*****= unmissable
****= excellent
***= good/average
**= poor
*= avoid
BRITISH INSTITUTE of Florence
Lungarno Guicciardini, 9
tel. 055/26778270
November 12, 8pm
THE APPLE ****
‘It’s a witty, gentle but often surprisingly acerbic little movie, slowly working its way towards a quite devastating final shot which underlines the need for an open heart and mind’ (Time Out). Director Moshen Makhmalbaf is ‘scrupulously non-judgemental and takes a carefully liberal line that skirts explicit criticism of any concerned parties. But beneath its superficially simple documentary appearance, this is a highly aestheticised film with remarkably assured direction’ (Sight and Sound).
November 19, 8pm
BEAU TRAVAIL *****
An ‘achingly beautiful meditation on work, honor, pleasure, and betrayal among a company of men … [director Claire Denis] marvels, with joy and wonder, at the beauty of men—white and black, European and African— engaged as a unit in activities as rote as gun drills, as ecstatic as romping in the ocean; her visual style is hypnotic, rapturous, and she makes barren landscapes look gorgeous, hard men look vulnerable’ (Entertainment Weekly).
November 26, 8pm
ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS ****
(Italiensk for begyndere)
‘It’s just a sweet-natured little tale, though as often with the Dogme series, dotted with tiny plot anomalies and implausibilities, almost certainly an effect of being devised through improvisation, with the actors’ extempore jokes and ideas having to be incorporated into the finished storyline … It’s an odd film, undemanding, diverting’ (Guardian).
ASTRA 2
Piazza Beccaria, Florence
Tel. 055/2343666
http://www.cinehall.it/pagine/astra2.html
November 11–12
SERENA
In Depression-era North Carolina, the future of George Pemberton’s timber empire becomes complicated when it is discovered that his wife, Serena, cannot bear children. Starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.
November 18–19
INTERSTELLAR
A group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Michael Caine.
November 25–26; December 1–2
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY. PART 1
Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings. Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Julianne Moore.
