A Royal Affair 02 Jan 2013 Denmark, Sweden 2012 137 min Director: Nikolaj Arcel From the writers of the original ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ comes this period drama – based on fact – about 18th century Danish royalty. King Christian VII is mentally ill and so is incapable of performing his regal duties. A… Continue reading En kongelig affeere
Tag: 2012
Shadow Dancer
27 Feb 2013 Director: James Marsh UK 2012 101 min This taut and pacey 90s-set thriller is carried along almost singlehandedly by the performance of Andrea Riseborough, who manages to come across as both vulnerable and utterly resolute. She plays IRA activist Colette, coerced by MI5 officer Mac (Clive Owen) into turning on her Belfast… Continue reading Shadow Dancer
Wadjda
02 Apr 2014 Director: Haifaa al Mansour Saudi Arabia 2012 98 min Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh. She is fun-loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighbourhood boy she shouldn’t be playing with, Wadjda… Continue reading Wadjda
A Late Quartet
09 Oct 2013 Director: Yaron Zilberman USA 2012 105 min With its suitably resonant title, this film is a subtle and intelligent observation of the internal dynamics of the New York based Fugue String Quartet. When Peter Mitchell (Christopher Walken), the founder and cellist, receives a life changing diagnosis, the group’s future suddenly hangs in… Continue reading A Late Quartet
Barbara
23 Oct 2013 Germany 2012 105 min Director: Christian Petzold Barbara is a doctor in the East Germany of 1980. As a punishment for political insubordination and an application to emigrate to the west, she has been removed from a prestigious position in Berlin and banished to a hospital in the provinces where she plans… Continue reading Barbara
Amour
06 Nov 2013 Director: Michael Haneke France 2012 127 min With his unflinching script, Michael Haneke directs this honest, heart-wrenching depiction of deep love and responsibility. With exceptionally powerful performances from Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, the film is an intimate account of an elderly couple facing their greatest challenge in the twilight years of… Continue reading Amour
Jagten
The Hunt 04 Dec 2013 Director: Thomas Vintenberg Denmark 2012 115 min In this nerve-shredding and superbly thrilling drama, Mads Mikkelsen gives a penetrating portrayal of Lucas, a nursery school teacher in a small Danish town. Lucas is rebuilding his life after a divorce and the loss of his job when his life is torn… Continue reading Jagten
Dans la maison
In The House 08 Jan 2014 Director: François Ozon France 2012 105 min In Ozon’s teasing comedy, Germain teaches literature. He despises most of his fellow teachers for their conventional thinking and despairs of his pupils for their uniformity and lack of imagination. Germain discovers a gifted pupil, the 16-year-old Claude, who turns in an… Continue reading Dans la maison
Kapringen
A Hijacking 22 Jan 2014 Director: Tobias Lindholm Denmark 2012 103 min The cargo ship MV Rozen is in dangerous waters and heading for harbour when it is hijacked by Somali pirates. Among the men on board is the ship’s cook Mikkel (Pilou Asbeek) who, along with the rest of the seamen, is taken hostage… Continue reading Kapringen
Holy Motors
05 Feb 2014 Director: Leos Carax France 2012 115 min A bizarre surrealist odyssey whose magic ingredient is comedy, Holy Motors is preposterous and filled with secrets. Apparently inspired by the director’s fascination with the after hours life of stretch limousines, the film is centred around Monsieur Oscar who, over the course of a single… Continue reading Holy Motors