October
Fri 30 Sep & Sat 1 Oct 7.45pm
SARAH'S KEY (12A)
Adapted from Tatiana de Rosnay’s best selling novel, Sarah's Key alternates
between two parallel stories, the first set in 1942 where 10-year-old Sarah is
caught up in the Vel'D'Hiv Roundup, the second following Julia, a journalist in
contemporary Paris researching the tragedy at the velodrome. Kristin Scott
Thomas delivers a compelling performance as Julia, whose investigation leads to
self discovery and an unsettling family history.
France (subtitled), 2011, 110 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Mon 3 Oct 7.45pm
THE LIVES OF OTHERS (15)
Europe Loves Cinema
An Oscar winning psychological and political thriller presenting a fascinating insight into the measures adopted by the East European government in the 1980s. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's film focuses on an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover. As his investigation progresses he finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
Germany (subtitled), 2006, 137 mins
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Tue 4 Oct 7.45pm
THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER (PG)
Bertrand Tavernier's lush historical drama full of intrigue, set amid
France's bloody 16th century war between the Huguenots and Catholics. Adapted
from Madame de Lafayette's anonymously published novel, the tale centres on
Marie (Mélanie Thierry), a beautiful princess on a journey of personal,
philosophical and romantic discovery. An unstuffy period drama boldly recreated.
France (subtitled), 2010, 139 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Thu 6 Oct 7.45pm
PROJECT NIM (12A)
The Oscar winning director of Man on Wire, James Marsh's latest documentary
tells the moving story of the life of Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee and subject of
a radical 1970s experiment to determine if an ape could learn to communicate if
raised like a human child. Revealing human behaviour as much as its subject,
Project Nim is insightful and engaging, questioning what exactly separates man
from animal?
UK, 2011, 99 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Fri 7 & Sat 8 Oct 7.45pm
ONE DAY (12A)
Lone Scherfig's first film since An Education is a romantic drama starring
Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, adapted from David Nicholls' novel. After
spending the night together following their university graduation Dexter and Em
are shown on the same day, the 15th of July, sometimes together, sometimes not,
over two decades. Scherfig's film follows their lives as their friendship ebbs
and flows, through love and loss, heartbreak and success.
USA, 2011, 108 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Mon 10 Oct 7.45pm
PERSEPOLIS (15)
Europe Loves Cinema
A marvellous bittersweet, monochrome animated memoir about growing up during the 1979 Iranian revolution, and in exile in France and Austria. Adapted from Marjane Satrapi's bestselling graphic novels, Persepolis is a frequently hilarious autobiography, a lesson in recent Iranian history and a feisty feminist fable.
France/USA (subtitled), 2007, 96 mins
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Tue 11 Oct 7.45pm
BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD (12A)
The stranger-than-fiction story of the rise and fall of Bobby Fischer,
considered by many to be the world's greatest chess player. Award-winning
filmmaker Liz Garbus charts his rise from child prodigy, to his politically
loaded matches against Boris Spassky at the height of the Cold War, to his swift
fall into paranoia and delusion. A fascinating documentary using rare archival
footage and insightful interviews with those closest to Bobby, to explore the
nature of genius and madness.
USA/UK/Iceland, 2010, 93 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Thu 13 Oct 7.45pm
BEAUTIFUL LIES (12A)
Audrey Tautou stars in this romantic comedy, as Émilie, a provincial
hairdresser and recipient of a finely phrased billet-doux. The letter is from
the local hunky handyman Jean, whose life can only get more complicated when
Émilie re-addresses it to her love spurned mother. A classic French farce in
the tradition of La Cage Aux Folles and this year's Potiche.
France (subtitled), 2010, 104 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Fri 14 & Sat 15 Oct 7.45pm
THE SKIN I LIVE IN (15)
Pedro Almodóvar's macabre melodrama influenced by Fritz Lang and Georges
Franju's Eyes Without A Face, adapted from Thierry Jonquet’s novel Tarantula.
Antonio Banderas is Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon dedicated to
creating flawless artificial skin. Haunted by his past and driven by revenge,
the doctor’s obsession leads him to carry out increasingly sinister tests to
perfect his invention. After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a perfect
skin, now he just needs a human guinea pig...
Spain (subtitled), 2011, 117 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Mon 17 Oct 7.45pm
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (18)
Europe Loves Cinema
The Oscar winning, immensely watchable Argentinian crime thriller, about a retired Federal Justice agent writing a novel based on an unsolved case from the 70s. In order to overcome writer’s block and complete the novel he determines that he must solve the case, releasing emotions thought long since forgotten.
Argentina/Spain (subtitled), 2009, 129 mins
Further information regarding scenes used to determine the BBFC classification, may be found at the extended classification web page, please note that this page contains spoilers.
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Tue 18 Oct 7.45pm
IN A BETTER WORLD (15)
Winner of the 2011 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film In a Better World is
a brilliantly acted drama about violence, revenge and the power of forgiveness.
Susanne Bier’s drama centres on one family who are split across two
continents; in Africa where Anton is a doctor working in a refugee camp treating
the tortured victims of a sadistic warlord, and in a quiet Danish suburb where
his family is slowly falling apart and his eldest son Elias is badly bullied at
school. Bier explores these two inextricably linked worlds with great skill and
sensitivity, evoking the disturbing question: is violence sometimes necessary?
Denmark/Sweden (subtitled), 2010, 117 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Thu 20 to Sat 22 Oct 7.45pm
JANE EYRE (PG)
A new adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic tale of a young woman's
passionate search for a wider and richer life than that traditionally accorded
by Victorian society. Filmed on location in the Peak District, Jane Eyre stars
Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender as Jane and Mr Rochester and features Judi
Dench, Jamie Bell and Sally Hawkins.
UK/USA, 2011, 120 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Mon 24 Oct 7.45pm
A Year at Sherbrooke
Dementia / Alzheimer Presentation
A Year at Sherbrooke documents artists Thelma Pepper & Jeff Nachtigal as they work with the residents of Sherbrooke Community Centre, a long-term care facility in Saskatoon, Alberta, Canada. The artists' belief that we are all born artists, and that creativity is an essential expression of being fully alive, takes form in a film that vividly demonstrates the healing power of art and community. Canada, 2009, 53 mins
A Year At Sherbrooke is presented in association with the North Staffordshire CHT, and will be introduced by Dr Richard Coaten. Dr Coaten is a dance movement psychotherapist and Churchill Fellow, from the Editorial Board Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine.
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Tue 25 Oct 7.45pm
Villain (15)
Adapted from a bestselling Japanese crime noir novel, Villain is a thriller
following Mitsuyo (Eri Fukatsu) and construction worker Yuichi (Satoshi
Tsumebuki), who immediately fall in love with each other after meeting on an
internet dating site. But there’s a secret Yuichi had been keeping from
Mitsuyo: Yuichi is the prime suspect for the murder of a woman whose body was
found at Mitsue Pass only a few days before.
Japan (subtitled), 2010, 139 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Thu 27 Oct 7.45pm
KILL LIST (18)
Iraq war veteran turned contract killer Jay hasn't worked for eight months,
since a disastrous job in Kiev, but family finances are tight, so he agrees to
take on a new assignment with his partner Gal. Ben Wheatley's second feature
includes violent scenes as the pair descend into the dark, disturbing world of
the contract, where fear and paranoia send Jay deep into the heart of darkness.
'Authentic dialogue, pitch-perfect performances and seductively scuzzy images
comprise a film funny and bleak, tender and cruel, serious and 'out-there'.
British horror has rarely hit these heights since the mid-'70s' (Jamie Graham,
Total Film)
Further information regarding scenes used by the BBFC to determine the film's certification, may be found at the extended classification link - please note that this page contains spoilers.
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Fri 28 and Sat 29 Oct 7.45pm
THE GUARD (15)
Brendan Gleeson stars in a nicely dry, pleasingly black comedy, set on
Ireland’s west coast. Gleeson plays Gerry Boyle, an anarchic, small-town
policeman with a subversive sense of humour, who is less than impressed when he’s
teamed up with straight laced FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle). An
enthralling tale of murder, blackmail and rural police corruption ensues as they
attempt to tackle an international cocaine-smuggling ring.
Ireland, 2011, 96 mins
Reviews: :: The Observer :: The Guardian :: The Independent ::
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Mon 31 Oct 7.45pm
Dead of Night (PG)
Ealing Studios
Spooky tales on Halloween, to wit, Ealing Studios' only horror film. Dead of Night is a portmanteau psychological thriller in which a group of strangers are mysteriously gathered at a country estate, where each reveals their chilling tale of the supernatural.
UK, 1945, 99 mins. Curtains close at approximately 9.50pm
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