Dungog Film Society

 
 

February 15	Slumdog Millionaire (MA 15+) (120 mins) This is the story of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's Who wants to be a millionaire? But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika (Freida Pinto), the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Intrigued by Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector (Irfan Khan) begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...
March 15	I've loved you so long (M) (112 mins) Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) and Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) are sisters. Juliette has just been released from prison after serving a long sentence. Léa was still a teenager when Juliette, a doctor, was convicted of the murder of her six-year-old son. Life together isn't easy to begin with. Juliette has to relearn certain basics. The world has moved on and she often seems confused. Although she may seem cold and distant, her attitude stems more from her being ill at ease. Helped by some, such as the kindly but tactless social worker and her open-hearted but depressed parole officer (Frédéric Pierrot) whose confidante she becomes, Juliette is also rejected by others, particularly employers who throw her out as soon as they find out what she did. But a huge questions hangs over Juliette's renaissance. Why did she do such a terrible thing fifteen years ago? For all the others, it's a recurrent thought that they dare not put into words. And for Juliette, locked away in her secret, it's a burden to bear, which holds her back from engaging in her life and believing that she too has the right to be happy. Kristin Scott Thomas is great. She's the thinking man's Angelina Jolie. Seeing her performance is like watching an accident victim going through rehab: painful but necessary. (Everyone else is good, too - I've loved you so long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime) has depth in all directions.) This drama is directed by Philippe Claudel and stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius. NB: English and French language dialogue with English language subtitles.
April 19	Burn after reading (MA15+: infrequent strong violence, coarse language)  (96 mins) Intelligence is relative. At the headquarters of the CIA, analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich)arrives for a top-secret meeting. Unfortunately for Cox, the secret is soon out: he is being ousted. Cox does not take the news particularly well and returns to his home to work on his memoirs and his drinking, not necessarily in that order. His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) is dismayed, though not particularly surprised; she is already well into an illicit affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), a married federal marshal, and sets about making plans to leave Cox for Harry. Elsewhere in the suburbs, and seemingly worlds apart, Hardbodies Fitness Centres employee Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) can barely concentrate on her work. She is consumed with her life plan for extensive cosmetic surgery, and confides her mission to can-do colleague Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt). Linda is all but oblivious to the fact that the gym's manager Ted Treffon (Richard Jenkins) pines for her even as she arranges dates via the internet with other men. When a computer disc containing material for the CIA analyst's memoirs accidentally falls into the hands of Linda and Chad, the duo are intent on exploiting their find. As Ted frets, “No good can come of this,” events spiral out of everyone's and anyone's control, in a cascading series of darkly hilarious encounters. Based on former CIA director Stansfield Turner's 2005 non-fiction tome Burn before reading: Presidents, CIA directors and secret intelligence.
May 17	Man on wire (PG: brief nudity and sexual references)  (94 mins) 1974. 1350 feet up. The artistic crime of the century. On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released. James Marsh's documentary brings Petit's extraordinary adventure to life through the testimony of Philippe himself, and some of the co-conspirators who helped him create the unique and magnificent spectacle that became known as "the artistic crime of the century."
June 21	Frost/Nixon (M: course language)  (122 mins) For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, Frost's team harbored doubts about their boss' ability to hold his own. But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted. Would Nixon evade questions of his role in one of the nation's greatest disgraces? Or would Frost confound critics and bravely demand accountability from the man who'd built a career out of stonewalling? Over the course of their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity - ultimately setting aside posturing in a stunning display of unvarnished truth. Frost/Nixon not only re-creates the on-air interview, but the weeks of around-the-world, behind-the-scenes unwavering between the two men and their camps as negotiations were struck, deals were made and secrets revealed...all leading to the moment when they would sit facing one another in the court of public opinion.
July 19
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