Films – May 2013

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Languages

Bengali

Finnish

Norwegian

Danish

French

Russian

Dutch

German

Spanish

English

Mandarin

 

Bengali

E-Flat
(Komal Gandhar)
Directed by Ritwik Ghatak
(India, 1961, 134 min.)
This tale of two rival theater groups struggling to collaborate is at once a backstage drama and an allegory about the partitioning of Bengal.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., May 5, 4 p.m.

The Golden Thread
(Subarnarekha)
Directed by Ritwik Ghatak
(India, 1965, 143 min.)
In a refugee neighborhood on the outskirts of 1950s Calcutta, young Ishwar and his little sister Seeta take in an abandoned boy, Abhiram. Years later, Seeta and Abhiram fall in love, but the sudden reappearance of Abhiram’s mother confirms his lower-caste status, much to Ishwar’s dismay.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., May 12, 2 p.m.

A River Called Titus
Directed by Ritwik Ghatak
(India/Bangladesh, 1973, 159 min.)
In this spare and beautiful portrait of a 1930s fishing community on the banks of the Titas River in East Bengal, a couple is separated by a kidnapping. But while the wife escapes her captors and finds shelter with the townspeople, her husband goes mad with grief.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., May 19, 2 p.m.

Danish

Adam’s Apples
(Adams æbler)
Directed by Anders Thomas Jensen
(Denmark/Germany, 2005, 94 min.)
Fresh from prison, neo-Nazi Adam is sentenced to 12 weeks of community service at a country church, where a priest believes that he can get Adam to see the light in this blackly comic biblical allegory.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., May 4, 12 p.m.,
Mon., May 6, 7:30 p.m.

Dutch

Ben X
Directed by Nic Balthazar
(Belgium, 2006, 90 min.)
Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, teenager Ben is more at home playing his favorite online computer game than in the real world, where he’s harassed by school bullies. Increasingly isolated, Ben is visited by a beautiful fellow gamer who advises him to extract revenge on his tormentors.
AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., May 2, 9:30 p.m.

English

The Angel’s Share
Directed by Ken Loach
(U.K./France/Belgium/Italy, 2012, 101 min.)
Narrowly avoiding jail, a gruff but benevolent man vows to turn over a new leaf for his newborn son — and a visit to a whisky distillery inspires him and his mates to seek a way out of their hopeless lives.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Antares
Directed Götz Spielmann
(Austria, 2004, 119 min.)
Three couples, residents of a drab high rise on the outskirts of a large city, are further connected by marriage, divorce and affairs (English, German and Croatian; explicit sexuality).
AFI Silver Theatre
Mon., May 27, 9:10 p.m.,
Thu., May 30, 9:45 p.m.

Carlos
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France/Germany, 2010, 334 min.)
Olivier Assayas’s celebrated biopic of the notorious international terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, a political radical from Venezuela who masterminded a wave of terror attacks in Europe and the Middle East in the 1970s and ’80s, was hailed for its probing look at the life of this shadowy figure (in English and multiple languages).
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., May 24, 1 p.m.,
Sun., May 26, 1 p.m.

A Fierce Green Fire
Directed by Mark Kitchell
(U.S., 2012, 101 min.)
Unfolding in five acts, the documentary chronicles grassroots and global environmental movement building over five decades, connecting the causes and exploring how we got here and where we’re going.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., May 3

Hava Nagila
Directed by Roberta Grossman
(U.S./Ukraine/Israel, 2012, 73 min.)
This documentary examines the history, mystery and meaning of the infectious Jewish party song in an around-the-world journey from Ukraine to YouTube.
The Avalon Theatre
West End Cinema

Hellboy
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
(U.S., 2004, 122 min.)
Summoned from the fiery depths by Nazi occultists in the final days of World War II, rescued by an Allied platoon and raised by kindly Professor Bruttenholm to fight for good, Hellboy is now the premier agent in the top-secret Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.
AFI Silver Theatre
May 18 to 20

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
(U.S./Germany, 2008, 120 min.)
With the exiled elf prince Nuada seeking to start a war with the human race, Hellboy and his pals must use not only their mighty powers but also their wits to stave off disaster.
AFI Silver Theatre
May 24 to 26

History of the World: Part I
Directed by Mel Brooks
(U.S., 1981, 92 min.)
Having fun with Hollywood’s version of history, from prehistoric cave dwellers to the Roman Empire to the Spanish Inquisition to the French Revolution, Mel Brooks achieves epic spoofery by riffing, zinging and punning his way through this omnibus of period pieces.
AFI Silver Theatre
May 24 to 26

I Was a Male War Bride
Directed by Howard Hawks
(U.S., 1949, 105 min.)
In post-WWII Germany, French Captain Henri Rochard (Cary Grant) and American WAC Lieutenant Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan) go from antagonistic co-workers to passionate lovebirds while on assignment out in the field, and get married.
AFI Silver Theatre
May 25 to 28

Love Is All You Need
(Den skaldede frisør)
Directed by Susanne Bier
(Denmark/Sweden/Italy/France/Germany, 2012, 112 min.)
A hairdresser who has lost her hair to cancer finds out her husband is having an affair, travels to Italy for her daughter’s wedding, and meets a widower who still blames the world for the loss of his wife.
Angelika Mosaic
Opens Fri., May 10
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., May 3

My Brother the Devil
Directed by Sally El Hosaini
(U.K., 2012, 111 min.)
Two teenage brothers must face their own prejudices head on if they are to survive the perils of being British Arabs growing up on the streets of gangland London.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., May 10

No Place on Earth
Directed by Janet Tobias
(U.K./Germany/U.S., 2012, 81 min.)
This documentary brings to light the untold story of 38 Ukrainian Jews who survived World War II by living in caves for 18 months, the longest-recorded sustained underground survival (English, German and Yiddish).
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Directed by Mira Nair
(U.S./U.K./Qatar, 2012, 128 min.)
A young Pakistani man chasing corporate success on Wall Street finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family’s homeland.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., May 3

Welcome
Directed by Philippe Lioret
(France, 2009, 110 min.)
Seventeen-year-old Kurdish refugee Bilal is caught trying to stow away on a barge from France to England and sent to an illegal immigrant compound. Intent on reuniting with his girlfriend in London, the headstrong Bilal starts training at the municipal pool run by coach Simon so he can swim the English Channel (English, French and Kurdish).
AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., May 16, 7:20 p.m.

Finnish

Mother of Mine
(Äideistä parhain)
Directed by Klaus Härö
(Finland/Sweden, 2005, 111 min.)
In World War II, 9-year-old Eero is sent by his beloved mother to live on a remote farm in Sweden, where his surrogate father is welcoming and warm, but his surrogate mother is cold, and even cruel. As Eero tries to adjust to the culture, he feels increasingly alienated from everyone, until a touching confession from his surrogate mother changes everything (Finnish and Swedish).
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., May 31, 2 p.m.

French

Cesar and Rosalie
(César et Rosalie)
Directed by Claude Sautet
(France/Italy/W. Germany, 1972, 110 min.)
Rosalie is amicably divorced from César, dividing her time between her mother’s house, with her siblings and small daughter. Enter David, an artist and Rosalie’s flame before her marriage who, in a quiet, brooding way, seeks to reclaim Rosalie.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., May 13, 6:30 p.m.

Cold Water
(L’eau froide)
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France, 1994, 92 min.)
Teen lovers Gilles and Christine are a refuge to each other from their disinterested bourgeois families. They share a dream of escape, perhaps to live in an artists’ colony, but are they destined to do so together?
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., May 4, 5:30 p.m.,
Sun., May 5, 8:45 p.m.

The Grocer’s Son
(Le fils de l’épicier)
Directed by Eric Guirado
(France, 2007, 96 min.)
Committed urbanite and hard-edged Parisian Antoine must return to life in the country when he’s asked to take over the family’s grocery delivery truck following his father’s heart attack. But his gruff demeanor slowly melts as he takes his truck from village to village in the picturesque Rhône-Alpes countryside.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., May 18, 11:05 a.m.,
Sun., May 19, 11:05 a.m.

In the House
(Dans la maison)
Directed by François Ozon
(France, 2012, 105 min.)
A 16-year-old boy insinuates himself into the house of a fellow student from his literature class and writes about it in essays for his French teacher, who increasingly eggs on the scheme.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., May 10

Irma Vep
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France, 1996, 99 min.)
A half-forgotten filmmaker plans to remake a landmark 1915 crime thriller to reclaim his relevance, importing Hong Kong’s top star Maggie Cheung (gamely playing herself) to play the iconic role of Irma Vep, the story’s formidable, cat-suit-clad master thief. But the production is a comedy of errors, beginning with the fact that no one thought to ask whether Cheung spoke any French.
AFI Silver Theatre
May 18 to 20

Jules and Jim
(Jules et Jim)
Directed by François Truffaut
(France, 1962, 105 min.)
In Paris before World War I, two friends, Jules and Jim, fall in love with the same woman, Catherine, who loves and marries Jules. After the war, however, when they meet again in Germany, begins to love Jim in this tale of evolving relationships (French, German and English).
Goethe-Institut
Mon., May 6, 6:30 p.m.

Late August, Early September
(Fin août, début septembre)
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France, 1998, 112 min.)
A critically respected but commercially unrewarded novelist is diagnosed with a terminal disease, forcing his friend, an aspiring novelist himself whose love life is in disarray, to decide what matters most in his own life.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., May 11, 4:30 p.m.,
Wed., May 15, 7 p.m.

Something in the Air
(Après mai)
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France, 2012, 121 min.)
At the beginning of the seventies, a high school student in Paris is swept up in the political fever of the time, though his real dream is to paint and make films.
AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., May 2, 7:15 p.m.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., May 10

German

The Forest for the Trees
(Der Wald vor lauter Baümen)
Directed by Maren Ade
(Germany, 2004, 81 min.)
Idealistic and bursting with enthusiasm, Melanie says goodbye to her small-town home, loving parents and boyfriend for her first teaching job in the big city, where she finds herself contending with bratty students, jaded staffers and loneliness.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., May 26, 11:05 a.m.,
Thu., May 30, 5:10 p.m.

Mandarin

Emperor Visits the Hell
(Tang huang you difu)
Directed by Luo Li
(China/Canada, 2013, 71 min.)
Emperor Li Shimin is a government bureaucrat who condemns the Dragon King (a Marlboro-puffing gangster) to death for trying to change the weather, so the Dragon King retaliates by cursing the dreams of the emperor, who must travel to the underworld and cut a bargain to break free.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., May 5, 1 p.m.

My Father’s House
Directed by Zhao Dayong and David Bandurski
(China, 2011, 77 min.)
In Nigeria, Pastor Daniel Michael Enyeribe has a revelation to bring the word of God to China, joining a booming community of African merchants who have settled in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and establishing the Royal Victory Church for both Africans and Chinese to worship. (Mandarin and English).
Freer Gallery of Art
Wed., May 1, 7 p.m.

Norwegian

The Bothersome Man
(Den brysomme mannen)
Directed by Jens Lien
(Norway/Iceland, 2006, 95 min.)
Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no recollection of how he got there and is assigned the perfect life: a good job, an apartment, even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is off in this seeming paradise.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., May 11, 11 a.m.,
Mon., May 13, 9:20 p.m.

Kon-Tiki
Directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg
(U.K./Norway/Denmark/Germany, 2012, 118 min.)
A Norwegian explorer crosses the Pacific ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947, together with five men, to prove that South Americans already back in pre-Columbian times could have crossed the sea and settle on Polynesian islands.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., May 3

Russian

How I Ended This Summer
(Как я провёл этим летом)
Directed by Alexei Popogrebsky
(Russia, 2010, 130 min.)
On a desolate island in the Arctic Circle, two men work at a small meteorological station: the gruff and imposing Sergei and his inexperienced new partner Pavel. One day, Pavel receives terrible news intended for Sergei and when the truth comes out, the consequences explode against a chilling backdrop of thick fog, sharp rocks and the merciless Arctic Sea.
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., May 31, 4:20 p.m.

Spanish

Blancanieves
Directed by Pablo Berger
(Span/France, 2012, 104 min.)
This twist on the Snow White fairy tale is set in 1920s Spain and centers on a female bullfighter.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

The Devil’s Backbone
(El espinazo del Diablo)
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
(Spain/Mexico, 2001, 106 min.)
Orphaned during the last days of the Spanish Civil War, 12-year-old Carlos looks for refuge at a home for children of the Republican militia. Despite warnings about the presence of ghosts, Carlos explores the rambling hacienda and its grounds, but soon comes face to face with a spirit from the next world, and uncovers a horrible secret from this one.
AFI Silver Theatre
May 3 to 7

The Violin
(El Violin)
Directed by Francisco Vargas
(Mexico, 2005, 98 min.)
Set sometime in the not-too-distant past, a peasant guerrilla movement rises in response to a tyrannical regime, but is soon brutally suppressed. His fellow villagers forced into hiding in the hills, a poor street musician Don Plutarco turns his violin into a Trojan horse.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., May 25, 11:05 a.m.,
Wed., May 29, 5:05 p.m.