The Week in Film 21 – 27 November
This week’s biggie is Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan, leading to a cultural and moral clash between Ferris and Jordanian Intelligence.
At the smaller cinemas around the country there are a few gems to watch out for:
Alongside big hitters Hunger and The Baader Meinhof Complex, French film Etre et avoir receives a special screening at the Filmhouse on Saturday, complete with Q&A from director Nicolas Philibert. There’s also a rare chance to see 1953 Dr Seuss adaptation The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T on Sunday and Monday and a screening of The Bicycle Thieves on Sunday.
Described in this month's issue of The Skinny as a film that “repeatedly challenges the way we interact with the fictional and the factual in our cinemas”, Israel’s Waltz with Bashir opens at the GFT on Friday. The film follows Ari Folman (the maker of the documentary) as he attempts to remember his experiences of fighting in the Israeli-Lebanon conflict of 1982. He talks to old comrades, war correspondents and psychologists to piece together his suppressed memories.
Also reviewed recently in The Skinny, Conversations with my Gardener opens this week, a tale of a painter from Paris who returns to the village where he grew up and hires a gardener who turns out to be a school friend he hasn’t seen since childhood. We said it was “pleasant yet predictable”…
There’s a superb double bill this Sunday at the Cameo, with The Wave and The Experiment showing from 1.30pm, both worth catching if you fancy a few hours in the dark on a Sunday afternoon.
The DCA is showing the re-released version of Grease on Saturday and Sunday, the musical for people who think musicals can’t be cool. David Lynch’s Blue Velvet can be seen on Monday and Tuesday, with Kyle MacLachlan entering a bizarre world of severed ears and small town weirdness.
Belmont Picturehouse, Aberdeen
Quantum of Solace brushes shoulders with Noel Coward adaptation Easy Virtue and Waltz with Bashir all this week in Aberdeen, while Mamma Mia! continues its reign.