Show
Dates and Film Titles
March 9 This
is England
(U.K.
2007) 98 minutes
This semi-autobiographical
film captures the uneasy times of Thatcherite England, following
a twelve-year-old boy who is street-smart beyond his years as
he falls in with an anarchic group of older boys. A moving coming-of-age
tale that captures the tenor of England's working-class youth
in the 1980s. “[Director Shane] Meadows perfectly balances sharp
social commentary with realistic wit and humour.” Rich Cline,
Shadows on the Wall
March 16 The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
(France
/ U.S. 2007) 112 minutes
A film of breathtaking
visuals and dynamic performances, Julian Schnabel constructs
an audacious biopic about Jean-Dominique Bauby, world-renowned
editor of Elle Magazine in France, who suffered a paralyzing
stroke at the age of 43. Conveying Bauby's internal life with
remarkable clarity through striking cinematography and poetic
visuals, the film is equal parts heartbreak and hope. “Rigorous
yet unforced, [the film] always gives the sense that this is
not only the best way, but the only way, to tell this
particular story.” Jay Antani, Perihelion Journal
March 23 The
Passenger
(Italy / U.S. 1975)
126 minutes
Classics Pick
This memorial screening
in honor of the influential Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni
(1912 - 2007) showcases his suspenseful thriller about a man
trying to escape his own life. This haunting film is a portrait
of a journalist (Jack Nicholson) whose deliverance is an identity
exchange with a dead man. “One of the deepest, most rigorous,
and most rewarding films of its era.” Ty Burr, Boston Globe
No
Screening March 30 (Spring Break)
April 6 The
Prize of the Pole
(Documentary / U.S.
2006) 78 minutes
Combines biography
and history as it accompanies the Inuit hunter Hivshu on a quest
to trace the story of his great grandfather, explorer Robert
E. Peary, and his other ancestors, including the Eskimo family
the famous Arctic adventurer brought back with him to New York
in 1897 as part of an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural
History. The film gradually uncovers the mysterious relationship
between Peary and the sole survivor of this ill-fated exhibition,
a six-year-old Inuit boy named Minik, while exploring controversial
issues of cultural identity and appropriation. "A terrific
documentary that's about the race to be the first to reach the
North Pole, but it's also about much more — it's about colonialism
and Western indifference to other cultures.” The Globe and Mail
** Shown on DVD ** A special guest speaker will introduce
the film on behalf of the University of Delaware International
Polar Year Committee.
April 13 The
Devil Came On Horseback
(Documentary / Sudan
/ U.S. 2007) 85 minutes
Co-sponsored
by STAND
Both a primer on
the complexities of the situation in Darfur and a harrowing
first-person account of one man's drive to chip away at caustic
apathy, this film follows Marine Captain Brian Steidle, an unarmed
military observer working for the African Union, as he collects
evidence of a horrific humanitarian crisis and learns to change
the world through peaceful means. “Brutal, urgent, devastating
-- the documentary The Devil Came on Horseback demands
to be seen as soon as possible and by as many viewers as possible.“
Manohla Dargis , New York Times ** Shown on DVD **
April 20 OSS
117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
(France
2006) 99 minutes
A box-office sensation
in France, this film parody features Special Agent OSS 117,
who arrives in Cairo, 1955, to monitor the Suez Canal, check
up on the Brits and Soviets, burnish France's reputation, quell
a fundamentalist rebellion and broker peace in the Middle East.
Think James Bond crossed with Maxwell Smart, with a little bit
of The Naked Gun antics thrown in for good measure.
“Sparkling production design, a jubilantly retro score and a
genuine flair for using the film and TV vocabulary of the '60s
to revisit colonial arrogance put this picture in the same conceptual
ballpark as Austin Powers.” Lisa Nesselson, Variety
April 27 The
Orphanage
(Spain
2007) 100 minutes
A woman discovers
dark secrets hidden within her cherished childhood home in this
supernatural drama, produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker
Guillermo del Toro. An elegant, shivery ghost story that explores
the shadowy places where human longing meets the unknown and
unknowable and seamlessly blends a poignant tale of loss with
scares and blood. “Adult horror returns to the screen with this
crisp and frightening film, a haunted-house tale about the dueling
forces of childhood friendship and maternal love.” Chris Kaltenbach,
Baltimore Sun
May 4 Lust,
Caution
(Taiwan
2007) 159 minutes
A provocative, erotic
espionage thriller by Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee
centered on the fate of an ordinary woman's heart during the
World War II Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Controversial
for its depiction of graphic sensuality and violence, this nuanced,
languorous epic has broken box office records in China. “A masterpiece
of tangled allegiances and corrupted innocence, equating sexual
intimacy with the search for a person's soul.” Peter Howell,
Toronto Star
May 11 Persepolis
(Iran
2007) 95 minutes
Based on a bestselling
graphic novel, this electrifying, heartfelt, and original film
presents a portrait of a spunky Iranian girl who surmounts countless
obstacles to grow into a wise young adult. A deeply personal
coming-of-age story, it is equal parts history lesson and an
animated adventure tale. “Clicks on every level, visual and
narrative, with a sort of inventiveness that seems intoxicated
by the liberating possibilities of cinema.” Tim Brayton, Antagony
& Ecstasy
The
International Film Series is run by an interdisciplinary committee
of UD Faculty, Staff, and Students. The 2007/08 Committee roster
is as follows:
Mark
Beitman, Student, College of Arts and Sciences
Michael
Green, Student, College of Arts and Sciences
Carla
Guerron-Montero, Anthropology Department
George Irvine, Program
Specialist, Provost's Office
Kevin
Kerrane, English Department
Jooyoung
Lee, College of Arts and Sciences
Meghann
Matwichuk, Library, Instructional Media Collection Department
(Chair)
Claire
McCabe, English Department
Series
Assistant: Therese Rizzo, College of Arts and Sciences
