2001-2010

synopsis
The rise and fall of one couple’s marriage goes under the microscope in this drama from French filmmaker François Ozon. Gilles (Stephane Freis) and Marion (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) have filed for divorce following several years of marriage, and after the judge declares their union is over, the film follows the couple through five lengthy flashbacks, presented in reverse chronological order, in which glimpses of their lives together are shown, ending with the couple meeting for the first time. As the film follows the peaks and valleys of Gilles and Marion’s relationship, viewers witness a few of the many small events that make up a marriage.by Mark DemingRead More »

Synopsis:
Sarah Morton is a famous British mystery author. Tired of London and seeking inspiration for her new novel, she accepts an offer from her publisher John Bosload to stay at his home in Luberon, in the South of France. It is the off-season, and Sarah finds that the beautiful country locale and unhurried pace is just the tonic for her–until late one night, when John’s indolent and insouciant French daughter Julie unexpectedly arrives. Sarah’s prim and steely English reserve is jarred by Julie’s reckless, sexually charged lifestyle.Read More »

Quote:
An artist spends his or her existence examining life through their art, so why is it often so hard to use art to examine the artist’s life in turn? We’ve all seen biopics that merely scratch the surface of a creative existence, either spending too much time focusing on the travails of the individual and leaving their creations by the wayside, or flat studies of the work alone that seemingly forget that there was a person behind the words or images.

Isaac Julien’s new documentary Derek tries to have the best of everything in its portrait of painter and visionary filmmaker Derek Jarman, and for the most part, it succeeds. As a tribute to the man, Julien and his collaborators, producer Colin MacCabe and actress Tilda Swinton, let the viewer behind the curtain to see who Jarman was and what fueled his inspired works; at the same time, we see pieces of that work, and we learn what it meant to him as a person and to the culture at large.Read More »

Plot:
Epic film about WWII, a sequel to Burnt by the Sun (1994). Evil Stalin is terrorizing people of Russia while the Nazis are advancing. Russian officer Kotov, who miraculously survived the death sentence in Stalin’s Purge, is now fighting in the front lines. His daughter, Nadia, who survived a rape attempt by Nazi soldiers, is now a nurse risking her own life to save others. In the war-torn nation even former enemies are fighting together to defend their land. People stand up united for the sake of victory. The deadly war comes at very high cost: the Nazis are killing people, burning villages, raping women, bombing churches, destroying bridges. Hoping to survive, Kotov and his daughter are having visions of each other, but their dreams fade amidst massive bombardment. Fire and smoke eclipses the sun. The land around becomes lifeless, defenseless and littered with the dead. Then the dead are covered by snow. Life is over. Only a butterfly is flying above the weapons and corpses, alluding to eternity.Read More »

The relationships of four couples unravel after the discovery of a young woman’s body in Lantana bush in suburban Sydney.Read More »

SHORT SYNOPSIS
A sleepy seaside town, in winter. 
Emily (Victoria Thaine), a seventeen-year-old girl, lives with her mother Susan (Susie Porter). Emily never knew her father. According to her mother, he was a “tom cat” – a tourist who wandered into town one summer and was never seen again. 
Susan is struggling to forget the past. She hasn’t spoken to her parents for years, not since she shamed the family by falling pregnant at fifteen. 
Emily actively pursues a friendship with father-figure Stephen (Robert Mammone), who spends his days fixing boats at the harbour. But Stephen has his own troubles, constantly haunted by the past. 
Stephen’s sister Elizabeth (Wendy Hughes) is married to the town policeman Carl (Philip Quast). Elizabeth suspects Carl is being unfaithful but is afraid to uncover the truth. Her son Joel (Khan Chittenden) has a secret love of his own. 
When a bible turns up with an intriguing inscription, Emily is the first to realise that hoping for change is not enough.Read More »

Two people are caught up in an all-consuming and forbidden love in this drama, the first feature from director Jean Chateuvert. Christine (Valerie Cantin) is married to Mario (Michael Kelly), a successful businessman, and is the mother of two children. However, Christine has a lover, a man she’s known long before she was married — her brother Christophe (Marc Marans). Both Christine and Christophe are aware of the dangers of their incestuous relationship, and have both attempted to stop it — Christophe even introduced Mario to his sister in hopes that they would hit it off and their affair would come to a end. But neither Christine nor Christophe have the strength to put an end to their relationship, and while Mario has recently earned a promotion at work that will necessitate moving to a new city (a job Christine urged him to get), she hasn’t had the courage to tell her brother the news. La Coupure (aka Torn Apart) received its world premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival.Read More »

From wikipedia :
Before Born (simplified Chinese: 结果; traditional Chinese: 結; pinyin: jiégǔo) is a 2006 Chinese film directed by Zhang Ming. Only Zhang’s third film in a decade, Before Born is a surreal mystery about modern Chinese life that has garnered comparisons to L’avventura, Michelangelo Antonioni’s classic 1960 film. The film tells the story of a private detective, Huang Guangliang, hired to gather evidence of an affair by a man named Li Chonggao. When he arrives in the coastal city of Beihai in search of his target, he discovers that he has disappeared and instead meets an enigmatic young woman who is also looking for Li.Read More »

Price of Pleasure:
Pornography, Sexuality & Relationships

Once relegated to the margins of society, pornography has emerged as one of the most visible and profitable sectors of the cultural industries, assuming an unprecedented role in the mainstream of our popular culture at the same time that its content has become more extreme and harsh, more overtly sexist and racist. This eye-opening and disturbing film tackles the complexity behind this seeming paradox, placing the voices of critics, producers, and performers alongside the observations of men and women as they candidly discuss the role pornography has played in shaping their sexual imaginations and relationships. Honest and non-judgmental, The Price of Pleasure moves beyond the liberal versus conservative debates so common in the culture to paint a myth-busting and nuanced portrait of how pleasure and pain, commerce and power, liberty and responsibility have become intertwined in the most intimate area of our lives. An ideal tool for initiating classroom discussion about this notoriously difficult subject.
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