Rio Cinema

S U N D A Y M A T I N E E S

Sun 10 Jun • Double bill

THE PAINTED VEIL (12A) 1.45

(US 2006) dir. John Curran 125m.
Starring Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Diana Rigg.

Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham set in the 1920s, THE PAINTED VEIL tells of Walter and Kitty, who marry hastily and relocate to Shanghai. When Walter discovers Kitty has been unfaithful, in an act of revenge, he takes a job in a village ravaged by cholera, taking her along. In one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth, the couple begin to learn about themselves and their relationship. Emotionally engaging with excellent performances from Watts and Norton.

+ CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (15) 4.10

(Hong Kong/China 2006) dir. Zhang Yimou 114m. Subtitles.
Yun-Fat Chow, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Liu Ye, Dahong Ni, Junjie Qin.

One of the biggest films ever made in China, this emotionally resonant story is based on true events. In the year 928, the Chinese Empress realises her husband is poisoning her, so she sets in motion a plan to guarantee a legacy for her two sons. With lush colours, rich textures and a massive sense of scale, this is a visually spectacular martial arts drama from the director of HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS.

Sun 17 Jun • Luis Buñuel double bill

THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (El Ángel Exterminador) (12A) 2.15
(Mexico/Spain 1962) dir. Luis Buñuel 93m. Subtitles.
Silvia Pinal, Jacqueline Andere, José Baviera, Augusto Benedico, Antonio Bravo.

A group of upper-class dinner guests involuntarily outstay their welcome in surrealist director Luis Buñuel's dissection of polite society and the hypocrisy within. One of Buñuel's best known films, it may not be his most accessible, but this is a brilliant piece of surrealist cinema about an evening at a posh Mexican residence that goes terribly and unfeasibly awry. A searing allegory for human behaviour once all artifice has been stripped away, THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL thoroughly lampoons its subjects and, despite toying with its audience as well, makes for absolutely compelling viewing.

+ LOS OLVIDADOS (12A) 4.10
(Mexico 1950) dir. Luis Buñuel 81m. Subtitles. New print.
Alfonso Mejía, Javier Amezcua, Roberto Cobo, Alma Delia Fuentes.

Pedro and Jaibo are grasping alley cats who prey on the blind, the lame and anyone weaker than themselves. Fresh out of borstal, Jaibo is a man among boys, full of wickedness; Pedro follows unquestioningly in his wake. But when the older boy beats another urchin to death for ratting on him, the pair are locked together in a fatal spiral of retribution and recrimination. A heady mix of disgusted social realism and subtextual black magic, LOS OLVIDADOS confirms Buñuel as one the greatest directorial talents of the last century.

Sun 24 Jun • Double bill

I SAW BEN BARKA GET KILLED (12A) 1.00

(France 2005) dirs. Serge Le Péron & Saïd Smihi 103m. Subtitles.
Charles Berling, Simon Abkarian, Josiane Balasko, Jean-Pierre Léaud.

Political conspiracy and personal tragedy converge in this thrilling ride through a notorious French scandal. In 1965, the Moroccan militant leader Mehdi Ben Barka disappeared in Paris. In a mixture of historical fact and imaginative speculation, Le Péron recreates the background to Ben Barka's abduction, circulating round underworld film producer Georges Figon. This noir-tinged docudrama unearths scandalous skeletons left over from the days of French colonialism.

+ THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (15) 3.00

(Algeria/Italy 1965) dir. Gillo Pontecorvo 121m. Subtitles.
Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash.

This powerful pseudo-documentary on the guerrilla war for Algerian independence was banned in France for some years, yet much of the film's strength lies in its attention to both sides of the conflict. Providing a non-judgemental account of how a group of young men from the Algerian Liberation Front can horrifically bomb civilians, the motivation for these crimes is shown just as starkly, with the French abusing, torturing and practically enslaving the native population. Vital and disquieting, this is a powerful depiction of the pity of war. As shocking today as it was on the day of its release.

Sun 1 Jul • Jan Svankmajer double bill

FAUST (PG) 1.00

(Czech Republic 1994) dir. Jan Svankmajer 96m. Subtitles.
Peter Cepek, Stanlislava Babicka, Lenka Havrankova, Magda Horejsova.

Czech animator Svankmajer's impressive retelling of the Goethe poem about a man who sells his soul to Mephistopheles in return for youth and love. Starting with a man in a theatre dressing room reading a copy of the poem, Svankmajer mixes claymation, stop-motion animation, live action and puppets to create a dark world of sorcery and evil deals with the devil. A feast for the eyes.

+ LUNACY (18) 3.00

(Czech Republic 2005) dir. Jan Svankmajer 118m. Subtitles.
Pavel Liska, Jan Triska, Anna Geislerova, Martin Huba, Jaroslav Dusek.

Czech surrealist Jan Svankmajer's fifth feature charts the misadventures of a shy young man who comes under the influence of a degenerate Marquis. Confidently blending live-action and stop-motion animation and following its own perverse logic, Svanjmaker's provocative fable uses the treatment of the mad as a metaphor for how we are collectively controlled by those in power.

Sun 8 Jul • Double bill

THE RED SQUIRREL (La Ardilla Roja) (18) 1.45

(Spain 1993) dir. Julio Medem 104m. Subtitles.
Nancho Novo, Emma Suárez, María Barranco, Carmelo Gómez.
Intense psychological thriller by Spanish director Julio Medem. Jota is preparing to throw himself off a bridge, when a motorcyclist crashes through the rails beside him. The rider turns out to be a beautiful girl who, Jota quickly discovers, has lost her memory. In a life-changing instant, he pretends to her, the ambulance drivers and hospital staff that she's his girlfriend. This taut, sexy thriller proves Medem to be a worthy successor to Almodovar's throne.

+ NIGHT OF THE SUNFLOWERS (La Noche De Los Girasoles) (15) 3.45

(Spain 2006) dir. Fernando Sánchez-Cabezudo 123m. Subtitles. Digital.
Carmelo Gómez, Judith Diakhate, Celso Bugallo, Manuel Morón.

This noirish drama set in the sleepy Spanish backwoods is an ensemble piece with overlapping narratives, sparked by a young woman's unseen rape and murder in a sunflower field at night. The story is told in six chapters that focus upon different characters, but together reveal a complex chain of violence, error and cover-up. An exquisitely performed mosaic of community breakdown.