Kosher nostra
The Israeli film industry is not one of the more notable movers and shakers in that particular genre. But unheralded and unsung it has been quietly getting on with the business of producing some excellent movies. One of the best Israeli films of recent...
The Israeli film industry is not one of the more notable movers and shakers in that particular genre. But unheralded and unsung it has been quietly getting on with the business of producing some excellent movies. One of the best Israeli films of recent years is director Gidi Dar's Ushpizin (The Guests), which will receive a first-run showing at the St James cinema this month.
Ushpizin is set in Jerusalem during the Succoth holiday, a feast to celebrate the gathering of the harvest and a commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. To celebrate, religious Jews erect succah, temporary dwellings, as a reminder of the frailty of human existence. Unexpected guests who arrive during the seven-day holiday are considered a special blessing.
One interesting side aspect of this film is the fact that all the actors playing orthodox Jews were themselves orthodox or Hassidic. The director however is a secular Jew and it is his light touch, and his obvious skill with actors that gave Ushpizin the crossover appeal it achieved in Israel, where it was a huge box-office hit.
Perfume, the story of a murder is set in 18th century France and concerns the misadventures of Jean Baptiste Grenouille, played by Ben Whishaw, who is born with a special gift. He has an extremely sensitive olfactory system, which proves extremely useful in his chosen profession of perfumiere. Sadly he decides to use it for nefarious purposes and ultimately pays the price. Perfume is directed by the German director Tom Tykwer and has in its cast such luminaries as Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman.
Everybody, who was alive at the time, will remember where they were when news of John F. Kennedy's assassination came through, but can the same be said for that of his brother Bobby? Probably not.
Martin Sheen's son Emilio Estevez has made a star-studded recreation of the last days of US attorney general Robert Kennedy, which he has titled Bobby. This younger brother of the late president was campaigning for the presidency himself, when he was shot at close quarters and killed by Sirhan Sirhan, a lone Jordanian assassin in the lobby of a Los Angeles hotel. The so-called curse of the Kennedys had struck again. It seems that practically every A-list actor in LA is in this one, from Anthony Hopkins to Laurence Fishbourne. And - by general consensus - Mr Estevez has made a pretty good movie. It is among those to be screened at the St James cinema this month.
Good Night And Good Luck was the Oscar nominated movie that also marked George Clooney's debut as co-writer and director. It is the story of the journalist Ed Murrow's decision to take on and expose the odious Senator Joseph McCarthy. Senator McCarthy had embarked on a crusade to expose communists and communist sympathisers in US public life and entertainment in the 1950s. Clooney's film has the right blend of revulsion at the senator's behaviour, while never overdoing the support for the crusading Mr Murrow.
Another Hollywood star cutting his teeth in the director's chair is Robert De Niro. He directed the movie The Good Shepherd, from a script by movie veteran Eric Roth.
This film also moves among the shadowy world of covert US politics, but it all takes place some years on from the McCarthy witch hunts. Mr De Niro directs Matt Damon as the CIA agent overseeing the Cuban Bay of Pigs episode. This is a movie pot-boiler, tightly written and confidently directed.
The Return is a supernatural thriller directed by Asif Kapadia and starring Sam Shepard and Sarah Michelle Gellar. It is also on offer at the St James cinema this month.
Three other movies to be shown at St James shortly are firstly: Venus, written by Hanif Kureishi, directed by Roger Michell and with the wonderful Peter O'Toole doing his old codger turn. This was another Oscar nominated performance.
The Hughes' Brothers 2001 film From Hell is also on release at St James. Starring Johnny Depp and the late Ian Richardson, this is a Victorian thriller set in and around Whitechapel in London. One other film to be seen at St James this month is Face the Sun.
All of the films on view at the St James cinema are distributed by KRS.
Ushpizin is set in Jerusalem during the Succoth holiday, a feast to celebrate the gathering of the harvest and a commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. To celebrate, religious Jews erect succah, temporary dwellings, as a reminder of the frailty of human existence. Unexpected guests who arrive during the seven-day holiday are considered a special blessing.
One interesting side aspect of this film is the fact that all the actors playing orthodox Jews were themselves orthodox or Hassidic. The director however is a secular Jew and it is his light touch, and his obvious skill with actors that gave Ushpizin the crossover appeal it achieved in Israel, where it was a huge box-office hit.
Perfume, the story of a murder is set in 18th century France and concerns the misadventures of Jean Baptiste Grenouille, played by Ben Whishaw, who is born with a special gift. He has an extremely sensitive olfactory system, which proves extremely useful in his chosen profession of perfumiere. Sadly he decides to use it for nefarious purposes and ultimately pays the price. Perfume is directed by the German director Tom Tykwer and has in its cast such luminaries as Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman.
Everybody, who was alive at the time, will remember where they were when news of John F. Kennedy's assassination came through, but can the same be said for that of his brother Bobby? Probably not.
Martin Sheen's son Emilio Estevez has made a star-studded recreation of the last days of US attorney general Robert Kennedy, which he has titled Bobby. This younger brother of the late president was campaigning for the presidency himself, when he was shot at close quarters and killed by Sirhan Sirhan, a lone Jordanian assassin in the lobby of a Los Angeles hotel. The so-called curse of the Kennedys had struck again. It seems that practically every A-list actor in LA is in this one, from Anthony Hopkins to Laurence Fishbourne. And - by general consensus - Mr Estevez has made a pretty good movie. It is among those to be screened at the St James cinema this month.
Good Night And Good Luck was the Oscar nominated movie that also marked George Clooney's debut as co-writer and director. It is the story of the journalist Ed Murrow's decision to take on and expose the odious Senator Joseph McCarthy. Senator McCarthy had embarked on a crusade to expose communists and communist sympathisers in US public life and entertainment in the 1950s. Clooney's film has the right blend of revulsion at the senator's behaviour, while never overdoing the support for the crusading Mr Murrow.
Another Hollywood star cutting his teeth in the director's chair is Robert De Niro. He directed the movie The Good Shepherd, from a script by movie veteran Eric Roth.
This film also moves among the shadowy world of covert US politics, but it all takes place some years on from the McCarthy witch hunts. Mr De Niro directs Matt Damon as the CIA agent overseeing the Cuban Bay of Pigs episode. This is a movie pot-boiler, tightly written and confidently directed.
The Return is a supernatural thriller directed by Asif Kapadia and starring Sam Shepard and Sarah Michelle Gellar. It is also on offer at the St James cinema this month.
Three other movies to be shown at St James shortly are firstly: Venus, written by Hanif Kureishi, directed by Roger Michell and with the wonderful Peter O'Toole doing his old codger turn. This was another Oscar nominated performance.
The Hughes' Brothers 2001 film From Hell is also on release at St James. Starring Johnny Depp and the late Ian Richardson, this is a Victorian thriller set in and around Whitechapel in London. One other film to be seen at St James this month is Face the Sun.
All of the films on view at the St James cinema are distributed by KRS.