19 Dec 2012 Director: Philippe Falardeau Canada 2011 94 min The ‘inspirational teacher’ movie has become something of a cliché in recent years, but this Oscar nominated film from Canada avoids the usual sentiment and predictability in favour of a darker and ultimately more satisfying approach.Elderly Algerian immigrant Lazhar (the impressive Mohamed Fellag) is hired… Continue reading Monsieur Lazhar
Tag: Canada
Bowling for Columbine
4 February 20044 Director: Michael Moore Canada, USA, Germany 2002 119 min Why do 11,000 Americans die each year because of shootings? With its motivation founded in the massacre at Columbine High School, Michael Moore seeks to discover the roots and causes of this bloodshed. Alternately humorous and horrifying, he looks at the culture of… Continue reading Bowling for Columbine
The Cube
31 Mar 2004 Director: Vincenzo Natali Canada 1997 90 min Six ordinary people wake up in a maze of interlocking cubes, with no recollection of how they arrived there and with no apparent route out. Further more; the cubes contain some deadly traps. With no food or water they soon realise that each of them… Continue reading The Cube
Away From Her
19 Mar 2008 Director: Sarah Polley Canada 2006 100 min This is a screen adaptation of celebrated writer Alice Munro’s short story ‘The Bear Came over the Mountain’. It is the beautiful and bittersweet tale “of married couple, Grant and Fiona. Their daily lives, in their twilight years, are filled with tenderness and humour. Their… Continue reading Away From Her
Capote
7 Nov 2007 Director: Bennett Miller Canada, USA 2005 114 min November 1959, Truman Capote, the popular writer of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, sets off with his friend Nelle Harper Lee (To Kill A Mocking Bird) to redefine non-fiction writing. He intends to interview Perry Smith who is facing execution for the murder of a Kansas… Continue reading Capote
Fugitive Pieces
3 Mar 2010 Director: Jeremy Podeswa Canada, Greece 2007 104 min A powerful and graceful adaptation of a best-selling novel by Canadian poet Anne Michael. The story begins in Poland in 1942. Athos, a Greek archaeologist, finds a Jewish boy, Jakob, who has witnessed his parents murdered by the Nazis and his sister abducted. Athos… Continue reading Fugitive Pieces
Love And Death On Long Island
19 Jan 2000 Director: Richard Kwietniowski Canada, UK 1998 103 min Locked out of his apartment, old fashioned writer Giles De’Ath almost reluctantly decides to take in a movie. He goes to the cinema but accidentally wanders in to see Hot Pants College ll, instead of the E. M. Forster adaptation for which he bought… Continue reading Love And Death On Long Island
The Red Violin – Le Violon Rouge
20 Nov 2002 Director: Frangois Girard Canada, Italy, UK 1998 140 min In Montreal, a famous Nicolo Bussotti violin, known as ‘the Red Violin’, is up for auction. A collector tries to establish its identity and secrets. As he does, we follow the story of the violin in flashback, starting its journey with its creation… Continue reading The Red Violin – Le Violon Rouge
Frida
3 Nov 2004 Director: Julie Taymor USA, Canada, Mexico 2002 123 min Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were the most acclaimed artists in Mexican history. Their outrageous personas and tempestuous love affair made them 20th Century icons. Julie Taymor’s biopic took years of devotion to develop it for the screen. It mixes colour with the… Continue reading Frida
Belleville Rendezvous
Les Triplettes de Belleville 15 Dec 2004 Director: Sylvain Chomet France, Belgium, Canada, UK 2003 77 min A unique, stylish and exquisitely executed animation from France. Champion, under the care of his grand mother Madame Souza, enters a rigorous training regime in order to one day enter the Tour de France. But Champion is kidnapped… Continue reading Belleville Rendezvous