nwFilmCenter

Great Britain

Fri, Feb 8, 2008 at 6:45 PM	IN BRUGES DIRECTOR: MARTIN MCDONAGH GREAT BRITIAN "McDonagh makes his feature debut with a work that is deliriously funny, pointed, and perverse, yet sad, thoughtful, and infused with a moral vision that resonantly reflects today's surreal world. In the storybook, preserved medieval Flemish town of Bruges, two hit men, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), have been ordered to cool their heels among holiday tourists after a botched execution. Though he feels out of place amid the Gothic architecture, canals, and cobbled streets, Ken is drawn to the serenity of the place as he tries to soothe Ray's haunted psyche. As they wait for a call from their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes), they are caught up in a series of weird encounters with locals, tourists, a dwarf American filmmaker, and Dutch prostitutes, and a romantic liaison that is not what it seems. When the call finally comes, it prompts a life-and-death struggle that is violent, darkly comic, and surprisingly touching."—Sundance Film Festival. Print courtesy of Focus Features. ( 107 min ) First Feature Film. Door tickets only available for this screening. Advance tickets have sold out. For more information or to vote online visit Oregon Live. ^ Top
Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 4:45 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008 at 9 PM	It's a Free World DIRECTOR: KEN LOACH GREAT BRITAIN Hundreds of thousands of migrants have come to Britain and Western Europe since the expansion of the European Union in 2004. While many have prospered, those at the bottom of the heap—the unskilled and the non-English speakers—are becoming a new kind of exploited workforce. Loach's story, free from moralizing, is set against the reality of the "miracles" of flexible labor, globalization, double shifts and rampant consumerism. Polish migrant Angie, fired for her bad behavior, takes matters into her own hands and boldly sets up her own labor recruitment agency with roommate Rose. Working in a twilight zone between government regulators, gangs, employment agencies and the migrant workers they place, Angie and Rose struggle with balancing personal ethics with the ethics, such as they are, of the capitalist marketplace. Best Screenplay, Venice Film Festival Print courtesy of Pathé International. ( 96 min ) Selected Filmography: Kes (69), Hidden Agenda (90), Riff-Raff (91), Land and Freedom (95), Bread and Roses (00), Sweet Sixteen (02), Wind that Shakes the Barley (06). For more information or to vote online visit Oregon Live. ^ Top
Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 8:45 PM Sat, Feb 16, 2008 at 3:30 PM	MISTER FOE DIRECTOR: DAVID MACKENZIE GREAT BRITAIN This original story about the 17-year-old Hallam Foe is simultaneously a clever murder mystery, a touching love story and a warm comedy wrapped in a unique visual universe. Hallam's mother has died, and he doesn't think that she drowned by accident on his rich father's estate in the Scottish Highlands. Instead, he suspects that his father's new wife is responsible for her death, and his hatred for his surroundings makes him withdraw into his own dramatic fantasy world. He spends the days spying on people, while he mourns his mother and contemplates revenge. After a surprising confrontation with his stepmother, Hallam runs away to Edinburgh, where he finds a new purpose in life when he accidentally meets a woman who is the spitting image of his mother. She becomes the object of his voyeurism, and Oedipus is lurking in the wingsÃ‰ Print courtesy of Magnolia Films. ( 96 min ) Filmography: The Last Great Wilderness (02), Young Adam (03), Asylum (05). For more information or to vote online visit Oregon Live. ^ Top
Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 6:15 PM Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 9:15 PM	Unrelated DIRECTOR: JOANNA HOGG GREAT BRITAIN Anna, a woman in her mid-40s, arrives alone in Tuscany at the holiday home of an extended bourgeois family. She's the old school friend of matriarch Verena, but is soon distracted from the adult circle and drawn into the vital and energetic escapades of the teenagers in the group, and is especially enticed by the cocky Oakley. Gradually, we come to understand that all is not right in Anna's world, and that the time spent with people more than half her age is an attempt to fill a void and claim something missing in her own life. Hoggs' portrait has been compared to the work of French director Eric Rohmer in its style and subject, particularly its careful attention to the subtle nuances of life. Awarded the International Critic's Prize at the London Film Festival, the film was described by one juror as "Simple in its construction but endlessly complex in its psychology. Unrelated marks the arrival of a filmmaker whose talent seems as boundless as her compassion for her characters." Print courtesy Joanna Hogg. ( 100 min ) First Feature Film. For more information or to vote online visit Oregon Live. ^ Top