Club Scannáin - Film Clubs

Ballina Arts Centre

Ballina Civic Offices, Arran Place, Ballina, Co. Mayo.

T: 096 73593

E: ballinaartscentre@gmail.net

W: www.ballinaartscentre.com

 

Ballina Film Club Spring programme 2010

 

Broken Embraces (Dir: Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2009)

Tuesday 9th March, 8pm

A man writes, lives and loves in darkness. Fourteen years before, he was in a brutal car crash on the island of Lanzarote. In the accident, he didn’t lose only his sight, he also lost Lena, the love of his life. This man uses two names: Harry Caine, a playful pseudonym with which he signs his literary works, stories and scripts, and Mateo Blanco, his real name, but a name he has tried hard to forget.

Today, Harry (Lluis Homar) lives thanks to the scripts he writes and to the help he gets from his faithful former production manager, Judit García (Blanca Portillo), and her son Diego (Tamar Novas). One night Diego has an accident and Harry takes care of him (when his mother is out of town). During the first nights of his convalescence, Diego asks him about his time as Mateo Blanco. Harry finds that he can’t refuse and he tells Diego what happened fourteen years before with the idea of entertaining him. Part of the main storyline is told in flashback as Harry narrates a tragic tale of fate, jealousy, abuse of power, betrayal and guilt.

Almodóvar’s regular muse Penelope Cruz steals the show as Harry’s lost lover Lena.

Adm: €7 (seasonal membership rates available).

 

Helen (Dir: Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor, Ireland/UK, 2008)

Tuesday 23rd March, 8pm

Helen is a subtly drawn story of a young woman poised on the brink of adult life, and an auspicious feature debut for its writer-directors. Dubliners Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor (also known as ‘Desperate Optimists’) adopt the same approach as in their series of nine short films, the Civic Life Series – shooting in 35mm scope in mainly long takes, featuring local non professional actors – but here add an all-important element of storytelling. When a young woman, Joy, disappears, the police ask for help in staging a reconstruction. Helen (Annie Townsend) volunteers and is chosen, and does bear an uncanny resemblance to the missing girl. But whilst Joy had loving parents, a boyfriend and a wide circle of friends, Helen has been raised in care and is very much an outsider. The complexities and impact of ‘playing’ another on Helen’s life are fascinating and skillfully drawn, and newcomer Annie Townsend impresses with her understated performance in the title role. Where naturalism meets a controlled and beautifully composed aesthetic, Helen is a gentle, distinctive discovery.

Adm: €7 (seasonal membership rates available).

 

 

LINENHALL ARTS CENTRE

Linenhall St, Castlebar, Mayo. 

T: 094 9023733

E: linenhall@anu.ie

 

Tuesday 2nd March @ 8.00pm

Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos)

Spain 2009 127mins Spanish with English subtitles

Almódavar’s latest film is a story dominated by jealously, the abuse of power, treachery and guilt. Harry Caine is a man who writes, lives and loves in darkness. Fourteen years previously, in his former life as film director Mateo Blanco, he was in a car crash on the island of Lanzarote. In that accident, he lost his sight and also Lena, the love of his life. Today, Harry lives thanks to the scripts he writes and to the help he gets from his faithful former production manager, Judit, and from Diego, her son. One night Diego has an accident and Harry takes care of him (when his mother is out of town). During his convalescence, Diego asks Harry about his time as Mateo Blanco. Harry finds that he can’t refuse and relives the events of that time and the affair that fuelled those fateful events.

Adm.: €5

 

Tuesday 16th March @ 8.00pm

35 Shots of Rum (35 rhums)

France/Germany 2008 100mins French, German with English subtitles

Starring: Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Gregoire Colin, Nicole Dogue

35 Shots of Rum is a portrait of the close relationship between widowed train driver Lionel and his affectionate student daughter Jo, who share a cramped apartment on the outskirts of Paris. The film centres on the domestic intimacy of this arrangement, the evolving relationships the two have with their neighbours, whether romantic or parental, and the approach of Lionel’s retirement. In top directorial form, Denis presents an eloquent meditation on family, harmony, loss and loneliness.

Adm.: €5

 

Tuesday 30th March @ 8.00pm

Tony Manero 

Chile 2008 98mins Language: Spanish with English subtitles

Set in Chile in 1978 under Pinochet’s oppressive regime, fifty-something Raúl is obsessed that he is disco king Tony Manero, John Travolta's white-suited star of Saturday Night Fever, even forming a low-rent dance troupe that performs at a rundown bar. When a national Tony Manero competition is announced, Raúl feels destined to win, even when the secret police start to take interest in the inhabitants of the bar and his fellow dancers. The result is at once an absurd black comedy, an unsettling thriller, a confrontation of dark days in Chile's recent history, and a compelling portrait of obsession.

Adm.: €5

 

 

WESTPORT FILM CLUB

Westport Cineplex

March 3rd 2010 at 8.45 pm

 

Le premier jour du reste de ta vie - The First Day of The Rest of Your Life

Dir: Rémi Bezançon; France 2008; 113 minutes   Cert: 16         

Bezançon’s second feature centres around the chaotic but close Duval family, and how five key days change the lives not only of each individual member, but the family unit as a whole. Bereavement, sibling rivalry, infidelity, loss of virginity and giving up smoking are all focal points in this kaleidoscopic chronicle of a dysfunctional family that is, nonetheless, full of energy. Each of the five important dates – spanning twelve years from 1988 to the climactic 2000 – sees one of the five members of the family take the lead, each providing a unique look at the group from a different vantage point. Bezançon uses masterful camera techniques and special effects to amplify the personalities of each character. A funny, insightful and moving portrait of family life. - Cambridge Film Festival

 

 

ÁRAS INIS GLUAIRE

ÁISLEANN BHÉAL AN MHUIRTHEAD, BELMULLET,

T: 097 81079

 

Saturday 6th March – ‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’

Dir: Phil Lord & Chris Miller.  USA, 2009, 90mins, Cert: G

Featuring the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg and Mr.T

Based on the beloved picture book by Judi and Ron Barrett, this CGI animated movie tells the story of a town called Chewandswallow, where the sky provides all meals, whether it’s a soup rain, mashed potatoes snow or hot dogs blowing in at five miles per hour. Unfortunately, the weather, like sour milk, takes a turn for the worse.