs and must become the capital of a new state. BBC reporter Jane Corbin walks through the disputed streets and parks, meeting families thrown out of their homes, witnessing bulldozers demolishing houses and goes underground to explore tunnels excavated deep below the biblical sites.

(UK/English, Arabic, Hebrew)  PG  Documentary  30 mins

 

Hindi

Don’t Say a Word

While living in America, Raj is forced to go to India to attend his cousin’s wedding. While there, his uncle puts pressure on him to get married. He resists, but then he falls for Namrata, a single mother with a seven-year-old son. However, Namrata’s husband returns after seven years and expects Namrata to be his faithful wife.

Aishwarya Rai, Satish Shah, Abhishek Bachchan

(2003) (India/Hindi)  Director: Rohan Sippy

Drama 180 mins

 

Parineeta

Set in the early 1960s. Shekhar, the son of a wealthy businessman, is due to marry Gayatri, the daughter of an industrialist. But he is in love with Lolita, his childhood sweetheart who lives next door. Meanwhile, Girish, a steel tycoon from London, also becomes smitten with Lolita.

Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan

(2005)  (India/Hindi)  Director: Pradeep Sarkar
PG  Drama  140 mins  Repeat

 

Italian

Facing Windows

Overburdened and stuck in a greying marriage, Giovanna takes to caring for the Jewish Holocaust survivor her husband brings home. As she begins to reflect on her life, she turns to the man who lives across from her. Winner of four David de Donatello awards, including Best Film.

(2002)  (Italy/Italian)  Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
M  L,S,A  Drama  110 mins  Repeat

Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Massimo Girotti, Raoul Bova

Man of Glass

A powerful and personal drama set in the mafia heartland of Italy in 1972 and based on the true story of informer Leo Vitale, who blew the whistle on numerous mob activities, placing both his life and mental stability at risk. Nominated for the Grand Prix Award at the Montreal World Film Festival 2007.

David Coco, Tony Sperandeo, Anna Bonaiuto

(2007)  (Italy/Italian)  Director: Stefano Incerti
MA  V,A,S  Drama  105 mins

 

Manual of Love 2

Following the success of 2005’s Manual Of Love, Monica Bellucci leads a host of good-looking Italian actors in this heart-warming and comical anthology of four interconnected tales of love and other such calamities.

Carlo Verdone, Monica Bellucci, Riccardo Scamarcio, Sergio Rubini

(2007)  (Italy/Italian)  Director: Giovanni Veronesi
M  S,L,N,V  Drama  130 mins  Repeat

 

Once You’re Born You Can No Longer Hide

Ten-year-old Sandro of wealthy Italian parentage transcends the boundaries of multiethnicities when a fateful twist lands him on an overcrowded boat full of illegal immigrants.

(2005)  (France/Italian)  M  L,A  Drama  125 mins  Repeat

 

Japanese

Rashomon

The film that introduced western audiences to Japanese cinema. Akira Kurosawa’s famous study of the relativity of truth with four people in 12th-century Kyoto giving mutually contradictory versions of the same story of rape and murder. Golden Lion winner at the Venice Film Festival 1951.

Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori

(1951)  (Japan/Japanese)  Director: Akira Kurosawa
M  Drama  95 mins

 

Persian

The Song of Sparrows

A tale of moral decline and redemption from Oscar-nominated director Majid Majidi. Karim is a poor man with an ambitious son and two daughters, one of whom is deaf. He loses his job just when his daughter Haniyeh needs a new hearing aid. He then learns some lessons about life when he resorts to using his motorcycle as a taxi in Tehran. Nominated for the 2008 Golden Bear at Berlin.

Mohammad Amir Naji, Hamid Aghazi and Maryam Akbari

(2008) (Iran/Persian)  Director: Majid Majidi

M  Drama  95 mins

 

Spanish

The Milk of Sorrow

Fausta, a withdrawn and beautiful young woman living in present-day Lima is said to be suffering from “the milk of sorrow”, distress and fear passed on by the breast milk of pregnant women who have been abused or raped during war. After her mother’s sudden death, Fausta needs to take drastic measures to not follow in her mother’s footsteps. Nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2010 Academy Awards.

Magaly Solier, Susi Sánchez, Efraín Solís

(2009) (Spain/Spanish)  Director: Claudia Llosa

M  Drama  90 mins

 

Son of the Bride

A stressed-out restaurant owner who is facing a midlife crisis ends up in hospital. A series of events and his father’s devotion to his mother make him take a new look at life. Winner of eight awards at the Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards.

(2001) (Argentina/Spanish). Ricardo Darín, Héctor Alterio.

M  Comedy 90 mins

Entry filed under: Movies.