CHESTER FILM SOCIETY eNEWSLETTER
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Our
next film takes place on: |
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Review |
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Jia Zhang Ke is perhaps the most distinctive director working in China now. His films are beautifully observed, social realist snapshots of a society in flux. The Venice Film Festival winner Still Life fits the same mould. It's set in Fengjie, a town now submerged as part of the Three Gorges dam project. A low-key, almost documentary-style meditation on the final days of a community through the eyes of two outsiders, it's a fascinating, understated masterpiece. A world is dismantled to a rhythm of pickaxes; migrant workers cram into rooms in the buildings still remaining. And then, for no apparent reason, Jia lands a CGI spaceship on a nearby hill. The symbolism is baffling; the crude computer imagery starkly at odds with the rest of the film. Fortunately, the rest of the film is rather wonderful, so ultimately you forgive Jia his eccentric device. Wendy Ide The Times |
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Trivia |
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| In
Chinese, the film is called Sanxia Haoren or San Xia Hao Ren, which
translates as "The Good People Of The Three Gorges". This feature is
a companion piece to Zhang Ke Jia's other 2006 film, the documentary
Dong, which also features the Three Gorges Project. |
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2009 Social Evening |
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Thanks for coming along to our annual Social Evening on the 7th Feb. We all trust you had an enjoyable evening. Please let us know what you thought of it. If you didn't come, tell us why, what can we do to change? |
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Film 4 begins it's British Connections season this weekend. As part of this there is a film premiere on Monday 16th Feb at 11pm, a psychological thriller called The Hide, based on a stage play by Tim Whitnail. A nervous birdwatcher encounters a bedraggled stranger, and they find that they have a good deal in common. But news of a police manhunt sets them both on edge, driving their relationship to a tragic conclusion. |
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A FAN of the cult film Withnail And I is urging fellow devotees to save Uncle Monty's cottage from yuppies and property developers. Ben Webster has launched a campaign to buy the Cumbrian cottage, used in key scenes in the 1987 film. Known as Uncle Monty's cottage, it provided the backdrop for a hilariously disastrous weekend in the countryside for the two unemployed actors after whom the film is named. The pair desert their grotty Camden flat and head to the cottage, owned by Withnail's Uncle Monty, for a weekend of mayhem. The cottage, Sleddale Hall near Shap, was mainly used for exterior shots. It is owned by United Utilities and is being sold at auction on Monday 16th Feb with a guide price of £145,000. Mr Webster, a freelance copywriter, is one of a number of fans in the UK who have launched campaigns to buy the cottage. If unsuccessful, all money will go to charity. His campaign team have created the website www.saveunclemontys.org |
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| This newsletter is produced by Mike Graham for
Chester Film Society. Please visit www.chesterfilmfans.co.uk regularly for programme information. |
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