PRESS RELEASE
CINEMA AT THE DUKES FOR JUNE 2000
The Dukes continues its packed cinema programme for spring and summer with more top quality, diverse and sophisticated films. A sample of the films coming up include Mansfield Park (15), The English Patient (15) Seven Samourai (PG) and Love’s Labours Lost (U). There are also extracurricular film activities such as the film quiz on Sunday 11th June at 8.15pm and the film day schools on Saturday 3rd June on Japanese Cinema and Saturday 17th June on Andrei Tarkovsky, the Russian film director. For full details call the Box Office on 01524 66645, Mon Sat 10am 8pm.
Sunshine (15) Thu 1st Sat 3rd June
A stunning family epic spanning three generations, Sunshine features illicit love, passions and betrayals all set against the backdrop of the first half of the twentieth century, ending in political turmoil and the Holocaust. Sunshine stars Ralph Fiennes and William Hurt.
Mansfield Park (15) Tues 30th Fri 2nd June
Probably the most overtly erotic of the Jane Austen adaptations to date. The Canadian director, Patricia Rozema, dismisses the purist approach and offers us a smarter, more contemporary twist by using modern terminology and strong feminist overtones. Frances O’Connor’s Fanny Bryce is vivacious and artistic, not the Fanny of the novel - which makes the film witty, sharp and less genteel than the book!
The English Patient (15) Sat 3rd June 7.45pm
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Kristen Scott- Thomas, Juliette Binoche and Willem Dafoe. The Dukes welcomes back one of the most glorious and moving literary trips to the big screen. The English Patient has proved very popular with Dukes filmgoers. See it on the big screen to fully enjoy the panaromic, sweeping cinematography.
Seven Samourai (PG) Sun 4th June 6.45pm
Kurosawa’s masterpiece, which has influenced many a western (The Magnificent Seven for one), tells of seven impoverished Samourai as they defend a dirt poor village from bandits in medieval Japan. It is a painterly work but has all the excitement of a Hollywood action movie.
(Film Education Event: Classic Japanese Cinema and its Images, Sat. 3rd June
11am 5pm. Led by Tim Young.)
Holy Smoke (18) Mon 5th Thurs 8th June
From the director of The Piano and Portrait of a Lady comes this highly charged account of a young Australian woman who is back-packing around India. On her travels she becomes embroiled in a rather unsavoury cult. Cult buster Harvey Keitel is employed by her family to sort it out and there is a resulting head on battle between him and the young woman, played by Kate Winslet.
Sweetie (15) Mon 5th June 8.30pm
A bitter- sweet tale of two Australian sisters. Sweetie is Jane Campion’s debut feature made in 1989. The two sisters, one slim and nervous and the other fat and emotional, both battle it out over life, parents, boyfriends and each other. Sweetie is funny and poignant.
Million Dollar Hotel (18) Tues 6th Wed 7th June
Directed by Wim Wenders and co-produced by Bono from U2, this is about a weird investigation into a group of forsaken characters who live in LA’s Million Dollar Hotel, originally a proud place that has now fallen on hard times. Mel Gibson stars as an FBI agent investigating a death at the hotel and finds much more than he bargained for. This film features a soundtrack with new music from U2 and Brian Eno.
Love’s Labours Lost (U) Thur 8th Fri 9th June
Branagh gives Shakespeare a new and inventive twist by setting Love’s Labours Lost in the Golden Age of Hollywood and turning it into a all singing, all dancing musical. Starring Branagh himself, Alicia Silverstone, Timothy Spall and Richard Briers this film is a fast paced romp and features the music of Cole Porter.
Ghost Dog (15) Fri 9th Sat 17th June
Ghost Dog hails a mini-season of Jim Jarmusch films that show him to be a brilliant, daring and compelling director (Ghost Dog, Dead Man and Night on Earth). Eastern philosophy, hip-hop jazz and movie myths all go into re-inventing Ghost Dog as a gangster film. Ghost Dog is a mafia assassin who lives on the rooftops following the austere codes of Hagakure followed by the Samourai.
Dead Man (15) Sat 10th June 6.00pm
This has the weirdest plot of any Western and features a brilliant cast. Johnny Depp plays a clerk called William Blake who is taken up by an Indian who believes Depp is the visionary English poet of the same name. They go off into the American wilderness to make peace with nature. Starring Robert Mitchum, Gabriel Byrne and John Hurt, Dead Man also features superb cinematography and music from Neil Young.
Night on Earth (15) Tues 13th June 8.30pm
Night on Earth features five cities in each Jarmusch explores taxi rides taken at exactly the same time. Scored to music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, this is a dry comedy that makes it very clear that in real life there is no obvious plot and that our destinations are always uncertain. Starring Winona Ryder and Gena Rowlands.
Schizopolis (18) Wed 14th June 8.30pm
A genuine underground, micro budget comedy that satirises the media and big corporate culture in a series of arcane sketches. Schizopolis takes swipes at New Age religions, green politics and male paranoia with great effect. This is a rare opportunity to see this gem of a film. Directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Erin Brokovich (15) Thurs 15th Sun 18th June
The latest film from Soderbergh who recently directed Out of Sight and The Limey. This is the story of a single mother, played by Julia Roberts who becomes an unlikely heroine in a law suit against a major utilities company who has no choice but to be defiant and strong in the circumstances. Erin Brokovich is based on a true story.
Andrei Rublev (12) Mon 19th June 7.30pm
Andrei Rublev is a 15th century Russian icon painter. This is an epic tale set against the turbulent history and Tartar invasions of the time. Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky this film includes stunning imagery and cinematography. ( Film Education Event: Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian Artist Sat 17th June 11am 5pm. Led by Tim Young)
Cradle Will Rock (15) Tues 20th Thurs 22nd June
Tim Robbins is the director and Susan Sarandon star in this liberal, leftwing movie that tells the fascinating tale of an aborted theatre production in New York in the 1930s. With a starstudded cast Cradle Will Rock tells how originally the play was designed to highlight repression in thirties America but was then victimised by the government and the actors’ union. With Vanessa Redgrave, Emily Watson and John Cusack.
The Magnificent Ambersons (U) Tues 20th June 8.45pm
Superbly directed by Orson Welles, The Magnificent Ambersons tells of the passing of a family dynasty with long takes and deep focus photography. It remains an artistic triumph that deserves viewing on the big screen.
Pusher (18) Wed 21st June 6.00pm
Modern European cinema influenced by Scorsese, this thriller is a visceral, stunning and well composed film. A story of drug running and mafia involvement where, naturally, everything goes wrong and violence ensues. Pusher is set to a death metal soundtrack to add to the hell that unfurls on screen.
Bleeder (18) Thur 22nd Fri 23rd June
From the same director as Pusher, this film is another tale of criminals who are about to crack. The director Nicholas Winding Refn is a precocious and highly intelligent film maker who makes brilliant and inspired films.
The Virgin Suicides (15) Fri 23rd Mon 26th June
Virgin Suicides is directed by Sophia Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford and she creates a visual and atmospheric triumph which tells the tale of middle- class America in the mid 1970s. The five sisters are just beginning to enjoy being sought after teenagers when the youngest commits suicide triggering further tragedy for the family. With Kathleen Turner and James Woods this a brilliant directorial debut for Coppola.
The Cider House Rules (12) Sat 24th June 8.15pm
From the director of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Lasse Hallestrom. The Cider House Rules is a tale of a New England orphan in the 1940s. There is exquisite attention to period detail and it is in essence an adult film about the pains and pleasures of growing up. It features a wonderful Oscar winning performance from Michael Caine.
L’Ennui (18) Mon 26th Tues 27th June
A tale about a restless philosophy professor who is mystified by his wife’s happiness in life. He is bored and listless and the film charts the liaison he begins with a young girl who has been implicated in the death of famous painter. It is an enigmatic tale of obsession and uncontrollable desire.
Sex: The Annabel Chong Story (18) Tues 27th June 8.30pm
Proving that women in porn don’t have to be victims, thick or exploited, this documentary shatters a few illusions. After studying gender studies at university Grace Quek (aka Annabel Chong) decided to become a porn star with intellect and attitude. This film is frank and often hilarious in its debunking of the porn industry.
Of Freaks and Men (18) Wed 28th Thurs 29th June
A film about the Russian pornography industry at the turn of the last century. A period piece that is beautifully composed and shot largely in sepia tones to give it the look of faded and forlorn Victorian pornography. Of Freaks and Men is a stylish, dark film that is both funny and disturbing and is one of the most completely original works of cinema in recent years.
Claire Dolan (18) Fri 30th June Sat 1st July
Claire Dolan is an offbeat film story in which a high price call girl is deeply shocked by her mother’s death and then decides that it is time to get out of the business and have her own baby. She needs to get rid of her pimp first and then find herself a willing father!
A Matter of Life and Death (U) Thu 29th June sat 1st July
This is a new print from the BFI. This classic British gem about a downed airman entering the court of heaven is true cinema magic and will look brilliant on the big screen.
Filmgoers will be please to know that the Dukes has an equally full programme of films planned for July and August too. Programme details out at the end of June.
Ends 12.05.00