Rating: M
Language: French
Director: Dany Boon
Cast: Kad Merad, Dany Boon, Zoe Felix
Running time: 102 minutes
Dany Boon's hilarious comedy "Welcome To The Sticks" ("Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis") was released in France in February to become the biggest success in French history. With over 17.4 million admissions at the box office to date, the film continues its triumphant run and has out-grossed "Titanic".
Synopsis: Post office manager Philippe Abrams (Merad) and his wife Julie (Felix) love the sunny South of France. But when Philippe gets caught trying to cheat his way into a transfer to a Riviera resort, the punishment could not be worse. Philippe must pay for his sins by spending three years at a post office in the dreaded Nord Pas de Calais, France's northernmost region, reputed for its heavy industry and cool climate.
Leaving Julie and their son Raphael behind and braving the chilly North alone, Philippe soon finds himself having quite a good time with the friendly, fun-loving Northerners. He comes to appreciate the local cuisine and even learns to get by in ch'ti, their incomprehensible patois. But should he let on to the unbelieving Julie? Depressive by nature, she's never been happier than in her new role as the supportive wife of a man battling with adversity; it's a tricky call...
"...a contender for comedy of the year." Annette Basile, Filmink
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* Film is in French with English Subtitles
Rating: M
Language: German and Turkish
Director: Fatih Akin
Cast: Baki Davrak,Nursel Kose, Hanna Schygulla, Tuncelll Krutiz, Nurgul Yesilcay, Patrycia Ziolkowska
Run time: 122 minutes
Winner of The Ecumenical Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, The Edge of Heaven is Fatih Akin's fifth feature. Nominated as the German entry for Best Foreign Film Academy Awards 2008, this film sure to engage and enthrall audiences.
Synopsis: Retired widower Ali sees a solution to loneliness when he meets prostitute Yeter and invites her to live with him in exchange for a monthly stipend. His son Nejat seems disapproving about his bully father’s choice, but the young German professor quickly grows fond of kind Yeter, especially upon discovering most of her hard-earned money is sent home to Turkey for her daughter’s university studies.
The accidental death of Yeter distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to begin an organized search for Yeter’s daughter Ayten. Meantime Ayten, 20-something political activist, flees the Turkish police and goes to Germany seeking her mother. Alone and penniless, Ayten is befriended by German student Lotte, who is immediately seduced by the young Turkish woman’s charms and political situation Lotte invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home. Ayten ends up arrested and is deported and imprisoned in Turkey.
Passionate Lotte decides to abandon everything to help Ayten. In Turkey, Lotte gets caught up in the frustrating bureaucracy of the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten.
"deeply felt, compassionate... optimistic that the seemingly unbridgeable gulfs the separate nations and families can be resolved. 4 ½ stars." David Stratton, The Australian
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* Film is in German and Turkish with English Subtitles
Rating: M
Language: Italian
Director: Silvio Soldini
Cast: Margherita Buy, Antonio Albanese, Giuseppe Battiston, Alba Caterina Rohrwacher, Carla Signoris, Fabio Troiano, Paolo Sassanelli, Arnaldo Ninchi
Run time: 116 minutes
Synopsis: Days and Clouds is a beautifully made gem to savour. By popular writer-director Silvio Soldini, director of the acclaimed Bread and Tulips and Agatha and the Storm, this thoughtful and absorbing drama brilliantly renders an increasingly familiar nightmare: an upper middle-class family whose comfortable lives suddenly disappear.
The day after a lavish birthday party, Elsa (Margherita Buy) discovers that her husband Michele (Antonio Albanese) was out-manouvered by his former partners, and pushed out of the company he helped found. He hasn't worked in months. Soon, the altered circumstances begin to bite, causing a schism in the marriage, and further strain with their 20-year-old daughter (Alba Rohrwacher)...
Buy, one of Italy's greatest actresses, is simply magnificent in the lead role in this honest and ultimately optimistic film about commitment. Indeed, the cast is uniformly great.
"[A] superb, moving and thought-provoking film…emotionally true and absorbing…the kind of film Hollywood should be making..." David Noh, Film Journal International
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* Film is in Italian with English Subtitles