Wed

Wed

THE THIRD MANUK DRAMA 93m PG

1 Apr

German cinema combining subversive, often

1 JulyTHE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE USA CRIME-DRAMA 116m M

A NIGHT AT THE OPERAUSA COMEDY 91 m G

A Night at the Opera is regarded as the last great instalment in the Marx Brothers' film series before MGM diluted their anarchic comedy with overdoses of sappy sentiment and romantic interludes. Their inimitable blend of disreputable shenanigans is an irreverent assault on high culture. Often cruel and defiantly misogynist, their humour laid the groundwork for the Pythons and others and their nose-thumbing at proprieties shows Jewish-American humour at its best. Taking on high society, the brothers help two operatic young lovers (Kitty Carlisle as Rosa and Allan Jones as Ricardo) achieve success, while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.

CARBIDE + SORRELEAST GERMANY COMEDY 85m PG

This comedy, set in the immediate post-war era of World War II, follows the adventures of Karl (Erwin Geschonneck), a cigarette factory employee, as he endeavours to transport several barrels of carbide – without a truck – across hundreds of miles. Love, landmines and arrest are just some of the obstacles he encounters in his quest to deliver the carbide to the cigarette factory to enable production to resume. The film’s satire deftly undermines the official history of the German Democratic Republic. One review calls it, “a classic of

Wed

PSYCHOUSA DRAMA-HORROR 109m M

6 May

Our Wednesday evening screenings offer members

an eclectic mix of films grouped around

three broad themes:

Is it Still Funny? A Cross-cultural Look at Comedy in

20th Century

Exemplars of Black and White Cinematography

The next three films offer us opportunities to focus our attention on the contributions of the cinematographer, usually the Film Director’s closest collaborator, who is responsible for all you actually see in a film: lighting, camera motion, colour, depth-of-field and the positioning of people and objects within any given frame.

A Selection of World Cinema

We conclude with a selection of five films offering a diversity of genres, eras, and countries of origin.

IS IT STILL FUNNY? BLACK + WHITE CINEMATOGRAPHY

Wed

5 Feb

wild humour with poignant sociocultural insight6s ”.May

THE CASTLEAUSTRALIA COMEDY 84m M

Rob Sitch and team wrote and directed this 1997 gem of Australian cinema featuring the Kerrigan family who live adjacent to Melbourne Airport. They receive notice that their property is to be acquired for a runway extension and decide to fight for their home, their ‘castle’, taking their fight to the highest court in the land. Led by Michael Caton as tow-truck driver Darryl, the Kerrigans show us what it means to be a family and the true value of having a home. Along the way they deliver some wonderful lines which have simply become part of our language.

Wed

4 MarWed

Wed 1 July

3 June

The Third Man, ‘the best British film of the 20th century’, tells the story of second-rate American writer, Holly Martins, arriving penniless in Vienna for a job promised by school friend, Harry Lime, to find he has just missed his friend’s mysterious funeral. Written by Graham Greene, directed by Carol Reed and with a legendary cameo by Orson Welles, but the outstanding star is splintered post-war Vienna and the outstanding maestro, Australian cinematographer, Robert Krasker, whose Oscar winning expressionistic camera angles, chiaroscuro lighting and conspicuous close-ups led imdb to dub him one of the best cinematographers of all time.

Psycho tells the story of an exhausted secretary, on the run, who stays at an isolated motel managed by a young man whose mother “isn’t quite herself today”. English Director, Alfred Hitchcock, and American actors, Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, mostly get the credit for Psycho’s chilling atmosphere but that is also largely due to the skills of cinematographer, John L. Russell, who gave Psycho a documentary-feel by shooting it with lenses replicating the natural perspective of the human eye and unsettled the audience by using composition, cuts and camera moves to yo-yo the audience’s identification between secretary and manager.

A small-town 1940s Californian barber dissatisfied with his life and suspecting his wife of adultery, resorts to blackmail to generate funds to make changes. Then things unravel . . . Directors, the Coen Brothers, and actors, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand and Billy Bob Thornton, are masterly but Roger Deakins’ cinematography steals the show. Deakins, widely regarded as the greatest and most influential living cinematographer, is known for perfectionist lighting, camera movement, composition and technical control: The Man Who Wasn’t There was shot in colour so Deakins could retain greater control over the film process then converted to black and white.

We begin on a light-hearted note, looking back at what made us laugh during the 20th century. Comedy is a broad genre and we have selected three diverse comedies from the USA, East Germany and Australia representing the 1930s, 1960s and 1990s, offering us an opportunity to consider how we view comedy from years gone by.

Members are most welcome to join us for a guided, informal discussion

after each filmfree entry - cash bar,

complimentary tea/coffee

bringing you the best of

world cinema

For more details visit us at:www.malenyfilmsociety.info

members onlyprogram 2020

Screening exclusively for MFS members Wednesday Screenings: 7 pm for 7:15 pm

Sunday Screenings: 3:30 pm for 4 pmVerandah Room (at rear of hall)

Maleny Community Centre

Wed 7 Oct

Wed 5 Aug

MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLEITALY COMEDY 102m M

Wed 2 Sep

YULISPAIN/UK BIO-DRAMA 115m M

Wed 4 Nov

LITTLE MENUSA DRAMA 85m PG

Wed 2 Dec LUCKY

USA COMEDY/DRAMA 88m MA15+

FREE ENTRY

Sun 22 Nov

Sun 5 Jul

SUNDAY MATINEES

Directed by Vittorio De Sica, this film established Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni as one of the most popular screen couples in international film. Filumena (Loren) is the mistress of successful businessman Domenico (Mastroianni), who saved her from a life of prostitution when in her teens. Domenico is however unwilling to marry her, and when he decides to marry a younger woman, Filumena fakes a fatal illness to lure him to the altar. Discovering her ruse, Domenico charges Filumena with fraud. But when she reveals that a child she had borne in secret is his, Domenico finally agrees to marriage.

THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUNDAUSTRALIA DRAMA 107 m MTom Allen is a 13-year-old postulant struggling in spirit and body with the constraints of living in a Catholic seminary. The Brothers who teach him are similarly conflicted with their own desires.The Devil’s Playground, which won AFI awards (1976) for Best Director, Actor and Film, was a deeply personal debut film for director, Fred Schepisi, who himself had spent unhappy years training for the priesthood. Another ex-seminarian, novelist Thomas Keneally, wrote the script. Set in 1953, many years before the child sex crimes that rocked the Vatican were exposed, this film remains powerful, confronting and full of hot-button issues.

Yuli portrays the life of legendary Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta, the first black dancer to perform some of the most famous ballet roles. Hailing from a poor neighbourhood of Havana, Carlos desires only to be a normal boy. Initially resisting his talent for dance, he ultimately succumbs to the pressures of his father and instructor, and his talent lands him in London. Miserable and homesick, Carlos returns home to Cuba, but with help from his friends, finally recognises that his future really is in dance. The rest, including starring as the Royal Ballet’s first black Romeo, is ballet history.

Harry Dean Stanton (in his penultimate performance) is 90 year old Lucky, living alone in an Arizona desert town, facing mortality and seeking enlightenment. He is a cantankerous character who insists on rituals which include daily exercises in long-johns, watching soaps, and hanging out grumpily in a local coffee shop. Among those we meet are his doctor (bemused by his chain-smoking patient’s good health), a man who has lost his tortoise, and a local woman who invites lonely Lucky to her child’s birthday party. Lucky is a contemplative, quirky drama in which very little happens and yet everything happens.

Set in New York, Litt le Men takes a compassionate look at ways in which adult problems (here it ’s awkwardness over money) affect chi ldhood fr iendships. Thirteen year old Jake’s Dad substantial ly increases the rent on the dress shop downstairs in the two-storey bui lding he has inherited from his father. Jake and his parents l ive upstairs. The shop is run by the single mother of Jakes’ new best fr iend Tony, and the resultant feud between the adults prompts the two boys to take an oath of si lence against their parents in protest. From director Ira Sachs (Love is Strange).

A SELECTION OF WORLD CINEMA

Sun 26 Apr

THE REPORTS on SARAH & SALEEMPALESTINE MEXICO DRAMA 132m MA15+

TBC TBC