Gomorrah Poster

Power, hate and blood. These are the values that the inhabitants of Naples and Caserta have to face every day.

They almost never have the power to choose, and they always have to obey the rules of the system, of the Camorra; only some lucky few get the chance to have a ‘normal’ life.

Five stories which are intertwined on the background of a violent world, apparently far away from reality, but well connected with it at the same time.

Don Ciro is the ‘submarine’: he pays the families of the one who form part of his clan and are in jail; an intelligent and discrete man who does his work without ever getting involved.

Toto is 13 years old and he can’t wait to become a grown up; step by step, he goes around getting life experience, until one day, when he has to take a life-changing decision.

Different generations, different ages, different problems…..all under the domination of the Naples mob group the Camorra.

Release

Date: 19 December 2008

Genre: Crime, Drama, Foreign

Cast: Salvatore Abruzzese, Simone Sacchettino, Salvatore Ruocco, Vincenzo Fabricino, Gaetano Altamura, Italo Renda, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Striano, Carlo Del Sorbo, Vincenzo Bombolo, Toni Servillo

Director: Matteo Garrone

Zelary Poster

Based on real facts, ‘Zelary’ tells a story that happened in the 1940s, in Czechoslovakia, during the German occupation.

Eliska, a med school student, cannot finish her studies because they have closed down all the universities, and she now works as a nurse in the local hospital.

She and her boyfriend Richard are involved in the resistance movement against the Nazis. One night a man is brought to the hospital suffering serious injuries and in desperate need of a blood transfusion.

Eliska is the only person with that blood type and ever since that moment a very strong connection exists between modern, educated Eliska and rude, barbarian Joza.

When the resistance movement is discovered, Richard has to leave the country and Eliska had to hide in a small mountain village, under Joza’s protection.

Their blood ties get stronger and their relationship as well, despite the enormous differences between them.

Release Date: 17 September 2004

Genre: Romance, Drama, Foreign

Cast: Ana Geislerová, György Cserhalmi, Jaroslava Admová, Miroslav Donutil, Jaroslav Dusek, Iva Bittová, Ivan Trojan, Jan Hrusínský, Ondrej Koval

Director: Ondrej Trojan

The Valet

Caught by paparazzi with Elena, his mistress, a glamorous top model, the multimillionaire tries to avoid a catastrophic divorce saying a big fat lie.

He explains to his wife that the third person from the picture is actually the real boyfriend of Elena and he has nothing to do with her.

The guy, who was just passing through when the picture was taken, Francois Pignon, the valet, is a simple man.

To sustain his lie Levasseur has to convince the gorgeous Elena to move in with Pignon.

The Levasseur’s men pay the “parking lot guy” to go out with Elena and he accepts because he wants to pay the debts of Emilie, the girl he wants to marry to.

Once she moved in with Francois, the top model is like a paradise bird kept in a suburban apartment.

During the movie happen a lot of funny situations for “the valet” but……… the ending is quite unexpected.

Release Date: 22 September 2006 (Romania)

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Gad Elmaleh, Alice Taglioni, Daniel Auteuil, Kristin Scott Thomas, Richard Berry, Virginie Ledoyen

Director: Francis Veber

Ashes of Time Redux

Ou-yang Feng is a paid swordsman who lives in the middle of the desert in Antic China.

Devastated by the memory of a lost love he still works as an agent for the assassin mercenaries.

He is cured by a magical wine received from another swordsman, Huang Yao-shi.

Before these events Huang Yao-shi meets Mu-rong Yin to whom he promises to marry her sister Mu-rong Yang.

But Yin hires Ou-yang Feng to kill Huang, because he hasn’t kept his promise and left her sister, Mu-rong Yang.

Here it is revealed the true secret which gives an ironic note to the movie.

Who is in fact Mu-rong Yang???

The film has a second story centered on Ou-yang Feng’s efforts to kill a band of thieves.

Another swordsman, who wants to get home to see his wife and family before he is completely blind, is hired by Ou-yang, but he gets killed.

All these characters learn the intangible secret of true love, but become selfish, evil, cold and stony, trying to stop from the beginning any relationship, because they do not want to suffer the loss of love in the wilderness of the desert.

Release Date: 10 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:  Drama

Cast: Li Bai, Jacky Cheung, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Brigitte Lin

Director: Kar Wai Wong

“Les liens du sang”, aka “Rivals”, is a psychological drama centered on the story of two brothers, as different as they can be in what concerns the behavior and life conceptions.

They were forced to live far away from each other, for ten years, because Gabriel was convicted for murder.

After he got out, Gabriel tries to forget his past and to have a life honest and with no legal problems.

He gets a job in supermarket from Lyon, falls in love with the beautiful cashier, Nathalie, and plans to buy a house in the country.

But when his request, for opening a kiosk near the beach with a friend ex-convict too, Gabriel stops trying to reintegrate in the society and regains the old habits.

His younger brother, Francois, is a police officer crazy in love with Corinne, the life partner of a dangerous criminal whom he sent behind bars, but will be released soon.

Fighting to resolve his own troubles and to keep his brother on the right way, Francois realizes that the past hunts both of them and cannot escape its consequences.

Release Date: 6 February 2008 (Belgium)

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama

Cast: François Cluzet, Guillaume Canet, Marie Denarnaud, Clotilde Hesme, Mehdi Nebbou, Hélène Foubert

Director: Jacques Maillot

That day he realizes that his life is about to drastically change and there is no stable element anymore….We will see him in many unexpected and funny circumstances, as he will be trying to put some order into his ‘timetable-less’ life.

He cannot just sit back and enjoy his retirement, so he goes out, makes new friends, revisits old girlfriends, and even finds himself wearing a pair of red high heels, or risking his life when traveling in a car driven by a blindfolded man.

O’Horten is the proof that life can be fun even after retirement, and he lives his with great joy, warmth and a bit of melancholy for not having discovered the funny things earlier.

Release Date: 20 February 2009

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Cast: Bard Owe (Odd Horten), Trygve Sissener (Espen Skjonberg)

Director: Bent Hamer

Juliette is a woman who comes to live with her sister Lea, after many years of absence. In the meanwhile, Lea has gotten married and is apparently very happy with

her husband and their two adopted Vietnamese children.

The family will no longer live so happily when Juliette’s past comes to light and everybody finds out that she was not away, she was in jail for 15 years, charged with killing her child.

In this difficult role we see none other than Kristin Scott Thomas, who also starred in ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ or ‘The English Patient’. She has lived in France almost her entire life and she has played in several French movies.

Release Date: 29 August 2008

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Family

Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas (Juliette Fontaine), Elsa Zylberstein (Lea)

Director: Philippe Claudel

He teaches 14 year old children at a public school in Paris, situated in one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods, almost totally inhabited by immigrants.

Amongst his pupils are the intelligent Wei- illegal Chinese immigrant, Souleyman – a violent boy from Mali, Louise and Esmeralda – always gossiping, Khoumba – the smart and grumpy black girl, and Carl- a Caribbean boy expelled from his ex-school.

It is a class full of children coming from different cultures and races, with different characters, clashing all the time.

The lack of discipline, respect towards the rules, the hostile attitude towards studying, the aggressiveness and the insecurities of adolescence make it very difficult for them to get along with Francois.

And it is as hard for him to maintain his enthusiasm for a poorly paid and not appreciated job.