HIRSCHFIELD INTERNATIONAL FILM-VIDEO SERIES
2007-08
Unless noted with an asterisk (*), all programs are presented twice on Saturdays, at 3 p.m. and at 8 p.m., in Middlebury College's Dana Auditorium on College Street. Admission is free. Films are projected in 35mm unless otherwise noted. Some of the works in this series may be inappropriate for children; we regret that we are unable to preview the material.
SEPTEMBER 15
Apocalypto
[USA, 2006, 139’]
Set in the ancient Mayan civilization, a man is captured by an invading force and taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression. Through a twist of fate and spurred by his love for his family, the captive escapes and makes a desperate attempt to return home. International star and Oscar-winning director Mel Gibson (Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ) creates another intense adventure spectacle. “The picture provides a trip to a place one’s never been before, offering hitherto unseen sights of exceptional vividness and power.” – Todd McCarthy, Variety. Nominated for three Academy Awards. In Maya with English subtitles.
SEPTEMBER 22
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
[Romania, 2005, 150’]
A tragic night unfolds as Mr. Lazarescu, an elderly man, calls an ambulance at the first sign of sickness. He is sent to a hospital, then another, then another, and as the night goes on, Mr. Lazerescu’s health diminishes rapidly. A brilliant film directed by Cristi Puiu about loneliness and misfortune. Though The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is a simple story, the film’s creativity and intelligence make it compulsive viewing. “A rich, strange, and weirdly gratifying odyssey.” – Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune. Film festival prize winner at Cannes, Copenhagen and Chicago. In Romanian with English subtitles.
SEPTEMBER 29
The Lives of Others
[Germany, 2006, 137’]
East Berlin, 1985. The Communist Party is determined to know everything about everybody. Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler is assigned to spy on a playwright and his girlfriend to gather evidence of seditious activities. But the task is complicated when the ruthless Wiesler comes face to face with his own humanity. A tragic but inspiring tale of oppression and resistance, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck captures life under surveillance with such precision that the viewer is mesmerized. “The easy, complacent distance that informs much historical filmmaking is almost entirely absent from this supremely intelligent, unfailingly honest movie.” – A. O. Scott, The New York Times. Oscar for "Best Foreign Language Film," "Best Picture," European Film Awards. In German with English subtitles.
OCTOBER 6
Osama
[Afghanistan, 2003, 83’]
The first Afghan film shot since the fall of the Taliban, Osama won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 2003. Director Siddiq Barmak portrays a12-year-old girl and her mother after they lose their hospital jobs under the reign of the Taliban. With no men to support the family – they have all been killed in battle – and harsh rules restricting women, the girl disguises herself as a boy named Osama in order to earn a living. What follows is Osama’s horrifying quest to hide her identity and help her family. “Raw and wretchedly current, it is a story that packs a cruel emotional wallop.” – Manohla Dargis, LA Times. In Pashtu and Dari with English subtitles. Co-sponsored by the Clifford Symposium, "Islam and Politics in a Globalizing World".
OCTOBER 13
Tristram Shandy
[UK, 2005, 94’]
Director Michael Winterbottom (Welcome to Sarajevo, 24-Hour Party People) takes up the challenge of adapting the classic English comic novel that defies adaptation. Tristram's humorous biography becomes enmeshed in the creation of a movie that is constantly side tracked by the complications of the film's production. Laurence Sterne's A Cock and Bull Story finds its way onto the screen without losing its deft whimsy or self-conscious sense of play. “Beneath the fun lurks a dry and weary sigh at life’s refusal to match the tidiness of art.” – Ty Burr, Boston Globe. Nominated for 5 British Independent Film Awards.
OCTOBER 27
The Court (Bamako)
[Mali, 2006, 115’]
Melé (Aïssa Maïga) is a singer in a local bar and her down-and-out husband Chaka (Tiécoura Traoré) is straining their relationship. Meanwhile, a mock trial has been set up in a public courtyard, where the World Bank is accused of exploiting Africa. As the trial raises awareness, Chaka’s apathy disheartens Melé. In a tale of relationships, both international and intimate, director Abderrahmane Sissako (Waiting for Happiness) addresses the intersection of the personal and the political with compassion, believability and artistry. ". . .brilliantly rises to the challenge of presenting a serious discussion of globalization in a lively, entertaining feature film." Deborah Young, Variety. In French and Bambara with English subtitles. Screened in conjunction with the Museum of Art's current exhibition, "Resonance from the Past: African Sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art."
OCTOBER 29,
"Surrealism, Modernism, and Postwar Japanese Film Radicals," a lecture by Jonathan Hall. Professor, Comparative Literature, University of California at Irvine. Robert A. Jones House, 12:15 PM. Co-sponsored by Film and Media Culture, the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs, Women's and Gender Studies, Japanese Studies, Middlebury Asian Students' Organization and International Studies.
NOVEMBER 3
The Last King of Scotland
[UK, 2006, 123’]
A young doctor from Scotland arrives in Uganda to work in a hospital. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with the new President Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker in an Oscar winning performance) who has radical ideas for his African nation. After a time, the doctor fears for his life as Amin’s erratic behavior and manic suspicion takes over his regime. Soon the doctor must tend to his own survival. “Shocking in its truth, jolting is its lack of sentimentality, Shakespearean in its vision of the doctor’s catastrophic flaw.” – Kyle Smith, New York Post. Screened in conjunction with the Museum of Art's current exhibition, "Resonance from the Past: African Sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art."
NOVEMBER 10
Army of Shadows [France, 1969, 145’]
Occupied France, 1942, Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura) is a civil engineer with the French Resistance until his identity is revealed by a traitor. After escaping from an internment camp, Gerbier arrives in Marseilles, where he seeks revenge on the rat who had infiltrated his ranks. An edge-of-your-seat story about the French underground, Jean-Pierre Melville's (Bob Le Flambeur, Le Doulos, Le Samouraï) masterpiece takes us deep into the lives of underappreciated heroes. Originally produced in 1969, Army of Shadows made its US theatrical debut last year to great acclaim. “A classic of life in the underground, of terror, love, friendship, betrayal, and of death hovering over all.” – Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune. "Best Foreign Film," New York Film Critics Circle. In French with English subtitles.
NOVEMBER 12
"Not Yet Modernist, Already Postmodern: Hong Sang-soo and Modernism in Korean Cinema," a lecture by Seung-hoon Jeong, Film Studies and Comparative Literature, Yale University. Robert A. Jones House, 12:15 PM. Co-sponsored by the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs, Women's and Gender Studies, Middlebury Asian Students' Organization, International Studies, and Film and Media Culture.
NOVEMBER 17
Half Nelson
[USA, 2006, 106’]
A big hit on the independent film festival circuit, director Ryan Fleck won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for "Best First Film." Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling in an award winning performance) is a history teacher in an inner-city school, who is torn between his desire to change the world and his desperate realization that he can't. The film focuses on Dan’s unlikely friendship with Drey, a 13-year-old student who catches Dan smoking crack after school one day. Drey understands Dan's frustrations; she is the lonely child of an overworked single mother whose neglect has made her hard edged, but self-reliant. The two strike a bond in the face of a harsh world. An “unflinching clash between squandered ideals and hopeful realities.” – Gianni Truzzi, Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
DECEMBER 1
Paprika
[Japan, 2006, 90’]
Japanese animé at its best, Paprika portrays Atsuko, a psychiatrist who uses a state-of-the-art machine to analyze her patient’s dreams. She doubles as Paprika, a detective trying to unravel people’s thoughts. Unfortunately, the dream machine is stolen, and Paprika sets out to find its captor and save the city from psychological mayhem. Another disturbing, hypnotic dive into the psyche from director Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress), Paprika is “smart, electrifying, and proudly unhinged.” – Aaron Hillis, Premiere Magazine. In Japanese with English Subtitles.
DECEMBER 3
"City Symphonies and Constructivist Courseware: Mining Modernism for Digital Innovation," a lecture by Marsha Kinder, University Professor, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California. Robert A. Jones House, 12:15 PM. Co-sponsored by Women's and Gender Studies, the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs, International Studies, and Film and Media Culture.
DECEMBER 8
Babel
[Mexico, 2006, 143’]
The third collaboration (after Amores Perros & 21 Grams) between director Alejandro González Iñárritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, this celebrated drama delves into the global consequences of the accidental shooting of an American woman (Cate Blanchett) in Morocco. As her husband (Brad Pitt) races against time, language and xenophobia to save her, the film follows the effects of their plight on the couple’s Mexican babysitter as she tries to attend her son’s wedding, and on a Japanese deaf-mute girl desperately seeking affection after her mother’s suicide. Set in four countries and spoken in five languages, Babel cuts through cultural barriers with stunning visual élan; it’s “unpredictable and shocking, with compassion hanging on for dear life.” – Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter. "Best Director," Cannes Film Festival.
JANUARY 12
Flags of Our Fathers
[USA, 2006, 132’]
Early in the battle of Iwo Jima, a photograph of an American flag being raised becomes a powerful symbol of the American war effort. After the battle, the three Marine flag raisers help raise funds in support of the campaign. However, the applause heaped upon the three men is at odds with their experience in combat. Each of the three must come to terms with the honors, exploitation, and grief that they face in the wake of war. From Academy Award winning director Clint Eastwood (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven) comes a “mixture of cynicism and idealism, irony and conviction, satiric skepticism and red-blooded patriotism.” – Andrew Sarris, New York Observer.
JANUARY 19
Letters from Iwo Jima
[USA, 2006, 140’]
The acclaimed companion piece to director Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers, Letters presents the Japanese perspective of the same battle. With only Iwo Jima blocking an American invasion of Japan, the Imperial Army prepares a desperate defense. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi assumes command and plans for the imminent attack, while Saigo, a common soldier, strives simply to survive knowing that a fierce assault looms. When the American invasion begins, Kuribayashi and Saigo display honor and courage engulfed by the horrors of modern warfare. “Superbly acted, unblinking and unhysterical, it looks beyond politics into the hearts and minds of the men we needed to call “the enemy,” and lets us see ourselves.” – David Ansen, Newsweek.
"Best Picture," National Board of Review, LA Film Critics.
JANUARY 26
Mutual Appreciation
[USA, 2005, 109’]
Alan's quest for success in music and love is hampered by one thing-- himself. Centering on Alan's romance with a radio DJ and his fledgling band, director Andrew Bujalski shapes a love story as a hilarious portrayal of awkwardness. As Alan slinks through New York City bars, clubs, and apartments, he explores the grey areas between expectation, disappointment, and desire that accompany adulthood. An indie festival favorite, Mutual Appreciation is a cleverly written, timeless snapshot of post-college angst. “The movie is made of small moments; they add up in your mind to something bigger later, the way life does outside of movies.” – Marrit Ingman, Austin Chronicle. "Best Screenplay," Newport Film Festival.
FEBRUARY 16
Volver
[Spain, 2006, 121’]
Spirits of the dead aid the living in Pedro Almodóvar’s (All About My Mother, Talk to Her, The Bad Education) latest hit, an intricately plotted comedy about the undying bonds of family. Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) faces a crisis with the untimely death of her aunt and her husband. With the help of her loyal sister and her dead mother’s ghost, Raimunda shelters her daughter and discovers a deeply entrenched family secret that changes her life. “Wise, luxuriant humanism.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times. In Spanish with English subtitles. "Best Foreign Language Film," National Board of Review, "Best Actress," "Best Director," European Film Awards.
MARCH 1
Inland Empire
[USA, 2006, 172’]
Years ago, a Polish film had been left unfinished due to the murders of its two leading actors. Nikki Grace (Laura Dern in an astonishing performance) signs on for a remake of the haunted movie and falls in love with her co-star, Devon Berk (Justin Theroux). A suspenseful, impossible-to-categorize masterwork, Inland Empire is a must-see for fans of David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Dr.) and the filmmaker’s most ambitious experiment with digital video. “One of the few films I’ve seen this year that deserves to be called art… by turns beautiful and ugly, funny and horrifying.” – Manhola Dargis, The New York Times. "Best Experimental Film," National Society of Film Critics.
MARCH 8
4
[Russia, 2005, 126’]
Director Ilya Khrjanovsky’s 4 is an apocalyptic journey through the dark heart of the new Russia. Three strangers meet in a Moscow bar and spin fantastic stories, all of them lies. They depart and journey their separate ways through a landscape filled with modern industrial horrors. A unique and disturbing film, 4 was held up by Russian censors who wanted forty minutes cut, but relented after the film won acclaim at film festivals around the world. “The terminally bleak meets the hypnotically beautiful in the Russian cryptogram 4.” – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times. In Russian with English subtitles. Film festival awards in Athens, Buenos Aires, Seattle and Rotterdam.
MARCH 15
Pan’s Labyrinth
[Mexico/Spain, 2006, 112’]
A story of a young girl’s fantasy journey in which she must complete three harrowing tasks within a labyrinth to be allowed to see her father again. Set in post-Civil War Spain, Guillermo del Toro’s (Hellboy, The Devil’s Backbone) adult-oriented fairy tale is an uncanny blend of gorgeous flights of the imagination and blood-curdling moments of brutality. “Pan’s Labyrinth is one of those films that's so moving, heartbreaking, and wonderfully haunting, you sigh when the end credits roll.” – Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star. In Spanish with English subtitles. "Best Film," National Society of Film Critics, Academy Awards for Art Direction, Cinematography and Makeup.
APRIL 5
House of Sand
[Brazil, 2005, 98’]
In 1910, Vasco de Sá moves with his pregnant wife Áurea and her mother Maria from the city to the shifting dunes of the Maranhão desert. Shortly after the trio’s arrival, Vasco dies, leaving mother and daughter alone and without resources. In the coming decades, Áurea raises her daughter and looks after goats, though she never stops longing to move back to the capital city. Filmed entirely on location in northern Brazil, House of Sand illustrates how three generations of women survive and adapt in a hostile environment; it is overwhelmingly “sensual, dreamlike, both intimate and epic.” – Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Alfred Sloan Award, Sundance Film Festival.
APRIL 12
Iraq
in Fragments
[Iraq, 2006, 94’]
Iraq in Fragments surveys war torn Iraq in three acts, building a picture of a country pulled in different directions by religious and ethnic rivalries. Filmed in verité style by James Longley (Gaza Strip) with no scripted narration, the film explores the lives of ordinary Iraqis in three regions that focus on the common people trying to survive in a land consumed by violence. “Visually arresting and deeply disheartening.” – Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News. In Arabic and Kurdish with English subtitles.
"Best Documentary" - Sundance Film Festival, International Documentary Association, Chicago Film Festival.
APRIL 19
The Namesake
[India/USA, 2006, 122’]
In the late 1970s, an aspiring engineer and his new wife move to New York from Calcutta. Their American-born son grows up at the intersection of American culture and his family's traditional Indian ways. Only when a crisis strikes does the young man realize his alienation at the crossroads between two ways of life. In portraying the personal conflicts of globalization, director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay!) creates a winning, intimate film about the strength of family and the clash of cultures. “Brims with intelligence, compassion and sensuous delight in the textures, sights and sounds of life – all the way from the Taj Mahal to Pearl Jam.” – Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune. In Bengali, Hindi, and English with subtitles.
APRIL 26
Still Life
[China, 2006, 108’]
Coalminer Han Sanming comes from Fengyang to the Three Gorges town Fengjie to look for his ex-wife, whom he has not seen for 16 years. The couple meets on the bank of the Yangtze River and vow to remarry. Nurse Shen Hong comes to Fengjie to look for her husband who has not been home for two years. They embrace and waltz under the imposing Three Gorges Dam, but cannot bridge their years of separation. With the old township submerged by the dam’s construction, individuals must salvage what they can and say goodbye to things forever lost. A gorgeously crafted piece of cinema, director Jia Zhang Ke’s (The World, Platform) emulates the characters’ desire to linger and see the world maintain its beauty despite the inexorable pull of change. In Mandarin with English subtitles. "Golden Lion," Venice Film Festival.
MAY 3
The Wind that Shakes the Barley [UK/Ireland, 2006, 127’]
Veteran filmmaker Ken Loach (Ladybird Ladybird, Land and Freedom) weaves the story of Damien and Teddy, brothers in 1920’s Ireland. Teddy is involved in a guerilla squad fighting for the liberation of Ireland, while Damien is fully immersed in his medical school studies until he experiences the war's violence himself. The conflict within Ireland tests both brothers’ loyalties to their homeland and to each other. ". . .an absorbing, worthwhile and often passionate movie." Richard Schickel, Time. Golden Palm," Cannes Film Festival.
Last updated: 6/27/07