'Seraphine', 'Everlasting Moments' worth the ticket
Martin Provost's exquisitely photographed drama 'Seraphine' tells the fact-based story of Seraphine Louis, a primitive painter discovered in 1912 by a German art critic and collector while she worked as a domestic laborer. Yolande Moreau is utterly egoless as the bovine floor scrubber who sees life's beauty all around her, and is driven to capture it in paint, regardless of the cost to her pocketbook and sanity. Flashes of brilliance mesh with lulling stretches in this biographical work. Not rated. 125 minutes. 3½ stars
Facts: At the Music Box, Chicago, and Renaissance Place, Highland Park.
'Everlasting Moments'
The After Hours Film Society presents Jan Troell's inspiring Swedish drama about the power of art to transform a person's life. In 1911 Sweden, Maria (played with transparent clarity by Maria Heiskanen) tries to raise a large family in poverty with an abusively alcoholic husband. When she learns she has a gift for photography - encouraged by a local camera merchant - Maria enriches her life with an eye for capturing everyday beauty. $9 admission ($5 members). Not rated. 131 minutes. 3½ stars
Facts: 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 22, at the Tivoli Theater, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove.
Those (bleeping) words!
Many filmgoers are more upset by foul language in movies than depictions of violence and sex. What use are bad words? Why do they exist? I'll examine the history and purpose of swear words in a lively discussion as part of a Harper College Lifelong Learning class. You gotta register at (847) 925-6300 or go to harpercollege.edu. $50 general admission; $25 for lifelong members.
Facts: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25, Wojcik Center, Room 219, Harper College, Palatine.