In Michael, a pinched faced nebbish of a man goes about his day. He does errands, cleans his house and yard and when he smokes he does so outside. His job at an insurance company is the most “lonely guy” of clichés and our initial impression is of a closed-off individual. This set, bland, routine to his life is very necessary when the viewer is shown the boy, Wolfgang, who this man, Michael, keeps prisoner in his basement.

In a bright room with toys, books and a kettle to heat water for soup, Wolfgang spends his day. This is why the shutters on the windows that close at a precise time every evening are industrial grade and a battering ram would be needed to break down the door to Wolfgang’s. Michael has methodically prepared for keeping this young man captive. Nothing unspeakable is ever really shown, just chilling implications.

Early in the film, Michael takes the boy on an outing and you wonder why Wolfgang doesn’t just bolt. What unfolds is a study of almost masterful mind control. Michael constantly takes steps to keep the boy in line, but also placated. They do chores, eat upstairs at the table, work a puzzle, throw snowballs. Michael seems in these moments like an overly dour father. It’s when he’s alone, laughing at a horror film as he lays on his couch or in awkward explanations with his family that he seems his most monstrous. We squirm at the massive disconnect and lack of conscience he needs to maintain this subterfuge. The boy’s room is always stocked with supplies, especially when Michael takes a days long ski trip, but he also prepares for any eventuality as when scouting the woods for a grave.

We’re never taken far into Michael’s psyche. There are no hints of abuse or trauma that led him to this. He just wants to have this boy. When an interview with a doctor about pedophilia comes on the television, Michael frantically shuts off the power to Wolfgang’s room. He isn’t upset that a mirror has been held up to his actions, but more that there could be a break in his mind control.

Michael is the first time directing for Markus Schleinzer who’s been a casting director for films like The Robber and The Counterfeiters, but also for director Michael Haneke and whose dark work this film bears the most resemblance to in its style and choice of subject matter.

The comedian Louis C.K. made an observation that if child molestation were more socially acceptable, there’d be fewer child murders. Nobody believes or wants this, and we’re conflicted about putting a sympathetic or “human face” on this most heinous of crimes, but put Michael alongside L.I.E., The Woodsman, and M as proof we’re long past the easy boogeyman in film.

A dance of memory and devotion set in 1960’s Japan, we see debts owed from love and friendship in Norwegian Wood. In spare narration, the film’s main protagonist Watanabe (Ken’ichi Matsuyama) tells the story of himself and his friends, the sweethearts Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) and Kizuki (Kengo Kora).  Kizuki and Naoko have known each other since they were very young and being together, along with Watanabe’s friendship, make life perfect until Kizuki commits suicide. The tragedy makes it seem that nothing can ever be right again.

Watanabe is attending college when Naoko, now twenty and fragile, tenderly reaches out to him, reveals a secret about her and Kizuki’s love, then disappears.  As Watanabe works two jobs, and the student unrest of the day passes him by, he meets and is quietly enamored of Midori (Kiko Mizuhara). Then Naoko contacts him from a sanitarium where she’s recovering from a breakdown and Watanabe tries to pull her back to him.

In film, young love can be an obsessive, one-note theme. An obsessive wants the object of that obsession to never change. The passion of young love must be an all consuming flame always. Both make for the shallowest melodrama because tempering either of these with ruminations gets away from the formula of romance. Perfectly composed with a rich palette of colors, and capturing the era with clothing crisp and bright and furnishings completely of the time, Norwegian Wood could be slagged off initially as foreign film young-people-in-mope with a lot of surface and no substance.

But the film quietly, elegantly goes about its business. Change is in the air, mainly between the sexes and Watanabe’s character battles against himself over his devotion to Naoko, his attraction to Midori and, let’s face it, how a young man steeped in his culture should handle himself. He does want Naoko. Not as she was, in their honeyed younger days of only a short while before, but he wants here well and he wants to understand what’s happened and he also wants his life to move on. There’s frankness and a lyricism to the dialogue (yes, we’ll just have to trust the subtitles, but that doesn’t take away from it) and when heartbreak happens to the characters (as with Naoko, her back is to us, yards away on a hillside) the restraint used draws us more into the moment then any Oscar-bait movie in recent memory. A tryst with Reiko (Reika Kirishima), a music teacher and fellow patient of Naoko’s, is not opportunistic sex for Watanabe, it’s closure for them both and her first step back into the world.

In the end this is what we do. You take time to remember. Effect what repairs you can on your heart. Then you go on. – [DVD]

Michael: Drama, Unrated, Austria

Norwegian Wood: Drama/Romance, Unrated, Japan

DVD Release Date: 5/15/12

I stopped reading… did you stop reading?

Poetry on the page we may equate with a case of rickets, but in a date night movie gives us passion, a life in letters and lace bodices.

Shakespeare in Love, we thank you.

In Young Goethe in Love, enamored of poetry and having failed his law doctorate, Johann Goethe (Alexander Fehling) is sent by his father to the town of Wetzlar, Germany to clerk in the local prosecutor’s office. He proves competent at this dreary work, finds a friend in fellow drone Wilhelm (Volker Bruch), wonders what life holds for him, then meets Charlotte Buff (Miriam Stein) at a dance. Wine is spilled, quips are exchanged and ardor commences. Her mother has died and Charlotte, affectionately called Lotte by her family, runs her father’s house, though they have little money and may lose their property. An arranged marriage with none other than Goethe’s superior Kestner (Moritz Bleibtreu) will provide for her family, but she wants Johann who can offer her only his words.

It’s all pleasant and diverting with Fehling boyish enough and Stein playing earthy and warm, but the film never fans any real swooning, romantic flames as it gently traipses through its yearning motions. Some rejection letters, bare skin among the ferns and the Sturm und Drang movement is born.

An accomplished artist, poet, biologist and theoretical physicist, Goethe is a household name in Germany and, perhaps like the recent French film Gainsbourg, we’re not as invested in other countries’ icons, so we’d like a little re-preaching for the unconverted. It’d be expecting too much of director Philipp Stölzl, who made the fine North Face (2008), to pull off something as refreshing as Amadeus (1984), but a touch of Bright Star’s (2009) grace and subtlety could have gone a long way.

Yet, Goethe was young once, we were all young once, so this film is fine for a stolen kiss in the rain, but let a cooler head prevail and don’t put pen to paper afterward. – [DVD]

Drama/Romance

Not Rated

DVD Release Date: 4/24/12

All new! Twenty-nine recent foreign film arrivals are profiled below, let’s have a look:

France:
The Conquest (2011) - The Conquest chronicles the volatile right-leaning Nicolas Sarkozy‘s startling rise to become President of France and the emotional and psychological stakes involving the conquest of power. (France) – [imdb]
Gainsbourg (2010) - Comic book artist Joann Sfar interprets the life of ’60s pop star Serge Gainsbourg (Eric Elmosnino), 1921-1991, beginning with his childhood years in Nazi-occupied Paris, through his early years as a painter and jazz musician, to his life as a wildly popular singer-songwriter, notorious bon vivant, and lover of some of the world’s most glamorous women. (France) – [imdb] – click here to read our review!
The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch (2008) - When billionaire Nerio Winch (Miki Manojlovic) is murdered, the focus shifts to his reluctant heir, Largo (Tomer Sisley), to take over the reins of his late father’s major international corporation. But first he must overcome the onslaught of drug traffickers, assassins, militia fighters and double-dealing corporate-political traders to fulfill his destiny at the head of the table in this fast-paced Euro action-adventure thriller. (France/Belgium) – [imdb]
House of Pleasures (2011) – In this lush, atmospheric look at the final days of an elegant, turn-of-the-century brothel, we go inside the cloistered walls of L’Apollonide to meet the Madam (Noemie Lvovsky), her elite clientele, and some dozen “girls” – veterans and newcomers, romantics and cynics, schemers and innocents. (France) – [imdb]
Romantics Anonymous (2010) –  JeanRené is the boss of a chocolate factory and Angélique is a talented chocolate maker. They are both emotionally challenged people. Drawn together through a shared passion for chocolate, JeanRené and Angélique fall in love, but neither is able to express how they feel. (France/Belgium) – [imdb]
The Women on the 6th Floor (2010) – Paris, 1960. A bourgeois couple’s world is turned upside-down when they hire a Spanish maid Maria. Through Maria, Jean-Louis, the husband, befriends a group of sassy Spanish maids, refugees of the Franco regime, who teach him there’s more to life than stocks and bonds, and whose influence on the house will ultimately transform everyone’s life. (France) – [imdb]

Germany/Austria/Switzerland:
El Bulli: Cooking In Progress (2011) – For six months of the year, renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adrià closes his restaurant El Bulli and works with his culinary team to prepare the menu for the next season. An elegant, detailed study of food as avant-garde art, El Bulli: Cooking In Progress is a tasty peek at some of the world’s most innovative and exciting cooking; as Adrià himself puts it, “the more bewilderment, the better!” (Germany) – [imdb]
In the Garden of Sounds (2009) – Deprived of his sight at an early age, Wolfgang Fasser turns to his ears for access to a world he once feared would be closed off forever. Awed by the restorative powers of sound, Fasser established a physical therapy retreat for disabled children where they use music and noise to communicate with others and gain control of their own bodies. (Switzerland) – [imdb]
My Joy (2010) - Documentary filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa turns to satirical fiction with this comedy about a truck driver’s (Viktor Nemets) bleak travels through the Ukrainian countryside. (Germany/Ukraine/Netherlands) – [imdb]
What You Don’t See (2009) – This impressive psychological thriller about a sensitive German adolescent grappling with his father’s suicide and his mother’s new boyfriend plays out against the eerie woods and fantastic rock formations of the Brittany Coast. (Germany/Austria) – [imdb]

Italy:
Alfredo, Alfredo (1972) - Alfredo, a timid young Italian, lusts after and woos the beautiful Maria Rosa. But when he manages to marry her, he discovers life is not nearly so blissful as he expected. (Italy/France) – [imdb]
Bellissima (1951) - Oscar winner Anna Magnani (The Rose Tattoo) stars as a screen-struck mother, convinced that her daughter’s star potential is her ticket to a better life (Italy) – [imdb]
Conversation Piece (Gruppo de famiglia in un inferno) (1974) - An introverted American professor (Burt Lancaster) has retired to an Italian house, but finds his life interrupted when a decadent family moves upstairs. (Italy/France) – [imdb]
The Double Hour (2009) – A chambermaid and an ex-cop meet at a speed dating event and a romance develops. But during a romantic getaway things suddenly take a dark turn. (Italy) – [imdb]
La Terra Trema (1948) – In rural Sicily, the fishermen live at the mercy of the greedy wholesalers. One family risks everything to buy their own boat and operate independently. (Italy) – [imdb]
Little Girl (2009) - In a run-down park on the outskirts of Rome, a two year-old girl is discovered and taken in by a family of hard-luck circus performers. (Italy/Austria) – [imdb]

Eastern Europe:
Suicide Room (2011) – Dominik is an ordinary boy. He’s got loads of friends, the hottest girl in school, rich parents and money to spend on brand-name clothes. But one innocent kiss with a mate changes everything. (Poland) – [imdb]

Russia:
Letter Never Sent (1960) - This absorbing tale of exploration and survival concerns four members of a geological expedition who are stranded in the bleak and unforgiving Siberian wilderness while on a mission to find diamonds. (Soviet Union) – [imdb] – Criterion Collection!

UK/Ireland:
The Boy Who Plays on The Buddhas of Bamiyan (2004) - The main character in this multi-award-winning feature film is an eight-year-old boy called Mir. He is fun, cheeky, inquisitive, energetic and bright. He also lives in a cave with his family. The film is about Mir’s life through three seasons: Summer, Winter, Spring. (UK/Afghanistan) – [imdb]
David Lean Directs Noel Coward (In Which We Serve/This Happy Breed/Blithe Spirit/Brief Encounter) (1942-1945) - In the 1940s, the wit of playwright Noel Coward and the craft of filmmaker David Lean melded harmoniously in one of cinema’s greatest writer-director collaborations. With the wartime military drama sensation In Which We Serve, Coward and Lean embarked on a series of literate, socially engaged, and enormously entertaining pictures that ranged from domestic epic (This Happy Breed) to whimsical comedy (Blithe Spirit) to poignant romance (Brief Encounter). (UK) – [imdb]
A Lonely Place To Die (2011) - A group of five mountaineers are hiking and climbing in the Scottish Highlands when they discover a young Serbian girl buried in a small chamber in the wilderness. They become caught up in a terrifying game of cat and mouse with the kidnappers as they try to get the girl to safety. (UK) – [imdb]
A Night to Remember (1958) – The Titanic disaster is depicted in straightforward fashion without the addition of fictional subplots. (UK) – [imdb] – Criterion Collection!
Tyrannosaur (2011) - Joseph, a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, earns a chance of redemption that appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker. (UK) – [imdb]
The Veteran (2011) – A soldier returning from the war in Afghanistan uncovers a conspiracy involving the intelligence services and a gang of drug dealers. (UK) – [imdb]

Africa:
Benda Bilili! (2010) - Benda Bilili is a musical group from Kinshasa, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; it’s a city mired in poverty and dotted with shantytown communities, and Benda Bilili reflects the difficult circumstances of the people who live there. (Congo/France) – [imdb]

South America:
Sidewalls (2011) – Martín and Mariana are slightly damaged people who live in buildings just opposite one another. While they often don’t notice each other, separation might be the very thing that brings them together. (Argentina/Spain/Germany) – [imdb]

Australia/New Zealand:
Sleeping Beauty (2011) - A haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires. (Australia) – [imdb]

Asia:
Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (2000-2003) - In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary “Battle Royale” act. (Japan) – [imdb]
Confucius (2010) - Screen legend Chow Yun-fat stars as Confucius in the inspiring, action-packed saga of a leader whose wisdom and cunning were more powerful than any sword. (China) – [imdb]

The Hedgehog

The rest of her family, mother, father, and sister, are played spot-on, but the real pleasure is in watching the janitor of her apartment building, Renée Michel, an overweight, somewhat frumpy, 54-year-old widow. Renée is a curmudgeon, but Paloma discovers that there’s more to her than vacuuming. Josiane Balasko is wonderful as an intellect trapped in a janitor’s body.

Enter Kakuro Ozu (Togo Igawa), a new tenant, a widower who is erudite and soft-spoken. The connection between Kakuro and Renée is… Well, you’ll see.

The Hedgehog is the French equivalent of a really really good American indie film, only a little more sophisticated, and possibly restrained. The movie is inspired by the best-selling book, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery. It’s fun, well-acted, has a good storyline, and will appeal to a large viewing population. – [DVD]

Drama

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 3/27/12

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, from director/graphic novelist Joann Sfar, is whimsical and devoted but makes for a little work on the part of the casual viewer unfamiliar with the man and the myth.

He was born Lucien Ginsburg in 1928 (he changed his name to something more “punchy” and less “gentleman’s hairdresser”) to a Jewish family who escaped czarist Russia in 1919 and survived the 1940 German occupation of France. Art and literature factored importantly into their family life and Gainsbourg’s father, a classically trained musician, taught the piano to his three children. Gainsbourg played in nightclubs to earn a living while studying painting, but winning the 1965 Eurovision song contest put him on his destined path. He melded ingenious wordplay with macabre subject matter rife with sexual innuendo and splashed across a myriad of musical styles. Outside modern day music scene cognoscenti, he’s best known in America for “Je t’aime… moi non plus” (I love you… me neither), his 1969 duet with British actress Jane Birkin with whom he’d have a decade long relationship and father a daughter, actress/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. Married and divorced twice, he fathered three other children, had a passionate affair with Brigitte Bardot, acted, directed and wooed countless other women becoming a beloved but always controversial French icon until his death from a heart attack in 1991.

A rich evocation of an artist’s life lived to its Gitanes-fueled fullest, any failings in the film are brought on by Gainsbourg’s complex life itself. Sfar gives us a puppet doppelganger, born of an anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda poster, to serve as Gainsbourg’s grotesque id/super-ego confidant and foil. Sound like a little much? Not for a man whose album “L’Homme a Tete de Chou” (The Man With the Cabbage Head) is considered a masterpiece.

How now to pack the rest of his life onto film?

Hectic encapsulation. Actor Eric Elmosnino has Gainsbourg’s most Gallic of mugs and we haven’t seen anyone handle a cigarette like that in a long time, but it’s a jaunty jog through Gainsbourg’s life. Keeping it breezy through Gainsbourg’s most outrageous shenanigans (secondhand news to all of France) makes it seem likely Sfar’s intent was a loving, lark of an homage for the converted. Any of the rest of us along for the ride, well that’s just a whiskey on the house and we should follow the advice Gainsbourg utters at one point in the film, “the Lord is telling you to give me a break.”

The saying goes, scratch a cynic and you find a frustrated romantic. Scratch a French cynic, and Serge Gainsbourg will throw a cognac in your face. Then he’ll slap you on the back, you’ll drink together all night in a transvestite bar and walk along the Seine at dawn.- [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Biography/Drama/Music

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 3/21/12

We have lots of foreign film recommendations for you this month, from France and Germany, Romania, Japan and more! Read the synopses below to find out more, recommendations are marked with the red star.

France:

Mozart’s Sister (2010) - A re-imagined account of the early life of Maria Anna ‘Nannerl’ Mozart, five years older than Wolfgang and a musical prodigy in her own right. (France) – [imdb] – click here to read our review!
The Pack (La meute) (2010) - A strong woman finds herself up against a master of the undead in this lively blend of horror and comedy. (France/Belgium) – [imdb]

Germany/Austria:

Pianomania (2009) – Pianomania takes the viewer along on a humorous journey into the secret world of sounds, and accompanies Steinway & Sons’ chief technician and Master Tuner Stefan Knüpfer at his unusual job with world famous pianists like Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, Rudolf Buchbinder and Pierre-Laurent Aimand, among others. To find the right instrument with the necessary qualities, compatible with the vision of the virtuoso, to tune it to perfection and finally to get it on the stage, needs nerves of steel, boundless passion, and the extraordinary competence in translating words into sounds. (Austria/Germany) – [imdb]
The Spiders (1919) – Fritz Lang‘s Spiders is about the adventures of high-society adventurer Kay Hoog (Carl de Vogt) and his arch nemesis, a secret criminal organization known as the Spiders. (Germany) – [imdb] – Kino Classics Edition!

Spain:

The Skin I Live In (2011) – A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession. From director Pedro Almodóvar and starring Antonio Banderas. (Spain) – [imdb]
The Sky Turns (El cielo gira) (2004) - Mercedes Alvarez was three years old when, in the late 1960s, her parents left La Aldea, a village in the barren Northern Spanish Soria region. She was the last child born in La Aldea. Now, only fourteen people live there, a last dying generation. Soon this village, like so many other rural communities all over the world, will be deserted and will probably disappear from the map. Alvarez returns for the first time to her ancestral home and makes a stunning film about memory and the terrifying passing of time. (Spain) – [imdb]

Northern Europe:

The Human Centipede II (2011) - Inspired by the fictional Dr. Heiter, disturbed loner Martin dreams of creating a 12-person centipede and sets out to realize his sick fantasy. (Netherlands/UK) – [imdb]

Eastern Europe:

Summer Holiday (2008) – A night out with the boys becomes an eye-opening experience in this comedy-drama from Romanian filmmaker Radu Muntean. While Bogdan (Dragos Bucur) loves his wife and is doing well running a furniture company, sometimes he thinks about his carefree younger days and wonders if he’s made the right choices in life. (Romania) – [imdb]
Tales From the Golden Age (2009) – Tales from the Golden Age adapts for screen the most popular urban myths of the final 15 years of the Ceausescu regime, which were the worst in Romania’s history but called by the propaganda machine of that era “the golden age”. (Romania/France) – [imdb]

UK/Ireland:

London Boulevard (2010) – The directorial debut of William Monahan, the screenwriter of The Departed, London Boulevard follows an ex-con trying to make a fresh start in a relationship with a reclusive actress. Starring Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley (UK) – [imdb]
London River (2009) - Two strangers come to discover the fate of their respective children in the 2005 terrorist attacks on London. (UK/France/Algeria) – [imdb]
Retreat (2011) – Taking an isolated break on an uninhabited island, Martin (Cillian Murphy) and Kate (Thandie Newton) are about to find that their island retreat is about to become a prison of unimaginable terror. When a blood soaked stranger (Jamie Bell) stumbles through their door claiming an apocalyptic virus is sweeping across Europe, their lives are turned upside down as they face what could be the end of everything they know. (UK) – [imdb]
Senna (2010) - Spanning his years as a Formula One racing driver from 1984 to his untimely death a decade later, Senna explores the life and work of the triple world champion, his physical and spiritual achievements on the track, his quest for perfection and the mythical status he has since attained. (UK) – [imdb]

Middle East:

The Debt (2007) - 1964: three young Mossad agents capture the Surgeon of Birkenau, a monstrous Nazi war criminal. While being brought to public trial, the Surgeon manages to escape. Faced with failure in their mission, the agents report their captive committed suicide and return to Israel as national heroes. 1997: more than thirty years later, the supposedly dead Surgeon resurfaces in the Ukraine, determined to confess his crimes. Rachel Brener, one of the three Mossad agents, must now track down and silence the Surgeon in order to protect the life and reputation she has built upon her fabricated past. (Israel) – [imdb]

South America:

Octubre (2010) - While trying to track down the missing prostitute who left her newborn at his doorstep, solitary loan shark Clemente forms unexpected attachments to the baby — which might be his — and Sofia, the single neighbor helping him care for the child. (Peru) – [imdb]
VIPs (2010) – VIPs is based on a true story of one of the world s most legendary con men, an average teenager who dreams of traveling the world and living the high life as a pilot like his father. But what begins as just another flight of fancy will send Marcelo from seamy criminal underworld to the glamorous world of high society. (Brazil) – [imdb]

Australia/New Zealand:

Butterfly Crush (2010) - Teen pop-infused drama from Australia follows Eva and Moana, a young vocal duo who’re just reaching the cusp of breakout success, when Eva falls under the sway of a mysticism-touting cult. (Australia/New Zealand) – [imdb]

Asia:

King of Triads (2010) - When the boss of a ruling Hong Kong triad is arrested and executed in China for counterfeiting money, mayhem ensues as the mob’s leading contenders circle the throne. (Hong Kong) – [imdb]
Left Handed (2008) - An introverted Japanese teenager begins to sequester himself within his bedroom, refusing to leave or let anyone in. As his condition stretches from months to years, his parents strive to maintain a facade of normality rather than address his problems. (Japan) – [imdb]
Sword of Desperation (2010) - This sensitive samurai drama follows the tragic path of a swordsman who murders the concubine of a powerful lord but refuses to explain his actions. When the killer is sentenced to only a year’s house arrest, the mystery deepens. (Japan) – [imdb]
Three Outlaw Samurai (1964) – This first film by the legendary Hideo Gosha (Sword of the Beast) is among the most canonized chambara (sword-fighting) films. An origin-story offshoot of a Japanese television series phenomenon of the same name, Three Outlaw Samurai is a classic in its own right. In it, a wandering, seen-it-all ronin (Tetsuro Tamba) becomes entangled in the dangerous business of two other samurai (Isamu Nagato and Mikijiro Hira), hired to execute a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of a corrupt magistrate. (Japan) – [imdb] – Criterion Collection!
War of the Arrows (2011) - Set in 1636, the second Manchurian invasion of Korea rages chaos, as villages are attacked by overpowering Manchurian soldiers. The Manchurians kidnap childhood sweethearts, Ja-in and Seo-Goon on their wedding day. In an effort to save his sister, Ja-in s brother Nam-Yi sets out to defeat the enemy and save his sister and other Korean victims with only 1 bow. (South Korea) – [imdb]

Maria Anna Mozart, or Nannerl, was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s older sister, by five years, and his only sibling to survive childhood. They were paraded all over the European continent by their parents, Leopold and Anna-Maria, in an attempt both to show Wolfgang’s outsized musical talent and to bathe Leopold in the resultant glory. In the
film, the two children (with Nannerl played by Marie Féret, the director’s daughter) are both quicksilver talents, with the only seeming difference being the music theory classes given by Leopold, for Wolfgang only.

Mozart’s Sister is a worthy film in several ways. It is a beautiful period piece (1760′s), without being an overblown big-budget spectacular, while also evincing a proto-feminist view of typically suppressed feminine talent. This latter aspect is made more haunting by Marie Féret’s performance, which leans heavily on opacity and restraint – surely the director’s choice, so as not to come off as the usual overheated period acting. This restraint is also manifest in the director’s choice of music; instead of the obvious choice of her brother’s compositions, we hear classical music composed by a modern female composer, in the style we imagine Nannerl’s own compositions (which she destroyed) must have sounded.

Much of the plotline involves an imagined bit of dramaturgy which actually serves to nicely connect the Mozarts to their era. Nannerl becomes confidant and friend to the Dauphin of Louis XV France, who is shy and paranoid, and believes her to be a man. This is done, again, with great restraint, but like Nannerl’s entire life, ends frustratingly for her. And, in real life, the poor Dauphin died before his father, Louis XV, paving the way for his own son to become Louis XVI.

Is it apocryphal to state that Leopold Mozart’s own most famous composition was a symphony in which toys are played? – [DVD]

France/Belgium:

Belle de Jour (1967) – The porcelain perfection of Catherine Deneuve (Repulsion) hides a cracked interior in the actress’s most iconic role: Séverine, a chilly Paris housewife by night, a bordello prostitute by day. This surreal and erotic late-sixties daydream from provocateur for the ages Luis Buñuel (Viridiana) is an examination of desire and fetishistic pleasure (its characters’ and its viewers’), as well as a gently absurdist take on contemporary social mores and class divisions. (France) – [imdb] – Criterion Collection!

Film Socialisme (2009) -  Legendary director Jean-Luc Godard returns to the screen with Film Socialisme, a magisterial essay on the decline of European Civilization. As a garish cruise ship travels the Mediterranean (with Patti Smith among its guests), Godard embarks on a state of the EU address in a vibrant collage of philosophical quotes, historical revelations and pure cinematographic beauty. (Switzerland/France) – [imdb]

The Man From London (2007) – Lonely railway worker Maloin leads a simple, humdrum life with his teenage daughter and high-strung wife (Tilda Swinton) at the edge of an infinite sea. His inner life is suddenly thrown into chaos after he stumbles upon a deadly business transaction that leaves him with a money-stuffed suitcase and a guilty conscious for a crime he didn’t commit. (France/Germany/Hungary) – [imdb]

Special Treatment (2010) - In this darkly erotic drama from cult filmmaker Jeanne Labrune, Isabelle Huppert stars as a high-class prostitute named Alice who serves up sexual fantasies for her clientele, from schoolgirl innocence to S&M. Fed up with the seamy underbelly of French masculinity, Alice crosses paths with Xavier, a neurotic psychoanalyst facing a marriage crisis. The two quickly realize their professions share a thing or two in common as they navigate the overlapping worlds of psychotherapy and sex therapy. (France/Luxembourg/Belgium) – [imdb]

Three Popular Films by Jean-Pierre Gorin (Poto and Cabengo/Routine Pleasures/My Crasy Life) (1980-1992) – Filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin, widely known for his early-seventies collaborations (including Tout va bien) with Jean-Luc Godard in the Dziga Vertov Group, established his singular voice with this trio of accomplished, fascinating, and nontraditional documentaries, made in Southern California after his relocation there. – [imdb] – Eclipse series #31

Italy:

The Moment of Truth (1965) – The Moment of Truth, from director Francesco Rosi (Salvatore Giuliano) is a visceral plunge into the life of a famous torero—played by real-life bullfighting legend Miguel Mateo, known as Miguelin. (Italy/Spain) – [imdb] – Criterion Collection!

Spain/Portugal:

Mysteries of Lisbon (2010) – Raul Ruiz‘s masterful adaptation of the eponymous nineteenth-century Portuguese novel (by Camilo Castelo Branco) evokes the complex intertwined narratives of Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens. (Portugal/Spain) – [imdb]

Germany:

3 (2010) – Hanna and Simon, a couple in their early forties, live together in Berlin. With their 20th anniversary looming, they both become restless despite being truly and deeply in love. Unbeknownst to one another, they separately become acquainted with Adam, a younger man, and fall in love with him. (Germany) – [imdb]

Northern Europe:

The Mill and the Cross (2011) - What would it be like to step inside a great work of art, have it come alive around you, and even observe the artist as he sketches the very reality you are experiencing? Lech Majewski brings to life Pieter Bruegel’s masterpiece The Way to Calvary, the story of the crucifixion, setting it in 16th century Flanders under brutal Spanish occupation. Rutger Hauer plays the artist, Michael York his patron, and Charlotte Rampling the Virgin Mary. (Sweden/Poland) – [imdb] – click here to read our review!

Eastern Europe:

Aurora (2010) – A mesmerizing new masterwork from the director of the critically-acclaimed The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Aurora is a murder mystery turned on its head – where the mystery’s not the culprit, but the motive. (Romania/France/Switzerland) – [imdb]

Behind the Glass (2008) – The private lives of three nouveau riche Croatians are brought to a boil, in a love triangle, pinning a self-assured architect between his tart tongued wife and his long suffering mistress, who also happens to be his business partner. (Croatia) – [imdb]

UK/Ireland:

Anonymous (2011) – A political thriller advancing the theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare’s plays; set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her. (UK) – [imdb]

Killing Bono (2011) -  Killing Bono is a rock’ n’ roll comedy about two Irish brothers struggling to forge their path through the 1980′s music scene, whilst the meteoric rise to fame of their old school pals U2 only serves to cast them deeper into the shadows. (UK/Ireland) – [imdb]

Toast (2010) - Nigel’s mother appears to have been the world’s worst cook, but Nigel loves her dearly, and is devastated by her early death, leaving him and his lonely dad (Ken Stott) to look after each other. When new cleaner Mrs. Potter (Helena Bonham Carter) arrives, her curves, charms and fabulous lemon meringue pies quickly bewitch Nigel’s father, and, much to his son’s horror, the three move to the country to live together. Soon Nigel and Mrs. P. have embarked on a highly competitive cooking duel, vying for Dad’s affections. (UK) – [imdb] – click here to read our review!

North America:

Saving Private Perez (2011) – Julian Perez, Mexico’s most notorious leader of organized crime, must embark on a mission given to him by the only authority he respects… his mother. Joined by a colorful band of infamous criminals, Julian must risk his life to fulfill his mother’s wish & rescue his brother from the war-ridden bowels of the most treacherous land in the world, Iraq. (Mexico) – [imdb]

Australia/New Zealand:

Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (2011) – When two friends tape-recorded the fights of their violently noisy neighbors, they accidentally created one of the world’s first ‘viral’ pop-culture sensations. (Australia) – [imdb]

Asia:

1911 (2011) - A historical drama based on the founding of the Republic of China when nationalist forces led by Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty. (China/Hong Kong) – [imdb]

The Beginning of the Great Revival (2011) – The Beginning of the Great Revival, companion piece to 2009′s blockbuster The Founding of a Republic, details the historic events surrounding what is referred to as the Chinese Revolution, the period from 1911 to 1921, when Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty and planted the roots of what has become today’s Chinese Communist government. (China) – [imdb]

Gurozuka (2005) – A fun getaway turns into a journey to Hell for some teenage girls visiting an isolated house to rehearse and perform a play for their private movie club. (Japan) – [imdb]

Love Exposure (2008) – Three emotionally abused individuals from the fringes of society get locked in a convoluted love triangle. (Japan) – [imdb]

Night and Day (2008) - After getting busted for smoking pot with some students, 40-year-old artist Seong-nam impulsively flees to Paris, leaving his wife behind, and finds himself living in a kind of limbo. Staying in a run-down hotel inhabited mostly by fellow Korean ex-pats, Seong-nam wanders aimlessly around the city, becoming ensnared by temptation in the form of both an ex-flame, and a couple of young art students. (South Korea) – [imdb]

Outrage: Way of the Yakuza (2010) – The boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate. (Japan) – [imdb]

Punished (2011) – When a tycoon’s daughter is found dead of cocaine overdose after being rescued from abduction, he will stop at nothing to avenge her. (Hong Kong) – [imdb]

(Thanks to Imdb, RottenTomatoes, AllMovie and AllRovi for help with these synopses)

France/Belgium:

Circumstance (2011) – A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager’s growing sexual rebellion and her brother’s dangerous obsession. (France/Iran/USA) – [imdb]

I’m Glad My Mother is Alive (2009) -  Given up for adoption as a toddler, troubled teenager Thomas becomes obsessed with tracking down his birth mother. After years of searching Thomas finds her single, with a small child, living in a nearby suburb and introduces himself. Traumatized by years of emptiness and longing for his mother, he starts an ambiguous relationship with her (part courtship, part obsession) which slowly drives him to an act of madness. (France) – [imdb]

Spain:

Julia’s Eyes (2010) – From producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Orphanage) comes a tale of dread and terror from the darkest corners of reality. Julia, a woman suffering from a degenerative sight disease, finds her twin sister Sara hanged in the basement of her house. Everything points to suicide, but Julia is compelled to investigate what she intuitively feels is a murder case. (Spain) – [imdb]

Northern Europe:

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011) - The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 mobilizes a treasure trove of 16mm material shot by Swedish journalists who came to the US drawn by stories of urban unrest and revolution. (Sweden) – [imdb]

Eastern Europe:

Alive! (2009) – Twenty-two-year-old Koli is studying at Tirana university. When he hears of his father’s death, he returns to his native mountain village in the north to attend the funeral. During a walk through the countryside of his childhood, someone takes a shot at him. In a state of shock, the young man discovers that he is part of a blood feud sparked by his grandfather sixty years earlier. (Albania/Austria/France) – [imdb]

Tuesday, After Christmas (2010) – Paul Hanganu loves two women. Adriana his wife and the mother of their daughter, the woman with whom he’s shared the thrills of the past ten years, and Raluca the woman who has made him redefine himself. He has to leave one of them before Christmas. (Romania) – [imdb]

The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008) - A search for both family and cultural identity takes place on a tandem bicycle in this emotional drama from Bulgarian filmmaker Stefan Komandarev. (Bulgaria/Germany/Slovenia/Hungary) – [imdb]

UK/Ireland:

Brighton Rock (2010) – Based on the iconic Graham Greene novel and set in 1964′s Mods- and Rockers-infused Britain, screenwriter Rowan Joffe‘s debut feature Brighton Rock embraces the classic elements of film noir and the British gangster film to tell the story of Pinkie, a desperate youth who is hell bent on clawing his way up through the ranks of organized crime. Starring Sam Riley and Helen Mirren. (UK) – [imdb]

Burke & Hare (2010) -  A dark comedy/thriller staring Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry and Isla Fisher as the unfortunate denizens of 19th century Edinburgh, a setting rife with murder, theft, prostitution, corpse snatching, experimental medicine, and of course Shakespeare. (UK) – [imdb]

The Guard (2011) - An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring. (Ireland) – [imdb]

Australia/New Zealand:

The Tunnel (2011) – An investigation into a government cover-up leads to a network of abandoned train tunnels deep beneath the heart of Sydney. As a journalist and her crew hunt for the story it quickly becomes clear the story is hunting them. (Australia) – [imdb]

Asia:

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) -An exiled detective is recruited to solve a series of mysterious deaths that threaten to delay the inauguration of Empress Wu. (China/Hong Kong) – [imdb]

The Legend is Born: Ip Man (2010) - Packed with Kung Fu combat and thick with drama, The Legend is Born follows Ip Man as he grows from a promising young pupil into an unstoppable force. (Hong Kong) – [imdb]

(Thanks to Imdb, RottenTomatoes, AllMovie and AllRovi for help with these synopses)

France/Belgium:

The Adventures of Tintin: Season 1 (1991) – One of the most popular European classic comic strips of all time tells stories of the heroic escapades of youthful reporter Tintin and his loyal canine companion Snowy. (France/Canada) – [imdb]

The Convoys of Shame (2010) -  During World War II, the French were forced to ask themselves that very question, when the Nazi war machine marched through their streets. Forced to collaborate with Hitler in exchange for their safety, the French were torn. The controversial armistice treaty between the occupier and occupied is laid bare in The Convoys of Shame, an unprecedented documentary that shows the true cost of compromise. (France) – [imdb]

The Devil’s Double (2011) - Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein’s palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the “royal family” when he’s ordered to become the ‘fiday’ – or body double – to Saddam’s son, the notorious “Black Prince” Uday Hussein (also Dominic Cooper), a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality. With his and his family’s lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self forever as he learns to walk, talk and act like Uday. (Belgium/Netherlands) – [imdb] – click here to read our review

Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988-1997) – A decade in the making, this lyrical work from heavyweight director Jean-Luc Godard uses selections from hundreds of films to examine the history, scope and existential implications of 20th-century movies and moviemaking. (France) – [imdb]

Mammuth (2010) - After turning 60, working-class man Serge (Gérard Depardieu) decides to retire and is ready to reap his pensioners rewards. He runs into the implacable wall of bureaucracy after finding out that his former employers have neglected to declare his earnings. Encouraged by his wife, our hero climbs his old 1970s Mammoth motorcycle and sets off on a trip to recover lost wages and buried memories. (France) – [imdb]

Rapt (2009) - Lucas Belvaux‘s Rapt is a Chabrolian crime thriller based on the actual 1978 kidnapping of a French-Belgian executive whose harrowing 9-week experience at the hands of a criminal band is, ultimately, less life-threatening to him than the details of his scandalous life which the tabloids uncover in the course of these events. (France/Belgium) – [imdb]

Rio Sex Comedy (2010) - Charts the misadventures of expatriates in Rio in their bungled search for both personal pleasures and social justice. Each character reveals a different aspect of the fabled city, from Rio high society to favelas. (France/Brazil) – [imdb]

Sarah’s Key (2010) - Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas), an American journalist married to a Frenchman, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. (France) – [imdb]

The Sleeping Beauty (2010) – A young princess is the subject of a tug-of-war among witches, as each struggles to find the suitable antidote to a death sentence inculcated by an evil sister. From director Catherine Breillat. (France) – [imdb] – click here to read our review

The Tree (2010) - Blindsided with anguish after her husband s sudden death, Dawn (Charlotte Gainsbourg) along with her four young children struggles to make sense of life without him. Eight-year-old Simone becomes convinced that her father is whispering to her through the leaves of the gargantuan fig tree that towers over their house. The family is initially comforted by its presence, but then the tree s enormous roots slowly begin to encroach on the abode and threaten their fragile existence. (France/Australia/Germany/Italy) – [imdb]

Germany:

Jester Till (2003) – One of Europe’s most beloved folk tale heroes, Jester Till is the ultimate prankster embodying the simple wisdom and earthy humor of medieval European peasant folk. In this brand new animated adventure tale, Till embarks on a quest to find his grandfather, a wizard who vanishes while brewing a special potion. (Germany/Belgium) – [imdb]

The Three Investigators & the Secret of Terror Castle (2009) - This family-oriented German language mystery continues the exploits of The Three Investigators. This time around, Justas’s parents have tragically died, but his mother and father left behind a trail of clues. The boys duly follow the path, which leads them to California and the heart of the formidable Terror Castle – a spooky old structure that conceals a secret beyond their wildest imaginations. (Germany) – [imdb]

The Wave (Die Welle) (2008) – A high school teacher’s unusual experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own. (Germany) – [imdb]

Spain:

Kidnapped (2010) – Three hooded Eastern-European criminals burst into a home in a Madrid gated community, holding the family hostage in its own home, and forcing the father to empty his credit cards. (Spain/France) – [imdb]

Northern Europe:

Armadillo (2010) - A romantic drama that charts the lives of three women from different backgrounds, forever changed when they emigrate to New Zealand as war brides. (Denmark) – [imdb]

UK/Ireland:

The Drum (1938) – A spectacular military epic set on the Indian frontier, during the days of the British Raj. Captain Carruthers is summoned to remote Tokot, where the Khan suspects his brother, Prince Ghul is plotting to overthrow him and therefore wants a treaty with the British to safeguard the throne for his son, Prince Azim. (UK) – [imdb]

Elephant Boy (1937) - Robert Flaherty and Zoltán Korda shared best director honors at the Venice Film Festival for collaborating on this charming translation of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book story “Toomai of the Elephants.” (UK) – [imdb]

Jig (2011) - The remarkable story of the fortieth Irish Dancing World Championships, held in March 2010 in Glasgow. Three thousand dancers, their families and teachers from around the globe descend upon Glasgow for one drama filled week. – [imdb]

Page Eight (2011) – Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) is a long-serving M15 officer. His boss and best friend Benedict Baron (Michael Gambon) dies suddenly, leaving behind him an inexplicable file, threatening the stability of the organization. Johnny is forced to walk out of his job, and then out of his identity to find out the truth. (UK) – [imdb]

Sleep Furiously (2008) - A poetic and profound journey into a world of endings and beginnings; a world of stuffed owls, sheep and fire. (UK) – [imdb]

Turtle: The Incredible Journey (2009) - Turtle: The Incredible Journey is a critically-praised, award-winning film that follows the life and migration of a loggerhead turtle from hatching to maturity and a return to its original Florida nesting grounds. (UK/Austria/Germany) – [imdb]

Australia/New Zealand:

The Family Tree (2011) – When a bizarre accident leaves desperate housewife Bunnie with a case of amnesia, her dysfunctional family gets an unexpected second chance at happiness. Starring Dermot Mulroney, Hope Davis, Christina Hendricks and more. (Australia/USA) – [imdb]

Griff the Invisible (2010) - Griff, office worker by day, superhero by night, has his world turned upside down when he meets Melody, a beautiful young scientist who shares his passion for the impossible. (Australia) – [imdb]

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls (2009) – The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls tells the story of the world’s only yodeling country singing-and-comedy lesbian sibling duo – Jools and Lynda Topp – who have inspired a generation with their politics and celebration of joy. (New Zealand) – [imdb]

North & South America:

Nora’s Will (2008) - Nora had a plan. It would bring her ex-husband, Jose, and the rest of their family together for a magnificent Passover feast. But there is a flaw in her plan- a mysterious photograph from the past, hidden under the bed, which leads Jose to reexamine their relationship and rediscover their undying love for each other. (Mexico) – [imdb]

Africa:

Life, Above All (2010) - Just after the death of her newly born sister, twelve-year-old Chanda learns of a rumour spreading through her small village near Johannesburg. It destroys her family and forces her mother to flee. Chanda leaves home and school in search of her mother – and the truth. (South Africa/Germany) – [imdb]

Asia:

Loups=Garous (2010) - In the future, a deadly virus that has spread worldwide, has drastically reduced the world’s population. Only community centers (once called schools) exist and people can only communicate online. However a group of girls have pursued real contact outside of the society. When a series of brutal murders occur, it is up to them to see the dark secrets hidden in the closed off world they live in. (Japan) – [imdb]

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011) – Centuries ago, two “sworn sisters” are isolated by their families, but stay connected through a secret language written in the folds of a white silk fan. Now in modern-day Shanghai, their descendents must draw inspiration from the past as they struggle to maintain their own eternal bond in the face of life’s complications. (China/USA) – [imdb]

Triple Tap (2010) – When champion sharpshooter Ken Yao happens upon an armored van robbery, he kills four of the five thugs and saves a cop. But it turns out the robbery wasn’t what it seemed, and soon Ken finds himself at odds with the cop handling the case. (Hong Kong) – [imdb]

What Women Want (2011) – After an accident, a chauvinistic executive gains the ability to hear what women are really thinking. (China) – [imdb]

(Thanks to Imdb, RottenTomatoes, AllMovie and AllRovi for help with these synopses)