The Autumn season of the cine club is kicking off this Wednesday, 12 September. With the late start comes a short line-up, with a total of 6 films to be shown at the Nerja Cultural Centre this month. Among them: the rarely-seen Anatole Litvak film The Journey; the film where Bogie met Bacall, To Have and Have Not; a stellar Cantonese film, The Flowers of War, which stars Hollywood darling Christian Bale; the year’s most anticipated book-to-film conversion, The Hunger Games, which certainly lives up to the hype; the newest Sherlock Holmes film, A Game of Shadows; and a modern historical drama starring a non-sparkly Robert Pattison, Bel Ami.
Full programme as follows.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Wednesday 12 Sept – 7pm
(USA 2012) 128min. Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Stephen Fry. Dir: Guy Ritchie. Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room… until now. In A Game of Shadows, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return to their roles as Holmes and Watson to take on the world’s greatest criminal mind: Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), whose latest scheme has global implications. The fast-paced film improves on Richie’s 2009 Holmes adaptation with some excellent casting choices – Harris plays a delicious villain while Noomi Rapace and Stephen Fry (playing Sherlock’s brother Mycroft, who calls his sibling “Sherlie”) add appeal. The film’s playful attitude makes it a great start for the Cine Club season.
Original Version (English) with Spanish Subtitles.
Bel Ami
Wednesday 19 Sept – 7pm
(USA 2012) 102 min. Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci. Dir: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod. Based on Guy de Maupassant’s classic novel set in turn of the century Paris, this tale of temptation and obsession chronicles Georges Duroy’s (Robert Pattinson) rise to power from his meager beginnings as a penniless ex-soldier by using the city’s most influential and wealthy women. Bel Ami is visual feast with wonderful costumes and sets, evoking a world rich in double-dealing, power plays and corrupt politics.
Original Version (English) with French subtitles.
The Hunger Games
Wednesday 26 Sept – 7pm
(USA 2012) 142 min. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland. Dir: Gary Ross. Based on Suzanne Collin’s best-selling book, The Hunger Games is set in the ruins of what was once North America. Each year the Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her younger sister’s place and must rely upon her sharp instincts when she’s pitted against highly trained Tributes who have prepared their entire lives. If she’s ever to return home, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Futuristic retelling of the old Greek myth of Theseus and Minotaur.
Original Version (English) with Spanish subtitles.
To Have and Have Not
Sunday 16 Sept – 5pm
Lauren Bacall’s Birthday
(USA 1944) 100 min. Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall, Hoagy Carmichael. Dir: Howard Hawks. Hemingway’s “worst novel” forms the basis for Hawks’ version of Casablanca, where tough skipper-for-hire Bogart reluctantly becomes involved in the French Resistance while less reluctantly wooing an even tougher Bacall (in her film debut). Their legendary love scenes make the movie, but there are also solid performances, taut action, and a couple of songs. (Andy Williams was hired to dub Bacall’s singing, but that’s her voice, after all). Superb dialogue by William Faulkner and Jules Furthman.
Original Version (English) with Spanish subtitles.
This screening will feature a period short, trailer and cartoon. Feature Film will start at 5:30 pm.
The Flowers of War
Sunday 23 Sept – 5pm
World Cinema
(China 2012) 146 min. Christian Bale, Ni Ni. Dir: Yimou Zhang. Fans of Chinese-born director Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, House of Flying Daggers) know how immersive his films are, how exquisitely, passionately of a place they are. His The Flowers of War is no exception, a deeply moving study of how ordinary people behave in extraordinary – and inhuman – circumstances. The Flowers of War is set during the Rape of Nanking, the epic 1937 battle of the Japanese invasion of China. The sense of place is immediate and raw, though most of the dialogue is in English. Christian Bale is an unlikely hero, an American mortician who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or is it the right time? The Flowers of War is an emotional, moving experience, and a must-see for any fans of war or historical dramas.
Original Version (Cantonese and English) with English subtitles.
The Journey
Sunday 30 Sept – 5pm
Deborah Kerr’s Birthday
(USA 1959) 126 min. Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, Jason Robards. Dir: Anatole Litvak. This stellar political drama reunites the famous pairing that began with The King and I. Deborah Kerr is Lady Diana Ashmore, caught at the wrong side of the Hungarian-Austrian border, and Yul Brynner is Major Surov, a Russian commander who works at the border crossing. With the outbreak of rebellion, the Budapest airport is shut down and Diana, along with other international travellers, is forced to reach Vienna by bus. Along for the ride is one of the Hungarian dissenters hunted by the police (Jason Robards Jr. in his screen debut). Diana is attracted to the Major and his complex character, even against her will. Their developing relationship and strong personalities carry the story from start to finish.
Original Version (English) with Spanish subtitles.
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