The Engine

From the Director of REVERSAL OF FORTUNE, SINGLE WHITE FEMALE & MAITRESSE TERROR'S ADVOCATE (CERT TBC) (L' Avocat de la terreur) A film by BARBET SCHROEDER OFFICIAL SELECTION - CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2007 LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2007 Starring Jacques Verga France / 2007 / 135 Mins / In French with English Subtitles / Colour / 1:1.85 / DOLBY SR UK RELEASE DATE: 16 MAY 2008 Opening at West End Venues and selected Cinemas nationwide Jacques Verga's the kind of lawyer that people love to hate. Over several decades, he's made a career out of defending some of the most despised figures of our time from anti-colonial bombers in Algeria , to left-wing extremists like Carlos the Jackal and right-wing dictators like Slobodan Milocevic. At the height of his career, he disappeared for an eight-year period and refused to disclose where he had been. Then reappeared to continue where he left off, defending ever-more controversial clients including, Magdalena Kopp, Nazi lieutenant Klaus...

The Boy Can’t Help It , BBC1, 9.00PM, 27.02.02 Tourettes syndrome, as this programme explains, is a neurological illness, as opposed to a psychological one. The difference between the two is that the first is wholly due to a defect of the nervous system, but the second has to do with the mind. Confusing the two is very common, and many have no concept whatsoever of these illnesses, their effects and treatments, except when someone close to them is a sufferer. In the documentary, Greg’s mother draws attention to the popular ignorance about Tourettes Syndrome, by admitting to the fact that she has never heard of the illness before her son became a sufferer. There are overlapping areas of behaviour, and also the definition of ‘inappropriate behaviour’. This lies at the heart of most neurological and psychological problems, (and sometimes ‘improper behaviour’, whenever notions of illness overlap with public morality). The first time this reviewer had heard of this ‘illness’ was in...

KLIMT (2006) dr Raoul Ruiz The artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) is dying in Vienna. Visited by Egon Schiele (1890-1918), a rival competitor but mostly a friend, the narrative of his life and times in Paris and Vienna unfolds. Through the lens we see Klimt´s paintings, Klimt´s women and Klimt´s friends. Klimt is an anguished man, whether painting or fighting in the street. Klimt is distressed, the mirror breaks. The mirror broken revokes both past and present as onlooker and subject are implicated in the destruction of an entire world, the world that preceeded the First World War. A man standing up and fornicating with a woman in the hospital where Klimt is lying in agony. Eins, zwei he cries. A war veteran interrupts a high-society bash to give his personal testament, a front fighter disabled, ranting, but he is ignored. The moments in the film when the illusion of bourgeois comfort are interrupted and another Vienna fills the lense, are the moments that make this incredibly...

ended up at the Riverside Theatre yesterday to see a modern makeover of the Oedipus myth. it was pretty raw stuff, alternately a bit offensive or merely disgusting, naked men parading their bits on stage (I didnt visit the theatre to see that, it was merely thrown in. If I'd wanted to see things like that, well I'd go to a Gay strip joint or something like it), the cast performing pieces of rock n roll singspiele, keeping the plot moving while reciting some banal songs. There were some quite interesting ideas, but they were drowned out by the pretentious or merely silly. Yes there is room to do a modern makeover of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles: no this wasn't it. Riverside Studios, London

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ (ENDLESS) (Cert TBC) (NESFARSIT) A film by Cristian Nemescu Winner ‘Un Certain Regard’ - Cannes Film Festival 2007 Winner Satyajit Ray Award - (at the London Film Festival 2007) Starring Armand Assante, Razvan Vasilescu, Jamie Elman Romania / 2007 / 155 Mins / In English, Romanian, Spanish & Italian with English subtitles / Colour / 1:1.85 Produced by MediaPro Pictures UK RELEASE DATE: 11 APRIL 2008 Opening at selected West End Venues and selected cinemas nationwide US Marine Captain Jones is assigned to escort a train carrying NATO equipment headed for Yugoslavia during the war in Kosovo. His mission is thwarted by Doiaru, apparently a very thorough station master in a godforsaken village, who halts the train over a paperwork technicality. The community makes ridiculous efforts to welcome the Americans, intending to profit from their unexpected presence. The troops join the game - and Doiaru's own daughter has a brief affair with Sgt. McLaren. Tired of wai...