Barn Cinema Film Guide November-December 2009
Bright Star
Box Office 01803 847070 www.dartington.org/arts
Now with Dolby Surround Sound
Most years you can guarantee a huge tussle when it comes to choosing our favourite films. In 2009 however there was no getting around the fact that one film stood head and shoulders above all others: Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo was a singular masterpiece that marked the continuing upward spiral of the most distinctive new voice in European filmmaking. Honourable mention also goes to J.J. Abrams for finally giving us a Star Trek movie that lived up to the original series, providing us with the most enjoyable film of 2009. As for this brochure it’s hard to imagine when we will screen three more influential films than Citizen Kane, The Red Shoes and The Godfather in one programme. Jane Campion, Ang Lee and Michael Haneke fight it out for the new heavyweight director title but you couldn’t ask for a better way to head into Christmas holidays than with The Red Shoes. Colin Orr, Film Programmer
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Ref:
Diary / page 16 Young People’s films / page 24 Booking Details / page 30 Access Info / page 31
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Barn Cinema Film Guide NovemberDecember 2009
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Issue(Maestro)
The Soloist
[12A]
Sunday 8 November / 3pm & 8pm Monday 9 November / 5pm Director Joe Wright Cast Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx USA 2009 / Colour / 1hr 57m Joe Wright, the director of Atonement, brings an outsider’s perspective to LA Times writer Steve Lopez’s memoir of meeting and getting to know schizophrenic homeless musician Nathaniel Ayers. Very much in the Shine mode, he captures not just the interaction of both these troubled men but also the sounds and sights of the city in inventive and challenging ways. One long scene is just an abstract dance of vivid colours - synaesthesia made visual - as Lopez takes Ayers to watch an orchestra at the Disney Concert Hall and Ayers is transported, mentally, to a place to which he hasn’t been for years. “It’s a deliriously imperfect film and all the better for it.” Time Out
Tricks
[12A]
Monday 9 November / 7.30pm Tuesday 10 November / 5pm Director Andrzej Jakimowski Cast Damian Ul, Ewelina Walendziak, Poland 2008 / Colour / Subtitles /1hr 36m Tricks is a wonderfully sweet yet subtle Polish film that lets us into the magical world of a child’s imagination. We follow six-year-old Stefek and, to a lesser extent, his 18-year-old sister, Elka, over one summer as he wanders the streets of his small town trying to influence destiny with his mind, whether helping a trader sell apples or forcing a man who changes trains at the railway station to spend more time in town because he might be his estranged father. Bathed in summer light, Tricks offers a warm portrait of childhood and attributes unusual intelligence and emotional instincts to its subjects. 04
The Time Traveller’s Wife
[12A]
Tuesday 10 November / 8pm Wednesday 11 November / 5pm & 8pm Director Robert Schwentke Cast Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams USA 2009 / Colour / 1hr 47m Bana and McAdams bring a sensitive rigour and chemistry to Audrey Niffenegger’s bestselling love story, whose hero who is cursed to slip randomly through the decades meeting up with his soulmate at different points throughout her life.
Army of Crime
[15]
Friday 13 November / 8.30pm Saturday 14 November / 5pm Sunday 15 November / 3pm Director Robert Guédiguian Cast Simon Abkarian, Virginie Ledoyen, Robinson Stévenin, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet France 2009 / Colour / Subtitles / 2hr 19m Timed for release at a point when France is battling issues of xenophobia, Robert Guédiguian's epic yet engaging drama chronicles the famous 'Red Poster' case in wartime France, when a group of foreign partisans defied French apathy to form their own resistance against the Nazis before being branded by the occupation propogandists and the Vichy government as an ‘Army of Crime’. Led by Missak Manouchian, a worker and poet of Armenian origin, the group carried out around thirty operations against the Germans between August and November 1943 but eventually faced betrayal and capture by the French police. “This morally engaging tale is one of the most important revisionist accounts of life under German occupation.” Philip French, The Observer 05
My Best Girl
[ U]
With live musical accompaniment by the Elysian Quartet Thursday 12 November / 8pm Director Sam Taylor Cast Mary Pickford, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers USA 1927 / B&W / Silent / 1hr 20m
This classic silent comedy is produced by and stars Mary Pickford, the greatest female star of the silent era. Alongside her equally glamorous husband Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D W Griffiths, Pickford founded one of Hollywood’s great film companies, United Artists. In My Best Girl she stars as Maggie, the stock room girl who falls in love with her co-worker Joe, unaware that he is the store owner’s son working undercover to learn the ropes. This film/performance collaboration showcases the Barn’s combined peformance and digital projection environment at its best, with the screening accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by the Elysian Quartet. Elysian Quartet has performed all over the world to great acclaim and is the only British string quartet of its generation dedicated exclusively to contemporary, improvised and experimental music. For this event the Elysians perform their own works and improvisations.
Sound & Silents Commissioned for the Sound & Silents programme at the Bird’s Eye View Film Festival.
Tickets £8.00 Concession £7.00 Young People & Students £5.00 06
The Godfather
[18]
Friday 13 November / 5pm Saturday 14 November / 8pm Sunday 15 November / 8pm Director Francis Ford Coppola Cast Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale USA 1972 / Colour / 2hr 55m A stunning digital restoration of Francis Ford Coppola's ultimate gangster movie. Based on the best-selling novel by Mario Puzo (who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola), The Godfather tells an epic tale of an Italian/American family in the years immediately following the second world war. Although none of the drama of Coppola’s masterpiece was ever lost on television, it is only on the big screen that its true scale and scope can be felt. From Gordon Willis’ cinematography to Nino Rota’s music this is truly epic filmmaking with an eye for mise-en-scene that has probably not been matched since. Richly nuanced in structure and dialogue, the story of the Corleone family is pitch perfect in every sense, from its cast down. Marlon Brando’s Oscar winning performance as the dominant patriarch not only sealed his reputation as America’s greatest film actor but allowed him to literally pass the baton to the next generation, led by a stunning Al Pacino marvellously underplaying as the potential heir who is forced to choose a path not of his own taking but for which he is instinctively perfect.
07
The Birdwatchers
Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee
[15]
Monday 16 November / 7.15pm Wednesday 18 November / 5pm Director Marco Bechis Cast Claudio Santamaria, Alicélia Batista Cabreira Italy/Brazil 2009 / Colour / Subtitles / 1 hr 48m This engrossing story, featuring a cast of indigenous peoples, dramatises the true life crises of the GuaraniKaiowá community who live out an uneasy existence on their enclosed reserve in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Alongside the farming classes who own vast swaths of agricultural land, covered with GM crops and who entertain bird watching tourists, many of the tribes’ young people are driven to commit suicide. One such event leads to confrontation but also to a love affair between a young shaman and a farmer’s daughter. “An extraordinary film... wonderful performances... beautifully shot and moving drama...” Derek Malcolm
KEVICC Film Festival
[no cert]
Tuesday 17 November / 7.30pm Directors Various Cast Various KEVICC 2008/9 / Colour & B&W / 1hr 30m approx This evening is a celebration of the filmmaking talent at King Edward VI Community College in Totnes and presents work made by students over the last 12 months. The films will range in scope and scale from very short shorts, indents and advert style pieces to longer narrative and documentary films. Also this evening in The Roundhouse Café we will be presenting music from KEVICC musicians and singers. The entire evening is free so if you want to come along and check out the best in your local community talent then reserve a ticket at the box office or just turn up on the night. 08
[15]
Tuesday 17 November / 5pm Wednesday 18 November / 8pm Thursday 19 November / 2pm & 5pm Director Shane Meadows Cast Paddy Considine, Olivia Colman UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 11m Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee is an improvised comedy, shot over five days by Shane Meadows, devised with and starring Paddy Considine. Rock roadie and failed musician, Le Donk has lived, loved and, erm, learned. Along the way he’s lost a girlfriend and his life has hit a brick wall, but he has found a new sidekick in upand-coming Nottingham rap prodigy Scor-zay-zee (playing himself). With Meadows’ fly-on-the-wall crew in tow, Donk sets out to make Scor-zay-zee (and himself) a star, with a little help from the Arctic Monkeys! This low-budget rockumentary follows Le Donk and Scorz on their journey of a lifetime; it’s an unpredictable, irrepressible ode to spontaneous filmmaking - and to a burgeoning UK rap talent.
Showing alongside Shane Meadows’ new feature we are screening the popular winner of the SHOOT 2009 Short Film Festival, South Hams own award-winning mockumentary.
A Hard Day’s Knight
[no cert]
Director Ashley Wing & Clayton Fussell UK 2009 / Colour / 10m This bitter-sweet story explores the boundaries of determination and delusion via the story of Donald, Britain’s last remaining knight in shining armour.
09
An Education
The Beaches of Agnes [18]
Thursday 19 November / 8pm Director Agnès Varda Documentary France 2008 / Colour / Subtitles /1hr 53m The only female member of the Nouvelle Vague, Agnès Varda - that eccentric grandmother of French cinema - at the age of 83 unveils in The Beaches of Agnes, a grand, colourful and playful evocation of her life with and love for her late husband, Jacques Demy. A work of art in itself, this is a charming documentary that celebrates the joy of a filmmaking family.
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus
[12A]
Friday 20 & Monday 23 November / 5pm Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 November / 8pm Director Terry Gilliam Cast Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Lily Cole Fr/Can/UK 2009 / Colour / 2hr 3m Doctor Parnassus is the head of a travelling show in which the audience can enter into a surreal world. Centuries ago, the Doctor made a series of pacts with the devil and now that it’s time to sacrifice his daughter he must find a way out again.
10
Seemingly sunk by the tragic death of actor Heath Ledger during the filming process, Gilliam’s Faustian tale was saved by the inspired idea of having Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell step in to play different facets of Ledger’s character. The result is a magnificent kaleidoscope of surreal imagery.
[12A]
Friday 20 November / 8pm Saturday 21 November / 5pm Sunday 22 November / 3pm Monday 23 November / 7.45pm Tuesday 24 November / 5pm Wednesday 25 November / 8pm Thursday 26 November / 2pm & 5pm Director Lone Scherfig Cast Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 40m 1961, and London is poised between post-war austerity and the swinging which has yet to start. Lower-middleclass Twickenham is a dull place, and particularly so to 16-year-old Jenny, swotting to pass her Oxbridge exam whilst dreaming of art, culture and all things sophisticated and French. These come her way sooner than expected, when she meets David, a suave older man who manages not only to charm Jenny, but also to win over her father. Soon she's enjoying a world of smoky bars and supper clubs, concerts and weekends away with David, seduced by the idea of a grown-up life. Adapted from the memoir by journalist Lynn Barber, Nick Hornby's script is lively and witty, with a breakthrough performance from Carey Mulligan who fully captures in Jenny the combination of naïvete and aspiration that make her a natural for David's advances.
11
Thirst
Bright Star
[18 ]
Tuesday 24 November / 8pm Wednesday 25 November / 5pm Director Park Chan-wook Cast Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-vin, Kim Hae-sook Korea 2009 / Colour / Subtitles / 2hr 14m Korean director Park Chan-wook follows up his vengeance trilogy - Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance with this intriguing take on the vampire tale which picked up the Prix du Jury at this year’s Cannes. Continuing his explorations of human existence in extreme circumstances, Park’s sensual, violent tale is centered on a priest who has become a vampire through volunteering to trial a deadly blood virus vaccine. The priest then finds himself tested through a series of sensual temptations, finding himself on intimate terms with the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Thing
[18]
Thursday 26 November / 8pm
[PG]
Friday 27 November / 8pm Saturday 28 November / 5pm Sunday 29 November / 5pm & 8pm Monday 30 November / 7.15pm Tuesday 1 & Wednesday 2 December / 8pm Thursday 3 December / 2pm, 5pm & 8pm Director Jane Campion Cast Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 59m The romantic poet John Keats' love for Fanny Brawne inspired some of the most beautiful love letters ever written but their intense love affair was tragically curtailed by Keats' death at the age of 25. Director Jane Campion tells this tender story through the eyes of Fanny, superbly played with a combination of strength and fragility by Abbie Cornish. Paired with Ben Whishaw, equally impressive as the sensualist Keats, they bring chemistry and a modernity to a passion which, although expressed with restraint, is palpable. Campion's use of Keats' poetry and her referencing of his appreciation of nature is as sensitive as it is inspired. The changing seasons, gorgeously photographed by Greig Fraser, are integral to the story, and as the lovers' relationship deepens, the film's visual style echoes their changing emotions.
Director John Carpenter Cast Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, TK Carter USA 1982 / Colour / 1hr 49m John Carpenter reaffirmed his position as the master of suspense with this classic remake of the 1951 sci-fi tale The Thing from Another World. Adding some stunning visual effects to his armour, Carpenter pumps up the action quotient to augment this thrilling tale of America Research Station 31, a lonely Antarctic base which is menaced by a shape-changing alien from outer space. In many ways more inspired than the Alien films it is a true cult classic available once again in digital format. 12
Katalin Varga
[15]
Friday 27 November / 5pm Saturday 28 November / 8pm Director Peter Strickland Cast Hilda Péter, Tibor Pálffy, Norbert Tankó, Rom/UK/Hun 2009 / Colour / Subtitles / 1hr 24m Debut British director Strickland’s Transylvania-set drama is a remarkable achievement, a raw but beautifully staged revenge tragedy centred around a sinister chapter in our heroine’s past life. 13
Taking Woodstock
Man & Nature Week The End of the Line
[U]
Director Rupert Murray Documentary UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 30m
Friday 4 & Saturday 5 December / 8pm Sunday 6 December / 3pm Monday 7 December / 7.15pm Tuesday 8 & Wednesday 9 December / 5pm Thursday 10 December / 2pm & 8pm
The first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans and the effects of our global love affair with fish as food.
Director Ang Lee Cast Imelda Staunton, Emile Hirsch USA 2009 / Colour / 1hr 59m
Vanishing of the Bees
In 1969 interior designer Elliot returns from Greenwich Village to the Catskills to help his parents turn around their dying motel. It seems a futile task until Elliot hears that a neighbouring town has revoked its licence for a 'hippie' music festival. He contacts the organisers and three weeks later his mother is packing twelve guests to a room as half a million people descend on his neighbour's farm for the relocated event. 40 years since the landmark festival encapsulated the dreams of a generation, this gently funny and good-hearted film is very much a personal story. While the festival happens mostly offscreen, we see Elliot's relationship with his family and himself changing forever. A sense of history is evoked through nice asides, such as TV coverage of the moon landing, and stylistic choices including the use of split screen in some sequences. But mostly it comes through the characters themselves.
Monday 30 November / 5pm
[U]
Tuesday 1 December / 5pm Director George Langworthy, Maryam Henein Documentary UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 37m The apiary science mystery known as ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ describes how bees are disappearing all over the planet and no one knows why. Vanishing of the Bees unfolds as a dramatic tale of science and mystery, illuminating this extraordinary crisis and its greater meaning about the relationship between humankind and mother earth.
The Cove
[12A]
Wednesday 2 December / 5pm Director Louie Psiholoyos Documentary USA 2009 / Colour / Subtitles / 1hr 32m A band of activists led by former dolphin trainer Richard O’Barry travel to Taiji, Japan to expose the hidden story of how thousands of dolphins originally captured for the world’s marine parks end up slaughtered annually for food and profit in a sheltered cove. This is a tense and harrowing piece of guerrilla eco-journalism.
14
[15]
Weekend Music Special Sat 5 - Sun 6 December Enjoy a weekend of folk including meals, accommodation, real ale tasting and tickets to see Taking Woodstock and BBC Folk Award winner Chris Wood in concert. See p.29 for info.
15
FILM / CERTIFICATE
08 09 09 10 10 11 12 13 13 14 14 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 28 29 30 30
THE SOLOIST / 12A 3.00pm THE SOLOIST / 12A TRICKS / 12A TRICKS / 12A THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE / 12A THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE / 12A MY BEST GIRL - Elysian Quartet / U THE GODFATHER / 18 ARMY OF CRIME / 15 STAR TREK / 12A* 2:00pm ARMY OF CRIME / 15 THE GODFATHER / 18 ARMY OF CRIME / 15 3:00pm THE GODFATHER / 18 THE BIRDWATCHERS / 15 LE DONK & SCOR-ZAY-ZEE / 15 & A HARD DAY”S KNIGHT / no cert KEVICC FILM FESTIVAL / no cert THE BIRDWATCHERS / 15 LE DONK & SCOR-ZAY-ZEE / 15 & A HARD DAY”S KNIGHT / no cert LE DONK & SCOR-ZAY-ZEE / 15 2:00pm THE BEACHES OF AGNES / 18 THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS / 12A AN EDUCATION / 12A CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS / U* 2:00pm AN EDUCATION / 12A THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS / 12A AN EDUCATION / 12A 3:00pm THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS / 12A THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS / 12A AN EDUCATION / 12A AN EDUCATION / 12A THIRST / 18 THIRST / 18 AN EDUCATION / 12A AN EDUCATION / 12A 2:00pm THE THING / 18 KATALIN VARGA / 15 BRIGHT STAR / PG CRIMSON WING / U* 2:00pm BRIGHT STAR / PG KATALIN VARGA / 15 BRIGHT STAR / PG THE END OF THE LINE / U BRIGHT STAR / PG
Sunday Monday Monday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Sunday Monday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Thursday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Sunday Monday Monday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Thursday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Monday Monday
MATINEE
EARLY EVE
EVE
DIARY
FILM / CERTIFICATE
8:00pm
01 01 02 02 03 04 04 05 05 05 06 06 07 08 08 09 09 10 10 11 11 12 12 12 13 13 13 14 15 15 16 16 17 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 21 21 21 22 22 22 23 23 23
THE VANISHING OF THE BEES / U BRIGHT STAR / PG THE COVE / 12A BRIGHT STAR / PG BRIGHT STAR / PG COLD SOULS / 12A TAKING WOODSTOCK / 15 FAME / PG* COLD SOULS / 12A TAKING WOODSTOCK / 15 TAKING WOODSTOCK / 15 COLD SOULS / 12A TAKING WOODSTOCK / 15 TAKING WOODSTOCK / 15 GOODBYE SOLO / 15 TAKING WOODSTOCK / 15 TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE / 12A TAKING WOODSTOCK / 15 TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE / 12A WHITE RIBBON / 15 CITIZEN KANE / U 9 / 12A* WHITE RIBBON / 15 CITIZEN KANE / U 9 / 12A CITIZEN KANE / U WHITE RIBBON / 15 WHITE RIBBON / 15 WELCOME / 15 WHITE RIBBON / 15 WHITE RIBBON / 15 WELCOME / 15 WHITE RIBBON / 15 ME & ORSON WELLES / tbc THE RED SHOES / U THE RED SHOES / U* THE RED SHOES / U ME & ORSON WELLES / tbc FANTASTIC MR. FOX / PG ME & ORSON WELLES / tbc THE RED SHOES / U FANTASTIC MR. FOX / PG ME & ORSON WELLES / tbc THE RED SHOES / U THE RED SHOES / U ME & ORSON WELLES / tbc FANTASTIC MR. FOX /PG FANTASTIC MR. FOX / PG THE RED SHOES / U ME & ORSON WELLES / tbc
5:00pm 5:00pm 5.00pm
7:30pm 8:00pm 8.00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm
5:00pm 8:30pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 7:15pm 5:00pm 7:30pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 7:45pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 5:00pm 5:00pm
8:00pm 8:00pm 7:15pm
*Young People’s Films For Saturday 2pm young people’s matinées please see p. 26 -27
The Arts at Dartington is a department of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by Guarantee, registered in England as a charity. Company No.1485560. Charity No.279756
16
All programme details are correct at time of press
www.dartington.org/arts
December
November
DIARY
Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Sunday Monday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Thursday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Sunday Sunday Monday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Sunday Sunday Monday Monday Monday Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday
Box Office 01803 847070
MATINEE
EARLY EVE
EVE
5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 2:00pm
5:00pm 5:00pm
8:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm
2:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 3:00pm 8:00pm 7:15pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8;00pm 8:00pm
2:00pm 5:00pm 5:00pm
8:00pm 2:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 2:30pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 2:00pm 8:00pm 5:00pm 2:00pm 5.00pm 8:00pm 2.00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 2:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 2:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 2.00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 17
Cold Souls
[12A]
Friday 4 & Saturday 5 December / 5pm Sunday 6 December / 8pm Director Sophie Barthes Cast Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, David Strathairn USA 2009 / Colour / 1hr 41m This existential comedy plays much like a sweeter Charlie Kaufman story and imagines an international trade in the trafficking of souls. The ever-excellent Paul Giamatti plays New York actor Paul Giamatti who is in rehearsal for Uncle Vanya and finding it hard to separate from Chekhov's unhappy protagonist. Coming across a 'soul storage' facility run by the smooth Dr Flintstein he has his soul removed and deposited in a vault. However when his newfound lightness proves a problem for his performance - it lacks soul - the doctor obligingly lends him that of a Russian poet. By the time he decides that he'd prefer his own soul back, it's gone missing.
Tales From The Golden Age Wednesday 9 December / 8pm Thursday 10 December / 5pm
Directors Hanno Höfer, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru Cast Alexandru Potocean, Avram Birau, Vlad Ivanov Romania 2009 / Colour / Subtitles / 2hr 11m Conceived and scripted by Cristian Mungiu (Four Months, Three Weeks, Two Days), this is a comic and darkly ironic look at Romania under the Ceaucescu regime. It uses five urban myths from this so-called 'golden age' to show the idiocies of daily life in a dictatorship and the importance of humour in coping with its consequences.
White Ribbon Goodbye Solo
[15]
Tuesday 8 December / 8pm Director Ramin Bahrani Cast Souleymane Sy Savane, Red West USA 2008 / Colour / 1hr 31m This as an absorbing and wonderfully authentic humanist drama that can easily sit alongside last year’s The Visitor. Solo is a Senegalese immigrant driving a taxi in North Carolina, an amiable, open and inquisitive chatterbox. One night, granite-faced, grumbling old-timer William (Red West, a former bodyguard to Elvis Presley), gets in his cab and offers Solo a job; in two weeks' time, he wants the driver to take him to Blowing Rock, a cliff that forms one of the region's most famous tourist attractions. Solo, realising William's intentions, decides to try to help him find a new lease of life. “An almost perfect film” New York Times 18
[12A]
[15]
Fri 11, Sat 12 & Wed 16 December / 5pm Sunday 13 - Tuesday 15 December / 8pm Thursday 17 December / 2pm Director Michael Haneke Cast Christian Friedel, Ulrich Tukur Aus/Ger/Fr/It 2009 / Colour / Subtitles / 2hr 25m Haneke's Palme d'Or winner is a work of uncommon depth. Shot in stark black and white, this precise, mesmerising work surveys the life of a rural Protestant village in northern Germany over several months from 1913 to 1914, ending, tellingly, on the eve of World War I. Moving from house to house, we visit the homes of the pastor, baron, doctor and steward. As we experience the rituals and intimacies of domestic lives, strange acts occur: the doctor's horse falls over a trip wire, the crops in the field are destroyed, an accident happens in the mill... A comment on where German society was heading? Possibly, but also a universal essay on repression and violence. 19
Citizen Kane Friday 11 December / 8pm Saturday 12 December / 8pm Sunday 13 December / 5pm Director Orson Welles Cast Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Everett Sloane, Agnes Moorehead USA 1941 / B&W / 1hr 59m Consistently voted by critics as the greatest film of all time, Orson Welles’ directing debut has been unavailable to screen for over 20 years but now, thanks to this BFI restored print, we can once again feast upon this monumental achievment. Welles broke every rule in the book for this his filmmaking debut, starting with the narrative structure based around a newsreel search for the meaning of media tycoon Charles Foster Kane’s last words “Rosebud”. Welles articulates the strength of the American dream while also dissecting its corrupting power through the rise and fall of a self-styled public demagogue, Citizen Kane - a character modeled so closely on real press baron William Randolph Hurst that Hurst turned his full empire on destroying Welles’ Hollywood career and more or less succeeded. Add to this Greg Toland’s groundbreaking innovations in cinematography and Bernard Herrmann’s music and there is not a single weakness in the entire film. With his troop of theatre actors in tow, the keys to the studio and Herman J. Mankiewicz’s screenplay, so rich in nuance and detail, Welles was able to explore an innovative range of artistic possibilities never before or since imagined.
[U]
9
[12A]
Sunday 13 December / 2.30pm Director Shane Acker Voice Cast Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer USA 2009 / Colour / 1hr 19m Produced by Tim Burton, 9, a computeranimated fantasy based on the 11-minute short that brought former UCLA student Shane Acker an Oscar nod in 2006, has looks that kill. Set in a dystopian universe where machines have effectively wiped out humanity, all that’s left with a semblance of soul takes the form of nine rag dolls with numbers stitched on their backs. 9 is pleased to survive and finds eight others like him whom he must inspire to fight back and restore hope for the world.
Welcome
[15]
Tuesday 15 December / 5pm Wednesday 16 December / 8pm Director Philippe Lioret Cast Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi France 2009 / Colour / Subtitles /1hr 49m A young Iraqi Kurd stranded in France needs to get across the English Channel in this emotionally affecting drama. Caught attempting to smuggle himself in a truck’s hold, Bilal, like so many refugees in France, is stuck in legal limbo. Confined in a transit camp he hits on the idea of taking swimming lessons at the municipal pool and trains to swim across the English Channel. A very timely take on the current refugee crisis. “Reinforces Philippe Lioret’s reputation for classic European filmmaking at its smoothest” Variety
20
21
The Red Shoes [U ]
Director Richard Linklater Cast Zac Ephron, Claire Danes UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 54m
Director Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger Cast Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer, Marius Goring, Robert Helpmann UK 1948 / Colour / 2hr 13m
Set over a whirlwind week in 1937 when a young aspiring actor is thrown into the middle of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre Company on the eve of the opening of Welles’ historic staging of Julius Caesar. During the week the budding actor finds romance and learns some real life experience at the hands of the great manipulator and showman.
Restored to an incredible digital negative under the guidance of Martin Scorsese, this is a treat for lovers of dance, music and film.
+ Restoration Film Dartington Film Archive UK 1924 - / B&W / 5m This second film in our series of Dartington Archive shorts details the rebuilding of the central courtyard finishing with Christmas celebrations in the Great Hall.
[tbc]
Friday 18 & Saturday 19 December / 8pm Sunday 20 - Tuesday 22 December / 5pm Wednesday 23 December / 8pm
Fri 18, Sat 19 & Wed 23 December / 5pm Sunday 20 & Monday 21 December / 8pm Tuesday 22 December / 2pm
Powell and Pressburger’s stunning melodrama leapt out of the black & white post WWII austerity like nothing the British cinema had ever seen: a rhapsody of colour expressionism, reaching delirious heights in the ballet scenes. The basic story of how an impresario 'discovers' a dancer, and makes her a slave to her art, until a young composer offers her a lifeline back to reality would seem almost overwrought if it were not for the incredible production values that lift the whole film into the realms of fantasy. Choreographed by the Royal Ballet’s Robert Helpmann and with production design by Dartington’s own Hein Heckroth, Powell manages to induce the great dramatic arts while creating something distinctly cinematic.
22
Me & Orson Welles
Christian McKay puts in a mesmerizing turn as the man himself in this thoroughly entertaining slice of historical fiction.
Fantastic Mr Fox [PG]
Sun 20, Mon 21 & Wed 23 December / 2pm Tuesday 22 December / 8pm Director Wes Anderson Voice Cast George Clooney, Michael Gambon, Bill Murray UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 33m In his first animated feature, Wes Anderson proves the perfect filmmaker to bring Roald Dahl's muchloved story to the screen. Using classic stopmotion animation Anderson manages to keep his own artistic signature while expanding Dahl’s tale of the fantastic Mr Fox’s battle for supremacy against the evil farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean. 23
For all young people’s matinées, all adults must be accompanied by a child
Young People’s Films Star Trek
Crimson Wing
[12A]
9
Also, don’t miss our holiday movie for all the family...
[12A]
Saturday 14 November / 2pm
Saturday 28 November/ 2pm
Saturday 12 December/ 2pm
Director JJ Abrams Cast Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto USA 2009 / Colour / 2hr 7m
Director Matthew Aeberhard, Leander Ward Documentary USA/UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 18m
Director Shane Acker Voice Cast Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer USA 2009 / Colour / 1hr 21m
Fantastic Mr Fox
The all round most enjoyable film of the year tells the story of how Kirk, Spock and the gang all get together.
In a remote wilderness, one of nature's last great mysteries unfolds: the birth, life and death of a million crimson-winged flamingos. Against a dramatic landscapes, these secretive birds struggle to survive.
Produced by Tim Burton 9, a computeranimated fantasy based on the 11-minute short that brought former UCLA student Shane Acker an Oscar nod in 2006, has looks that kill.
Director Wes Anderson Voice Cast George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 33m
Fame
The Red Shoes
Cloudy With The Chance of Meatballs
[ U]
Saturday 21 November / 2pm Director Phil Lord, Chris Miller Voice Cast Neil Patrick Harris, James Caan USA 2009 / Colour / 1hr 30m The most delicious event since macaroni met cheese. Inspired by the beloved children's book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain. 24
[ PG]
[PG]
[PG]
Sunday 20 - Wednesday 23 December
See p. 23 for screening details. [U]
Saturday 5 December / 2pm
Saturday 19 December/ 2pm
Director Kevin Tancharoen Cast Kelsey Grammer, Debbie Allen UK 2009 / Colour / 1hr 47m
Director Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger Cast Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer UK 1948 / Colour / 2hr 13m
This movie is based upon the 1980 film which follows NYC talent attending the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. A slightly more authentic High School Musical.
For older children Powell and Pressburger’s stunning melodrama is a rhapsody of colour expressionism, reaching delirious heights in the dance scenes. It may just lead to years of ballet classes. 25
Sunday Night Movie Meal Deal
eat drink sleep think
Book in advance for any of these films and get your cinema ticket plus a two course pre-screening supper and coffee in the White Hart for the special price of £17.50.
Experience the unique blend of contemporary dining and historic tradition at the White Hart.
The Soloist
Located at Dartington Hall, the White Hart restaurant has been fully refurbished and restored to its former glory and offers a tantalising menu using the finest seasonal ingredients, sourced locally where possible.
[18]
Sunday 8 November / 8pm
The Godfather
[15]
Sunday 15 November / 8pm
Bright Star
[ pg ]
Sunday 29 November / 8pm
The bar is open from: 11am - 11pm Monday to Sunday 10am for morning coffee
N.B. Movie Meal Deal tickets must be booked on 01803 847070 by 5pm on the Friday preceding the screening.
Food is served from: 12 noon - 9pm every day
Café Deal Buy a ticket for any of our Thursday matinées and get a pre- or post-film cake and coffee in the Roundhouse for £2.50 26
To reserve a table contact us on:
01803 847111
bookings@dartingtonhall.com www.dartingtonhall.com
Save the date
THE GREEN FUNERAL COMPANY
Event Diary
Claire and Rupert Callender.
Helping you to create unique, inclusive, honest and appropriate ceremonies.
“Two of the UK's wisest and most humane undertakers.” The Good Funeral Guide.
Covering Devon and Cornwall
December
03 Tue - Sat 7.30pm Barn Theatre 07 Dartington Playgoers -
03
Humble Boy
08
Full undertaking service, cremations, woodland burials, church services We also offer ethically invested, pre-payment funeral plans.
November
12
If you would like to advertise your business in the film guide, Please contact The Arts at Dartington
Old School Farm, Dartington Hall, Totnes, TQ9 6EB www.thegreenfuneralcompany.co.uk enquiry@thegreenfuneralcompany.co.uk Funeral Directors established 2000
Dartington Readings III
05
Saturday 7.30pm Great Hall
Chris Wood
Sunday 3.00pm Studio 3
Young Artist Showcase with South West Music School
06
Thursday 8.00pm Barn Theatre
07
Sunday 8.00pm Studio 31
Marie-Gabrielle Rotie Monday 2.00pm Studio 31
Lyngo Theatre
Elysian Quartet
14 Saturday - Sunday Great Hall/Ship Studio 15 Devon Baroque
13
19
Music Weekend Special
Thursday 7.30pm Studio 3
Dartington Readings II
24
Tuesday 8.00pm Studio 31
Tel / 01803 847074
27
email / arts@dartington.org
29
Sunday 7.30pm Great Hall
Dartington Community Choir
Saturday 5 - Sunday 6 December
Sunday 11am & 2.30pm Barn Cinema
Enjoy this special weekend of folk music and film, which offers a night’s B&B stay at Dartington, a real ale tasting session, 2-course dinner & ticket to see BBC Folk Award-winning musician Chris Wood in concert on Saturday, plus Sunday lunch and a ticket for Sunday’s matinée screening of Taking Woodstock.
Travelling Light How Cold My Toes
www.dartington.org/folk-weekend for prices and booking details.
Retina Dance Company
A New Trustee of The Natural Death Centre
01803 863923
Thursday 8.00pm Studio 3
Friday 7.30pm Great Hall
Music for Mary Queen of Scots
Boxoffice 01803 847070 www.dartington.org/arts 29
booking details
Access for Patrons with Disabilities Dartington Arts venues
U Suitable for audiences of all ages PG Parental Guidance suggested 12A May be unsuitable for children under 12. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult 12 Exhibition to only those aged 12 and over 15 Exhibition to only those aged 15 and over 18 Exhibition to only those aged 18 and over
Prices £6.50 full price £5.00 all concessions DAS members £4.00 matinée £4.00 students £2.50 young people £2.50 children’s films 30
In Person The Barn box office is open: Monday - Friday 12:30-7:00pm; Saturday & Sunday 1:00 - 7:00pm. As well as the above opening hours the box office is also open one hour prior to any scheduled event for ticket collection and purchase but not for advance booking. The Totnes Bookshop box office is open Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 5pm. Online 24 hrs a day you can visit our website and book cinema tickets via secure email. Upon receipt of your booking form the box office will process your tickets and reply by email. www.dartington.org/arts for details By Post Please send your order with a cheque made payable to The Dartington Hall Trust or credit / debit card details to the Box office, The Barn, Dartington Hall, Totnes, TQ9 6DE. If you wish the tickets to be sent to you, please enclose an SAE. By Phone To book by phone please call 01803 847070 during the opening hours given above excluding the one hour prior to a film. Please have your credit card details ready. When the box office is closed there will be an announcement with programme information and ticket availability. We accept most credit cards. Reservations Please note that all reserved tickets must be paid for prior to the day of the event. We reserve the right to release any tickets that have not been paid for by the day of the event. Concessions Arts Society members; over 60s; full time students; young people; unemployment benefit; DHT Employees. Please provide proof of eligibility at time of purchase or at time of collection. Returns We are normally unable to offer refunds or exchanges.
box office 01803 847070
Certification
Wheelchair access is available at The Barn, Great Hall, Studio 1, Studio 3 and Studio 31. Accessible toilet facilities are adjacent to all the above venues.
For patrons who have a hearing impairment, The Barn and Great Hall offer an infra-red system. Please ask the Front of House manager for further assistance on arrival.
Assistance dogs are welcome. Please inform box office staff when booking your ticket.
Please phone in advance for advice on access and any assistance needed. Our staff will be pleased to help you. Please ask for our leaflet on facilities for disabled patrons.
Large print brochure available. Please telephone 01803 847074
Tickets now available at Totnes Bookshop 31
The Roundhouse Café is now open to serve audiences and visitors to Dartington Hall. The café features organic and local produce including cakes, Luscombe Farm juices, a selection of organic teas, coffee, beer and wine, plus superb Salcombe ice-cream. We hope you will enjoy this non-smoking, family-friendly space when you visit Dartington Hall.
café:bar OPENING HOURS mon-sun
12:00 - 20:00
SPECIAL OFFER Buy a ticket for Thursday matinées and get a pre- or post-film cake and coffee for just £2.50