Two movies that caught our eye...
The Fog Of War (Late Oct/early Nov),
US/2003/Errol Morris/107mins
¥1800(door) ¥1400(advance) Cineterrie Tenjin 092-781-5508
Robert Macnamara was JFK`s Defence Secretary and a public advocate of escalating the Vietnam war. This documentary/archive film uses material
from 4 days of interviews with him and is part of the extensive if (guarded) "mea somewhat culpa" he has done in recent years. It is very much his story in his own words, "talking heads" style with some archive material. Some critics felt the result is a little unstructured, but Macnamara`s intimate knowledge of and involvment in the period - and his willingness to talk - and try to think - at least partly candidly about war as a foreign policy option probably make it compelling and interesting enough to be on your "want to see" list. Whether he grasps the ironies of some of what he says is less clear - but his putting himself up to be shot down deserves some respect. Although Macnamara refuses to be drawn on current US foreign policy in the Gulf, it is not hard to apply some of what he says to more recent events, Many thoughtful critics had this down as one of the best documentaries of the year. We are not entirely sure when it will be on - look out for it early November at Cineterrie is our best guess...(NM)
Vozvrashchenie 10/9 -
Russia/2003/Andrey Zvyagintsev/111mins
¥1800(door) ¥1400(advance) KBC cinema 092-751-4268
A bleak psychological drama from first time Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, the film tells the story of two adolescent boys who are subjected to a harsh regime when their strict father returns and tries to reconnect to them after a 10 year absence. It won the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2003, and was marked by real life tragedy when one of its young stars, 15-year-old actor Vladimir Girin, drowned in the lake where some scenes were set. (We think this movie is in Russian with Japanese subtitles.) (NM)
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