FOREIGN, INDEPENDENT AND CLASSIC FILMS
AT THE FISHER THEATRE

Monday 28 September 2009
Barry Lyndon (PG)

Director: Stanley Kubrick. UK 1975. 187 minutes.
Cast: Ryan O’Neal, Gay Hamilton, Hardy Kruger, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Steven Berkoff, Leonard Rossiter, Frank Middlemass, Murray Melvin, Michael Hordern.

This visually dazzling adaptation of Thackeray’s first novel won Oscars for photography, production design, and costume. In an effort to recreate the appearance of eighteenth century paintings, the film was shot without the use of artificial lighting. Kubrick downplays the frivolity of the original to emphasise its social critique with dry humour. Ryan O’Neal plays the Irish adventurer who seduces, gambles and fights his way from humble origins to the courts and battlefields of Europe. Patrick Magee is unforgettable as his mentor, the Chevalier de Balibari; and the supporting cast is tremendous. The soundtrack, which won a further Oscar, uses arrangements of Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart and Schubert, with Irish music by the Chieftans.

Monday 26 October 2009
Lemon Tree (PG)

Director: Eran Riklis. Israel/Germany/France 2008. 106 minutes. Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles.
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Ali Suliman, Doron Tavory.

A Palestinian widow tries to protect her lemon grove when an Israeli government minister moves in next door. Her trees are seen as a potential threat to his security, a hiding place for terrorists. She receives a letter informing her that the trees must be uprooted and that she will be offered compensation. Instead she hires a lawyer and takes the dispute all the way to the Israeli supreme court. Set on the border of the West Bank, Israeli director Eran Riklis and his co-writer, Palestinian journalist Suha Arraf, based their script on real events. While reflecting the Middle East conflict, the film works on a personal as well as a political level. At the heart of the film is a extraordinary performance by Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass (recently seen in Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor) as the widow, Salma. Her understated playing gives depth and emotion to this richly symbolic story.

Monday 23 November 2009
Babette’s Feast (U)

Director: Gabriel Axel. Denmark 1987. 103 minutes. Danish, Swedish and French with English subtitles.
Cast: Stephane Audran, Jean-Philippe Lafont, Jarl Kulle, Bibi Andersson, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel.

An award winning film set in a remote village in nineteenth century Jutland. Babette, in flight from counter revolutionary violence in Paris, turns up on the doorstep of sisters, Martina and Philippa. The spinsters are pastor’s daughters and live an ascetic and simple life. After fourteen years in their service, the Parisienne wins the the French lottery and uses her winnings to prepare a banquet in honour of the late pastor’s hundredth birthday. This is a splendid adaptation of Isak Dinesen’s philosophical and amusing story. The excellent cast are veterans of French and Scandinavian cinema; the handsome photography and beautiful locations make it a treat for the eye; and the preparation of the feast is enthralling. Not a film to watch on an empty stomach.

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