This month on Rialto Channel the Director’s Series celebrates the work of British filmmaker Stephen Frears. Prick up Your Ears, The Hit and Cheri all screen in the Sunday evening slot, along with one of his most successful films of late, The Queen. Helen Mirren is superb, and regardless of whether you’re watching this film for the first, second or third time this Dame will keep you captivated.
This month on Rialto Channel the Director’s Series celebrates the work of British filmmaker Stephen Frears. Prick up Your Ears, The Hit and Cheri all screen in the Sunday evening slot, along with one of his most successful films of late, The Queen. Helen Mirren is superb, and regardless of whether you’re watching this film for the first, second or third time this Dame will keep you captivated.
Here are a few other highlights for the week:
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin and Antonia Banderas
Directed by Woody Allen
Premieres Saturday 18th January, 8.30pm
Woody Allen is one of the most prolific American directors of his generation, writing, directing and, more often than not, starring in a film almost every year since 1969. His 2010 offering You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is filled with relationships in jeopardy. Sally (Watts) is fast becoming disillusioned with her author husband (Brolin) who is struggling to follow-up the success of his debut novel. Sally’s father is suffering a midlife crisis and has left her mother for a much, much younger fiancée, while her mother has become completely dependent on a psychic everyone knows is a phoney. This comedy/drama, with one of two twists along the way, is filled with the usual Allen narcissist characters, spitting out bitingly honest lines about their lives and those around them.
Starring Jules Sitruk and Medhi Dehbi
Directed by Lorraine Lévy
Premieres Tuesday 14th January, 8.30pm
Remote record here.
An Israeli film directed by French filmmaker Lorraine Lévy, this family drama is set against the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Two young men discover they were accidentally swapped at birth during the 1991 Gulf War. What makes this discovery even more devastating is one family is Jewish and lives in Tel Aviv, while the other is Palestinian and lives in the West Bank. The conflict and emotion the families must deal with feels at times insurmountable, but with very good, genuine performances and an emphasis on humanity rather than politics, Lévy present us with a moving, compelling story about identity in present day Israel and Palestine.
Starring Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell
Directed by Stephen Frears
Screening Sunday 19th January, 8.30pm
The dream team is at work here. Screenwriter Peter Morgan, director Stephen Frears and much-lauded actress Helen Mirren come together to tackle a very risky subject – the English Royal Family. As we’ve seen recently with Diana, making a film about the Royal family is a fraught proposition, but with Helen Mirren in the role of Queen Elizabeth II and Michael Sheen as Prime Minister Tony Blair it comes together beautifully. The Queen gives us a glimpse into the workings of the monarchy and the Queen’s struggle to deal with the death of Princess Diana, while also being a highly entertaining and dignified drama filled with wit, warm intelligence and pathos. A wonderful way to end the week.