European films in the Community Cinema, Leverkusen:

Films from France, Italy, Spain, Britain and Scandinavia

The European cinema’s tradition of writer-directors, which dates back to the 1950s, is sustained by constant renewal thanks to the creativity and imagination of leading directors and national structures that foster its development. It is this that sets European films apart from the increasingly commercial Hollywood movie scene.

The season starts with three French masterpieces as a tribute to Clouzot, Tati and Truffaut and a cinematic contribution to “Bayer.Kultur bleu-blanc-rouge".

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Les Diaboliques (The Fiends)
The wife and mistress of a sadistic boarding-school headmaster are brought together by the pressure he exerts on them and plot to kill him.

Playtime
The success of films like Mon Oncle inspired Tati to undertake this colossal project. For this grandiose film he had a vast set full of high-rise buildings erected on the outskirts of Paris that became known as “Tativille”.

Vivement Dimanche (Confidentially Yours)
An atmospheric black-and-white movie featuring an amateur detective trying to clear her boss of allegations of murder, this film is a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock and the Hollywood film noir series of the 1940s.

Spotlight on new European cinema

Young Spanish directors, films from Italy, social criticism from Great Britain and Scandinavian auteur cinema.
The Spanish films AzulOscuroCasiNegro (DarkBlueAlmostBlack) by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo and 7 Vírgenes (7 Virgins) by Alberto Rodriguez are fast-paced, mould breaking love stories that satirize the problems of modern society. Critical cinema in Italy tends to focus on traditional images. La vita che vorrei (The Life I Want), Giuseppe Piccioni’s most intellectually challenging and most complex film, is an essay on reality and the importance of emotions today and in the late 1800s. Il Caimano (The Caiman) by Nanni Moretti is a masterly satirical gibe at Silvio Berlusconi. The films of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh continue the tradition of social criticism in British cinema. Leigh’s bitter-sweet comedy Happy-go-lucky, filmed with a cast of amateurs, won a Silver Bear Award at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. Scotsman Ken Loach is renowned for his political and social criticism. The Navigators and Sweet Sixteen are outstanding examples of his gritty realism. Scandinavian films are often characterized by terseness. The experimental film Nói Albinói by the Icelander Dagur Kári, an optimistic tragedy full of poetry and subtle humour about the longing for a different life, drew international acclaim. Kári’s new black-and-white film Dark Horse is an engaging comedy about a somewhat irresponsible, but appealing young artist and his problems with society.