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Glasgow Film Festival · 2011

Glasgow Film Festival 2011

European Cinema

A collection of fascinating independent films from around Europe, this strand provides a great opportunity for film fans to see work that might not find distribution in the UK. There are intriguing dramas set in some of the most challenging periods of European history alongside challenging contemporary films looking at the issues that shape European lives today.

Programme

18 films · 9 reviews

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Agnosia

Review preview for Agnosia

Agnosia is a majestic film, filled with stunning imagery from the very first scene.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A young woman with a rare sensory disorder finds herself threatened by a mysterious conspiracy as she strives to guard her wealthy father's secret.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2010; Director: Eugenio Mira; Stars: Martina Gedeck, Eduardo Noriega, Félix Gómez)

Full review

Apnea

A swimming champion has hallucinations about his missing girlfriend.

(Country: Greece; Year: 2010; Director: Aris Bafaloukas; Writer: Giannis Tsiros, Yiannis Tsiros, Tsiros Yiannis; Stars: Youlika Skafida, Sotiris Pastras, Andrianna Babali, Giorgos Karamihos, Akilas Karazisis, Iro Moukiou, Lydia Fotopoulou) , Official site

Attenberg

Sexually frank coming of age tale.

(Country: Greece; Year: 2010; Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari; Writer: Athina Rachel Tsangari; Stars: Ariane Labed, Giorgos Lanthimos, Vangelis Mourikis, Evangelia Randou)

Beyond

Review preview for Beyond

Rapace delivers a powerhouse performance that carries it from beginning to end.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A woman's reluctant visit to her dying mother brings up memories of the violent home she grew up in.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2010; Director: Pernilla August; Writer: Pernilla August, based on the book by Susanna Alakoski.; Stars: Noomi Rapace, Ola Rapace, Outi Mäenpää)

Full review

Cell 211 (Celda 211)

Review preview for Cell 211

This film doesn't just have one good idea, it has many, and it segues them together beautifully.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When a prison guard is knocked unconscious at the start of a riot, he wakes to find he is trapped within the prison and must pretend to be a con to stay alive.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2009; Director: Daniel Monzón; Writer: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Daniel Monzón, Francisco Pérez Gandul; Stars: Luis Tosar, Alberto Ammann, Antonio Resines, Manuel Morón, Carlos Bardem, Luis Zahera, Fernando Soto, Vicente Romero, Manolo Solo, Marta Etura, Joxean Bengoetxea, Patxi Bisquert, Jesús Carroza, Félix Cubero, Jesus Del Caso) , Official site

Full review

Ces Amours-Là

A Frenchwoman's life is complicated by her passionate love affairs, including one with a Nazi officer and another that leads her into danger.

(Country: France; Year: 2010; Director: Claude Lelouch; Writer: Claude Lelouch, Pierre Uytterhoeven; Stars: Audrey Dana, Dominique Pinon, Raphaël, Anouk Aimée)

The Christening (Chrzest)

Loosely based on a true story, a Polish man tries to escape his criminal past... the only problem being that the mafia are out to kill him.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2010; Director: Marcin Wrona; Writer: Dariusz Glazer, Grzegorz Jankowski, Grazyna Trela; Stars: Iwona Bielska, Krzysztof Czeczot, Andrzej Franczyk, Robert Jurczyga, Mikolaj Kalucki, Zbigniew Konopka, Michal Koterski, Ireneusz Koziol, Ola Radwanska, Slawomir Rokita, Natalia Rybicka, Tomasz Schuchardt, Pawel Tomaszewski, Adam Woronowicz, Wojciech Zielinski) , Official site

Essential Killing

Review preview for Essential Killing

The cinematography is jarringly stunning, with episodes of pursuit and suspense broken up by breathtaking vistas of harsh landscapes.

David Graham · 4 out of 5
An interrogated man goes on the run.

(Year: 2010; Director: Jerzy Skolimowski; Writer: Eva Piaskowska, Jerzy Skolimowski; Stars: Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner, Stig Frode Henriksen, Nicolai Cleve Broch, David L. Price, Zach Cohen, Torgrim Ødegård, Varg Strande, Eirik Daleng, Phillip Goss, Lars Markus Verpeide Bakke, Niklas Nygaard, Tracy Spencer Shipp, Dariusz Juzyszyn, Thomas Berg)

Full review

The Four Times (Le Quattro Volte)

A shepherd find himself in the bodies of a baby goat, a tree and a lump of coal as his soul makes its final journey.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2010; Director: Michelangelo Frammartino; Writer: Michelangelo Frammartino; Stars: Giuseppe Fuda, Bruno Timpano, Nazareno Timpano)

In A Better World (Hævnen)

Review preview for In A Better World

The microcosm of the children's world is exceptionally well drawn.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Two children form a bond that could spell trouble.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2010; Director: Susanne Bier; Writer: Susanne Bier, Anders Thomas Jensen; Stars: Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, William Jøhnk Nielsen, Markus Rygaard, Wil Johnson, Eddie Kihani, Emily Mglaya, Gabriel Muli, June Waweru, Mary Hounu Moat, Synah Berchet, Elsebeth Steentoft, Satu Helena Mikkelinen, Camilla Gottlieb) , Official site

Full review

Love Like Poison (Un Poison Violent)

A teenage girl struggles with the conflict between her religious convictions and her sexual awakening as well as the behaviour of the adults around her.

(Country: France; Year: 2010; Director: Katell Quillévéré; Writer: Katell Quillévéré, Mariette Désert; Stars: Clara Augarde, Lio, Stefano Cassetti, Michel Galabru)

Nothing's All Bad (Smukke mennesker)

Review preview for Nothing's All Bad

If this sounds grim, it is, but it keeps the audience engaged thanks to a beautifully judged script and a keen sense of the absurd.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Four troubled, lonely people gradually find themselves connected through a series of coincidences in a film which blends dark comedy with touching insight.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2010; Director: Mikkel Munch-Fals; Writer: Mikkel Munch-Fals; Stars: Bodil Jørgensen, Henrik Prip, Mille Lehfeldt, Sebastian Jessen, Mia Lyhne, Kurt Ravn, Peter Gantzler, Nicolas Bro, Stine Fischer Christensen, Jesper Asholt, Dar Salim, Benedikte Hansen, Rasmus Bjerg, Jesper Lohmann, Carsten Bjørnlund)

Full review

One Hundred Mornings (100 morrnings)

Review preview for One Hundred Mornings

Though it might simply be too depressing for the average cinema audience, this is a solid drama that showcases some of the best assets of contemporary Irish filmmaking.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
The quiet, unsensational end of civilisation leaves two couples in an increasingly desperate, claustrophobic situation as their supplies dwindle and they are threatened by other survivors.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2009; Director: Conor Horgan; Writer: Conor Horgan; Stars: Ciarán McMenamin, Alex Reid, Rory Keenan)

Full review

Our Life (La Vita Nostra)

A builder takes on an ambitious project to try and turn his fortunes around, but is caught up in a corrupt system.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2010; Director: Daniele Luchetti; Writer: Daniele Luchetti, Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli; Stars: Elio Germano, Raoul Bova, Isabella Ragonese)

Protector (Protektor)

A Jewish film star's career is derailed by the Nazi invasion while her jealous husband is offered the chance to become a radio star - if he is willing to broadcast Nazi propaganda.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2009; Director: Marek Najbrt; Writer: Robert Geisler, Benjamin Tucek; Stars: Jana Plodková, Matthias Brandt, Tomás Mechácek, Jan Budar, Marek Daniel)

Submarino

Review preview for Submarino

Performances are strong throughout the film, generating an effective mixture of simultaneous sympathy and anger in the audience.

David Graham · 2.5 out of 5
Two men struggle to escape a childhood of neglect.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2009; Director: Thomas Vinterberg; Writer: Jonas T. Bengtsson, Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg; Stars: Jakob Cedergren, Peter Plaugborg, Gustav Fischer Kjærulff, Patricia Schumann, Helene Reingaard Neumann, Morten Rose, Kate Kjølbye, Lisbeth H. Pedersen, Dar Salim, Henrik Strube, Elias Ehlers, Sebastian Bull Sarning, Mads Broe Andersen, Finn Bergh) , Official site

Full review

Wake Wood

Review preview for Wake Wood

Its plot borrows wholesale from “bringing back the dead” tales of yesteryear.

Owen Van Spall · 2.5 out of 5
A Pagan ritual offers a grieving couple the chance to spend three more days with their dead daughter, but when the moment comes, they will do anything to keep from letting her go again.

(Country: Ireland, UK; Year: 2010; Director: David Keating; Writer: David Keating, Brendan McCarthy; Stars: Eva Birthistle, Ella Connolly, Amelia Crowley, Aidan Gillen, Timothy Spall) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

When We Leave (Die Fremde)

hen young Turkish-German woman Umay can no longer stand her husband’s ill-treatment, she flees from Istanbul with her five-year-old son into the arms of her family in Berlin. But love, affection, and loyalty soon become irrelevant as they struggle to reconcile Umay’s willful self-determination with the social system that governs their lives.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2010; Director: Feo Aladag; Writer: Feo Aladag; Stars: Sibel Kekilli, Nizam Schiller, Derya Alabora, Settar Tanriogen, Serhad Can, Almila Bagriacik, Tamer Yigit, Alwara Höfels, Florian Lukas, Blanca Apilanez Fernandez, Mustafa Jouni, Aram Arami, Ufuk Bayraktar, Edin Hasanovic, Nursel Köse)