12 Nov 1997 Director: Jan Sverak Czech Republic 1996 110 min Winner of the Oscar for best ‘Foreign Language Film’. Set in Prague in 1988, Louka is a cellist out of favour with the Russian authorities who must scrape a living playing at funerals and repairing gravestones. He agrees to a marriage of convenience to… Continue reading Kolya
Category: Film season 1997-1998
The Crucible
1 Oct 1997 Director: Nicholas Hytner US 1996 123 min The first American film rendition of Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” based on the Salem witch trials. Set in the Year 1692 a group of New England girls are caught performing a sinful dance in the woods. They claim they were possessed by the Devil… Continue reading The Crucible
Fargo
15 Oct 1997 Director: Ethan & Joel Coen USA 1996 97 min A crime/thriller by the Coen Brothers (Ethan and Joel) laced with satire, comedy and suspense. Based on a true story. William H. Macy is desperate for money for a business deal and hires two hoodlums to kidnap his wife and to split the… Continue reading Fargo
Il Postino
29 Oct 1997 Director: Michael Radford France, Italy 1994 113 min Living on a quiet island, Mario is intrigued by the arrival of an exiled Chilean poet. He is fascinated by the poets propensity to receive mail from women. He takes the job as a regular postman so he can visit the poet and learn… Continue reading Il Postino
Antonia’s Line
26 Nov 1997 Director: Marleen Gorris Belgium, Netherlands, UK 1995 105 min A drama/comedy about a matriarchy founded by an unusual woman named Antonia, who returning to her village after World War Two takes up residence with her daughter and over the 50 years the film spans, raises an extended family. A warm engaging film… Continue reading Antonia’s Line
Flirting With Disaster
10 Dec 1997 Director: David O. Russell USA 1996 92 min Mel Coplin decides to go off in search of his natural parents triggered by the arrival of his first born child. He enlists the aid of Tina from the adoption agency, who wishes to come along for research purposes. The trio of Ben, his… Continue reading Flirting With Disaster
The English Patient
07 Jan 1998 Director: Anthony Minghella USA 1996 162 min Winner of nine Oscars. A powerful and gripping love story based on Michael Ondaatje’s novel. A Canadian nurse (Juliette Binoche) nurses a man badly burned in a plane crash. Alone with him in an abandoned Italian monastery during World War Two, she slowly learns his… Continue reading The English Patient
Romeo & Juliet
21 Jan 1998 Director: Baz Luhrmann USA 1996 120 min A strikingly original and modern portrayal of the classic love story. The words are authentic but the style is definitely Luhrmann, the director of ‘Strictly Ballroom’. The backdrop is Los Angeles after the riots. The narrator is a news anchor woman, the prince is police… Continue reading Romeo & Juliet
Shine
04 Feb 1998 Director: Scott Hicks Australia 1996 105 min Based on the life of Australian pianist David Helfgott. As a young prodigy he is pushed to the edge by a domineering father. He becomes unglued by his fathers demands and as an adult wanders the Australian outback dysfunctional and forgotten. Will he find peace… Continue reading Shine
Stealing Beauty
18 Feb 1998 Director: Bernado Bertolucci USA 1996 119 min Liv Tyler plays 19 year-old Lucy who comes to a Tuscany village in search of her real father, the man who seduced her mother 20 years ago, and to lose her own virginity. There she discovers herself and, with a new found independence, affects the… Continue reading Stealing Beauty