Monika’s Pensieve

{FILM DIARY}
I’ve got 4 days worth of film reviews from the ENH film festival in Wroclaw, but judging by the length of time it took me to write this one it’s going to be a while before I put them up *sigh*
Muukalainen (Finland/Estonia/Germany/UK, 2008)
Runtime: 105′
Director: J.-P. Valkeapää
Cast: Vitali Bobrov, Emilia Ikäheimo, Pavel Liska, Jorma Tommila
Production [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Nóż w wodzie (Poland, 1962)
Seen: Sunday, 12th July 2009 (cinema, Lato Filmów festival)
Runtime: 94′
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz
Production House: Zespol Filmowy "Kamera"
Plot: (from imdb)
On their way to a sailing trip, an aging husband and wife invite along an emphatic young hitchhiker out of sheer patronization.
Scene From The Film

Impressions In Short
Amusing [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Gishiki (Japan, 1971)
Seen: Saturday, 11th July 2009 (cinema, Lato Filmów festival)
Runtime: 123′
Director: Nagisa Oshima
Cast: Kenzô Kawarasaki, Atsuko Kaku, Nobuko Otowa
Production House: Art Theatre Guild, Sozosha
Plot: The story of a powerful Japanese clan and of their gradual demise.
Trailer
This must be one of the longest trailers ever ;)

Impressions In Short
Yet another weird Nagisa Oshima film with [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Brick Lane (UK/India, 2007)
Seen: Friday, 10th July 2009 (cinema, Lato Filmów festival)
Runtime: 102′
Director: Sarah Gavron
Cast: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson
Production House: Film4, Ingenious Film Partners, Ruby Films, Seven Seas Productions, UK Film Council
Plot: The story of a Bangladeshi woman, married to a Bangladeshi man in London and how she gradually starts taking control [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Nihon shunka-kô (Japan, 1967)
Seen: Thursday, 9th July 2009 (cinema, Lato Filmów festival)
Runtime: 103′
Director: Nagisa Oshima
Production House: Sozosha
Plot: Four male university students have just finished with exams and they’re bored and horny. A teacher gets drunk and starts singing vulgar erotic songs to his students, which fuels the erotic imagination of the four students even [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Kûchû teien (Japan, 2005)
Seen: Wednesday, 8th July 2009 (cinema, Lato Filmów festival)
Runtime: 114′
Director: Toshiaki Toyoda
Cast: Kyôko Koizumi, Anne Suzuki, Itsuji Itao, Masahiro Hirota, Eita, Sonim
Production House: Asahi National Broadcasting Company, Asmik Ace Entertainment, Culture Publishers (CP), Eisei Gekijo, Film Makers, Little More Co., Pony Canyon
Plot: The story of a family that claims to have [...]

I can’t say I’ve been following the Cannes festival very avidly, but I guess the winners are worth a mention on this blog considering how much film related content I put up here… I find it interesting that the best director honour went (apparently rather controversially) to a Filipino director (I saw one of his [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (USA/UK, 2008)
Seen: Saturday, 16th May 2009 (cinema, Planete Doc Review)
Runtime: 99′
Director: Marina Zenovich
Production House: Antidote Films, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Graceful Pictures
Plot: (from imdb)
Marina Zenovich’s new documentary examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski’s sudden flight from the United States.
Opening Scene

Impressions In [...]

{FILM DIARY}
De verloren kolonie (Netherlands, 2008)
Seen: Wednesday, 13th May 2009 (cinema, Planete Doc Review)
Runtime: 70′
Director: Astrid Bussink
Production House: Zeppers Film en TV BV, NPS Television
Plot: A documentary about the first Primate Research Centre in the world, which happens to be in Abkhazia. It has a very glorious past - it is, for example, where the [...]

Latawce (Poland, 2007)
Seen: Wednesday, 13th May 2009 (cinema, Planete Doc Review)
Runtime: 80′
Director: Beata Dzianowicz
Production House: TVP, Eureka Media
Plot: The makers of the film organize a documentary film course in a Kabul art school. What kind of films will the students come up with?
Trailer
Haven’t found any sort of clips of this on-line, sorry.
Impressions In Short
The film [...]