Film Society [ 2011-2012 ]
The Washington Grove 12th Film Series
Sundays in McCathran Hall.
Films start at 7:00 p.m.
5 films for only $20
Send a check for $20, payable to the Town of Washington Grove, to Birgit Henninger, Box 355. Tickets at the door will cost $7. Please support the series and save $3 per ticket by subscribing. A discussion will follow each film.
Flexible Ticketing
If you miss a film, you can still use the ticket. Bring a guest to a subsequent film this season.
The Secret in Their Eyes
October 9, 2011Directed by Juan José Campanella, 2009, Argentina, Spanish with English subtitles, 129 minutes
This 2010 Oscar winner masterfully blends mystery, legal drama, and romance. Moving between 1970s Argentina, when a brutal crime occurred, and 2000, when the case is reopened by an investigator long haunted by it, the film has vivid characters and timeless themes of justice, loss, and the rich attractions of mature love. (This film has momentary violence.)
FREE SPECIAL EVENT
Life in a War Zone:
Montgomery County during the Civil War
October 14, 2011
Montgomery County was in the path of major troop movements during the Civil War. This 60-minute documentary, produced by Heritage Montgomery, recounts the war years locally and features a stirring soundtrack by the Washington Revels. Washington Grove's own Peggy Erickson, executive director of Heritage Montgomery, will join us for a discussion after the screening. Tickets are not required. Children are very welcome, but be advised that the film includes battlefield pictures of dead and injured soldiers that may be disturbing.
Shower
November 13, 2011Directed by Yang Zhang, 1999, China, Mandarin with English subtitles, 92 minutes
Da Ming's brother tricks him into going home to Beijing, where his aging father still runs the family's bathhouse. He finds himself caught between two worlds: the decaying district of his childhood and the booming south where he now lives with a wife who has yet to meet his family.
At 7:00 p.m., preceding Shower, we will screen a 25-minute film, produced by our town's own Adam Booher. Tickets are not required to see Forever Humbled, which documents the calm, positive spirit of people who helped one another cope with the devastation in Tuscaloosa after last April's tornado.
Shane
January 15, 2012Directed by George Stevens, 1953, US, 118 minutes
An almost mythical, classic Western, Shane is a moving tale of loyalty, courage, honor, and hero worship. Alan Ladd stars as the mysterious gunfighter who settles with a frontier family and is reluctantly drawn into a conflict between ranchers and homesteaders. Don't miss the stunning photography, Wyoming locations, and young Brandon de Wilde plaintively calling for "Shane!"
Departures (Okuribito)
February 12, 2012Directed by Yôjirô Takita, 2008, Japan, Japanese with English subtitles, 130 minutes
In 2009, Okuribito swept the Japanese Academy Awards and won the Oscar for best foreign language film. An unemployed cellist returns to his hometown in the north of Japan, falling into an unlikely job as a nokanshi, one who ceremonially prepares bodies for burial. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers joy and meaning in life.
Adaptation
March 11, 2012Directed by Spike Jonze, 2002, US, 115 minutes
Fiction and nonfiction tangle in Charlie Kaufman's mind-bending comedy about a screenwriter named Charlie Kaufman, who, desperate with writer's block, stoops to using trite and sensational plot devices. Nicholas Cage plays both Kaufman and his twin brother, Meryl Streep has a steamy role as an author involved with her subject, and Chris Cooper plays the wily real-life character John Laroche, who was arrested in 1994 for poaching the endangered "ghost orchid".
The Washington Grove Film Society purchases public performance rights from movie distributors for all of our screenings. The film series is supported by your subscription purchases and by the Town of Washington Grove Recreation Committee.
In response to audience requests, all films are shown with English subtitles.
