The Big White (USA 2005)
Director: Mark Mylod

Review by Widar Wendt

The tagline gives it away, when it says “If you need somebody, any body will do.” The Big White is a pitch-black comedy that shows Alaska as a place where very obscure things can happen.

Paul Barnell (Robin Williams) is a luckless travel agent who still can't get any money from the insurance company although his brother disappeared seven years ago, but never was declared dead. At home he struggles with his wife, who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome – brilliantly played by Holly Hunter. When he finds a frozen corpse, the small businessman takes advantage of the situation and tries to collect the long-needed money from the insurance company. He almost succeeds with his plan, but there are also two cracked up killers who are searching for the dead body on behalf of the Mafia, and even kidnap Barnells’ wife. Things are getting worse when Barnell’s supposedly dead brother (Woody Harrelson) returns all of a sudden, expecting his share from the insurance fraud. When fussy insurance investigator Ted Watters (Giovanni Ribisi) takes notice of the case and searches for evidence to keep Barnell from walking away with the money, it seems like everything spirals out of control for Barnell.

Mark Mylod's thriller-farce is as eccentric as it is brilliant. Alaska’s daily routine is instantly turned upside down. The greatest strength of Colin Friesens’ script is the detailed descriptions of his peculiar or completely flipped out characters, who are quite well thought out. The scenes between Williams and Harrelson reflect the difference between two entirely different brothers – Williams as a loser, but one who’s smart enough to take the chance and pick up the money, and Harrelson as a criminal who discovers the fraud and uses it to threaten his brother. There’s only one difference from real life in this scenario – everything is taken a bit too far. True dynamism develops among the various groups and Paul Barnell faces a heavy weight of challenges: the Mafia, including the kidnappers of his wife, his homicidal brother, and not least the insurance investigator, who’s following him at every turn.

Mylod's independent production has a classic look, but fascinates because of its impressive icy scenery. The colorful bustle reflects a weird and solitary community, where the inhabitants either search for personal profit or feel obliged to stand in for law-abiding truth. In the end, Paul Barnell’s love for his wife overcomes every obstacle and leads to an interesting solution. Once Barnell rises above himself, the audience has a good time and is thrilled to watch the grand finale, when all groups hit each other in the midst of the perpetual ice. One thing can be revealed: This story ends bloodily, but with a big heart as well.

Robin Williams: Paul Barnell
Holly Hunter: Margaret Barnell
Giovanni Ribisi: Ted Watters
Woody Harrelson: Raymond Barnell
Alison Lohman: Tiffany
Tim Blake Nelson: Gary
W. Earl Brown: Jimbo

The Mystery of Eva Peron (Argentina 1987)
Director: Tulio Demicheli
Original Title: El Misterio Eva Perón

This informative documentary, narrated by Liliana Florentina and Carlos Roman, will fill in the gaps in your knowledge left unattended to by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Madonna. There is absolutely no doubting the thoroughness of the research and Demicheli and co-writer Emilio Villalba Welsh attempt to bust some of the myths that surround the legend of Evita.

Padre Hernan Benitez, her confessor and the Director of the Eva Peron Foundation is an incredibly well informed witness and seems to have been closer to Evita than the remaining collection of party functionaries, journalists and Peronistas interviewed.

On the downside, the frequent jumping between chronicling the events of her life chronologically and interspersing it with the intrigue surrounding the disposal of her body after her death in 1952 is sometimes difficult to keep up with. However, the amount that those fascinated with Eva Peron and Argentina can learn, and some absorbing footage make up for this.

Demicheli died in 1992 in Madrid, ironically from cancer - the same foe that lead to Evita’s premature death.

Longford (England 2006)
Director: Tom Hooper

Jim Broadbent as Lord Longford

It was into that highly charged emotional cauldron that Lord Longford stepped when he took on the case of Myra Hindley in 1965.

Hooper’s film intersperses the drama with documentary footage of the murders at the time and Longford’s tireless campaign throughout the years. But as you can’t really change the plot line of a drama based on real events (with the exception of "In the Name of Our Father"), Hooper has to rely on something else to catch the eye. In this case it is superb acting, probably some of the best you are likely to see. Jim Broadbent is a well-known name for most English readers, but even for a man with such credentials, this is fantastic stuff. He portrays hope, idealism, despair, and fear with genius; and one scene, where Hindley makes a revealing confession to him, will stick in your mind for ever. He won a BAFTA Award for best actor for this in 2007 and a Golden Globe in 2008. One small distraction was the prosthetic nose and chin that he wore to look as much as possible like the real Lord Longford. This gave a feeling of unnecessary artificiality to the character, though Broadbent's occasionally ridiculous appearance should not be allowed to detract from his overall triumph.

Although he carries the film, others assist. Lindsay Duncan plays his long-suffering wife, Elizabeth, whose character is neatly used to represent the voice of public opinion – especially those of women - in Longford’s isolated world. Andy Serkis as the evil Ian Brady is chilling but still manages to sow seeds of doubt in our minds as to where exactly the balance of evil lay in his relationship with Hindley. Initially the court refused to believe that a woman could be so evil and the judge’s summation expressed the view that she had been taken in to some extent by Brady, with whom she claimed to have been in love. To that end, the judge ruled that Brady would never be released but that one day Hindley might be eligible for parole. It was on these views that Longford’s campaign heavily rested initially, being later supplemented by the feminist perspective of Elizabeth.

But was it simply injustice that drove Longford on, to risk ridicule by the public, vilification by the press, dismissal by the Prime Minister Harold Wilson from his post as Leader of the Lords, and the respect of his family? Much is made of Longford’s religious convictions and the film raises issues of contrition and forgiveness, such as whether some crimes are so heinous that there can be no question of forgiveness, or are these cases just the ultimate test of our faith? Non-religious viewers may see comparisons between the suspension of reality Longford indulges in to follow his religion and the suspension of reality needed to believe in Hindley’s contrition. Indeed, his ability to delude himself despite warnings from friends and foes alike may seem irrational to many. Was he a religious idealist, a feminist, a liberal do-gooder, an arrogant egotist or a just a gullible old fool? Opinions will divide upon seeing the film as they did, and still do, amongst the English public.

Prost Amerika recommends you see this film before deciding but also that if you’re ever in Manchester, don’t bring the matter up with strangers. Although Hindley died in 2002, her name still invokes a strong reaction there. And feelings are still raw.

Jim Broadbent: Lord Longford
Samantha Morton: Myra Hindley
Andy Serkis: Ian Brady
Tam Dean Burn: Roy
Lindsay Duncan: Lady Elizabeth Longford
Kate Miles: Rachel Pakenham
Sarah Crowden: Lady Tree
Robert Pugh: Harold Wilson
Caroline Clegg: Longford's Secretary
Alex Blake: Paddy Pakenham
Roy Barber: Father Kahle
Ian Connaughton: Reporter
Charlotte West-Oram: Downing Street Secretary
Roy Carruthers: Albany Prison Officer
Lee Boardman: Talk Show Host

The Death of Mr Lazarescu (Romania 2005)
Director: Cristi Puiu
Original Title: Moartea domnului Lazarescu

This Romanian black comedy shows the dark side of the medical system. Dante Remus Lazarescu, a grumpy 62-year-old widower living alone with his three cats, calls an ambulance on a Saturday night complaining of persistent nausea and headache. His neighbors reluctantly offer help while he waits for the ambulance to arrive, but are more concerned about their quince jelly than about Mr. Lazarescu, and are convinced that he is merely suffering from a hangover.

When the ambulance arrives, the paramedic at first tries to fob Mr. Lazarescu off with vitamins and glucose, and only takes him seriously when he can't stand up and vomits blood. He makes it to the ambulance at last... only to be driven around for hours in a nightmarish journey of rapidly deteriorating health faced off against overworked and arrogant medical personnel, often preoccupied with their own plans and flirtations. By the end of the movie, he's been misdiagnosed several times, repeatedly lectured about his drinking, and moved from hospital to hospital without ever getting the care he urgently needs. The only person who stands by him is the ambulance attendant Mioara, though there is often little she can do in the face of arrogant doctors who aren't interested in a mere paramedic's opinion.

By the end of the movie, Mioara has become the protagonist and Mr. Lazarescu little more than a sad and helpless object, nearly comatose and unable to understand or answer the questions and accusations thrown at him. His journey through the circles of medical hell (the name "Dante" is surely no coincidence) is nearly over. She at least has done her best for him, and in the end was the only one who cared, unlike his neighbors, sister, distant daughter, or any of the other medical personnel encountered along the way, and it is her caring and persistence that lift the movie from unrelieved despair.

Ion Fiscuteanu: Domnul Lazarescu
Doru Ana: Sandu Sterian
Monica Dean: Mariana (as Monica Barladeanu)
Luminita Gheorghiu: Mioara Avram
Alina Berzunteanu: Dr. Zamfir
Doru Boguta: Ambulance Crew
Mimi Branescu: Dr. Mirica
Mihai Bratila: Dr. Breslasu
Dragos Bucur: Misu
Robert Bumbes: Robert
Dan Chiriac: Medic triage Spitalui University
Mirela Cioaba: Marioara
Laura Cret: Medic ecograf, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Dana Dogaru: Mihaela Sterian
Bogdan Dumitrache: Medic, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Alexandru Fifea: Orderly, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Florina Alina Gleznea: Assistant, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Tudor Hristescu: Dr. Kelemen
Rodica Ionescu: Assistant, Spitalui University
Cerasela Iosifescu: Assistant, Spitalui Filaret
Irina Kozsar: Assistant, Spitalui University
Iulia Lazar: Assistant. Spitalui Filaret
Rodica Lazar: Dr. Laura Serban
Serban Pavlu: Gelu
Simona Popescu: Assistant, Spitalui Bagdasar
Alexandru Potocean: Orderly, Spitualui Bagdasar (as Alexandru Cristian Potocean)
Calin Adrian Pula: Orderly, Spitalui University
Anca Puiu: Vecina
Emil Puiu: Dl. Sandu
Iuliana Puiu: Dna. Sanui
Smaranda Puiu: Smaranda
Gabriel Spahiu: Leo
Jean Lorin Sterian: Medic, Spitalui University
Mariana Stoica: Patient, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Maria Serb: Assistant, Spitalui Bagdasar
Andrei Serban: Orderly, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Adrian Titieni: Dr. Dragos Popescu
Cristian Turungiu: Orderly, Spitalui University
Clara Voda: Dr. Gina Filip
Ionel Zaharia: Brancardier, Spitalui University
Florin Zamfirescu: Dr. Ardelean

Away From Her (Canada 2006)
Director: Sarah Polley

Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent

Grant and Fiona Andersson (Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent) have been married for 44 years when Fiona begins to show some disturbing symptoms of memory loss and confusion. Both highly literate and articulate people (he is a former university professor), they wrestle with what lies ahead: the loss of memory, understanding and eventually personality itself as the brain slowly deteriorates. Grant wants to keep Fiona at home as long as possible, but she chooses to make the move to a nearby nursing home while she is still mostly functional and coherent.

The nursing home has a policy that new patients can't receive visitors for the first 30 days, ostensibly to make their transition easier, but as nurse Kristy (Kristen Thomson) suggests to Grant as he struggles with the parting from Fiona, it may be more for the staff's convenience. During those 30 days Fiona becomes attached to another patient, the silent wheelchair-bound Aubrey, and when Grant returns she seems not to know him, though there are hints that this is partly her choice, and perhaps connected with things that happened in their marriage many years earlier. Grant struggles to cope with this situation, and eventually makes contact with Aubrey's wife Marian (Olympia Dukakis), the final piece in the pattern.

All the major performances here are outstanding -- the patience and hidden terror of Grant, Fiona's dignity and fragility, Marian's bitterness and exuberance. The staging keeps things simple and leaves plenty of time and space for the story to unfold, with the Canadian winter and early spring as a backdrop. There are also subtle notes that add depth to the unfolding, such as the recurring image of ski tracks on pristine snow, or the way that the poetry Grant reads to his wife echoes their life together. Perhaps the slight detachment added by the scenery and the poetry are needed to make this emotionally wrenching story bearable, as it forces the viewer to confront powerful questions of love and mortality, of what he or she would do in Grant's place, or Fiona's.

Julie Christie : Fiona Andersson
Gordon Pinsent : Grant Andersson
Stacey LaBerge : Young Fiona
Olympia Dukakis : Marian
Deanna Dezmari : Veronica
Clare Coulter : Phoebe Hart
Thomas Hauff : William Hart
Alberta Watson : Dr. Fischer
Grace Lynn Kung : Nurse Betty
Lili Francks : Theresa
Andrew Moodie : Liam
Wendy Crewson : Madeleine Montpellier
Judy Sinclair : Mrs. Albright
Tom Harvey : Michael

Klimt (Austria 2006)
Director: Raoul Ruiz

There seems to be an assumption that any film which stars John Malkovich is automatically a work of genius and if you don’t see it, then the problem is you. In fact this is a fairly irritating film in which it is often difficult to tell which characters are real and which are the figments of Klimt’s imagination. Nor can it be called a biopic as there are hardly any details about his life, and the focus of the action is contained mostly in one time period. Ruiz himself termed it a "phantasmagoria". The character himself is the usual template of rebel artist who defies authority and swears a lot. His womanizing gives Director Raoul Ruiz plenty scope for copious female nudity, and the era in which it is set allows for some excellent costume design. But in truth Malkovich mumbles his way through the film.

There are also many Lea de Castros but as they are all played by the same actress, Saffron Burrows, it becomes quickly impossible to distinguish them. The best vehicle to explain what is going on is undoubtedly Klimt’s conversations with the Third Secretary in Perpetuity (Stephen Dillane) but even these are clothed in analogies, clues and mysticism. As a result, the viewer’s cluelessness is only slightly diminished. This brings us to language. Spaniard Raoul Ruiz wrote it in French. Then it was translated into German for the crew in the Austrian and German filming locations, before Gilbert Adair then translated it again into English for the actors. The Austrian characters converse with each other in English which is of course supposed to be German. Then oddly, some of the characters actually speak German. One can guess it’s to represent that the entire art community lives inside its own bubble. Anyway, you will learn nothing about Klimt from this film but you will see plenty of bare flesh and pretty dresses. It’s art-house, it’s erotic, it’s also not very good.

John Malkovich: Gustav Klimt
Veronica Ferres: Emilie Flöge
Stephen Dillane: Secretary
Saffron Burrows: Lea de Castro
Sandra Ceccarelli: Serena Lederer
Nikolai Kinski: Egon Schiele
Aglaia Szyszkowitz: Mizzi
Joachim Bissmeier: Hugo Moritz
Ernst Stötzner: Minister Hartl
Paul Hilton: Duke Octave Herzog
Annemarie Düringer: Klimt's Mother
Irina Wanka: Berta Zuckerkandl
Florentín Groll: Messerschmidt (as Florentin Groll)
Miguel Herz-Kestranek: Dr. Stein
Marion Mitterhammer: Hermine Klimt

The History Boys (England 2006)
Director: Nicholas Hytner

Nicholas Hytner’s film started life as Alan Bennett’s stage play at England’s National Theater and it is the original cast of that play who star in the film. Our English readers will know of the near-legendary status of Richard Griffiths, who plays the aging and portly teacher Hector. Hector’s somewhat arbitrary teaching methods have lasted through the years at Cutlers, a Yorkshire Grammar school. His classes are forced to act out lines of great movies in Film Noir history and perform scenes from musicals. His pupils generally like him and tolerate his occasional timid forays into homosexuality with those he cajoles into taking a ride on his motorcycle. Some will protest that the attempted molestation of pupils by a schoolteacher is not a matter to be treated so flippantly as Bennett does here. Yet despite this, the viewer will not fail to take Hector as a sympathetic though pitiful figure. Frances de la Tour as feminist teacher Ms Lintott, Clive Merrison as the headmaster and Stephen Campbell Moore complete the excellent adult cast.

Hector’s troubles begin when a particularly talented group of pupils at Cutler’s reach their final year. The ambitious headmaster decides he wants to do all that he can to get as many of them as possible into Oxford or Cambridge (collectively known as Oxbridge) and that he needs to bring in an extra teacher to coach them. So Mr Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore) is hired. Immediately there is friction between his methods and Hector’s, as Irwin tries to focus the boy’s attention on their upcoming challenge. Hector is portrayed as cross between an educational dinosaur, a kind of English Harvey Lippschitz, and a restrained and fearful homosexual. Moore seems oddly miscast, being neither the screen villain nor Hector’s implacable enemy, and his teaching methods also seem unorthodox. It’s sometimes hard to see why the strict headmaster would prefer him over Hector.

This is a fine film with some superb performances from the young cast too. If you can get over your general unease at the overtly sympathetic treatment of Hector’s character, you will enjoy this, although the England it portrays seems more redolent of the 1950s than the 1980s. A certain amount of suspension of reality is involved, as the boys accept homosexual infatuations amongst pupils with equanimity, homophobia is absent and the characters are not always that believable. However if you can do that, and relish fine acting, this one is recommended.

Richard Griffiths: Hector
Clive Merrison: The Headmaster
Stephen Campbell Moore: Irwin
James Corden: Timms
Frances de la Tour: Mrs. Lintott
Samuel Anderson : Crowther
Andrew Knott: Lockwood
Russell Tovey: Rudge
Jamie Parker: Scripps
Dominic Cooper: Dakin
Samuel Barnett: Posner
Sacha Dhawan: Akhtar
Penelope Wilton: Mrs. Bibby
Adrian Scarborough: Wilkes
Georgia Taylor: Fiona

Golden Door (Italy 2006)
Director: Emanuele Crialese
Original Title: Nuovomondo

Salvatore Mancuso (Vincenzo Amato) is a poor Sicilian farmer who decides to emigrate to the United States with his mother Fortunata (Aurora Quattrocchi) and sons Angelo (Francesco Casisa) and Pietro (Filippo Pucillo), around the turn of the 20th century. Fortunata is reluctant to go but the hope of reuniting Salvatore with his twin brother persuades her to make the trip. Nevertheless, she resists anything new, foreign or intrusive with vigor. With incredible notions such as vegetables that barely fit in wheelbarrows and rivers of milk, Salvatore uses his imagination of what awaits in America to help him deal both with what he is leaving behind and with the perils of the journey itself.

During the process of boarding, a mysterious stranger, Lucy Reed (Charlotte Gainsbourg) appears. Quite how a refined English lady came to be packed onto a boat with poverty-stricken Sicilian farmers is never explained, but Salvatore’s life will not be the same again. Unfortunately, the lack of depth surrounding the characters makes it very difficult to attain any degree of empathy and you may wonder what exactly the point of the film was. Then again, Crialese may be leaving us with unanswered questions to whet our appetite for a sequel.

Charlotte Gainsbourg: Lucy Reed
Vincenzo Amato: Salvatore Mancuso
Aurora Quattrocchi: Fortunata Mancuso
Francesco Casisa: Angelo Mancuso
Filippo Pucillo: Pietro Mancuso
Federica De Cola: Rita D'Agostini
Isabella Ragonese: Rosa Napolitano
Vincent Schiavelli: Don Luigi
Massimo Laguardia: Mangiapane
Filippo Luna: Don Ercole
Andrea Prodan: Del Fiore
Ernesto Mahieux: Dr. Zampino

Once (Republic of Ireland 2006)
Director: John Carney

"Once" is a 21st-century musical, a boy meets girl story that's more about the music they make together than the possible romance between them. Indeed the title comes from the Irish habit of talking about that which might happen but never does, for example “Once, I’ve passed my exams, I’ll do this”, or “Once I have some money, I’ll emigrate to England.”

The unnamed guy (Glen Hansard, frontman of the Irish rock band the Frames) and girl (Markéta Irglová) meet on Rathlin Street in Dublin, where he is a busker and she sells flowers. We never find out their names. Caught by the emotional lyrics of one of his songs, she stops to talk to him and initially makes several attempts to inveigle him into her life. Reluctantly, he gets sucked in and it becomes clear that they have some things in common. It turns out that she is a musician too, a Czech immigrant who plays a borrowed piano in her lunch hour. From then on, the songs are cleverly stitched into the story and used as a tool both to demonstrate their coming together but also the things that keep them apart. Hansard’s character demonstrates a particular inaptitude at persuading her to take the relationship to the next stage. His inability to find the right things to day verbally is more than made up for by his ability to tell his life story through song, at one point changing accents and even musical styles to describe a particularly painful episode. But while both parties seem scared of the lyrics, they are drawn together by the music. Soon they are creating it together and the music begins to define their friendship rather than the other way round.

The film's most powerful and emotional moments are all expressed in song, as when the guy explains his feelings for his ex by those musical changes in style, or the girl begins to fit tentative lyrics to an unfinished musical track written by him, walking down the street singing to herself in the dark. When they speak to each other, they're awkward and cautious, but when they sing everything becomes clear and direct. Unlike a traditional musical, the music is always an organic part of what's happening, never a showpiece that is set aside from the narrative. "Once" captures that creative intensity and makes it as real for the viewer as the artificial setting of a musical can, through real and stumbling human beings who can sing what they can’t say.

There are a few cinematic clichés here which will irritate the hardened movie-goer, such as the use of water an ocean to remind us that the moment is deep, and a motorbike ride to let us know they had fun on their day out. Carney expresses himself better in the musical moments, and Irglová makes a notable cinematic debut. The songs are mainly written by Irglová and Hansard themselves and can be found on his first solo album “The Swell Season”.

Lovers of anything Irish will adore this film just because of the Celtic charm of its surroundings, and musicians will be interested to see the creative process at work, but it would be stretching things to call it a great film. It eschews deeper investigation of issues like emigration and how they can affect relationships, which the film probably had time to dwell on a little more. It’s a good film however with some excellent performances and certainly recommended for a date movie.

Glen Hansard: Guy
Markéta Irglová: Girl (as Marketa Irglova)
Hugh Walsh: Timmy Drummer
Gerard Hendrick: Lead Guitarist (as Gerry Hendrick)
Alaistair Foley: Bassist
Geoff Minogue: Eamon
Bill Hodnett: Guy's Dad
Danuse Ktrestova: Girl's Mother
Darren Healy: Heroin Addict
Mal Whyte: Bill
Marcella Plunkett: Ex Girlfriend
Niall Cleary: Bob

The Good German (USA 2006)
Director: Steven Soderbergh

Somewhat overlengthy post-war drama based on the novel by Joseph Kanon (2001) in which George Clooney and Cate Blanchett don't quite hit it off. The Good German is filmed entirely in black and white and set in post-war Berlin. Soderbergh bravely attempts to emulate and copy a cinematic style of decades ago, not just with the medium of black and white, but also some of the cloak and dagger scenes which were positively Marlowesque in their direction.

In the period between Germany's surrender and the end of the war in Asia, Berlin is a cauldron of political intrigue as the occupation by the four allied powers, USA, Britain, the Soviet Union and France has caused the city to be divided into four zones. The Good German's action is centered around the Soviet and American attempts to pick away at the carcass of the Third Reich for anything of value, in this case German scientists with weapons knowledge. Set against the backdrop of the Potsdam peace conference where Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt assembled to settle Europe's post war borders and the conduct of the remaining war against Japan, Jake Geismer (George Clooney) arrives to cover the conference for the New Republic magazine.

Clooney is miscast here but luckily the early scenes are stolen by Tobey Maguire (Tully), who we meet as his designated driver helpfully provided by the US Military Governor. We quickly learn Tully is a great deal more than he seems, but sadly for the film we don't see enough of Maguire's character, who has a great look reminiscent of many a character in this genre of film in its heyday.

Paul Attanasio's screenplay touches upon some contentious issues particularly the guilt of an entire nation and the rarely touched issue of America's ambivalence in World War Two prior to Pearl Harbour. A Congressman (Jack Thompson) in the opening stages voices this: "There’s nothing wrong with the Germans. Plenty of good Germans back in Shenectady." Pragmatism over morality is a recurring theme of "The Good German" but the viewer is blinded by the cinematography and it's often hard to focus on the story.

Sadly though, Soderbergh's attempt to be Casablanca, (the last scene is an utterly obvious and frankly ridiculous replication), reminds one more of Woody Allen's spoof "Play It Again, Sam" than the great film itself. Soderbergh uses modern technology well to recreate the look of a 40s film but, sadly, the plot and the casting are not up to the standard 21st Century audiences expect.

Jack Thompson: Congressman Breimer
John Roeder: General
George Clooney: Jake Geismer
Beau Bridges: Colonel Muller
Tobey Maguire: Tully
Cate Blanchett: Lena Brandt
Dominic Comperatore: Levi
Dave Power: Lieutenant Schaeffer
Tony Curran: Danny
Ravil Isyanov: General Sikorsky
J. Paul Boehmer: British Press Aide
Don Pugsley: Gunther
Leland Orser: Bernie
Robin Weigert: Hannelore
Tom Cummins: British Interviewer
Brandon Keener: Clerk
Gianfranco L'Amore: The Butcher (as Gianfranco L'Amore Tordi)
David Willis: Franz Bettmann
Christian Oliver: Emil Brandt
Igor Korosec: Russian Soldier
Boris Kievsky: Russian Soldier
Vladimir Kulikov: Russian Soldier
Yevgeniy Narovlyanskiy: Russian Soldier
Aleksandr Sountsov: Russian Soldier

Go for Zucker (Germany 2004)
Director: Dani Levy
Original Title: Alles auf Zucker!

Jackie Zucker (Henry Hübchen) loves to gamble. And just as with every other passionate gambler it's all or nothing for him. Unfortunately, much to his wife Marlene’s (Hannelore Elsner) chagrin, it's mostly the latter for him, in real life as well. Consequently, his marriage is on the rocks, his daughter (Anja Franke) has grown apart from him, and to his son (Steffen Groth), an ambitious banker, the ever-bankrupt father proves to be a millstone around his neck when it comes to his career.

At present, the out-of-work former GDR sports commentator is down on his luck again – in a big way this time. His wife is threatening to leave him for good and the bailiff is going to throw him in jail if he doesn't repay his debts immediately. It's rien ne vas plus for Jackie, or so it appears. When he gets wind of a highly lucrative pool tournament, all of a sudden the tables in his gambling mind turn and it's anything goes again.

Amidst his preparations for the big day comes the breaking news of his mother's demise. Via telegram his brother Samuel, an orthodox Jew who in his day had left Jackie behind and fled to Western Germany together with their mother, informs him of an impending inheritance. There's a catch in it of course: In her testament the mother requests that the entire family sit shiva for seven days after the funeral in order to get the two brothers to finally bury the hatchet.

After a lifetime under communism, nothing could be further from Jackie's mind than religious observance, but the possibility of financial bliss and his wife's insistence bring him reluctantly around, and next thing he knows he's living in a newly kosher household, at least until his relatives go home. It's clear from the outset that the family reunion won't be a bed of roses for all concerned, and that Jackie won't forgo participating in the pool tournament just because of his mother's last will and testament. The game's up? Not for Jackie Zucker…

Henry Hübchen: Jackie Zucker
Hannelore Elsner: Marlene Zucker
Udo Samel: Samuel 'Schmul' Zuckermann
Golda Tencer: Golda Zuckermann
Steffen Groth: Thomas Zucker
Anja Franke: Jana Zucker
Sebastian Blomberg: Joshua Zuckermann
Elena Uhlig: Lilly Zuckermann
Rolf Hoppe: Rabbi Ernst Ginsberg

Grave Decisions (Germany 2006)
Director: Marcus Hausham Rosenmüller
Original Title: Wer früher stirbt, ist länger tot

Landlord “Kandlerwirt” Lorenz and his two young sons, Franz and Sebastian, live in a small Bavarian village. Ever since his wife died a couple of years ago Lorenz has been running the family-owned local pub all by himself – that's why fellow villagers keep suggesting that it's time for Lorenz to go and find a new wife.

When 11-year-old Sebastian accidentally discovers that his mother died giving birth to him, all hell breaks loose. Sebastian, a rascal by nature featuring an outstanding catalogue of sins for someone his age, considers himself guilty of his mother's death and, hence, sets out to redeem himself for fear of ending up in eternal purgatory. Over numerous glasses of beer the regulars of his father's pub readily offer Sebastian their advice, asking for trouble with regards to the overzealous, repentant boy. A blown up rabbit, an indecent proposal to his young and attractive teacher Veronica, plus a nearly killed old lady soon prove that the road to redemption is a bumpy one.

Salvation seems to come into range, though, when Lorenz miraculously falls for Veronica, Sebastian's teacher. Mistaking his father's new-found affection for a sign of his dead mother, Sebastian assumes the role of the matchmaker firmly believing that finding his father a new wife will get him the much desired ticket to heaven. Trouble is brewing when he finds out that Veronica's married to Alfred. Consequently, Alfred has to die…

“Grave Decisions” is a comedy so black it brightens the darkest of moods. Classic coming of age stuff is riddled with subtle, sophisticated insights into the easily misguided juvenile soul and the shortcomings of grown-ups shaking the fragile adolescent belief system at every turn, thus weaving the fabric every youngster's nightmares are made of. Whoever remembers the time when they felt the devil's demons breathing fire down their back for stealing out of grandma's purse or bullying that kid who practically asked for it is in for one hell of a ride.

Markus Krojer: Sebastian Schneider
Fritz Karl: Lorenz Schneider
Jürgen Tonkel: Alfred Dorstreiter
Jule Ronstedt: Veronika Dorstreiter
Saskia Vester: Frau Kramer
Franz Xaver Brückner: Franz
Hans Schuler: Graudinger (as Johann Schuler)

Fateless (Hungary 2005)
Director: Lajos Koltai
Original Title: Sorstalanság

Fateless narrates the suffering of a 15-year-old boy, György Koves (Marcell Nagy), who gets caught up in the Nazis' extermination machinery, but manages to fortuitously survive, and, ravaged by disease, returns to post-war Budapest.

At the start of the film, the Jews of Budapest are not especially disturbed when some men are transported to work camps. But György's father is also taken after he brings his family together one last time to say farewell to his nearest and dearest. The youngster is left to work alone in a factory at the edge of town. One morning, he and several other Jews are arrested on the way to work despite holding valid paperwork. This kicks off an odyssey of terror which takes György to the concentration camps Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Zeitz.

The Hungarian author and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Imre Kertész, for a long time refused to agree to a film adaptation of his best seller 'Fatelessness'. When cameraman Lajos Koltai chose the Holocaust-era drama for his cinematic debut, Kertész changed his mind and was even willing to write the screenplay.

Kertész himself (the author) suffered as a teenager from the torments of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Later, he tried to explain the incomprehensible events of his own fate in his novel. Because the author brought up the matter of Hungary's guilt in the deaths of Hungarian Jewry, Kertész was not totally appreciated in his homeland for a while.

Koltais' attempt at authenticity, due to his fixation on the fate of one individual, is successful thanks to excellent performances by the actors. György tries so hard to make sense of the incomprehensible events around him, that the camp is not portrayed as a hell. "The difference is" he said "that there are no camps in hell."

The nightmarish not so distant view of the Holocaust is clearly and deliberately different from films like "Schindler's List" and "The Pianist". The digitally finished processing generates monochrome pictures which aesthetically work well in their contrast with the cast. Ennio Morricone's score may have turned out a little too melodramatic for some and too reminiscent of an old western soundtrack. And although these people may also accuse the film of taking an overly naive and childish outlook, Lajos Koltais' attempt at a quite unique perspective on the Holocaust has really succeeded.

Marcell Nagy: György Koves
János Bán: Vater
Judit Schell: Stiefmutter
Aára Herrer: Annamaria
Aron Dimeny: Bandi Citrom
Andras M. Kecskes: Finn
Joszef Gyabronka: Unfortunate man
Daniel Craig: American Sergeant

Monty Python's Life of Brian (England 1979)
Director: Terry Jones

This hilarious and timeless biblical epic from the Python team follows the life of hapless Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman) as he attempts to dip his toes in the waters of revolution against the Roman Empire's occupation of Judea by joining the Judean People's Front (or is it the People's Front of Judea?). The sketches are intricately woven together and the film contains classic moment after classic moment, as John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin join Chapman in lampooning the more ridiculous parts of the bible story. Amazingly, this was accused of being blasphemous at the time and the religious fraternity did manage to get it banned in some cinemas, but it seems to be relatively harmless satire now.

Standing out from the pack are several moments including Cleese as a Roman Centurion correcting the appalling Latin grammar of Brian's anti-Roman graffiti in the manner of a cruel Latin teacher. Other scenes such as Jones as Brian's mother addressing his followers have spawned lines as famous as any Python moments, such as "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy". Idle excels in many roles but notably as the bazaar keeper who refuses to sell a beard to the fleeing Brian without a good old-fashioned haggle.

There is so much more in this film that will stand the test of time that my best advice is to stop reading this review right now and get to the video store.

Graham Chapman: Brian Cohen, Biggus Dickus
John Cleese: Reg, Jewish Official, Centurion, Deadly Dirk, Arthur
Terry Gilliam: Jailer, Northern Irish Prophet, Frank, Audience Member, Crucifee
Eric Idle: Mr. Cheeky, Stan (Loretta), Harry the Haggler, Culprit Woman, Warris, Intensely Dull Youth, Jailer's Assistant, Otto, Lead Singer Crucifee
Terry Jones: Mandy Cohen, Colin, Simon the Holy Man, Helpful By-passer, Alarmed Crucifixion Assistant
Michael Palin: Big Nose, Francis, Ex-Leper Beggar, Announcer, Ben, Pontius Pilate, Boring Prophet, Eddie, Shoe Worshipper, Nisus Wettus
Terence Bayler: Gregory
Carol Cleveland: Mrs Gregory
Kenneth Colley: Jesus
Neil Innes: Weedy Samaritan
Gwen Taylor: Mrs. Big Nose
Sue Jones-Davies: Judith
John Young: Matthias, Son of Deuteronomy of Gath
Chris Langham: Alfonso, Giggling Guard
Spike Milligan: Spike

Battle in Heaven (Mexico 2004)
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Original Title: Batalla en el cielo

The film starts with a sex scene that contains no dialogue and that may be all that you remember Battle in Heaven for. Although Marcos Hernández's performance as the chauffeur of a Mexican General is deliberately underplayed, his lack of emotional response to every situation, ranging from the death of a baby he has kidnapped to getting oral sex off his boss's wife, merely suggests he was incredibly bored by the whole project.

There are long moments of silence here where nothing happens but they don't seem to add anything to the film. The chauffeur is often so morose and unreactive that you begin to wonder how the baby didn't outrun him. Anapola Mushkadiz puts in a brave performance as the General's daughter who works in a high class brothel to relieve boredom but she alone can't save the film. Reygadas handles some of the sex scenes well inasmuch as they are real. But they also seem unnecessary to the plot.

When asked in an interview what the title of the film meant, Reygadas's answer could be paraphrased as "Your guess is as good as mine." You'll find yourself saying that phrase often when discussing this film with someone else who's watched it.

Marcos Hernández: Marcos
Anapola Mushkadiz: Ana
Bertha Ruiz: Marcos' Wife
David Bornstein: Jaime
Rosalinda Ramirez: Viky
El Abuelo: Chief of Police
Brenda Angulo: Madame

In Vanda's Room (Portugal 2000)
Director: Pedro Costa
Original Title: No Quarto da Vanda

Set in the slums of Fonthainas area of Lisbon, Costa's depressing work focuses on the lives of the junkies who live there. Various friends of Vanda, including childhood friend Nhurro, wander through her room, each with their own tale of desperation and poverty. There is incessant drug use in this film and the central characters though self-pitying evoke no compassion from the viewer.

The recurring themes of poverty, homelessness and petty crime are the backdrop to petty and meaningless conversations. Unless you like watching people shooting up heroin while feeling sorry for themselves, I'd give this a miss.

Lena Duarte
Vanda Duarte
Zita Duarte
Pedro Lanban
António Moreno
Paulo Nunes
Fernando Paixão

Fido (Canada 2006)
Director: Andrew Currie

Imagine if you will a Technicolor 1950's neighborhood where girls in pony tails jump rope while boys in crew cuts ride their bikes around saying things like “gee whiz”. But instead of faithful dogs wagging their tails behind them it's their faithful zombie that follows their lead. Thanks to the amazing invention of a driven scientist, these undead creatures no longer lust for brains but are as docile as a household pet and take on several roles within this nirvana…butlers, milkmen, gardeners and, well…companions.

The plot centers around little Timmy Robinson (K'Sun Ray) and his pet zombie Fido (Billy Connolly). As the film proceeds, Timmy grows attached to his zombie like a boy to Lassie, and when Fido gets in trouble, Timmy's loyalty causes conflicts in the neighborhood.

The scenery and costumes are perfect and an ensemble of highly talented actors seems to effortlessly draw you into this madcap world, but one in particular is worth noting. Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), gives an extraordinarily believable performance as Helen Robinson, Timmy's wholesome, picture-perfect mom, with just a dash of modern day "get it yourself, Bob" attitude.

Fido is a unique blend of Americana (although actually made in Canada) and Zombie culture. This inventive collaboration of three virtually unknown writers (Robert Comiak, Andrew Currie and Dennis Heaton) is well worth seeing. Even the squeamish would give it a nod. This worthwhile effort makes you wonder what they'd come up with if forces were joined once more.

Carrie-Anne Moss: Helen Robinson
Billy Connolly: Fido
Dylan Baker: Bill Robinson
K'Sun Ray: Timmy Robinson
Tim Blake Nelson: Mr. Theopolis
Henry Czerny: Mr. Bottoms
Sonja Bennett: Tammy
Jennifer Clement: Dee Dee Bottoms
Rob LaBelle: Frank Murphy
Aaron Brown: Roy Fraser
Brandon Olds: Stan Fraser
Alexia Fast: Cindy Bottoms

El Violin (Mexico 2005)
Director: Francisco Varga

Ángel Tavira

Don Plutarco (Ángel Tavira), his son Genaro (Gerardo Taracena) and grandson Lucio (Mario Garibaldi) represent three generations of peasants struggling against poverty and the repression of the ever-present military. Tavira gives a sterling performance as the violin-playing family patriarch, and the relationship he develops with career military officer Dagoberto Gama moves us away from a simple good and evil stagnancy. Gama's character, El Capitán, has an appreciation of music and shows much empathy with Plutarco, and occasionally threatens to deviate from his central loyalty which is to the army and his orders. Vargas takes us on a mazy trail as we wonder which side of the soldier's personality will triumph in the end.

Vargas does not hide from us the injustices of an army oppressing the local indigenous population, but it is not the centerpiece of the film. Shot in black and white, the slow pace might unnerve those corn-fed on a faster rhythm, but this film is worth watching for 81-year-old non-actor Tavira's performance alone.

Ángel Tavira: Don Plutarco
Gerardo Taracena: Genaro
Dagoberto Gama: Capitán
Mario Garibaldi: Lucio
Fermín Martínez: Teniente
Silverio Palacios: Comandante Cayetano
Octavio Castro: Zacarías
Mercedes Hernández: Jacinta
Gerardo Juárez: Pedro

The Robber Hotzenplotz (Germany 2006)
Director: Gernot Roll
Original Title: Der Räuber Hotzenplotz

Christiane Hörbiger and Piet Klocke

Good advice doesn't come cheap though, and a good idea is worth its weight in gold, so Kasperl and Seppel for their part decide to paint the words "Caution Gold" on a crate full of sand to lure the robber. Like perfect plans have the habit of doing, this one went wrong and it needed the combined powers of the official clairvoyant Portiunkula Schlotterbeck (Katharina Thalbach) and the good fairy Amaryllis (Barbara Schöneberger), who had been turned into a toad by the magician Petrosilius Zwackelmann (Rufus Beck), to arrest the Robber.

Kasperl, Seppel, the Grandmother, the Robber, the Policeman, the evil magician and the good fairy: in Gernot Roll's "The Robber Hotzenplotz", all the characters necessary for an authentic pantomime appear on demand. The cast, consisting of Germany's cinematic and television glitterati, deliver a pleasure, perhaps borrowed from our childhoods, to all of us brought up on the classic children's books of Ottfried Preußler that inspired the imaginations of millions of children across the globe and taught them that good always triumphs over evil.

Roll's original screen adaptation of Preußler's "Hotzenplotz“ imparts this with so much sensitivity that if there are children in the audience, then even in the brief 35 years which have elapsed since the book's publication, they will still impatient to scream "YESSSS!" to Kasperl's question "Kids, are you all there?".

Armin Rohde: Robber Hotzenplotz
Martin Stührk: Kasperl
Manuel Steitz: Seppel
Rufus Beck: Petrosilius Zwackelmann
Katharina Thalbach: Portiunkula Schlotterbeck
Piet Klocke: Constable Dimpfelmoser
Barbara Schöneberger: Good Fairy Amaryllis
Christiane Hörbiger: Grandmother
Armin Maiwald: Photographer
Paul Maar: Photographer's Assistant
Jürgen Schopper: The Magic Hand

Hansel and Gretel (Germany 2005)
Director: Anne Wild
Original Title: Hänsel und Gretel

Nastassja Hahn and Johann Storm

Anne Wild's adaption of Grimm's story whisks you effortlessly back to the thrill of your childhood, the goosebumps, the hairs standing up on the back of your neck; the conflict between the desire to hide under the blanket and the equal pull of listening to the story under cover of darkness with your eyes forced to stay open.

It's the story of brother and sister Hänsel and Gretel (Johann Storm and Nastassja Hahn), who are left alone in the woods by their father (Henning Peker), a poor woodcutter who can't feed his family anymore, and their stepmother (Claudia Geisler), who regarded the children of her husband's previous marriage as a nuisance from the outset. Unable to find their way back home, they stumble hungry and tired upon the gingerbread house belonging to the local witch (Sibylle Canonica), who as they soon finds out eats children. When her brother Hansel is locked inside a cage to be fattened for the slaughter, it's left up to Gretel to plan the escape.

The great performances of both young actors, the screenplay's poetry and the Norwegian artist Mari Boine's dazzling musical score soon get your pulse racing. From there, they spread like a fever till your cheeks glow while beads of sweat begin to form on your forehead.

Sibylle Canonica: Hexe
Johann Storm: Hänsel
Nastassja Hahn: Gretel
Henning Peker: Father
Claudia Geisler: Mother
Christian Habicht: Waldbauer
Christian Steyer: Narrator

Taxidermia (Hungary 2006)
Director: György Pálfi

György Palfi's second feature film, based on the short stories of Lajos Parti Nagy, makes no attempt to delude the viewer about the tenor from the opening scene, in which Lt Morosgoványi Vendel (Csaba Czene) sets fire to his own manhood, to the very end. From then on, we aren't really spared much depravity as Taxidermia traces three generations of abnormality.

The film is in three parts with the soldier the star of the first and his illegitimate offspring Balatony Kálmán (Gergely Trócsányi) who represents the Honved club of Hungary in the ‘sport' of champion speed eating, the star of the second. This gives Pálfi and co-writer Zsófia Ruttkay great opportunity to further nauseate us, as he and his fellow contestants serial vomit everywhere in preparation for the next round of eating.

German actor Marc Bischoff carries the third part as an overtly thin, sex-starved taxidermist who has to look after his bloated ageing father, Kálmán. Disgusted as he is by his father's gastrointestinal obsession, he has his own surreal life as a taxidermist, with the bizarre link that Kálmán is training his cats to speed eat competitively.

Whether you regard this as a deep examination of the human fascination with the corporeal or a lazy director using cheap and disgusting bodily functions to shock (like a poor man's Monty Python's Meaning of Life), I wouldn't recommend you let your kids watch this. Or your grandmother for that matter.

Csaba Czene: Morosgoványi Vendel
Gergely Trócsányi: Balatony Kálmán
Piroska Molnár: Hadnagyné
Adél Stanczel: Aczél Gizi
Marc Bischoff: Balatony Lajoska
Gábor Máté: Öreg Balatony Kálmán
Zoltán Koppány: Miszlényi Béla
Géza D. Hegedüs: Dr. Regõczy Andor
Erwin Leder: Krisztián

Honor de cavalleria (Spain 2006)
Director: Albert Serra

Lluís Carbó

There are no adventures, and no recounting of the story of their lives together, just day-to-day dreariness and occasional friction. Lluís Carbó's Quixote is querulous and scatter-brained, and Lluís Serrat's Sancho is stoic and phlegmatic; there are occasional touching moments between the two of them but mostly they seem poorly matched and with little sense of the longterm bond of so many years together. At times the film feels more like a low-budget travelogue of Catalan scenery, and if you enjoy video wallpaper of rugged hills and overgrown fields, this may be for you, but otherwise don't waste your time on it.

Lluís Carbó: Quixot
Lluís Serrat: Sancho

The Landlord (USA 1970)
Director: Hal Ashby

Hal Ashby's "The Landlord" was made in 1970, and while it some ways it now seems dated, in other ways it is ahead of its time. It centers around Elgar Enders, a rich white kid played by Beau Bridges, who is still living in the family mansion at the age of 29. One day he decides he needs a home of his own, and buys a tenement in a poor section of New York City, with the intention of kicking out the tenants and renovating it into a luxurious townhouse for himself. But as he begins to encounter his tenants, he gradually turns into their live-in landlord and sometime friend.

There are many misunderstandings and confusions along the way, and Elgar becomes involved with two black women, one of them a married tenant and the other a dancer at a nearby club. Ashby creates moments of understated but scathing social commentary, as when Elgar, proud of his open-mindedness, brings his girlfriend Lanie (Marki Bey) to a country club costume party, and unthinkingly asks a nearby black man for a scotch and soda with surprising results.

The scenes at home with Elgar's family are a repeated contrast to the life of the city, inhibition and privilege set against something more down to earth. These worlds collide in fascinating ways, most notably when Elgar's aging-belle mother (Lee Grant) shares a bottle of home-brewed wine with another of Elgar's tenants, fortuneteller Marge (Pearl Bailey), and becomes far more relaxed and open then she ever is at home. But in the end she runs back to what is safe and known, and Elgar is often close to doing the same; for most of the film his new life is just a post-teenage experiment, a way to shock his family's conventions.

Overall, Elgar's growth is haphazard and grudging, and glimpses of real understanding of the black experience happen alongside playboy dabbling. He does the right thing in the end, but almost by accident, and his choice of a different life is in some ways made for him by Lanie; you sense that without her strength he might simply return to his sheltered roots not much changed by his excursion into reality.

Beau Bridges: Elgar Winthrop Julius Enders
Lee Grant: Joyce Enders
Diana Sands: Francine Copee
Pearl Bailey: Marge
Walter Brooke: William Enders Sr.
Louis Gossett Jr.: Copee (as Lou Gossett)
Marki Bey: Lanie
Mel Stewart: Professor Duboise (as Melvin Stewart)
Susan Anspach: Susan Enders
Robert Klein: Peter Coots (as Bob Klein)

The Lives of Others (Germany 2006)
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Original Title: Das Leben der Anderen

This powerful political drama is set in the dying years of the fatally flawed East German state. Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) is a playwright who has tentative approval of the Communist authorities despite keeping company of which they are clearly nervous. When his girlfriend Christa-Maria (Martina Gedeck) attracts the roving eye of a senior party apparatchik, the lines between enforcing socialist orthodoxy and advancing personal interest become blurred. As they begin to redefine themselves, Stasi agent Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is assigned the role of digging up the dirt on Dreyman to please his political masters. Dreyman, manipulated by his dissident friends, is meanwhile unwittingly contriving to give the apparatchik, the Minister of Culture, the evidence he wants.

von Donnersmarck's film raises many themes beyond the rights and wrongs of intruding on privacy; including that of what principles one should compromise to avoid being vocationally ruined, imprisoned or persecuted. Wiesler's intrusion into the private lives of Dreyman and Christa-Maria opens his eyes to a world of color, passion and ideas glaringly absent from his own. Ulrich Mühe's portrayal as the functionary from whose eyes the facade masking the real nature of the Communist state gradually falls is superb. Mühe's own career was hurt by a Stasi informer close to his family, so he brought something personal to the role and his death in July 2007 was a loss to German cinema.

This is without doubt one of the finest German films Prost Amerika has reviewed. You will be talking about it for months after. Wiesler's reactions to his role in a psychological ménage-a-trois range from initially being unphased by what he learns to being forced to confront the contrasting emptiness of his own existence, his own existence being a surrogate for the wider fragility of the East German state.

Martina Gedeck: Christa-Maria Sieland
Ulrich Mühe: Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler
Sebastian Koch: Georg Dreyman
Ulrich Tukur: Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz
Thomas Thieme: Minister Bruno Hempf
Hans-Uwe Bauer: Paul Hauser
Volkmar Kleinert: Albert Jerska
Matthias Brenner: Karl Wallner

In My Father's Den (New Zealand 2004)
Director: Brad McGann

Brad McGann's sole feature deservedly won plaudits in his home country and abroad.

Matthew MacFadyen gives a haunting performance as Paul Prior, a 30-something, run down war journalist who resides in England but, returns to his childhood home in New Zealand when his father passes away. His brother and family are no happier about his presence than he is. Prior's now anglicized accent and success as an international press photographer cause immediate tensions but there is more than class and cultural alienation going on. The film slowly but surely unravels the answers to his family's history and why he stormed off that one day many years ago. As the town's ghoulish past begins to reveal itself, a guessing game begins, and some very raw emotions emerge.

Emily Barclay won Best Actress at Australian Film Institute Awards for her stellar performance as teenager Celia Steimer, who develops a fascination with the newcomer. The film beautifully uses the backdrop of New Zealand's South Island as a calm which conceals some dark secrets. Some very troubling issues are addressed but it is a serious spellbinding film that never ceases to captivate.

Based on a 1972 Maurice Gee novel of the same name, In My Father's Den won nine awards at the New Zealand Screen Awards in 2005, including best picture and best director. The film is a fitting tribute to Brad McGann who died tragically of cancer at the age of 43. You can read an obituary here.

Matthew Macfadyen: Paul Prior
Emily Barclay: Celia Steimer
Miranda Otto: Penny
Colin Moy: Andrew
Jimmy Keen: Jonathon
Jodie Rimmer: Jackie

9 Songs (England 2004)
Director: Michael Winterbottom

People will talk about this film and argue for hours over whether it is pornography or not. Let's get that out of the way by saying this film contains sex, oral sex, prostitution, bondage, and you can freely add some gratuitous drug use to that. You can decide if that makes it a porn film.

The scenes are fitted around nine songs performed by bands at various London theaters with performances by Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand, Michael Nyman , Super Furry Animals, Elbow, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Von Bondies and the Dandy Warhols. Matt, an English glaciologist (Kieran O'Brien) and Lisa, an American college student (Margo Stilley), are in a relationship and seemingly in love. The film tracks their relationship's story from beginning to end – through sex. "9 Songs" doesn't dirty its hands with anything so mundane or ordinary as a plot or a script to describe their relationship.

The sex scenes are more realistic than your average porn but the plot no less thin. What Winterbottom does appear to have succeeded in is surrounding this film with an aura of art, which is quite an achievement really given how vacuous and empty it would be without the nookie.

Kieran O'Brien: Matt
Margo Stilley: Lisa

12:08 East of Bucharest (Romania 2006)
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Original Title: A fost sau n-a fost?

Jderescu, being a cable TV journalist, wants a yes or no answer to the question and focuses exclusively on whether there was a presence in the town square before 12.08 on that day. As such, he invites two townspeople as guests on his program, alchohol addicted school teacher Tiberiu Manescu (Ion Sapdaru) and Old Man Emanoil Piscoci (Mircea Andreescu). No cable show would be complete without inviting callers to phone in with their memories however and the result is hilarious as the mundanity of people's lives, then and now, trump Jderescu's hopes for sensationalist television.

Porumboiu skillfully manages to keep our attention on the three men in one setting for the last hour of the film, but just as carefully weaves the threads of the three men's lives into our consciousnesses during the first half hour. By the time that they arrive in the studio, we feel we have already come to know them. Mention in passing must be made of the hilarious cameo role played by George Guoqingyun as Chen, the Chinese store owner.

This is a very good satire on the nature of cable news as well as an amusing piece of cinema.

Teodor Corban: Virgil Jderescu
Ion Sapdaru: Tiberiu Manescu
Mircea Andreescu: Emanoil Piscoci
Mirela Cioaba: Doamna Manescu
Luminita Gheorghiu: Doamna Jderescu
Daniel Badale: Professor
Annemarie Chertic: Vera
Cristina Ciofu: Vali
Constantin Dita: Tibi
Lucian Iftime: Lica
George Guoqingyun: Chen

Brand Upon the Brain (USA/Canada 2006)
Director: Guy Maddin

Gretchen Krich and Sullivan Brown
© Adam L. Weintraub

At the center of the story is an old lighthouse, once home to an orphanage, now deserted. "Guy Maddin" (played by Erik Steffen Maahs) returns there after 30 years away, summoned by a letter from his dying mother, who requests him to paint the lighthouse white as a parting gift to her. Once on the island, memories of his early life come rushing back to Guy, and the main drama is told mostly in flashbacks, separated into 12 chapters with teasing titles.

Guy at 12 and his rebellious older sister live on the island with their parents, who run the orphanage. A mysterious visitor, Wendy, appears in the woods one day . She is one of the "Lightbulb Kids", brother/sister twins who are amateur teen detectives. As child detectives do, she has come to snoop around the island uncovering and solving mysteries. As her investigation proceeds, awkward teenage entanglements occur forcing Wendy into an elaborate ruse.

Guy's possessive and controlling mother observes everything that happens from her seat in the eye of the lighthouse, and communicates with her absent children via the "aerophone", a device that runs on human emotion. His father is sinister and absent, working away in his laboratory downstairs, distilling horrific potions to recapture his wife's youth. These threads slowly come together into a plot that veers from ghoulish to sentimental, sensual to moralistic.

Beautifully shot and accompanied by a compelling musical soundtrack, in the end "Brand Upon the Brain" seems to be about memory itself and the inner processes of the mind in all their multi-layered glory.

Erik Steffen Maahs: Guy Maddin
Gretchen Krich: Mother
Sullivan Brown: Young Guy Maddin
Maya Lawson: Sis
Katherine E. Scharhon: Chance Hale / Wendy Hale

Mona Lisa Smile (USA 2003)
Director: Mike Newell

A wonderful cast brings this somewhat template story line to life. Julia Roberts plays art teacher Katherine Ann Watson, who leaves California to take up a job as art teacher at a conservative New England womens’ college in 1953. The premise of the film is similar to "Dead Poets Society" in many ways as Watson arrives as an unorthodox teacher at a conventional institution, in this case Wellesley College.

Wellesley and its contemporaries were essentially finishing schools for society wives masquerading as educational institutions, where Ivy League men could find suitable partners. "Mona Lisa Smile" tells the story of four of these girls and the way their paths intersect with Roberts' character. Kirsten Dunst just about steals Julia Roberts’ spotlight here with a convincing performance as the spiteful but insecure student Betty Warren. Some of the interplay between Warren and Roberts’ art teacher Katherine Ann Watson is magnificent to watch. Watson's methods are unorthodox and she confronts and affronts a crusty establishment, represented excellently by the President of the College Jocelyn Carr (Marian Seldes). As well as Roberts and Dunst, there are excellent performances from a full cast of supporting characters, with Maggie Gyllenhaal as student Giselle Levy and Juliet Stevenson as nurse Amanda Armstrong especially standing out.

In an era where many critics opine that not enough good parts are being written for women, "Mona Lisa Smile" defies that, and the film is actually at its best in the scenes without men. Indeed, the male characters are fairly one-dimensional in Mona Lisa Smile, mostly portrayed as either dismissive of women’s ambitions and talents or serial womanizers. The cast do as well as is possible with these roles but in reality, there is more for a female audience in this film than for men.

Life in 1953 is very different for women and Mona Lisa Smile raises feminist issues without ever lecturing us. Watson encourages her students to seek further education and fulfill themselves intellectually but comes up against a culture where a woman’s ambition was supposed to reach its zenith at marriage. As such the film does serve as a useful reminder that women have had to fight for even the equality they enjoy today, incomplete as it is.

Julia Roberts: Katherine Ann Watson
Kirsten Dunst: Betty Warren
Julia Stiles: Joan Brandwyn
Maggie Gyllenhaal: Giselle Levy
Ginnifer Goodwin: Connie Baker
Dominic West: Bill Dunbar
Juliet Stevenson: Amanda Armstrong
Marcia Gay Harden: Nancy Abbey
John Slattery: Paul Moore
Marian Seldes: President Jocelyn Carr
Donna Mitchell: Mrs. Warren
Terence Rigby: Dr. Edward Staunton
Jennie Eisenhower: Girl at the Station
Leslie Lyles: Housing Director
Laura Allen: Susan Delacorte

The TV Set (USA 2006)
Director: Jake Kasdan

In this modern day satire about the making of a TV Sitcom, David Duchovny plays Michael Klein, a struggling Hollywood screenwriter with a growing family, failing back and mounting debt. His luck seems to turn when a primary network decides to purchase his love labored script for a TV series based on events in his own life.

Sigourney Weaver gives a typically intense and “love to hate her” performance as the willful president of the network, who finds the material too depressing for prime time and has just a few tweaking suggestions to make it marketable to a wider demographic. Klein's dilemma is whether to accept the network's significant changes to cover his mounting bills or keep his artistic vision in tact and risk poverty. British class and style is infused into the new line up by Richard McAllister played by Welshman Ioan Gruffudd, giving a memorable performance as the UK Exec brought out by the network to spice things up.

"The TV Set" is a very believable bird's eye view of the process by which a sitcom gets on the air and the murky waters that writers must navigate through to get their ideas brought to the screen relatively intact.

Is this film worth watching? Absolutely but, fair warning to those of you that hold a secret desire or delusion of writing the next best, critically acclaimed series for television…this will cure you of it. However, if you're dying to know the answer to “how did we end up with so much crap on television?” then, here is where you'll find it and then some.

David Duchovny: Mike Klein
Sigourney Weaver: Lenny
Ioan Gruffudd: Richard McCallister
Judy Greer: Alice
Fran Kranz: Zach Harper
Lindsay Sloane: Laurel Simon
Justine Bateman: Natalie Klein
Lucy Davis: Chloe McCallister

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox (USA 2006)
Director: Sara Lamm

The Bronner story is told via alternating footage of Dr. Bronner (who died in 1997) and his son and inheritor Ralph, along with lively clips of the soap factory and its employees. Loyal users of the soap, which has been a part of the American counterculture for many years and is now moving into the mainstream along with the green generation, are shown using the soap and reading out excerpts from the Moral ABCs.

The Bronner family story covers four generations, starting with Dr. Bronner's stern father back in Germany, and winding through his children and grandchildren. Dr. Bronner was a man of enormous drive and charisma, so focused on his philosophy that refused to sell to distributors who wouldn't listen; he ws married four times, and his children went in and out of foster care as he pursued his mission. His son Ralph lacks his father's fire and intensity, but continues to spread the message with almost frightening sincerity, hugging strangers after handing over a free bottle of soap.

The filmmakers are clearly fascinated by Dr. Bronner, and the focus is mostly positive, though they don't shy away from some of the more ambivalent aspects of his life and character. All in all, "Dr Bronner's Magic Soapbox" is a fascinating glimpse of a unique individual and his legacy, both personal and cultural.

The Cloud (Germany 2006)
Director: Gregor Schnitzler
Original Title: Die Wolke

A huge radioactive cloud emerges as a result of an accident at a nuclear power plant south east of Frankfurt. The people in the immediate vicinity of the factory are affected by radiation straightaway and wherever the cloud drifts, the inhabitants of that region flee in panic. The small town of Schlitz lies in the affected area. 16 year-old Hannah lives there with her mother and her brother Uli. Together with her first great romance, classmate Elmar, Hanna tries to escape the catastrophe. Elmar just about manages to get away, but Hanna cannot avoid contamination. It seems their luck has ran out, but Hanna learns to her great surprise that love conquers all reason. Despite knowing better and that he is in danger of suffering his own contamination, Elmar goes to look for her in the secure wing of a sanatorium.

The rest is history, the message clear. 'Live like there's no tomorrow, love knows no yesterdays'. As a result of strong performances by both youngsters, you can forgive the film for putting a love story to the fore where there isn't one in Gudrun Pausewang's novel.

Paula Kalenberg: Hannah
Franz Dinda: Elmar
Hans-Laurin Beyerling: Uli
Carina N. Wiese: Paula (as Carina Wiese)
Jennifer Ulrich: Meike
Claire Oelkers: Ayse
Tom Wlaschiha: Hannes (as Thomas Wlaschiha)
Karl Kranzkowski: Dr. Salamander