Chorlton Film Institute wiki / Previous Films at CFI

Here are the wonderful films we've shown so far at CFI

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Hallam Foe

Thursday 17th April

Jamie Bell is Hallam Foe, a troubled young man whose knack for voyeurism paradoxically reveals his darkest fears, and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother's death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city of Edinburgh for love.

Away From Her

Thursday 27th March

Although much of her fledgling career has been spent in front of the camera, Sarah Polley emerges as a serious writing-directing talent with Away From Her. It's a low-key yet powerful and uplifting story of love renewed amid the ravages of old age. Julie Christie, even in her sultry sex bomb days, has rarely been more radiant than as a 60-something woman whose memories of life with her husband (Gordon Pinsent) are gradually being eroded by Alzheimer's disease.

After putting the frying pan in the fridge once too often, Fiona (Christie) convinces husband Grant (Pinsent) to check her into a care home. She doesn't want to risk his resentment, but after a month at the facility Fiona does exactly that, forming an attachment to fellow patient Aubrey (Michael Murphy). Added to this mild-mannered tug of love is Grant's guilt over a past dalliance and the question of whether Fiona is secretly punishing him for that.

"SOULFUL & WONDERFULLY ACTED"

Polley brings hope, poetry and light to a place of apparent desolation. There are haunting flashes of the past while, in the present, a dramatic snowy landscape hints at the barren space growing between the couple. Then she frequently undercuts this mood of whimsical melancholy with outrageous humour. So one patient (Thomas Hauff) is an ex-sports pundit who commentates on everything from a walk down the hall to a wistful glance! It's a cannily composed story, soulful and wonderfully acted. Pinsent is a sturdy anchor and Olympia Dukakis adds a touch of big city wit as Aubrey's world-weary wife. It's the nuances in Christie's performance, however, that really linger in the mind. Outstanding. (Review from BBC Website)

Notes on a Scandal

Thursday 21st Feb

Dame Judi Dench and Kate Blanchett face off with searing performances in this riveting tale of obsession and desire. Based on the novel by Zoe Heller, NOTES ON A SCANDAL is the story of Barbara Covett (Dench), a hard-nosed spinster schoolteacher, and her poisonous friendship with fellow teacher Sheba Hart (Blanchett). When the young and beautiful Sheba shows up as the new art instructor, everyone is charmed by her, including the embittered Barbara. Barbara is thrilled when her lonely life is shaken up by Sheba's overtures of friendship, as Sheba invites her to share in family dinners, and opens up to her about her marital troubles and personal longing. Barbara narrates her own feelings of longing to us from her meticulous diaries, and it becomes increasingly clear that her take on the friendship is uncomfortably intense, if not borderline delusional. Things reach a fever pitch when Barbara happens upon Sheba dallying in the art room with a 15-year-old student. She tells Sheba that she must end the affair at once, but decides not to report her to the school, and instead, to use her knowledge of the indiscretion to draw Sheba closer to her, and put her in her debt. But when Barbara's demands on Sheba become too high, things soon unravel, setting off a chain of events that will leave viewers chewing their nails to the quick, but unable to tear their eyes away. Both Blanchett and Dench are dazzling to watch as they deftly handle the barbed wit of Patrick Marber's screenplay. Directed by Richard Eyre of the Northern Theatre of London, and with a score by Philip Glass, NOTES ON A SCANDAL takes what could serve as mere tabloid fodder and plays it out on the level of Shakespearean tragedy.

Last King of Scotland

Thursday 17th January 2008

Forest Whitaker delivers an Oscar-winning, ferociously commanding performance as bloodthirsty Ugandan president Idi Amin in Kevin MacDonald’s THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. Adapted from the novel by Giles Foden, the film recounts Amin’s horrific reign through the eyes of a fictional character, Nick Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young doctor from Scotland who travels to Uganda hoping to do some good. Nick is more sanguine about new president Amin than his counterpart Sarah Merrit (Gillian Armstrong) is, whose experience causes her to be sceptical of Amin’s bombastic declarations. After an automobile accident, Nick is called in to treat the president’s wounds. His authoritative behaviour impresses Amin, who charms Nick into becoming his personal physician. Nick embraces his newfound life of luxury, but he is unable to grasp the reality of the situation. When he does finally realise the atrocities Amin is inflicting upon his people (and is also capable of inflicting on Nick), the terrified doctor tries to make a frantic escape before it's too late. MacDonald, director of the acclaimed documentaries ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER and TOUCHING THE VOID, makes a startlingly assured transition into fictional filmmaking with THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. Working with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (THE CELEBRATION) and editor Justine Wright, MacDonald brings 1970s Uganda to pulsating life, perfectly recreating that tumultuous era. But ultimately the film belongs to Whitaker: as he shifts from charming to maniacal in the space of a short, unexpected breath, he infuses Amin with startling humanity.

Running with Scissors

Thursday 13th December

Do not disturb them. They already are.

As a child, Augusten (Joseph Cross) completely adores his narcissistic mother Deirdre (Bening). Her biggest fan, he encourages her goal of becoming a published poet when no one else will. But while these dreams of grandeur seem innocent through Augusten’s young eyes, they grow more delusional with time, slowly wearing on the family and contributing to its demise. While a teenage Augusten skips school and his father Norman (Alec Baldwin) uses alcohol to escape, Deirdre calls in an eccentric psychiatrist for an outside opinion. Dr. Finch’s advice ends up being anything but professional, however, as his looseness with prescriptions and wacko theories end Deirdre’s dysfunctional marriage and prompt her to abandon Augusten. Left to spend his teenage years as part of Dr. Finch’s outlandish family, Augusten struggles to find himself while surrounded by a series of tormented and over-analyzed individuals.

Red Road - Thursday 15th November 2007

An atmospheric and intense thriller about pain and retribution which finds Jackie, a Glasgow CCTV (surveillance) operator watching over a small part of the world, protecting the people living their lives under her gaze. One day a man appears on her monitor, a man she thought she would never see again, a man she never wanted to see again. Now she has no choice, she is compelled to confront him.

RED ROAD is the first film to be produced under the Advance Party Concept, the Dogme-inflected brainchild of Lone Scherfig and Anders Thomas Jensen, employees of Danish co-producer Zentropa. Advance Party involves three directors developing scripts around the same group of characters. The films take place in Scotland but apart from that the writers are free to place the characters anywhere according to geography, social setting or ethnic background. The characters back-stories can be expanded, family relations can be created between them, they can be given habits good or bad, and secondary characters can be added if it is proper for the individual film. All of the characters must appear in all of the films. The various parts will be cast with the same actors in the same parts in all of the films. 113 min

The History Boys Thursday 18th October 2007

Little Miss Sunshine Thursday 20th September 2007

Pan's Labyrinth Thursday 16th August 2007

Babel Thursday 26th July 2007

Me and You and Everyone We Know Thursday 21st June 2007

James & the Giant Peach (part of Chorlton Arts Festival Childrens Films) Sat 26th May 2007

Superman the Movie (part of Chorlton Arts Festival Childrens Films) Sat 19th May 2007

Volver Thursday May 17th 2007

Elephant Thursday April 12th 2007

Transamerica Thursday 15th March 2007

The Wind that Shakes the Barley Thursday 15th February 2007

Sideways Thursday 18th Jan 2007