Film Reviews & Previews
We’re very pleased to open NICKY’S FAMILY July 19. Today the L.A. Times published a piece about Sir Nicholas Winton, a very modest hero whose life-saving accomplishments went unacknowledged for decades: “Winton said he didn’t talk about his accomplishments because ‘there were more important things going on than to dwell in the past.'”
Beginning July 19 we’ll be screening NICKY’S FAMILY, the acclaimed documentary about Nicholas Winton, an Englishman who organized the rescue of 669 Czech and Slovak children just before the outbreak of World War II: He was a big part of what we now know as the Kindertransport. This hero is still alive and in May CNN marked the occasion of his 104th birthday by broadcasting this piece about him and the new film.
Actresses Virginia Madsen, Daryl Hannah and Camryn Manheim will participate in a Q&A following the 7:30 screening of THE HOT FLASHES and will introduce the 10 PM screening at the Music Hall on Friday, July 12th. Please join them for a lively conversation about women, film, basketball….. and lots of other interesting things.
We’re very pleased to open THE HUNT July 12 at the Royal and Playhouse and July 19 at the Town Center. The terrific Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen won the Best Actor award for this role at the Cannes Film Festival last year. The New York Times just published this rather funny short interview with him.
COPPERHEAD director Ron Maxwell will participate in a Q&A after the 7 PM screening at the Music Hall on Thursday, July 25.
Fill the Void by first time writer/director Rama Burshtein has been playing at Laemmle for a while now. And there’s a simple reason for that – it’s an exquisite piece of filmmaking.
The movie is foremost a loving portrayal and homage to haredi culture in Israel (ultra-religious Jews). Burshtein brings her hasidic community to life in rich, warm tones. Everything, specially interior space, is suffused in a welcoming, other-worldly light, as if she and talented cinematographer Asaf Sudry had uncovered a place where heaven and earth meet.
With such clear affection for her subject (Burshtein is deeply religious herself), you might think the film is one long sop to Ultra-Orthodox Judaism. You’d be wrong. In fact, Burshtein illuminates this world with nary a comment. The role of women, for instance, comes into clear focus, including the many aspects that would normally scandalize a modern, liberal audience – persistent segregation, cumbersome modesty rules, arranged marriages, etc. But Burshtein neither endorses such practices nor critiques them. This approach holds true for the film as a whole. Judgment is put to the side; in its place, the director gifts us with a profound sense of grace and acceptance.
If that’s not all, Burshtein has a knowingly deft and gentle touch when it comes to interpersonal relations. Though not lacking in passion or conviction, her characters bring us into the story with remarkable subtlety and restraint. It’s one of those films that you can see three times (and I have!) and discover it anew each time; an unseen gesture, a motivation not previously considered, an underlying theme freshly revealed. Still, despite repeat viewing, Fill the Void stubbornly defies pat summations, preserving a delicious sense of ambiguity up until (literally) the very last instant.
The sublime performance of Hadas Yaron, who won Best Actress at the Awards of the Israeli Film Academy for her lead role as the younger sister Shira, is emblematic of the cast as whole. It’s hard to imagine anyone not being moved by her performance, especially in the final scenes.
Sometimes a film shines such an intense, brilliant light upon its subject that all we can do as an audience is open our mouths in grateful wonder and appreciation. Fill the Void is such a film. You may see it (for the first or third time) at the Royal or Town Center 5 through July 11.
– Marc Horwitz
THE GIRLS IN THE BAND director Judy Chaikin will participate in Q&A’s after the 11 AM screenings at the Playhouse on Saturday and Sunday, July 27 and 28.
Film Title: A Hijacking
This taut Danish thriller by director Tobias Lindholm, about Somali pirates commandeering a merchant vessel in the Indian Ocean, keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. What’s more, it manages to do so without any of the testosterone-laden heroics of its mainstream, bid-budget counterparts.
Like best-in-breed horror films (recall the original Halloween), Tobias wisely knows the ever-present threat of violence is often more riveting and palpably effective then the mayhem itself. That’s not to say the film doesn’t have its moments, however.
Then there’s the smart juxtaposition of the various worlds colliding – the blue collar ethos of the sailors, the crisp, sanitized, yet pressure-filled realm of the modern corporation, and the raw energy and engineered chaos brought to bear by the Somali pirates. How Lindholm harnesses these seemingly disparate cultural forces — depicting how they are obviously different and yet how they are also surprisingly alike — is the fulcrum upon which A Hijacking emerges as a complex and inspired piece of filmmaking.
A Hijacking is currently playing at the Royal, Playhouse 7, and Town Center 5.
– Marc Horwitz