No (Pablo Larrain, 2012) on 9 June, 2013

Chilean political drama concludes Splendid Cinema season

 

Chilean director Pablo Larraín returns with his latest film, the highly acclaimed No (2012), to Splendid Cinema on 9 June.

 

Set in the late 1980s, the film examines the important moment in Chilean history after dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet authorises a national plebiscite allowing people to vote whether they want him to continue his presidency for 8 more years, or not. Fifteen minutes of television airtime is given for those supporting Pinochet’s regime as well as those who oppose to it.

 

No is a story about a young advertising executive René Saavedra (played by Gael García Bernal in a career defining role), who is hired to run the ”No” campaign. By taking the job René is forced to confront his boss Lucho (Alberto Castro), who organises and directs the ”Yes” campaign. Being constantly criticised for his decision to work for the opposition, and experiencing threats against the safety of his family, René does not give up. No highlights possibly the most incredible advertising campaign in history; to keep a blood thirsty dictator or to embrace democracy.

 

No was nominated for the Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The uplifting and intelligent take on this significant moment in Chilean history, the fall of their totalitarian regime, is the absolute must see!

Here’s the trailer:

And with our screening of No, Splendid Cinema concludes our 2012/13 seasons. We’ll be back in September highlighting the best in International Cinema.

 

The screening starts at Worcester Arts Workshop on Sansome Street at 6.30pm with the box office  open from 6pm. Tickets are £5 in advance or on the door with Café Bliss open for a pre-show treat.

 

For more information on any of the independent cinema’s screenings, please contact Mikel Koven at splendidcinema@live.co.uk, or follow the blog splendidcinema.wordpress.com.

 

No (Chile, 2012, Pablo Larraín) 118 min. 15 Cert.

9 June, 2013

Box office opens at 6pm, film begins at 6:30pm

Tickets £5 on the door

Worcester Arts Workshop, 21 Sansome Street, Worcester, WR1 1UH

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Film Review: No (jadebate.wordpress.com)
• No (emmacaviezel.wordpress.com)
• Vote ‘No’: René Saavedra’s plea to the Chilean population. (bristolatino.wordpress.com)
• Movie review: No (praguepost.com)
• No – A Film about the End of the Pinochet Regime by Angela Caldin (verbalberbal.com)
• No (2012) (cinemainterruptus.wordpress.com)

Pattinson takes turn in Cronenberg’s surreal drama

 

The Twilight star Robert Pattinson demonstrates he’s more than a sparkly vampire in the latest David Cronenberg’s film, Cosmopolis (2012), to be screened at Splendid Cinema on the 28^th of April.

Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Don Dellilo, Cronenberg’s film focuses on a 28-year-old multibillionaire Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), whose limo journey across a futuristic Manhattan becomes something of a confrontation with everyone who is directly affected by the heartless demeanour of his luxurious lifestyle.

Cronenberg combines Dellilo’s dry, comic satire with a stone-dead, but immersive atmosphere shaped by both Pattinson’s performance and clearly measured, smooth cinematography, making Cosmopolis a very charismatic picture, and is not to be missed!

Cosmopolis also features an international assemblage of actors including Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton and Jay Baruchel.

Here’s the trailer:

In addition, Worcester’s only independent cinema will also be screening Irish: On Purpose, a short film by Olivia James, before Cosmopolis as part of the Splendid Cinema’s initiative supporting local filmmakers.

The screening starts at Worcester Arts Workshop on Sansome Street at 6.30pm with the box office  open from 6pm. Tickets are £5 in advance or on the door with Café Bliss open for a pre-show treat.

For more information on any of the independent cinema’s screenings, please contact Mikel Koven at splendidcinema@live.co.uk, or follow the blog splendidcinema.wordpress.com

 

Cosmopolis (Can/France/Italy/Portugal, 2012, David Cronenberg) 105 min. 15 Cert.

28 April, 2013

Box office opens at 6pm, film begins at 6:30pm

Tickets £5 on the door, or in advance from

Worcester Arts Workshop, 21 Sansome Street, Worcester, WR1 1UH

Related articles

• A few words with David Cronenberg about “Cosmopolis” (somecamerunning.typepad.com)
• Mike Katz (Cosmopolis producer) talks Robert Pattinson, Cosmopolis and mentions ‘Maps to the Stars’ (thinkingofrob.com)

Rabies [Kalevet] (Israel, 2011, Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado) on 28 October, 2012

Splendid Cinema presents for Halloween, the first ever Israeli horror film, Rabies.

Splendid Cinema presents Rabies (Kalevet), the first ever Israeli horror feature film, on October 28^th at 7:30pm at Worcester Arts Workshop. Perfect to finish off your Halloween weekend in the city!

Rabies tells the interlocking stories of a brother and sister, a group of friends, and a man and his dog, and what happens to them when they enter the forest populated by a maniac, a devious policeman and landmines .  Contrary to what you might first think, Rabies is not about a viral outbreak, frothing at the mouth or otherwise, Rabies instead is about the human capability for violence that lies dormant… until provoked.

Rabies succeeds in being both violent and shocking, whilst also being darkly comic at times and ripping the horror movie playbook to shreds with its fresh, meticulously crafted script.

Clever, easy to watch and a whole lot of fun, Rabies is the perfect thing to finish off your Halloween weekend!

Have a gander at the trailer!

All films are screened at the Worcester Arts Workshop (21 Sansome Street, Worcester). Box office opens at 7pm on film nights and the films begin at 7:30.  Café Bliss is also open for a pre-show treat.

For more information on any of our films, please contact Mikel Koven at splendidcinema@live.co.uk, or look for us on Facebook.

Rabies (Kalevet) (Israel, 2011, Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado) 90 min. 18 Cert.

28^th October 2012

Box office opens at 7pm, film begins at 7:30pm

Tickets £5 on the door

Worcester Arts Workshop, 21 Sansome Street, Worcester, WR1 1UH

Related articles

• DVD Review: Rabies [MA15] (supermarcey.com)

Splendid Cinema under threat from public apathy

http://www.worcesterstandard.co.uk/2012/03/02/news-Closing-credits-could-roll-unless-you-support-us,-warns-cinema-31756.html

From the Worcester Standard, 1 March, 2012

by Tim Clarke

THE ORGANISER of Worcester’s only independent cinema has warned movie-lovers it could be forced to close unless dwindling audiences begin to pick-up.

Mikel Koven said the Splendid Cinema had witnessed a steady drop in the number of people attending its monthly screenings in the Worcester Arts Workshop (WAW).

At its peak the cinema was seeing audiences of about 35 people but support has started to fall away and last month’s screening of the film Outrage, by cult Japanese director Takeshi Kitano, attracted only ten people.

The film society only needs an audience of about 20 people to cover the cost of showing each movie and Mr Koven believes there is still an appetite for critically acclaimed independent films from world cinema.

But Mr Koven, who is course leader of Film Studies at the University of Worcester, said he feared the WAW would eventually pull the plug on the cinema if it continued to lose money.

“I think the biggest obstacle we are facing is apathy and that’s the one thing we can’t fight,” he said.

“This is really about people standing up for independent cinema in Worcester but it’s remarkable what a cultural desert we can be. I think there is a small appetite for it but that is good enough for us at the WAW. We are not trying to sell out the Swan Theatre or anything like that. But if we lost the Splendid Cinema it would mean people having to go to Birmingham or just making do with the mainstream films being shown at the Odeon or Vue.”

The cinema’s current season continues with the acclaimed French farce Potiche (15) on Sunday, March 11 at 7.30pm, starring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu, ahead of the screening of Paddy Considine‘s feature film Tyrannosaur (18) on March 25.

Tickets cost £5 for each film and for more information on The Splendid Cinema visit the group on Facebook or email splendidcinema@live.co.uk

Read more: Closing credits could roll unless you support us, warns cinema | Worcester Standard

Films in March

In March, Splendid Cinema has two great film offerings for you!

Remember those Orange ads last year where the Orange team re-subtitled a some French farce with Depardieu & Deneuve? Well, on 11 March, Splendid Cinema is pleased as punch to be screening that film, Potiche, directed by the great François Ozon!

11 March, 2012: Potiche (François Ozon, 2010, France) 15 cert.
Marvellous French farce starring the radiant Catherine Deneuve as the ‘trophy wife’ who takes over the umbrella factory her family started when her husband is taken ill. Putting down a strike at the factory with common sense and decency, Deneuve starts to rekindle her old flame with the Assistant Mayor, played to comic perfection by Gérard Depardieu. In French with English subtitles.

Here’s the trailer…

We follow Ozon’s delightfully frothy Marxist farce with the remarkable directorial début of actor/writer (and Stoke’s own!) Paddy Considine in the gritty, powerful and utterly brilliant, Tyrannosaur.

25 March, 2012: Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, 2011, UK) 18 cert.
Staffordshire-born Paddy Considine’s feature film debut is a powerful and violent tale of revenge and redemption that many are hailing as the best British film of 2011. Much like the films of Shane Meadows, whom Considine worked with on Dead Man’s Shoes, Tyrannosaur is part of the New Midlands Brutality film movement. This is a film not to be missed.

And here is the trailer …

… and coming up:

Rutger Hauer paints up a storm playing Pieter Breugel the Elder in The Mill & the Cross, and then we go all Nordic Noir with the Swedish blockbuster, Snabba Cash. Details to follow!