Film Brockville
The Films
2012 Winter Schedule
| Jan 11 | The Guard |
| Jan 25 | The Skin I Live In |
| Feb 08 |
Le Havre Note: last-minute schedule change |
| Feb 22 | Melancholia |
| Mar 07 | A Dangerous Method |
| Mar 21 | A Separation |
| Apr 04 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy |
| Apr 25 | Monsieur Lazhar |
| May 02 |
Café de Flore -rescheduled from Feb. 08 |
| TBA | Always much more coming! |
Welcome!
Screening times are the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month (usually - check the schedule), 7:00 p.m. (note new start time), Galaxy cinema, 1000 Islands Mall, Brockville, Ontario.
The box office opens about 6:15; ticket sales cease at 6:55. Seating is limited (200) and is on a first-come first-served basis, so come early. The ticket price is $8.00 (cash only; exact change is appreciated because that makes sales proceed quickly/smoothly). We are not equipped for debit/credit cards.
Film Brockville needs your support to continue bringing interesting films to the city. Encourage friends, colleagues, neighbours and relatives to join the Film Brockville mailing list (filmbrockville@yahoo.ca).
We have a Facebook page!
Dale Chisamore
Film Brockville
Film Circuit Group in Smiths Falls
(We can go see their films and they can come see ours!)
Check out the Smiths Falls web site, Film Night International, for a schedule of upcoming screenings. This is another opportunity for Film Brockville's audience to see some great Canadian and international films not screened in Brockville, or that people missed on film nights.
Films are screened at the Premier Cinemas, Smiths Falls at 7:00 pm. Ticket prices are $10.00.
The Films
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The Guard
Wed. Jan. 11, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
A crowd favourite at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, The Guard is a lively and often hilarious Irish crime comedy. Skillfully directed and smartly written by John Michael McDonagh - the brother of In Bruges director Martin McDonagh- The Guard shares a similarly dry and blackly comic sense of humour and a terrific performance by Brendon Gleeson (In Bruges, and the upcoming Albert Nobbs).
Here, Gleeson stars as Sergeant Gerry Boyle, an unconventional small-town cop on the West Coast of Ireland. It's a far cry from the busy streets of Dublin, and in this removed and quiet town, Gerry is far more concerned with the needs of his ailing mother (a lovely turn from Fionnula Flanagan, Transamerica, Waking Ned Devine) than small-town crime. However, when a local murder appears to have connections to a gang of international drug traffickers, Boyle is forced to team up with FBI Agent Everett (Don Cheadle, Crash, Hotel Rwanda). Initially Gerry’s bigoted ways and laidback habits rub his visiting partner the wrong way, but the two men gradually form a grudging alliance.
A fresh spin on the buddy/cop formula, The Guard has a lot of fun with cop movie clichés – most notably the sergeant’s constant digs at American cops and cop shows – and Gleeson and Cheadle shine onscreen, with McDonagh making the most of their battling and banter. Gleeson is fantastic as Boyle, relishing every line and balancing his physical heft with a delicate touch for comedy, while Cheadle proves an excellent comic foil.McDonagh transforms what could have been another hackneyed tale of mismatched cops into an intelligent and quick-witted crime saga that still delivers a satisfyingly action-packed climax. A heady blend of absurdity, dark humour, and emotion, The Guard will leave you smiling.
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The Skin I Live In
Wed. Jan. 25, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
Pedro Almodóvar’s oeuvre is furnished with textured dramas that push the limits of perversity and credibility. His latest feature, based on Thierry Jonquet’s novel Tarantula, is quite possibly his most deranged, yet its beauty lies in its capacity to make even the most disconcerting and bizarre manifestations weirdly palatable. Contorting the genres of thriller, horror and melodrama, The Skin I Live In eloquently contemplates identity, desire and sexuality.
Dr. Robert Ledgard (a masterful performance by Antonio Banderas, his first for Almodóvar in twenty-one years) is a handsome and wealthy plastic surgeon with a tragic past. His nefarious obsession with transgenic therapy — a way of strengthening human skin through the use of animal genes — incites contention among his colleagues and prompts his withdrawal from the community. From the isolation of his mansion on the outskirts of Toledo, he’s able to test the validity of his theories on the beautiful young Vera (Elena Anaya), garbed in a body stocking and kept captive in a room where she’s monitored day and night. Dr. Ledgard’s only confidant is his housekeeper Marilia (Marisa Paredes), who ensures that the macabre surgeries performed in the private operating theatre adjoining his home remain secret.
The story unfolds through meticulously realized plot twists — and turns, and somersaults — that reveal increasingly disturbing information. As the creepiness becomes more conspicuous, the audience is offered an overwhelmingly demented love story founded in aberrant desires. Throughout, Almodóvar’s characteristic audacious humour leaves us uncertain whether we should laugh or faint.
Adorned with a rich palette and lush decor, the mansion setting boasts elegant furniture and magnificent art pieces, adding a gravitas to the already dense atmosphere of hushed crimes. At its most profound, The Skin I Live In ponders the question of what makes us who we are through the unwilling transformation of Vera, who practices yoga poses in a desperate effort to strengthen the deepest essence of her being — the one part of her that Dr. Ledgard cannot alter.
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Le Havre
Wed. Feb. 08, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
n this warmhearted portrait of the French harbour city that gives the film its name, fate throws young African refugee Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a well-spoken bohemian who works as a shoeshiner. With innate optimism and the unwavering support of his community, Marcel stands up to officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. A political fairy tale that exists somewhere between the reality of contemporary France and the classic cinema of Jean-Pierre Melville and Marcel Carné, Le Havre is a charming, deadpan delight. (© Official Site)
Note: last-minute schedule change!
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Melancholia
Wed. Feb. 22, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
Danish provocateur Lars von Trier presents the end of the world — in two parts. The first section focuses on Justine (Kirsten Dunst), an ad executive who’s just married her colleague Michael (Alexander Skarsgård). They show up hours late for the reception, infuriating Justine’s sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her rich husband John (Kiefer Sutherland), who are paying for the event and hosting it on their obscenely lavish estate. (Besides the gardens, which evoke Last Year at Marienbad and Versailles, the estate boasts a golf course and a stable full of horses.)
The attendees include: the sisters’ ludicrously wasted father (John Hurt) and foul-tempered ex-hippie mother (Charlotte Rampling), Justine’s vilely self-centred boss (Stellan Skarsgård) and one very aggravated wedding planner (Udo Kier). Prone to intense, crippling bouts of depression, Justine falls off the deep end the minute she arrives to a chorus of disapproval. As the party deteriorates along with her, she’s the only one to notice a strange star looming closer in the sky.
The film’s second section focuses on reliable, level-headed Claire, who’s spent much of her life caring for her sister — and is now dealing with her post-nuptial depression — as the errant planet that Justine spotted earlier moves nearer and nearer.
Though it’s utterly plausible and justifiable to see Melancholia as an apocalyptic fantasy writ small, it’s probably more fruitful to see it in allegorical terms. The first section outlines the pressures faced by outsiders, specifically those who are less stable emotionally and psychologically, as well as the pressure placed on artists to perform. The approaching planet, named Melancholia, suggests both the catastrophic power of Justine’s collapses and Claire’s fear of them.
Brilliantly shot and acted (especially by Dunst and Gainsbourg), Melancholia weds the foreboding power of Tarkovsky and early Duras with the majestic surrealism of Matthew Barney, though one instantly recognizes it as a film by von Trier. It may be his most emotionally immediate film since Breaking the Waves.
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A Dangerous Method
Wed. Mar. 07, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
A Dangerous Method is a brooding tale of dark desire and the dread that lurks behind genius, experienced by intellectual misfits in conventional society. Veteran Canadian director David Cronenberg (i>A History of Violence, Eastern Promises) brings these recognizable obsessions to a new genre: the historical period piece.
A Dangerous Method is an extremely controlled film tackling a period of time in history when explanations about the human psyche were questioned in drastically new ways. Theories of such importance, that to this date, are still discussed, debated, celebrated and refuted.
Set in Vienna on the eve of the First World War, the film explores the complex relationship between novice psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender, Jane Eyre, Inglourious Basterds) and his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen, The Road, Eastern Promises). Studying under the already well-established Freud, Jung practices his teacher’s methods while developing his own theories based on the clinical study of psychologically disturbed patients.
When a sick young Russian woman arrives at the clinic, both Jung and Freud are fascinated by her case and spellbound by her vulnerable yet dangerous sexuality. The beautiful and profoundly disturbed Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley, Last Night, Never Let Me Go) strikes an untapped well of unconscious emotions within Jung as he begins to probe her dark past. When his primal attraction to Sabina deepens and their interaction intensifies, Jung begins to question the restrictions of Freud’s methodology and develops his own approach to human behaviour and treatment.
Strong supporting turns from Vincent Cassel (Black Swan, Eastern Promises) as radical psychoanalyst Otto Gross — who encourages his patients to liberate rather than repress their base instincts — and Canadian newcomer Sarah Gadon as Jung’s morally upright wife complete the web of troubled relationships that surround Sabina’s treatment. Sharp-witted dialogue and a pristine turn-of-the-century-Vienna setting add a refined tone to a film that explores the anything-but-civilized depths of human desire.
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A Separation
Wed. 21, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
Transcending cultural and religious barriers to present a fascinating portrait of contemporary Iran, A Separation is Asghar Farhadi’s "Divorce, Persian Style". It won the Golden Bear for Best Film at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
In any film where a character has to call a religious hotline to ask if her professional duties are consistent with her beliefs, you know the devil is in the details. And so it is that Farhadi delivers his best work to date, a maze of narrative intrigue and complex emotion in which everyone is both innocent and guilty, depending on where you’re standing.
Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are well-behaved middle-class Iranian citizens. They fight quietly, hold decent jobs and prefer to resolve their domestic differences in court. But they only comport themselves with such courtesy because they might be a little too civilized to let their real feelings show. After Nader refuses to emigrate from Iran (a move that would provide a brighter future for their offspring), Simin files for divorce. When she retreats to her mother’s house, Nader hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat), a deeply religious and secretly pregnant young woman, to look after his father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. But once Razieh’s condition starts getting in the way of her job, Nader allows the worst aspects of his repressed nature to emerge — resulting in a Razieh’s most uncivilized termination and even more courtroom headaches.
As Nader’s entire family is drawn into an unprecedented feud, Farhadi continues his devilishly clever turning of narrative tables, selectively revealing new details and forcing the viewer to continuously reassess each character.
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Wed. Apr. 04, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a fascinating look at the disenchanted world of espionage and treachery. Unglamorous but certainly not unexciting, the film is the anti-James Bond where gadgets and girls are replaced drab duds and anonymous office space, cool colours and muted emotions.
Having been dismissed from the Intelligence Service, George Smiley (a superlative Gary Oldman, The Dark Knight, The Scarlet Letter) is brought back into the fold when former head of MI6, Control (John Hurt, Melancholia, Brighton Rock), asks him to smoke out a mole who's leaking secrets to the Soviets.
The suspects are all at the top level, collectively known as "The Circus", and each of them is played by top-drawer British actors. Who is the guilty man? Take your pick from Toby Jones (My Week With Marilyn, Creation), Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man), Ciaran Hinds (The Debt, There Will Be Blood), and David Dencik (the upcoming War Horse and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), who meet round a table every so often to exchange hard looks and nasty quips. The fifth suspect, of course, is Smiley himself.
Preserving the murky atmosphere of mistrust and cynical insecurity of the novel, director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) impressively recreates early 1970’s London. The London shown here is a cold, damp-looking place, scrupulously shot by Alfredson in a restricted palette of subdued greys and browns.
Aided by superb production design, a satisfyingly intelligent script, and a crack ensemble cast that also includes Mark Strong (The Guard, The Way Back) and younger actors such as Tom Hardy (Warrior, Inception) and Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse, The Whistleblower), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not only a stunningly good old fashioned spy yarn, but a surefire classic.
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Monsieur Lazhar
Wed. Apr. 25, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
From Festival favorite Philippe Falardeau and the producers of last year’s Academy Award®–nominated Incendies comes Monsieur Lazhar, one of the most gripping Québécois films of the last decade. Expanded from a one-character play by Evelyne de la Chenelière, this complex character study speaks of loss, innocence and imposture in an eloquent yet simple manner.
Bachir Lazhar is a middle-aged Algerian immigrant seeking political refuge in Quebec. Bachir jumps at the opportunity to replace a Montreal elementary school teacher who committed suicide one night after class. The school’s overworked principal is initially relieved.
The story focuses on Bachir’s relationship with two of his pupils: a ten-year-old boy traumatized by discovering the body of his teacher, and a girl whose interpretation of the event and resentment toward her friend provoke unforeseen revelations. To these children in shock, Bachir’s traditional teaching methods, in the context of Quebec’s endless pedagogical reforms, may well provide the structure they need, even if, to Bachir’s dismay, the work of Balzac remains beyond their reach.
Monsieur Lazhar is further proof of Falardeau’s talent for drawing out depth and precision from child actors, as seen in his 2008 film It’s Not Me, I Swear! The fine performances in his latest work reflect the authenticity of the characters, and the story illustrates how adult hypocrisy and little white lies about death can turn a child’s world upside down when fate strikes.
The screenplay’s line of questioning — how should we speak to children about death? — could have led to a very dark and dry film. Monsieur Lazhar is just the opposite: a luminous and tender tale about the lessons we learn from one another, regardless of age. Bachir has much to gain from his pupils, and so do we.
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Café de Flore
Wed. May 02, 7:00 p.m., Galaxy Theatre
Following his British period drama The Young Victoria, Jean-Marc Vallée returns to French-language filmmaking with this unconventional love story in which two narratives are rhythmically woven together to create a tale of emotion and destiny.
Set in present-day Montreal, the first story centres on Antoine (Kevin Parent), a successful DJ and divorced father of two girls who is wildly infatuated with his girlfriend Rose (Evelyne Brochu). However, he still has strong ties to his ex, Carole (Hélène Florent), and it’s evident they are not entirely over one another. Carole harbours a secret belief that Antoine will return to her; their eldest daughter torments her father by blaring her parents’ defining love song at every opportunity.
The second story takes place in Paris in 1969. Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis) is the fiercely devoted single mother of Laurent, a young boy with Down syndrome. With her son’s life expectancy limited to twenty-five years, Jacqueline dedicates every spare moment to enriching and prolonging his life. Their days are rituals of school drop-offs, affectionate kisses and Laurent’s constant request to listen to the jazz album “Café de flore.” When a young girl who also has Down syndrome joins Laurent’s class, Jacqueline’s tightly woven world begins to fray.
As it did in Vallée’s hit C.R.A.Z.Y., music plays a crucial role in Café de flore, encapsulating the characters’ memories and emotions, forming the soundtracks to their lives and fervently filling the edges of the screen. It seems initially that music is the only link between the two stories, but as Carole’s nightmares and sleepwalking intensify, we begin to sense that she is connected to Jacqueline in a much deeper way.
Vallée has crafted a mysterious and at times devastating portrait of the mystic forces controlling his characters’ destinies. Viewers who only know him for the stately The Young Victoria may be taken aback by the film’s unflinching sexuality, which is elegantly captured yet raw. The film is suffused with extremes: the sweetest moments of love alongside unimaginable pain. With its superbly paced fluidity, Café de flore possesses an undeniable musicality: its layered, rhythmic beat mixing together two powerful tales of love and loss.
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TBA
Always more to come!
Film Brockville
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-updated 2012-02-07