Tuya's Marriage
directed by WANG Quan An
starring YU Nan, Bater, Baolier, Senge, Zhaya
Tuya, hardworking and hardheaded, is a Mongolian desert herder who refuses to be settled in a town in accordance with the new industrialization policy. She is kept busy with two kids, a disabled husband and 100 sheep to care for, but one day she hurts her back. The only way for the family to survive is for her to divorce her husband on paper and look for a new spouse who can take care of the whole family. A series of suitors lines up, but it's not easy to find a man who fits the bill. This warm, endearing tale, featuring stunning cinematography, won the top prize at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival. More information.
On DVD, Fall 2008
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
directed by Michel Hazanavicius
starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Béjo, Aure Atika, Philippe Lefèbvre, Constantin Alexandrov, Saïd Amadis, Claude Brosset
A box-office sensation in France, comic star Jean Dujardin stars as secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117 who in the tradition of Maxwell Smart and Inspector Clouseau somehow succeeds in spite of his ineptitude. After a fellow agent and close friend is murdered, Hubert is ordered to take his place at the head of a poultry firm in Cairo. This is to be his cover while he investigates Jack's death, monitors the Suez Canal, checks up on the Brits and Soviets, burnishes France's reputation, quells a fundamentalist rebellion and brokers peace in the Middle East. A blithe and witty send-up not only of spy films of that era and the suave secret agent figure but also neo-colonialism, ethnocentrism and the very idea of Western covert action in the Middle East. More information.
On DVD, Fall 2008
Tell No One
directed by Guillaume Canet
starring François Cluzet, Kristin Scott Thomas, Marie-Josée Croze, André Dussollier, Nathalie Baye, Jean Rochefort, Marina Hands
Based on Harlan Coben’s international best selling thriller about pediatrician Alexandre Beck who still grieves the murder of his beloved wife Margot Beck eight years earlier. When two bodies are found near the scene of the crime, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes a suspect again. The mystery deepens when Alex receives an anonymous e-mail with a link to a video clip that seems to suggest Margot is somehow still alive and a message to "Tell No One." More information.
On DVD, Fall 2008