1/7
Heaven’s Gate
With McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Vilmos Zsigmond raised the imagery of Westerns to new foundations, but in Michael Cimino’s next film he surpassed even this. The story of Heaven’s Gate begins in 1870, while its truly epic chapter unfolds in 1890. It presents a world and a time when one-and-a-half million immigrants came to America from Europe – immigrants who were not welcomed with open arms. These were poor Europeans who fled destitution to a country in which the local balance of power was already established. The cattle barons of Wyoming did not tolerate starving settlers stealing from their herds, and a death list is drawn up. This, however, is merely the relatively straightforward plot. The visuals are what define the film, as a big epic is unimaginable without spectacular, sweeping long shots. And the long shots are filled not only with landscapes, but sometimes with multitudes of people.
Where to watch:
November 9, 7pm at MüPa – Palace Of Arts. Original audio (English), Hungarian subtitles.
2/7
Dheepan
The latest dramatic inquiry into life on society’s margins by Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone) is an alternately gripping and tender love story focusing on the plight of three Sri Lankan immigrants in the Paris suburbs, who struggle to adapt to their new hostile locale while battling elements from their past. The titular Dheepan (writer and activist Antonythasan Jesuthasan), a Tamil Tiger in the Sri Lankan civil war, is forced to improvise a family with Yalini (Kalieaswari Srinivasan) and the nine-year-old Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby) in order to escape their ravaged land for the possibilities of a new life in Paris. Once there, these three strangers become close out of necessity — the language and customs are unknown, and the tenement they live in is home to criminal gangs — but this closeness eventually blossoms into something much deeper. But the violence of their new home encroaches further and further into their lives, until Dheepan has to make use of the chilling skills he acquired as a rebel soldier…
Where to watch:
Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at the following cinemas: Allee and Mammut. For screening times go to Port or Cinema City.
3/7
007: Spectre
In Spectre, a cryptic message from the past sends James Bond (Daniel Craig) on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the spy agency alive, Bond peels back layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre. As we are talking about the franchise’s longest movie yet – and also, Daniel Craig’s last hurrah in it – it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s packed with all the things that make the James Bond films so special: globe-trotting locations, spectacular stunts, impossible intrigue, inconceivable costume changes, laugh-out-loud zingers, and so on. Ben Whishaw almost steals the show as Q and Christoph Waltz’s Franz Oberhauser is a great old-school Bond villain. Not to mention that the movie’s Bond girl is Léa Seydoux – can we ask for more? Surely not.
Where to watch:
Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at the following cinemas: Allee, Aréna, WestEnd, MOM Park, Campona and Mammut. For screening times go to Port or Cinema City.
4/7
Macbeth
Shakespeare’s noir-thriller prototype with the same title, adapted to the screen by the director of Snowtown, Justin Kurzel? Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, played by Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard? Blockbuster battle scenes, roaring performances, earthy energy and intensity? All of this and even more. Kurzel made an adaptation that is faithful to the source material, while adding his own cinematic flair to it – and the result is both physical and exciting. His version has more to do with Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation and films like Braveheart, meaning more heroic bloodshed and the most psychotic and stressful Macbeth that we’ve ever seen on screen... but if you have the guts to watch it, you won’t be disappointed.
Where to watch:
Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at the following cinemas: Allee and Mammut. For screening times go to Port or Cinema City.
5/7
Leviathan
Leviathan is the latest drama from the acclaimed director of The Return, Andrey Zvyagintsev. The film is basically a literal and allegorical depiction both of modern day Russia’s runaway corruption and universal fears about the shaky ground on which we construct our lives. The plot is centered around Kolya (Aleksey Serebryakov), who lives in a rural Russian coastal town with his wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) and their teenage son Romka (Sergey Pokhodaev). When the corrupt local mayor tries to demolish their house, he decides to fight back and collect dirt on the mayor. Mesmerizing visuals, psychological depth, emotional weight, and an an accurate portrait of the struggle of modern Russian society.
Where to watch:
November 11, 6pm at . Original audio (Russian), English subtitles.
6/7
The Little Prince
This year’s The Little Prince is a lovely adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s timeless classic with handcrafted stop-motion sequences, which is – just like the original source – centered around the opposition between childhood wonderment and grown-up disillusionment. “It may lack the fast pace and high-concept storytelling of today’s most popular animated fare, but it should strike a solid chord with family audiences around the world,” according to Variety, and after a quick look at the trailers, we couldn’t agree more. Seems like a perfect program for child-hearted adults and families with little ones.
Where to watch:
Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at MOM Park. For screening times go to Port or Cinema City.
