Week 17

Bollywood Comes to Town!

Thursday 24/4

Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women (2003)


Over a basin of milk used ceremoniously to drown a newborn girl, a narrator says, "Thousands of baby girls are either aborted or drowned at birth every day in India. Dowry is the cause. Where will this crime lead us to?" In an imagined near future where there are virtually no women, a high-caste village man pays dearly for a wife for his five adult sons. It's the first wedding in the village in 15 years. The bride is Kalki, who puts her faith in the youngest son (the only family member who is not a brute), then in her father, and then in a servant lad. Her desperation worsens as family and village turn against her. Caste tensions rise. Is there any hope for her?


Sunday 27/4

Devdas (2002)


Not his dad's favorite, Devdas Mukherjee, is a slacker, though sensitive and talented. His daily chore is to spend time with his childhood friend, Parvati, the Mukherjees' neighbor, who belongs to a middle-class family. Devdas is sent away abroad so that he can improve himself. Several years, upon his return, things have not changed, his dad still regards him as a slacker, though Devdas is welcomed by the rest of his family, the welcome could have been warmer had Devdas chosen not to visit Parvati (Paro), rather than his own mother. Devdas and Paro are in love, and hope to marry. But Devdas' dad has other plans, vehemently opposing marriage to a lower caste family, and as a result Paro gets married to a much older widower with grown-up children her age, and Devdas leaves home, becomes an alcoholic, a womanizer, who is unable to get Paro out of his mind, loving and hating her at the same time. Devdas meets with courtesan, Chandramukhi, and ends up falling in love with her also, thus getting her a bad reputation. Then Paro decides to talk Chandramukhi out of getting Devdas away from alcohol, to which Chandramukhi agrees, but the question remains whether they will act in time to stop Devdas before he self-destructs.

Week 16

Thursday 17/4

3:10 to Yuma (2007)



Rancher Dan Evans heads into Bisbee to clear up issues concerning the sake of his land when he witnesses the closing events of a stagecoach robbery led by famed outlaw Ben Wade. Shortly thereafter, Wade is captured by the law in Bisbee and Evans finds himself one of the escorts who will take Wade to the 3:10 to Yuma train in Contention for the reward of $200. Evans's effort to take Wade to the station is in part an effort to save his land but also part of an inner battle to determine whether he can be more than just a naive rancher in the eyes of his impetuous and gunslinging son William Evans.


Sunday 20/4

The Assassignation of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)




The last months of Jesse James's life, from meeting Robert Ford, a 19-year-old who idolizes Jesse, to the day Ford shoots him. Jesse's a wanted man, living under a pseudonym, carrying out a train robbery, disappearing to Kentucky, and reappearing to plan a bank holdup with Robert and Robert's brother as his team. The rest of the gang is dead, arrested, or gone from Missouri. Whenever Jesse's around, there's tension: he's murderous, quixotic, depressed, and cautious. Ford wants to be somebody and wants the reward. On April 3, 1882, things come to a head.

Week 15

Thursday 10/4

The New Man (2007)



Sweden 1951. A new society is developing, a society where there is no room for the socially and mentally weak. Gertrud is a 17 year old girl from a very poor family. Against her will, she is committed to a work home for young women. Gertrud learns that the only way out is by agreeing to a voluntary sterilization. Gertrud falls in love with the janitor, Axel and soon finds herself pregnant. She dreams about a normal family life with Axel and the child, and doesnt realize that when performing the operation the doctor will most certainly take the child away. She changes her mind about the operation but she no longer has a choice. Now there is only one way out: She pretends to be mentally deranged and is transferred to a mental hospital. A child grows in her womb. Gertrud has fooled the system, but the price she pays is her own future.


Sunday 13/4

You, the Living (2007)


Roy Andersson follows up Songs From The Second Floor with a non-linear tale about a bunch of downtrodden sorts who are unaware of their impending doom.

Week 14

Thursday 3/4

Tekkon Kinkreet (2006)

In a world where the moon smiles and young boys can fly two street urchins battle villains and alien assassins who wants to rule the decaying metropolis of Treasure Town.


Sunday 6/4

Paprika (2007)

When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient's dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only one person can put an end to it - the young female therapist: Paprika