CLC hosts fall international film series
Four international films will be presented for free on Friday nights this fall by the College of Lake County Center for International Education. The films begin at 7 p.m. in room A162 (Anderson lecture hall) on the CLC Grayslake Campus, 19351 W. Washington St.
The films are: “My Joy” (Russia, 2011) on Sept. 13, “The Robber” (Austria/Germany, 2010) on Oct. 11, “Holy Motors” (France, 2012) on Nov. 8 and “Tony Manero” (Chile, 2008) on Dec. 6. The films have subtitles when necessary, include adult content and are not suitable for children.
“My Joy” (Russia, 2011) on Sept. 13. Variety likened it to “an extended episode of 'The Twilight Zone.'” Sight and Sound called it “Russia's answer to 'Deliverance.'” Others have invoked Kafka and eastern European folk tales in describing this surreal depiction of a young truck driver's many detours through a violent, dehumanized post-Communist Russia (the title is meant ironically.) Bleak, nightmarish content is expressed through precise, naturalistic style. The cinematographer, Oleg Mutu, also shot the brilliant “Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days.”
“The Robber” (Austria/Germany, 2010) on Oct. 11 is based on a legendary true-crime story. Johann Kastenberger, an accomplished runner who won several marathons in his native Austria, also robbed several banks in broad daylight. The film adaptation of this notorious case offers a stylish meditation on human compulsion in the tradition of “Vanishing Point,” “Drive” and the films of Michael Mann. The Village Voice called this “a nimble, dynamic character study of a fiercely guarded loner on the run.”
“Holy Motors” (France, 2012) on Nov. 8. This film is a rhapsodic, glorious tribute to performance, music, cinema and ultimately, life itself. The Guardian called it “something different, experimental, a tilting at windmills, a great big pole-vault over the barrier of normality by someone who feels that the possibilities of cinema have not been exhausted by conventional realist drama.” This film is being shown as part of CLC French Week events.
“Tony Manero” (Chile, 2008) on Dec. 6. In the early years of Chilean President Augusto Pinochet's rule, a middle-aged man is obsessed with impersonating, even becoming, John Travolta's character from the film “Saturday Night Fever.” Practicing dance moves and emulating the costume, Raul trains for a televised variety show contest, blocking out the social repression around him. The New York Times called it “an indelible portrait of a sociopath with the soul of a zombie [and] an extremely dark meditation on borrowed cultural identity.”
For more information, contact Chris Cooling, CLC film instructor, at (847) 543-2623.