ASTRA 2
Piazza
Beccaria, tel. 055/2343666
http://www.cinehall.it For
showtimes see Events listing
Monday, April 11
WINTER’S BONE
Newcomer
Jennifer Lawrence stars as Ree Dolly, Ozarks resident in search of the truth
about her family and its circumstances, particularly her absent father. In the
harsh, bleak American backwater, Ree’s confrontation with life and folks is a
long, hard slog. ‘Every so often a film gets under our skin with its haunting
authenticity, reinforcing our faith in the wonderfully transporting power of
cinematic storytelling. Winter’s Bone is unquestionably that film’ (USA
Today). ‘The film’s realism is a point of
entry rather than the whole point of the exercise. Its setting is finally
subordinate to the main character, as memorable and vivid a heroine as you are
likely to see on screen this season’ (New
York Times). ‘The main reason for Winter’s Bone
to exist is that it delivers a little voyeuristic thrill-a bit of poverty
porno’ (New York Post).
ODEON ORIGINAL
SOUND
Piazza Strozzi
2, tel. 055/214068 http://www.odeon.intoscana.it
* For showtimes see
Events listing
Tuesday, April 12
JUST GO WITH IT
Sometimes
you need a girl to get the girl. Plastic surgeon Danny (Adam Sandler) needs his
assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to lie so that he can cover up his lies
to another woman. As usual in a Sandler comedy, the accumulation of lies eventually
leads to the truth, and the childish behaviour of men who should know better is
couched in lewd jokes and sexual situations. And, despite the (lack of)
publicity, Nicole Kidman is in it. Why? That’s another question. ‘An
egregiously unfunny enterprise’ (Washington Post).
‘Manages to misfire in two seemingly incompatible directions. A puerile
kiddie-comedy without the anarchic energy, and a schmaltzy romantic comedy
without the sweetness’ (Variety).
‘A comedy so noxious it seems the product of deliberate malignity. Surely the
sour, vapid, miserable world of this movie can’t reflect any real human being’s
notion of what love or humor or good storytelling is-not even a Hollywood
screenwriter’s’ (Slate).
Just go without it.
Monday, April 18
NEVER LET ME GO
The
three protagonists of this unusual movie, adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro’s
celebrated novel, live in a world that is recognisable but definitely not real.
Their destinies are fixed, and their lifespans and usefulness clearly mapped
out. The love triangle that develops is only one of the complications this
apparently simple story contains. Credibility may be stretched slightly by the
movie’s parallel universe (what is the rest of the world up to while this is
going on?) but is nevertheless sustained by the strength of the performances
and naturalism of the setting. ‘Never Let Me Go is in such good taste that we
never feel any horror over the idea at the center of it’ (New
Yorker). ‘This is a moving and provocative
film that initially unsettles, then disturbs and finally haunts you well into
the night’ (Los Angeles Times).
‘Never Let Me Go is that rare find, a fragile little four-leaf clover of a
movie that’s emotionally devastating, yet all too easily trampled by cynics’ (Variety).
THE BRITISH
INSTITUTE
Lungarno
Guicciardini 9, tel. 055/267781, http://www.britishinstitute.it
Wednesday, April 13, 8pm
TWELFTH NIGHT
If
music be the food of love, play on… Mistaken identity, disguise, the pain,
suffering and joy of love and its concealment are some of the themes Shakespeare
has crafted into his ‘cross-dressing’ romantic comedy,Twelfth Night. As in all
comedies, the plot must lead to marriage and a happily ever after ending, but
only after many diverting complications and some distress, particularly for the
unjustly maligned, cross-gartered Malvolio. Renowned theatre director Trevor
Nunn directs this adaptation of Shakespeare’s lively transvestite comedy,
subtitled What You Will. In this free spirit, Nunn’s cast of notable
accomplished thespians play for the laughs the (cut) text requires, with the
‘comic’ characters beautifully drawn. Helena Bonham-Carter has one of her
best-ever roles as the Countess Olivia, a well-rounded, engaging, richly
nuanced and ultimately winning characterisation. The production design is lavish
and the nineteenth-century setting an odd but effective choice, while the
darker themes of the play are suppressed in favour of sweet playfulness and
bright comic entertainment.
Thursday, April 14
THE KING’S SPEECH
Now
sporting four Oscar awards, and widespread acclaim, one of the top movies of
2010 returns for another showing. The story of the shy, retiring, stammering
‘Bertie’, Duke of York, later, unexpectedly after the scandalous abdication of
his elder brother, King George VI, is one that has gripped the world. The
engagement of an unorthodox Australian speech therapist enables Bertie to
overcome his most debilitating limitation, and side by side with his consort
Elizabeth provide the symbolic leadership the country most needed in the dark
years of the Second World War. Intelligent, absorbing, beautiful filmmaking of
the highest quality. ‘No screen portrait of a king has ever been more
stirring-heartbreaking at first, then stirring. That’s partly due to the
screenplay, which contains two of the best-written roles in recent memory, and
to Mr. Hooper’s superb direction’ (Wall Street Journal).
