Odeon
Original Sound
Piazza Strozzi, 2
tel. 055/214068
*For showtimes see
events listing
May 20 to May 25
PIRATES
OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES
In the fourth Pirates movie,
Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with Angelica, a woman from his past, and is
unsure whether she wants him for herself or as a means to find the fabled
Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the formidable pirate
Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, Jack finds himself on an unexpected
adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica.
May 23 – Italian Preview
Before the
screening, there will be time for a discussion with activist Vandana Shiva and
global economic analyst Helena Norberg-Hodge at 8:30pm.
THE
ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS
‘Going local’ is a powerful
strategy to help repair our fractured world-our ecosystems, our societies and
ourselves. Far from the old institutions of power, people are starting to forge
a very different future. This documentary features a chorus of voices from six
continents calling for systemic economic change. It describes a world moving
simultaneously in two opposing directions: government and big business continue
to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power, while all
around the world people are resisting these policies, demanding a re-regulation
of trade and finance. This is the Italian premier of the film.
THE
VIRTUAL REVOLUTION
(Free admission)
May 24
Episode
3 The Cost of Free
May 31
Episode
4 Homo Interneticus
The BBC/Open University’s 2010 The Virtual Revolution looks at how the web is shaping our
world. It is an open and collaborative production, which asks the web audience
to debate programme themes, suggest and send questions for interviewees, watch and
comment on interview and graphics clips, and download clips for personal use
and re-editing. In the third of four episodes, Dr. Aleks Krotoski tackles the
issue of privacy: Free services, limitless information, endless opportunities
for the user… the web seems to defy all laws of economics. But are we trading
our privacy for a ‘free’ web? In the fourth and last of the episode of the
series, Aleks Krotoski examines social networks and asks how they are changing
our relationships. Are we empowered, connected and enlightened with the world’s
knowledge at our fingertips? Or distracted and addicted with shorter attention
spans?
May 27 to May 31
THE
TREE OF LIFE
‘There are two ways through life:
the way of Nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you’ll
follow.’ Terrence Malick’s much-anticipated lyrical and poetic movie is the
impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950s. The film follows the
life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his
disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship
with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking
answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of
faith. Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16.
The British Institute
Lungarno Guicciardini, 9
tel. 055/267781
http://www.britishinstitute.it
Nicolas
Roeg Retrospective
May 25, 8pm
BAD
TIMING
Aka ‘A Sensual Obsession,’ this
movie has been described as ‘a sick film made by sick people for sick people’.
The changed social mores and industry conventions of the late 1970s allow Roeg
to push the envelope with regard to the traditional femme fatale figure in his
neo-noir. Milena Flaherty is wanton, overtly sexual and ultimately self-destructive,
despite, or because of, her entanglement with the man-victim she has ensnared.
Hence, voyeuristic intimacy, graphic sex-and-surgery parallels, orgiastic
chemically-induced behaviour, gratuitous violence-shock tactics-are matched to
a multi-layered, complex visual style and fragmented timeline to reflect the
flaws of the protagonists and stir up the debate in sexual politics and gender
psychology.
June 1, 8pm
EUREKA
Prospector Jack McCann (Gene
Hackman) strikes it rich, but then finds that with nothing to strive for, his
life is empty, and slowly his mind disintegrates into petty suspicions and
finally paranoia and death. Based on the still unsolved murder of Sir Harry
Oakes in the Bahamas in 1943, Roeg’s movie dabbles in the occult, the
psychology of family unity and the manipulations of organised crime, with
ghastly and ecstatic visions and odd, detached emotion. Some find it confusing
and even silly but it has recently been marked as seriously underrated. ‘Eureka
is a strange, perverse film about passion and greed, and it leads us through a
labyrinthine story to a simple message: Money can’t buy you love’ (Roger
Ebert).
