London River (April 2011)

chosen by Lucy, on her father's recommendation

The film
A middle-class white Christian woman travels to London to check on her daughter, following the 2005 bombings there. She's horrified to discover her daughter's been living above a halal butcher's. She's even more horrified when a stranger - a black dreadlocked Muslim - shows her a picture of his son with her daughter. She persuades the police to arrest him, but he's released. Eventually, as they move around the city seeking their children, they realise they have more in common than they might have imagined.

The response
We talked for ages about this film. First, we picked lots of holes in its accuracy. We couldn't believe the parents would have been told about their children's deaths in a grimy basement corridor - and actually most of the scenes in hospitals and police stations seemed far from reality. The French-speaking policeman wasn't too credible, and nor was the scene outside the morgue. It felt like a French film - a bit dreamy and not too accurate. For us Brits, our recollections of 7/7 and its aftermath are different, and the inaccuracies grated.

We all thought the film tried too hard to show that 'black people are nice and helpful'.

But we agreed that Sotiguyi Koyate was stunning - a beautiful, grounded, heartbreaking performance. Most of us thought Brenda Blethyn was brilliant as well. (Most of us thought she'd played the terrified, silent mother wonderfully, but for some of us, her character was too muted.)

The film certainly raised questions about identity, belonging and difference. We could see how confused and troubled Elisabeth was by believing her daughter rejected virtually everything she stood for. Her character was so bigoted, it was a struggle to sympathise with her: but we found ourselves asking, what situations might we find ourselves in where our prejudices might emerge?

Bruce thought it would have been a better ending to have the young people not die - to have them come back and confront their parents. Maybe it was best left as it was, with unresolved sadness, anger and lost hope.

Devil's Advocate (March 2011)

chosen by Jocelyn

The film
A 1997 American horror film directed by Taylor Hackford starring Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino and Charlize Theron, and based on a novel by Andrew Neiderman.

According to Wikipedia, Pacino's character is a tribute to the author of Paradise Lost, John Milton. The movie has some minor allusions to Milton's epic, such as the famous quotation "Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven".

Maybe that's why Jocelyn (a theology student) chose the film. I couldn't see the film and wasn't at the evening, so hope someone else can fill us all in!

A Town Called Panic (February 2011)

chosen by Andi and Juliet

The Film
Cowboy, Indian and Horse find themselves in the centre of an adventure caused by a computer-inspired mistake. The walls for their new house keep getting stolen and the search to find the thieves leads to all sorts of weird worlds. Horse has a disappointing birthday and Madame Longray waits patiently for him to come for his piano lesson. This is a bizarre animation made with plastic toys.

The response
This film was screened during Leeds Film Festival, and a friend of Andi's recommended it to the group. Andi thought the animation posed fundamental questions about what a film is. Most films try to look completely 'real' but aren't they just as artificial as an animation?

Jeani had struggled to watch the whole thing - the film sent Bruce and Jocelyn to sleep - but Katherine thought it was wonderful, and she appreciated the technical skill. It took Juliet straight back to childhood, and made her laugh. For Lucy, it captured the way children - especially boys - make up adventures. Those of us who enjoyed it didn't find it very memorable. As we talked about particular scenes we found ourselves laughing: Indian in the shower, Horse's bed, Steven's temper. The first half hour of the film was definitely the best, but then it all got a bit vague and directionless.

Andi suggested it had something of Camus about it, and Jeani agreed - somehow it reminded her of The Outsider (although the sense of being distanced from Meursault is not the same as being distanced from plastic toys).

Manderlay (January 2011)

chosen by Jeani

The film
Grace the gangster's daughter discovers a slave colony working a cotton plantation. She frees them, just as their 'owner' Mam dies, and Grace sets out to establish democracy, self-determination and the opportunity to prosper. But her naivety and inability to find out who the people are lead to more and more problems, and she finds herself behaving in ways she would not have anticipated.

This is the second film in Lars von Trier's trilogy 'USA - Land of Opportunities'. It's filmed in the same style as Dogville, which we saw a year ago - no scenery, minimal props, a narrator and a story-book feel.

The response
Tom & Jeani chose Manderley because of the strong response to Dogville last year. Most of us found Manderley much easier to watch, even though the subject matter was uncomfortable. There were loads of questions - Why did Grace stay? Why did Willem allow and even encourage her to behave as she did? Why didn't the slaves plant cotton when they knew they had to?

I (Juliet) thought this was a straightforward metaphor for the state of racial inequality in the USA. But we also found ourselves talking about free will, consciousness, leadership. OK, what would we do if Grace turned up in our street?

Fellini's 8 1/2 (December 2010)

chosen by Katherine and Danny

The film
An Italian film director is working on a science fiction film, but he's got "director's block". He has problems with his stars, his wife and his mistress. The film moves through flashbacks and dreams, as he explores the challenges of depicting the 'truth'.

8 1/2 was directed by Federici and released in 1963.

The response
Katherine and Danny chose this film, to introduce a classic into our repertoire. They chose it 'blind' and only saw it on the morning of the day we met.

First, the grumbles - the library copy was slightly damaged so some of us didn't watch the whole thing and (because of Christmas) some households hadn't seen it at all. The subtitles were difficult to read, too.

Danny and Katherine liked the style - and it must have made a big impression in 1963ut - but agreed it would need several viewings to appreciate it properly. It was quite difficult to remember the various scenes in the film. As a 'stream-of-consciousness' narrative it reminded Juliet of Ulyssees (written much earlier) or Anne Enright's' recent 'What are you like'. Sue and Bruce weren't very impressed, the story didn't seem to go anywhere. (Some of us thought that if the male attitudes in this film to women is at all representative of Italy today it's no wonder that Berlusconi is its Prime Minister.)

Before starting this film club we hadn't realised so many films are about the process of making films - and so many of them refer to each other. Looking forward to our next year of film viewing!

Films so far

November 2010 - The Tree of Wooden Clogs (seen by Bruce and Sue at the Howard Assembly Rooms)
October 2010 - Precious (Tony & Lucy)
September 2010 - To Kill A Mockingbird (Bruce & Susan)
August 2010 - An Education (Tom and Jeani)
July 2010 - Summer - at Seven
June 2010 - Gregory's Girl (Juliet & Andi)
May 2010 - Frost Nixon (Catherine & Danny)
April 2010 - Delicatessen (Lucy & Tony)
March 2010 - The Fall (Susan & Bruce)
February 2010 - The Big Lebowski (Andi & Juliet)
January 2010 - Dogville (Jeani & Tom)
December 2009 - A Matter of Life and Death (Danny & Catherine)
November 2009 - The Bicycle Thieves (Bruce & Susan)
October 2009 - Persepolis (Tony & Lucy)
September 2009 - Revolutionary Road (Tom & Jeani)