Home The Washington Diplomat April 2013 Films – April 2013

Films – April 2013

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Languages

Bengali

German

Korean

Czech

Hebrew

Norwegian

English

Italian

Romanian

French

Japanese

 

Bengali

The Cloud-Capped Star
(Meghe Dhaka Tara)
Directed by Ritwik Ghatak
(India, 1960, 143 min.)
Victims of the Partition of India in 1947, a refugee family from East Bengal forges a precarious existence on the outskirts of Calcutta.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., April 28, 2 p.m.

Czech

In the Shadow
(Vestinu)
Directed by David Ondricek
(Czech Republic/Poland/Slovakia/Israel, 2012, 106 min.)
In 1953 Prague, an honest and determined police captain uses good old-fashioned shoe leather to gradually uncover an elaborate plot by State Security forces to detain and eliminate Jewish citizens (Czech and German).
Filmfest DC
April 11 to 21

English

Ginger & Rosa
Directed by Sally Potter
(U.K./Denmark/Canada/Croatia, 2012, 90 min.)
In 1962 London, two teenage girls are inseparable, but, as the Cold War meets the sexual revolution, and the threat of nuclear holocaust escalates, the lifelong friendship of the two girls is shattered.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Inglourious Basterds
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
(U.S./Germany, 2009, 153 min.)
Brad Pitt leads “the Basterds,” a group of hard-bitten, mainly Jewish Americans recruited for the Nazi killin’ business, while fugitive French-Jewish cinephile Mélanie Laurent hatches her own plot to win the war.
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., April 12, 9:30 p.m.,
Sat., April 13, 7:30 p.m.

Midnight’s Children
Directed by Deepa Mehta
(Canada/Sri Lanka, 2012, 148 min.)
Salman Rushdie’s adaptation of his own magical realist novel follows the destinies of a pair of children born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment that India claimed its independence from Great Britain — a coincidence of profound consequence for both (English, Hindi and Urdu).
Filmfest DC
April 11 to 21

Underground
Directed by Robert Connolly
(Australia, 2012, 89 min.)
Before Julian Assange became a world-famous whistleblower, before WikiLeaks, and before the Internet even existed, he was a teenage computer hacker in Melbourne who formed a group called the “International Subversives” (opening night of Filmfest DC).
Regal Cinemas Gallery Place

French

Golden Slumbers
(Le sommeil d’or)
Directed by Davy Chou
(France/Cambodia, 2011, 96 min.)
Davy Chou’s exceptional documentary blends interviews with surviving filmmakers, classic songs and poetic examinations of former movie palaces to summon the spirits of Cambodian cinema’s Golden Age, which ended during the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror (French and Khmer); screening includes a panel discussion with the filmmaker and other experts.
Hill Center at Old Naval Hospital
Sun., April 7, 12 and 4 p.m.

Laurence Anyways
Directed by Xavier Dolan
(Canada, 2012, 168 min.)
Set in 199’s Montreal, Laurence has just told his girlfriend that he wants to become a woman. What follows is a tumultuous, decade-long odyssey during which the couple fights passionately to salvage their relationship.
Filmfest DC
April 11 to 21

Starbuck
Directed by Ken Scott
(Canada, 2011, 109 min.)
A 42-year-old lovable but perpetual screw-up who was a habitual sperm donor in his youth discovers that he’s the biological father of 533 children, 142 of whom are trying to force the fertility clinic to reveal the true identity of the prolific donor code-named Starbuck.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

German

Jörg Ratgeb, Painter
(Jörg Ratgeb, Maler)
Directed by Bernhard Stefan
(East Germany, 1978, 100 min.)
This East German film, set in 1517, recounts painter Jörg Ratgeb’s efforts as an ancient ally in struggles prefiguring the rise of communism and workers’ movements.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., April 8, 6:30 p.m.

Paradise: Faith
(Paradies: Glaube)
Directed by Ulrich Seidl
(Austria/Germany/France, 2012, 113 min.)
In this unsparing look at religion, sexuality and marriage, an Austrian medical technician and fundamentalist Catholic spends her days in intimate contact with patients at their most vulnerable times, but at home, she will not share a bed with her invalid husband.
Filmfest DC
April 11 to 21

Paradise: Hope
(Paradies: Hoffnung)
Paradies: Liebe)
Directed by Ulrich Seidl
(Austria/Germany/France, 2013, 91 min.)
The Austrian medical technician from “Paradise: Faith” brings her overweight, 13-year-old niece to a diet camp in the mountains, where she enters into an increasingly intimate relationship with the camp doctor, a man more than three times her age.
Filmfest DC
April 11 to 21

Paradise: Love
(Paradies: Liebe)
Directed by Ulrich Seidl
(Austria/Germany/France, 2012, 120 min.)
The first film in the Paradise trilogy, “Paradise: Love” gives us an unlikely, unexpected protagonist in Teresa, a middle-age woman who leaves her staid home life in Austria for a vacation that becomes a sex tour of Mombasa, Kenya, where she’s not alone on the journey (German, English and Swahili).
Filmfest DC
April 11 to 21

The Silence
(Das letzte Schweigen)
Directed by Baran bo Odar
(Germany, 2010, 111 min.)
On a hot summer day, a bicycle is found in a field of wheat—the exact scene of an unsolved crime committed 23 years ago. Just as before, a 13-year-old girl is missing, bringing back horrific memories to the mother of the first victim and the now-retired investigating officer of that case.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Hebrew

Fill the Void
Directed by Rama Burshtein
(Israel, 2012, 90 min.)
In Tel Aviv’s ultra-orthodox Hasidic community, where strict social codes and rabbinical decrees govern the way all members interact, especially men and women — 18-year-old Shira’s cloistered life takes a dramatic turn when her sister suddenly dies, leaving behind a newborn and a bereaved husband.
Washington DCJCC
Tue., April 23, 7:30 p.m.

Six Million and One
Directed by David Fisher
(Israel, 2011, 97 min.)
Past, present and future mix in this eloquent, intense and surprisingly humorous portrait of documentary filmmaker David Fisher and his siblings, as they retrace the footsteps of their late father, a Holocaust survivor who was interned in Austria.
Washington DCJCC
Mon., April 8, 7:30 p.m.

Italian

The Mercenary aka A Professional Gun
(Il mercenario)
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
(Italy/Spain, 1968, 110 min.)
A Polish mercenary, sensing a business opportunity, falls in with a Mexican revolutionary and over the years, the unlikely pair fight alongside and feud against one another, roaming the country fomenting revolution, liberating money, guns and horses from the Federales, and battling outlaw nemesis Curly.
AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., April 4, 9:30 p.m.

Reality
Directed by Matteo Garrone
(Italy/France, 2012, 115 min.)
Luciano is a charming fishmonger whose unexpected and sudden obsession with being a contestant on a reality show leads him down a rabbit hole of skewed perceptions and paranoia.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., April 5

Japanese

Like Someone in Love
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
(France/Japan, 2012, 109 min.)
An elderly professor and a beautiful sociology student who moonlights as a high-end escort develop an unexpected connection.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Sanguivorous: Film and Performance
Directed by Naoki Yoshimoto
(Japan, 2009, 56 min.)
A young woman suffering from mysterious physical ailments is horrified to discover she’s descended from generations of vampires. Starring renowned avant-garde butoh dancer Ko Murobushi, this transfixing film is accompanied live by Japanese percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani and Chicago-based saxophonist Edward Wilkerson, Jr.
Freer Gallery of Art
Wed., April 3, 7 p.m.

Korean

A Company Man
(Hoi-sa-won)
Directed by Im Sang-yun
(South Korea, 2012, 97 min.)
TV and film heartthrob So Ji-seop plays a hit man who works for an assassination agency structured like a corporate workplace in this sly, action-packed commentary on South Korea’s ruthless business culture.
AFI Silver Theatre
Tue., April 2, 9:30 p.m.,
Wed., April 3, 9:20 p.m.

I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK
(Ssa-i-bo-geu-ji-man-gwen-chan-a)
Directed by Park Chan-wook
(South Korea, 2006, 105 min.)
Veering away from his usual stylized violence, director Park Chan-wook takes a lighter turn with a whimsical tale of love in a mental institution between a boy who thinks he’s disappearing and a girl who thinks she’s a robot.
AFI Silver Theatre
Tue., April 9, 7 p.m.,
Wed., April 10, 9:15 p.m.

JSA: Joint Security Area
(Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA)
Directed by Park Chan-wook
(South Korea, 2000, 110 min.)
Structured as a classic whodunit, “JSA” begins with a U.N. investigator looking into the killing of two North Korean soldiers by a South Korean soldier. But flashbacks reveal a surprising truth: The soldiers had developed a cross-border friendship.
AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., April 4, 7 p.m.

Juvenile Offender
(Beom-joe-so-nyeon)
Directed by Kang Yik-wan
(South Korea, 2012, 107 min.)
Good-intentioned but unable to resist getting into a trouble, a teen is reunited with his mother, who gave him up for adoption. Together they try to pick up the pieces of their broken lives, but when the boy reveals that his girlfriend is pregnant, his mother can’t help but wonder whether a vicious circle is starting again.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., April 21, 2:30 p.m.

Nameless Gangster: Rules of Time
(Bumchoiwaui junjaeng)
Directed by Yoon Jong-bin
(South Korea, 2012, 133 min.)
In this gangland epic set in and around the port city of Busan in the 1980s and 1990s, a corrupt customs inspector stumbles upon a wayward drug shipment and leverages it into a business partnership with the city’s biggest crime boss.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., April 5, 7 p.m.

Oldboy
(Oldeuboi)
Directed by Park Chan-wook
(South Korea, 2003, 120 min.)
A man who is mysteriously imprisoned for 15 years and then just as mysteriously released searches for his tormentor in this visually stunning, hyper-violent neo-noir with echoes of classical tragedy that come to a head in its shocking climax.
Angelika Mosaic
Fri., April 5, 11:45 p.m.,
Sat., April 6, 11:45 p.m.

Sleepless Night
(Jam-mot deun-eun bam)
Directed by Jang Kun-jae
(South Korea, 2012, 65 min.)
This intimate portrait of a marriage follows a couple as they contemplate, dream and sometimes argue about bringing a child into their settled life.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., April 21, 1 p.m.

A Werewolf Boy
(Neuk-dae-so-nyeon)
Directed by Jo Sung-hee
(South Korea, 2012, 126 min.)
When a family discovers a feral teenager living in their barn, they take the boy in and train him, but soon his superhuman strength and odd behavior indicate that he is the product of a shady scientific experiment.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., April 14, 7:45 p.m.,
Mon., April 15, 7:10 p.m.

Norwegian

Kon-Tiki
Directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg
(Norway/Denmark/U.K., 2012, 118 min.)
Rebuffed by academia, young researcher and explorer Heyerdahl gathers five friends and strangers — none of them sailors — to prove the Polynesian Islands were first settled by Peruvians, not Asians.
Filmfest DC
April 11 to 21

Romanian

Beyond the Hills
(Dupa dealuri)
Directed by Cristian Mungiu
(Romania/France/Belgium, 2012, 152 min.)
Alina tries to convince her childhood friend Voichita to abandon her cloistered life in a remote convent and return with her to Germany in this portrait of dogma at odds with personal liberty in a society still emerging from the shadow of communism.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema