viff 2012 | beyond the hills

from Cannes...

BEYOND THE HILLS
(După dealuri)

Romania/France/Belgium | Dir: Cristian Mungiu

A nun is torn between her devotion to god and her loyalty to a lifelong companion in Cristian Mungiu’s riveting follow-up to 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days. "The increments with which the screws of tragedy turn are finely calibrated."—Sight & Sound.

Winner, Best Actress (shared by leads Cosmina Stratan & Cristina Flutur), Best Screenplay, Cannes 2012.


PS

Sept. 1 - Sneak Preview Guides Hit The Street
Sept. 10 - VIFF Advance Box Office Opens
Sept. 19 - VIFF Official Program Catalogue On Sale
Sept. 26 - VIFF Film + TV Forum Starts
Sept. 27 - VIFF Opens

living pictures passion play

Lancashire workers enjoy the ‘wakes week’ holiday in this early film from travelling filmmakers Mitchell & Kenyon.

This short film was screened up to 20 times a day in August 1901 to entertain the poorer children of Salford. The wakes week was an industrial holiday introduced in the 19th century, involving the annual closure of the workplace to allow for maintenance and leisure time for the workers. This unpaid seven–day holiday for the workers of Lancashire’s textile factories (the women workers are easily recognisable by their shawls) became a social custom. Leisure industries developed due to this increase in recreational time. Travelling fairs would visit during the wakes week to entertain the holidaymakers.

Sight & Sound

aug 17 + 18 | the mill & the cross | vancity

extraordinary soul food. previous post from viff 2011.

THE MILL AND THE CROSS

vancity  aug 17 8:45 | aug 18 6:45

Poland, 2011, 35mm, 92 min.
Directed by: Lech Majewski
Cast: Rutger Hauer, Charlotte Rampling, Michael York

With creative verve, historical knowledge and aesthetic and political insight Polish artist Lech Majewski brings Pieter Bruegel’s 1564 frieze, The Way to Calvary to life. Bruegel’s canvas transports Christ’s passion to rustic Flanders. It teems with the drama of everyday life. Using computer-generated blue-screen compositing, a massive backdrop painted by Majewski himself, and marshalling dozens of actors, animals and extras, the filmmaker explores this fixed moment inside and out. Among other things, the film is a dazzling tribute to the art of painting and a deft demonstration of the camera’s capacity for time-travel.

“Transfixing… an inspiring, alluring meditation about imagery and storytelling, the common coin of history, religion and art.” —Daniel M Gold, The New York Times

“Here is a film before which words fall silent… If you see no more than the opening shots you will never forget them… A film of great beauty and attention, and watching it is a form of meditation.” **** —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“A feat of artistry worthy of its source. Majewski takes us deep inside the Flemish’s master’s beautiful nightmare… A dazzling master class in visual composition… Coalesces into a surprisingly moving finale. After toil and terror, there can still be joy.” **** —Erik Hynes, Time Out New York

sight & sound | 2012 poll results

The top fifty, selected by 846 critics, academics, programmers and distributors. All the details on the once-a-decade poll can be found at the Sight & Sound website.

The big news: Citizen Kane drops from the Number One position for the first time since the inaugural 1952 poll, where the Orson Welles film wasn't among the top ten. Not a good day for Welles, with Touch Of Evil (formerly #15), The Magnificent Ambersons and The Third Man (formerly tied at #35) dropping right off the charts.

The last ten years have also been cruel to Ingmar Bergman. While Persona joins the party at #17, Wild Strawberries (#27 in 2002), and Fanny and Alexander and The Seventh Seal (previously tied at #35) have been frozen out completely. ("Fanny and Alexander and The Seventh Seal" - sounds like an adventure story for kids).

And these are the films that disappeared.

For the time being, only the top ten films of the Directors' poll are available. Again, Kane falls. The Godfather holds on better than in the Critics' poll. In general, the American auteurs of the seventies do well with this crowd: though Raging Bull dropped from the top ten, Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now were added.

More to come;

Aug 3/4: August issue of Sight & Sound released in UK: complete list of 100 films

Aug 7: August issue available as digital download (Apple Newsstand)

Aug 15: complete critics’ poll of 846 entries in interactive form on S&S website

Aug 22: complete interactive directors’ poll online (358 entries) added

sight & sound | 2002 poll results

In about 15 minutes, Sight & Sound magazine will begin announcing the results of their once-a-decade poll of critics and directors - certainly the most significant of the cinephile lists (as opposed to more populist tallies such as IMDb).

 Advance word is that Citizen Kane has been dislodged from the top slot on one of the two lists - first time since the inaugural poll in 1952, where Kane didn't make the Top Ten.

Also worth keeping an eye on are the Godfather films: while "The Godfather and The Godfather II" placed high on both critics' and directors' polls, landing at the number three spot overall, it's hard to know how those votes were tallied. Some critics voted for the two films as a unit, others voted separately for the two films, and some voted for "The Godfather Trilogy." In 2012, the rules have been clarified: separate voting for each. Another factor is that the field of "voters" was expanded significantly this year, with 1000 critics invited to submit their lists, including many online critics not previously polled. Which bodes well for The Godfather. (And Star Wars...)

 Here's a rundown of how the films fared in the last poll (2002). I've combined the votes from critics and directors to see how the list would look without that distinction: the red and blue columns provide the placements on the two separate polls.