The second last film society screening of the year take splace next Monday, 26 September at the CPSA Building at CPIT. Please note the later starting time of 7:30pm due to the onset of daylight saving this weekend.

The Shop around the Corner
USA 1940/99 Mins
The struggles of a coterie of neurotic, underpaid, underloved department store clerks are brought to the screen with the delicacy and grace of a fine ermine purse by that German-expat genius Ernst Lubitsch, in this wonderful 1940 comedy. At its centre is Jimmy Stewart playing bookish grafter Alfred Kralik, who penfriends a dame more enlightened and worldly than any of his colleagues (or so he thinks). But this is as much a film about group dynamics in the workplace and how the distress and desperation inflicted on those at the top of the ladder can trickle down to the rank and file as it is about romance. For my money, this is Lubitsch’s masterpiece, an immaculate conflation of his sprightly shooting style, expertly layered wisecracking and bracing realism, all topped off with a romantic subplot that offers a nakedly joyous celebration of young, serendipitous love. Now, does anyone know where I can buy a cigarette box that plays ‘Ochi Tchornya’? – David Jenkins, Time Out Alfa Romeo Italian Film Festival

The 2011 Alfa Romeo Italian Film Festival will take place at the Hollywood Cinema in Sumner from October 26 to November 9.

Highlights include:

Habemus Papam - "Never one to shy away from controversy, Italian film-maker Nanni Moretti has followed 'The Caiman', his assault on Silvio Berlusconi, with a nervously anticipated examination of the holiest of holy cows, the papacy. Already released in Italy, Habemus Papam has provoked only the mildest tut-tutting from the Vatican, and it's not hard to see why: Moretti's conception of the Holy Father is a man weighed down by the immensity of his burden, who must reconcile human fears with spiritual responsibilities, and who is drawn equally to the life of the world and the life of the mind..." Guardian Newspaper.

Sea Purple (Viola di mare) - Nineteenth century Sicily. A house made of turf at the top of a cliff. A hidden scandal. Angela isn't like the other girls of her age. In her early twenties she still runs, smokes and plays with boys. She fears nothing and nobody, not even her tyrannical father, the powerful guardian of the mines. Angela's soul mate and best friend is Sara and as their relationship intensifies, it crosses the boundaries of acceptable female behaviour in Sicily at that time.

The Right Thing (La cosa giusta) - two mismatched police officers - an idealistic rookie and a hard-bitten veteran - are assigned to tail a Moroccan man who has just been released from jail but is still suspected of having ties with al-Qaeda.

Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) - A masterpiece of Italian filmmaking and a foundation stone of the neorealist film movement, Vittorio De Sica's 'Bicycle Thieves' is a harrowing portrait of loss and depravation in post-war Rome. Awarded an honorary Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and regularly voted one of the greatest films of all time, 'Bicycle Thieves' is a simple, powerful story of a man's desperate bid to provide for his family.

Tickets are on sale now from the Hollywood Cinema. For more details on these and other films, please visit www.italianfilmfestival.co.nz.

ENDS

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