University of Delaware

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Spring 1999 International Film Series
Featuring 35mm prints exclusively:  screening on
Sundays at 7:30 pm in the Trabant Center Theater.
Admission is free and open to the public.

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The Mirror; Postman [Youchai]; Fast, Cheap & Out of Control; Destiny; Touch of Evil; The Eel; Life is Beautiful; Central Station

The Mirror

Iran 1997 - 94 min. A small girl tires of waiting for her mother to pick her up and gets on a bus going in the wrong direction. What seems at first to be a neorealist portrait of modern Tehran takes a strange turn midway through the film, when the young actress abruptly refuses to continue playing the girl. "Like [Jafar Panahi's earlier film, The White Balloon, and the films of his mentor Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry)], The Mirror poses the deepest questions about illusion, reality and filmmaking. Its portrait of Tehran is unforgettable." (Stephen Holden, New York Times)

March 14th -- 7:30 PM

Postman [Youchai]

China 1995 - 102 min. In a Beijing district auspiciously named "Happiness," a mailman uncovers the quiet desperation of his neighbors when he begins reading the letters in his bag. Before too long, he takes it upon himself to meddle in the lives of an adulterous couple, a prostitute, and a drug addict. The Chinese government has banned the films of He Jianjun and fellow "Sixth Generation" filmmakers; the footage was smuggled out of China and edited in Europe. "Unsettling... poignant." (Janet Maslin, New York Times)

March 21st -- 7:30 PM

Fast, Cheap & Out of Control

USA 1997 -- 80 min. Errol Morris's (The Thin Blue Line) latest documentary features four men and their obsessions with control: a topiary sculptor, a robot designer, a lion tamer, and a mole-rat specialist. "A funny, thrilling tribute to people's urge to find play and profundity in the work they do." (Richard Corliss, Time)

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April 11th  -- 7:30

Destiny

Egypt/France 1997 - 135 min. In 12th-century Spain, two rebellious sons of a Caliph fall in with a controversial philosopher: one of them is kidnapped and brainwashed by fanatics who turn him against his brother. Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine's film, a hit at the 1996 New York Film Festival, is a rousing tale about religious intolerance and book burning (during the days of handwritten books). And did we mention the musical numbers? "Destiny pulses with warm-blooded fervor and surges with moments of genuine eloquence." (Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix)

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April 18th --  7:30 PM

Touch of Evil

USA 1958 -- 107 min. "A masterpiece." (Andy Seiler, USA Today) Orson Welles's classic film noir, restored in 1998 with the aid of the director's detailed notes on the film. In a border town, a Mexican policeman (Charleton Heston) battles with a corrupt American cop (Welles). "Better than ever." (Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle)

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April 25th -- 7:30 PM

The Eel

Japan 1998 - 117 min. Winner: Palme d'Or, Cannes. Koji Yakusho (the star of Shall We Dance) is a quiet man with a strange pet and a dark past. One day in a small seaside town, he comes across a young woman who looks exactly like the wife that he killed years before. "Wholly original... moments of breathtaking beauty and eroticism... Imamura looks at the human comedy with relaxed irony." (John Powers, Vogue) "Violent, sensual, mesmerizing." (Barry Johnson, Portland Oregonian)

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 May 2nd -- 7:30 PM 

Little Voice

United Kingdom 1997 -- 96 min. Jane Horrocks gives an amazing vocal performance as an introverted young woman who mimics the singing styles of Marilyn Monroe, Billie Holiday, and Judy Garland.  Brenda Blethyn (Secrets and Lies) and Michael Caine try to exploit the special talent of the woman they call "Little Voice."  "Two thumbs up." -- Siskel & Ebert

Central Station

Brazil 1998 -- 115 min. 1999 Golden Globe winner, Best Foreign-Language Film. A former schoolteacher (Fernanda Montenegro, Best Actress, Berlin International Film Festival) makes a living writing letters for the people who pass through Rio de Janeiro's train station -- some of them she mails, some of them she doesn't. A young boy enlists her aid in finding his father: they form the special bond shared by two people who don't trust one another. "Unaffectedly lovely, and quietly, powerfully haunting." (Richard Schickel, Time)