Light House Film Club

Director: Cristian Mungiu

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 53 mins - Romanian with subtitles

This gripping portrayal of life in Communist Romania, spans 24 claustrophobic hours during which Marinca (Anamaria Marinca) tries to arrange an illegal abortion for her fellow student (Laura Vasiliu) on the black market.  In and of itself the story is grim but director Cristian Mungiu has done more than touch our senses with the harrowing aspects of abortion. For, in following the lengths to which Marinca must go to ensure that the abortion proceeds, we get a warts and all impression of life under communism.

At no time does the pace flag and as the story unfolds your mind races forward speculating at what might happen.  Were this film to have been made in Hollywood, it is likely that it would have taken an entirely different route to the one which we see, which is much more grounded and all the better for it. Of particular interest is the contrasting impact which the abortion has on the emotions of the two girls.

You cannot fail to be moved by this film which won the Palme d’Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Whether you enjoy it, is another matter.   

Rating: 4/5

CA   

Director: Mike Nichols

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hrs 42mins

Afghanistan must wonder what it has done to garner all this attention. First we had The Kite Runner and now Charlie Wilson’s War, the true story of how a playboy congressman, a renegade CIA agent and a beautiful Houston Socialite combined to mount the most successful covert operation in US history. It was this effort that helped to bring about the fall of the Soviet Union and an the end of the Cold War.

In essence the film follows how Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) and Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) used their influence in Washington to ensure that money and arms were diverted to the mujaheddin in Afghanistan something which, prior to their involvement, the CIA and the US Embassy in Pakistan had been reluctant to do. Hanks and Roberts give workmanlike rather than inspired performances and as a consequence the film never really comes alive. Part of the reason for this is Aaron Sorkin’s script which struggles to create an enthralling narrative admittedly from complex political material. It is therefore left to Philip Seymour Hoffman, the gruff CIA agent, to provide the real entertainment. The scene where he first meets Wilson, which happens to coincide with the latter hearing that he’s about to be investigated for cocaine use, is delightful.

Whilst the film is not top draw, it remains an engaging tale particularly since NATO’s current travails in Afghanistan are as a direct consequence of the aftermath of the defeat of the Soviets. You might say the biter bit.

Rating: 3/5

CA