Les Passages

A film by Donna Vermeer

A year after a turbulent break-up gamine filmmaker Catherine flees New York for Paris, the city of her teenage dreams, remembering it as super-cool like 60s genre movies or mysterious and tragic like 19th century French novels. Hoping to lose herself in the anonymity of another city, she convinces her crew and her photographer daughter Claire to help her shoot her very American movie in Paris, because "Paris suburbs remind me of New Jersey". Upon arrival she sets out to invent both the New Jersey landscape of her childhood and the Paris (long out of fashion and memory) of the boulevards and snack bars and arcades, with poets in Montparnasse cafés and card games in the wooden galleries of the Palais-Royal. Throwing herself into the production of her movie by day and wandering the streets flâneur-like by night, she is determined to forget the past. But a chance meeting in the flea market at Clignancourt with the beautiful Anna, the actress playing her mother in her movie, sets her life, and heart, on another course.

As Catherine struggles with the ending of her film and Claire's increasing independence, Claire begins her own love affair – with Mathieu, the first Frenchman to pull up on a motorcycle and deconstruct the camera obscura. The film plays with time: the present, in which the story follows these three women as they form a complex love triangle; the past, through the window of childhood memory; history, always with us, always present; and the love story, which is out of time and which follows a path that is always possible to interpret according to a causality or a finality. Les passages allows us to enter two worlds – the one before us and the one that has vanished. Less concerned with plot than mood and emotion, this fragile story starts with a jolt, and ends with an affirmation.

Les Passages is about memory, and dreams, and false starts. It is inspired by Walter Benjamin's The Arcades Project, a collection of fragments about the 19th century Paris passages couverts and what he called "the fate of art".

Silent Light

Stellet Licht
a film by Carlos Reygadas

Set in Chihuahua in northern Mexico within the Mennonite community, a strict Christian sect of European descent who speak Plautdietsch, a German-Dutch dialect. Johan, the father of five children and a deeply religious man, has fallen in love with another woman, Marianne. Although he is honest about the affair with his wife Esther, openly confessing his adulterous behaviour, he is full of remorse and uncertainty, knowing that he has broken God's laws as he entertains thoughts of abandoning his family. We watch the family in silent prayer, seated at the kitchen table before breakfast. Following their meal, Esther and the children leave the house to begin their day's work in the fields but Johan remains alone at the empty table and in emotional turmoil, his tears begin to flow.

Despite the suffering this love triangle has already wrought on those involved, Johan is unable to put an end to it. His love for Marianne draws him back to her again and again and he is powerless to end the affair. When he drives to the local garage to collect a part for his tractor, he discusses his affair with his friend Zacarías who, whilst philosophical and supportive in a remote sort of way, is unable to accept the burden of problems that Johan has brought upon himself. Suddenly, as a familiar song plays on the radio, Johan gleefully sings along while driving his truck around the yard in circles, clearing his mind of the problems he has been dwelling upon.

Later, he stops at his parents' farm to tell his father about the affair, explaining that he has told Esther about Marianne. His father, a preacher, hints that the devil may be responsible for what has happened, but admits that he also once had an affair with another woman, although he made the choice to bring it to an end.

Johan and Esther take the children bathing in a nearby pool, a gesture of love that makes his infidelity all the harder for Esther to bear. When they are driving alone in a ferocious rainstorm, she begins to speak of her regrets for the happiness they have lost, becoming very upset. She then complains of chest pains and pleads with Johan to stop the car. When he does, Esther runs from the roadside to a neaby tree where she sobs uncontrollably and then collapses.

The film begins in starlight, slowly giving way to the light of the rising sun at the beginning of a new day. Only the ambient sounds of crickets, lowing cattle and the occasional bird cry can be heard, enhancing the perception of serenity and tranquility. At the end of the film the sun is setting and we watch the deepening colours of the sky as the light slowly fades and one by one the stars appear, returning again to the state of tranquility.

An enlightening and engaging exploration of moral and spiritual crises, touching on some profound themes but keeping its emotional distance. While religion is very much a part of the lives of the characters, it is present only in the background of the story. The remarkable cinematography, with the film's unhurried pace and inspired imagery, make it a profoundly spiritual and very moving meditation on love and betrayal.

The Scent of Green Papaya

Mùi đu đủ xanh
a film by Tràn Anh Hung

Saigon in 1951, and ten-year-old Mùi takes up her new position as a servant in the beautiful house of a well-to-do Vietnamese merchant family. Mùi accepts her place with patience, serving the meals, preparing the vegetables, scrubbing the floors, and polishing the shoes. She performs her duties with great diligence and always with a positive attitude, while carefully observing and taking great pleasure in the smallest details of life around her. With grace and innocence the young girl observes the wonders of the world in everything she sees, loving and caring for all living creatures including insects and frogs.

She is also quietly tolerant of the boorish behaviour and torments of the younger son Tin. Living completely in the here and now, she just observes, judges not, and says nothing. The mother, still mourning the death of her young daughter Tô seven years before, looks upon Mùi as her replacement, a surrogate daughter. Every day Mùi quietly continues her ordinary life, giving every moment all her attention and invisibly enriching the lives of all those around her. One day when preparing a meal for the family, she cuts open the remains of a green papaya to discover the immature seeds inside, representing the potential of the little girl.

Ten years pass and the family fall on hard times as a result of the father who has again left the home, taking with him the family's money. Mùi is sent away to become the housekeeper for Khuyên, a young classical pianist and composer, a family friend for whom Mùi has always held a secret love. Her leaving triggers in the mother a profound sense of loss for her 'daughter' and a sense that the old way of life in her country is coming to a permanent end.

In her new house, Mùi must contend with the musician's Westernised fiancée who personifies the artificiality of modern society. Ever more discontented with the insensitivity of his fiancée, Khuyên sees Mùi with fresh eyes and becomes aware of how much she embodies the traditional values that are missing in his life. As he picks up a bust of Buddha, he realises that the face and the smile of the Buddha are something he has been seeing every day in Mùi. This sudden recognition of her Buddha-nature transforms both their lives.

As she prepares a meal for them both, again we see Mùi cut open a green papaya to reveal inside the immature seeds and we are reminded of the potential of the little girl. Now together, Khuyên teaches Mùi to read and write, which she does diligently, while carefully observing and taking great pleasure in the smallest details of life around her – ever true to both herself and the Buddhist ideal of being in the present moment.

This visually exquisite film with its strong Buddhist theme is itself a meditation. Its rich imagery, symbolism and subtle observations draw us deep within ourselves and remain with us long afterwards.

Out of Africa

A film by Sydney Pollack

Out of Africa follows the life story of Karen Blixen, an amazingly strong-willed woman who moves from Denmark to run a coffee plantation with her philandering husband in Kenya around 1914. To her astonishment she soon discovers herself falling in love with the land, its people and a mysterious British adventurer and idealist.

Karen Blixen is the daughter of a wealthy Danish family. When Hans, the man she expects to marry is no longer interested in her, she proposes to his twin brother Bror, both for his friendship and for the title of Baroness, and since she has money he agrees. It is decided they will buy land in Kenya and start a dairy farm. Karen follows Bror out to Kenya where they marry and take up residence but she then finds that her husband has decided on his own to grow coffee instead, even though the land they have purchased is considered too high to support this crop.

When the First World War breaks out and most of the men go south to Lake Natron, Karen leads a long and dangerous supply run to them herself. Learning much about survival, resourcefulness and leadership, she also gains the respect of the men. Her marriage, considered merely one of convenience by Bror, is put to the test when he has other relationships, eventually transmitting syphilis to Karen. After the diagnosis she leaves for Denmark, returning to the farm after a successful though lengthy period of treatment. She decides that Bror must move out for good, which he does, returning only to solicit one last sum of money from her.

Karen continues to develop the coffee plantation, enlisting the local Kukuyu to work on the farm. Eventually much of the tribe is employed by her and she provides them with some of the uncultivated land on which to live. She also builds a school and hires a missionary teacher to educate the children, despite the disapproval of both the tribal chief and many of the English settlers. As a result, she gains a greater understanding of African culture which brings a mutual respect and affection.

Eventually Bror wants to remarry and Karen consents to a divorce. Her long friendship with Denys Finch Hatton, a free-spirited big game hunter, begins to blossom as they are drawn to each other and Karen falls in love with him. He is honest and loyal but lives an independent life of adventure in the wilderness and while Karen wishes for the security of marriage, Denys tells her that he can never give up his freedom – she feels herself to be the one who must pay the price for his freedom.

The coffee plantation is still only barely surviving as she is forced to mortgage it further, but just as success is within her grasp with a first bumper crop, a fire devastates the processing buildings and the entire crop is lost. Having no insurance Karen faces bankrupcy, loses her home and land to the bank, and is forced to sell her remaining personal possessions.

A few days before she is due to leave, Denys appears and offers to fly her in his plane to Mombassa from where she will sail to Denmark. Before he returns for her he is tragically killed when the plane crashes and catches fire. She buries his body on the eastern slopes of the hills overlooking the Great Rift Valley. Her home and lover gone, her life in Africa is over and she leaves, never to return. "I once had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills."

Karen Blixen returned to Denmark and went on to write a number of books about her adventures in Africa under the pseudonym Izak Dineson.

Gosford Park

A film by Robert Altman

It is November 1932. Gosford Park is the magnificent country estate to which Sir William McCordle and his wife, Lady Sylvia, gather relations and friends for a weekend shooting party. They have invited an eclectic group. As the guests assemble in the gilded drawing rooms above, their personal maids and valets swell the ranks of the house servants in the teeming kitchens and corridors below-stairs. But all is not as it seems – neither amongst the bejewelled guests lunching and dining at their enormous leisure, nor in the attic bedrooms and stark work stations where the servants labour for the comfort of their employers. Part comedy of manners and part mystery, the film is finally a moving portrait of events that bridge generations, class, sex, tragic personal history – and culminate in a murder. Or is it two murders...?

Less concerned with the murder mystery, the story is more a brilliant and complex observation of the English aristocracy and their servants in social interaction. Both above and below stairs, many subtle and unsubtle rituals are played out among groups of people who clearly dislike each other but are forced through circumstance, need or employment to observe the fundamental social practices required. At a time of great social change, the wealth and power of the old English ruling classes is slowly disintegrating and this entire family is now wholly reliant upon the wealth of one particularly reluctant patron. A bright new social era is rapidly evolving, one in which new money, represented by Hollywood and popular culture, is making its first advances into their world, now undeniably in terminal decline.

A subtle, sophisticated and very amusing film with impeccable acting, directing and design.

Les destinées sentimentales

A film by Olivier Assayas, adapted from the novel by Jacques Chardonne.

Jean Barnery is a young Protestant pastor living in Barbazac in the Cognac region of France at the beginning of the 20th century. When he learns of his wife Nathalie's infidelity he separates from her, sending her and their young daughter Aline away. At the same time, 20-year-old Pauline Pommerel returns to the village after the death of her father. Jean and Pauline, the independently minded niece of a Cognac distiller, are almost immediately attracted to each other when they first meet at a ball.

Jean divorces the severe and obsessive Nathalie after falling in love with Pauline. He settles his shares in the family's porcelain business in Limoges on Nathalie and their daughter, installing them in an apartment in Paris. He then resigns the ministry and flees a disapproving conservative community.

Bedridden in a Parisian hotel with tuberculosis, Jean is visited during his illness by Pauline. Following his recovery, they marry and establish a new and tranquil life in Switzerland. There, in idyllic surroundings, their love prospers and they start a family of their own. But they have no idea what they must endure in order to stay together for the rest of their lives.

On the death of his father, Jean's family requests he takes over the floundering porcelain business. He feels compelled to accept, ignoring Pauline's wishes and despite predicting the struggle ahead and the strain it will put on their life together. Jean's new responsibilities, their service in the Great War, family rivalry, and modern industrialism are all obstacles that will impact their lives and will determine whether their love is destined to survive the ultimate test of time.

La cérémonie

A film by Claude Chabrol, adapted from the novel A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell.

Georges and Catherine Lelièvre, their daughter Melinda and son Gilles, are a wealthy upper-class family who live in a large, isolated country house in Bretagne. Catherine desperately needs a new housekeeper and takes on Sophie, who seems very suitable, as their live-in maid. The family are all caring people, if a little condescending towards Sophie, who hides behind a cold and unemotional exterior. Within the household she performs her duties very efficiently and is willing to do more than is asked of her, yet in a strangely detached way.

Sophie is quietly independent, spending her free time alone in her room watching television but is uncommunicative and resistant to offers of help from the family members. They become gradually aware of certain difficulties Sophie has in learning anything new, like taking driving lessons, operating machines and reading written instructions; things that Sophie does her best to ignore and to hide from others. Melinda looks upon Sophie as somebody who helps around the house rather than being a domestic servant, telling her that she should not let her father walk over her.

Jeanne works as a clerk in the local post office, an unpleasant and disturbed misfit who hates the Lelièvres and everyone with money. Jeanne befriends the lonely Sophie and begins to bring her out of her shell but in a decidedly negative way, encouraging her to stand up against her bourgeois employers. As the pair begin to bond the family grow increasingly concerned. Sophie becomes insolent towards them as she gains in self-confidence from Jeanne's influence.

Sophie eavesdrops on a telephone conversation Melinda has with Jérémie, her boyfriend, when she tells him that she may be pregnant. Melinda then discovers Sophie's illiteracy and offers to help her learn to read but Sophie responds by threatening to reveal Melinda's pregnancy to the family. However, Melinda, deeply hurt by such unkindness in her present emotional state, decides to tell her parents about the pregnancy herself, and also about Sophie's blackmail threat. As a result Georges convinces Catherine that Sophie must go and so gives her notice.

Jeanne invites Sophie to move into her flat until she finds somewhere else. On their return one evening to the Lelièvres' house to collect Sophie's things, a spiteful game of revenge commences and the already simmering class conflict boils over into unleashed anger with shocking consequences for all. In the final scene we discover how some unforeseen incriminating evidence will eventually lead to Sophie's downfall, but judgement of her is left for us to decide.

A powerful portrait of hatred, manipulation and mistrust – a devastating thriller with a shattering conclusion.