UK/USA, 2000

Cert: PG

140 minutes

Dir: Terence Davies

Starring Gillian Anderson, Dan Aykroyd, Eric Stoltz .

Adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel set in New York, 1905. Lily Best’s dilemma is whether to settle for lawyer Lawrence Selden, or seek someone richer! “A devastating study of injustice, enforced solitude, wasted opportunities and love never quite gratified. Absolutely superb.” (Time Out)

USA 2000

Cert: 15

90 minutes

Dir:  Christopher Guest.

Starring: Jennifer Coolidge, John Parker Higgins, Parker Posey.

An hilarious satire on the world of dog show – “a marvellously constructed comic gem which sends up the wildly idiosyncratic personalities of the dog owners and the extremes they are prepared to go to in order to win.”  (National Film Theatre)

France 1999

Cert: 15

90 minutes

Dir:  Claire Denis

Starring: Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoir Colin.

French Foreign Legion setting.  Denis Lavant plays a tough sergeant major whose unspoken love for his commanding officer is threatened by the arrival of a new recruit.  Unquestionably the French film of the year.  “Brilliant, gorgeous, mesmeric.”  (Guardian)

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USA/France/UK, 1999

Cert: U

111 minutes

Dir: David Lynch

Starring: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek.

The story of Alvin Straight, a stubborn 73-year-old widower, who travels from Laurens, in Iowa, to Mt.Zion in Wisconsin, to see his sick elder brother – a journey undertaken on a motor-driven lawnmower!

UK, 1999

Cert: 12

160 minutes

Dir:Mile Leigh

Starring Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Timothy Spall.

Mike Leigh’s multi-award-winning film of the birth of Gilbert  & Sullivan’s operetta, “the Mikado”.  Whether you love or hate G & S, Leigh’s film is a wonderful evocation of the period and not to be missed.

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Spain 2000

Cert: 15

95 minutes

Dir: Jose Luis Cuerda

Starring: Fernando Fernan-Gomez, Manual Lozano, Uxia Blanco.

A beautifully crafted Spanish film of growing up in a Galician village at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.  “Beautifully filmed and lovingly performed it’s a warm, ingenious film with charm in abundance.”  (Time Out)

UK, 2000

Cert: 15

111 minutes

Dir: Stephen Daldry

Starring Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Gary Lewis..

One of the biggest hits of 2000 “Billy Elliot” is the story of a young lad’s attempts to become a ballet dancer, set against the turmoil of the 1980’s miners’ strike.  BAFTA-winning star, Jamie Bell, who plays Billy, gives an extraordinary performance.

USA, 1952

Cert: U

103 minutes

Dir: Stanley Donan/Gene Kelly.

Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse.

Regarded by many as the greatest of all screen musicals  'Singin' ‘ mocks the era of the transition from silent movie to sound.  Kelly’s talents we all know but rediscover the lesser-known but quite brilliant dancing of Donald O’Connor.  An absolute ‘must see’ for all enthusiasts of the genre.

USA 2000

Cert: 12

107 minutes

Dir: Joel Coën. Starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson.

The Coën brothers’ witty take-off of Homer’s “Odyssey” follows the wonderfully comic adventures of three convicts escaped from a Mississippi slave gang.  The film, brilliantly led by George Clooney, is backed by a wealth of blues, bluegrass and gospel music.

The film this evening, an extra to the programme, will be a screening of an Italian film as part of a programme of Italian films sponsored by the Purbeck Film Festival.  The title will be announced here as soon as it is known.

China/Hong -Kong/USA/Taiwan,     2000

Cert: 12

120 minutes

Dir:  Ang Lee.  Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi.

This extraordinary, multi-award-winning film from Ang Lee is an historical fantasy in which the ‘martial arts’ framework becomes a series of exquisitely choreographed ballets.  “It is a feast for the senses and 100 per cent sheer cinema.”  (Time Out)

USA 2000

Cert: 18

Dir:  Steven Soderbergh.  

Starring Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta Jones.

Steven Soderbergh, director of the last film of last season, “Erin Brockovich”, creates a richly-textured film exploring the ways in which drug involvement changes the lives of all who become caught in its web.  Multi-award-winning film including four Oscars.

France/UK/Nepal, 1999

Cert: PG

108 minutes

Dir:  Eric Valli. 

Starring Thilen Lhondup, Gurgon Kyap, Lhakpa Tsamchoe.

A non-professional cast lead us on a dazzlingly filmed yak-trek across the Himalayas in this Best Foreign-Language-Film-nominated account of a threatened culture.  A stunning sound track of authentic music really complements the film.

USA 2000

Cert: 15

113 minutes

Dir:  Christopher Nolan.  

Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann Moss, Joe Pantoliano.

“Brilliantly constructed murder-mystery based on the dramatic premise of a grieving husband out to avenge the killing of his wife”  (Telegraph).  Told in reverse, we know how it ends almost from the start, but how does it begin?  21^st UK Critics’ Circle Script Award.

Iran 2000

Cert: PG

94 minutes

Dir:  Samira Makhmalbaf.

Starring Said Mohamadi, Bahman Ghobadi.

Cannes Grand Jury Prizewinner from Iran about two itinerant teachers who go up and down the Iran-Iraq border with blackboards on their backs seeking children to teach.  “A powerful, unsentimental, and memorably poetic study.”  (Time Out)

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