I've Loved You So Long (December 2011)

Chosen by Lucy and Tony

In a break from tradition, we made the most of the Christmas holidays to watch this film together.

The film
Kristin Scott Thomas plays Juliette, a forty-something woman who comes to live with her younger sister Léa, (Elsa Zylberstein). Juliette is grey, gawky, withdrawn - in contrast with Léa's vibrant life (especially her brilliantly-played older daughter). Gradually, subtly, we find out why the two have been parted for so long.

The response
The verdict: 'gripping'. True, not everyone was wholly convinced by the story-line, wondering whether Juliette's family really would have been oblivious to the situation she was in. And some of us spent the film waiting for a terrible denouement. But overall we found ourselves drawn into this carefully-crafted (and beautifully-filmed) depiction of pain, love, death and life.

This was another film that prompted questions. How well do we know the people we are closest to? What characterises sibling relationships? What is a 'criminal' act? How can people carry on living after experiencing terrible things? Perhaps it's enough to notice beautiful and meaningful things - as the sisters, together, recognised beauty and hope in a rain-covered windowpane.

Happy Go Lucky (November 2011)

Chosen by Juliet & Andi

The film
Mike Leigh had to make an appearance in our film club before too long. We could have chosen any of his films, only ending up with this one because it had been sitting in J&A's (tiny) DVD stash. Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a 30-year-old Londoner with a relentlessly positive approach to life. An increasingly tense relationship with her driving instructor weaves through the film - between flamenco lessons, helping a troubled pupil and visiting her pregnant sister.

The response
The film, released in 2008, won acclaim from the professional critics (and many awards); but got a less positive response from our film club members. A minority thought Poppy likeable and sympathetic; most found her profoundly irritating. They criticised her for misleading Scott the driving instructor, saying she flirted unnecessarily with a vulnerable guy (by contrast, her sympathisers thought he was creepy and deserved her dressing-down). In particular, most of us despaired at the shallow conversation - nobody in the film really engaged with each other.

Maybe Mike Leigh's improvisational style made it difficult for the characters to become real and engage deeply with each other? Certainly, some of us thought so, although others enjoyed the 'kitchen-sink realism'. In any case, this was a film that kept us arguing happily all evening.

Lost in Translation (October 2011)

Chosen by Katherine & Danny

The film
2003 film starting Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, set in Tokyo.

Annie Hall (Sept 2011)

Chosen by Tom & Jeani

The film
This month, a Woody Allen 1977 classic. Iconic images (that hat! that waistcoat! that smile!) wrapped around with Woody Allen's one-liners. The film follows Alvy Singer's on-off and ultimately doomed relationship with Annie Hall.

The response
The iconic nature of the film really got us talking. When and where we'd first watched it. How New York is used as a character (forerunner of 'Manhattan') but also how run-down the city was in the 1970s - nothing like its glittering image today. How Annie was, to some of us, wonderful and strong; to others irritatingly fey. Some of us found the introspection too much, but 'isn't that what we all do - spend all our time thinking about ourselves?' The family scenes (argumentative meals, framed by the shaking of the rollercoaster) seemed particularly resonant and funny.

Of course, the film is by and about Woody Allen. B was unimpressed - he pretty much dismissed the film as no more than a re-run of the stand-up comedian's routines. J thought the director is a genius at illustrating and exploring what really happens in relationships. N admitted he couldn't stand Woody Allen, but confessed to having once sat through an all-nighter of Woody Allen films at the old Leeds Playhouse ...

Lars and the Real Girl (Aug 2011)

Chosen by Nigel

The film
Lars, a gentle but odd young man, buys a doll - an anatomically correct sex doll named Bianca - who becomes his 'girlfriend'. His older brother and pregnant sister-in-law are disturbed by this but gradually they and the rest of the small town grow to accept and welcome Bianca into the community.

The response
N's first contribution to the group and definitely a good start: nearly all of us loved this film (only our youngest member thought it was boring...). Watching the film, many of us had expected a darker plot - kept waiting for the despair and destruction. Instead, we felt uplifted by the gentle, optimistic story - by the community's acceptance and love.

There were lots of questions. How realistic was the story? ('completely a fairy story'... 'well, life could be like that'...) Would you like to live there? ('Of course!' ... 'ugh, no'...). Which characters were believable? (Karin, the sister in law - or Gus, the resistant brother?) Who was the 'real girl'? (Probably Bianca, but maybe Karin, Margo or Dagmar, the Doctor). And what does the story tell us about ourselves? Our reluctance to accept difference, the things we keep quiet about because we think others won't approve?

La Leggenda del Santo Bevitore (July 2011)

Chosen by Bruce & Susan

The film
A drunken homeless man (played by Rutger Hauer) in Paris is lent 200 francs by a stranger. He promises to repay it to a local church when he can afford to. Unexpectedly, money comes to him but he's constantly thwarted, distracted by old friends, lovers, and alcohol. 1988 Italian film directed by Ermanno Olmi.

Our response
Susan's choice, because she'd enjoyed 'Tree of Wooden Clogs'. Nearly all of us found the film unbearably slow and couldn't claim to like it: but we talked about it all evening. How convincing was the scenario? Who was the stranger? What really stopped him reaching the church? Was the story a pre-death 'life flashing before his eyes' dream? We all loved the iconic Parisien bars - creaky doors, sticky tables, dirty rain.

Savage Messiah (June 2011)

An evening out - Savage Messiah was shown at the Hyde Park Cinema, to accompany an exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute.

Ken Russell himself was due to introduce the film, but sadly wasn't well enough to travel to Leeds: instead a colleague read his words, illustrated by wonderful photos of Ken smiling at us from his hospital bed.

Savage Messiah tells the story of the relationship between French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Polish novelist Sophie Brzeska. They were devoted to each other, but had a complex relationship; both experienced mental illness, and life wasn't easy for them. 2011 marks the centenary of Gaudier-Brzeska's arrival in London, where he lived for the last four years of his life. He was killed in the trenches in 1915. Ken Russell spoke of the affinity he felt with Gaudier-Brzeska, driven by art and struggling for recognition.

The film was rich, emotional, moving: he created amazing art, and his death such a waste.

There died a myriad,
And of the best, among them,
For an old bitch gone in the teeth,
For a botched civilization,

Charm, smiling at the good mouth,
Quick eyes gone under earth's lid,

For two gross of broken statues,
For a few thousand battered books.

- Ezra Pound

(The picture is Gaudier-Brzeska's self-portrait.)