Films & Schedules - Literature

Von Trotta’s film is an intelligent and powerful dramatization of the life of the philosopher and writer Hannah Arendt, whose The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) made her famous in philosophical circles before her controversial chronicle in The New Yorker of Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial for war crimes shot her to broader international celebrity. Focusing on the Eichmann era, Barbara Sukowa perfectly embodies the academic Arendt, who observes that it is the ordinariness of Eichmann (“He looks like a nobody”) that leads her to fashion her most startling concept—the “banality of evil”—while her reporting on collaborating German Jews causes a...

Von Trotta’s film is an intelligent and powerful dramatization of the life of the philosopher and writer Hannah Arendt, whose The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) made her famous in philosophical circles before her controversial chronicle in The New Yorker of Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial for war crimes shot her to broader international celebrity. Focusing on the Eichmann era, Barbara Sukowa perfectly embodies the academic Arendt, who observes that it is the ordinariness of Eichmann (“He looks like a nobody”) that leads her to fashion her most startling concept—the “banality of evil”—while her reporting on collaborating German Jews causes a firestorm of protest. “What could have been a dry, intellectually ponderous film is given flesh and blood, resulting in a drama that is both stirring and emotionally rewarding.”—London Film Festival (113 mins.)

Selected Filmography: The Second Awakening of Christa Klages (78), Sister, or The Balance of Happiness (79), Rosa Luxemburg (86), The Promise (95), Rosenstrasse (03)

Sponsored by Zeitgeist Northwest.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: Narrative Feature, German Language, History, Literature.

Adapted from the novel by Vasili Bykov, Loznitsa’s film is a sobering meditation on the complicated moral decisions faced by both soldiers and citizens during wartime. Set in Nazi-occupied Belarus, the story begins with the hanging of three villagers for conspiring against their German oppressors. Later, Sushenya—a man spared by the Germans—is visited by two resistance fighters who intend to execute him for presumed collaboration with the Nazis. But their plan is interrupted by enemy fire and all three men become unwilling companions on an evasive trek through the forest. Through flashbacks, Loznitsa closely examines how each of the men...

Adapted from the novel by Vasili Bykov, Loznitsa’s film is a sobering meditation on the complicated moral decisions faced by both soldiers and citizens during wartime. Set in Nazi-occupied Belarus, the story begins with the hanging of three villagers for conspiring against their German oppressors. Later, Sushenya—a man spared by the Germans—is visited by two resistance fighters who intend to execute him for presumed collaboration with the Nazis. But their plan is interrupted by enemy fire and all three men become unwilling companions on an evasive trek through the forest. Through flashbacks, Loznitsa closely examines how each of the men reached this point in the chaos of war and their different responses. “An intense, slow-burning, and haunting drama [...] shrouded in the fog of war, the fog of fear, and the fathomless fog of European history.”—The Guardian (127 mins.)

Selected Filmography: My Joy (10)

FILM REVIEW

Interests: Narrative Feature, History, Literature.

Thor Heyerdahl’s intrepid 1947 journey across the Pacific on a primitive raft, made famous by his own book and documentary, comes alive in this spirited, visually dazzling epic. Ethnographer Heyerdahl (who couldn’t swim and had never sailed!), along with a motley crew, constructs a hemp and balsa wood raft inspired by the pre-Columbian Incas as a means of proving his theory that the Polynesian Islands were settled by South Americans crossing the 4,000-mile Pacific. What follows is the Peru-to-Polynesia excursion, which co-directors Rønning and Sandberg—employing a crew of hundreds and technological magic—fill with high-seas adventure and nail-biting suspense, set against...

Thor Heyerdahl’s intrepid 1947 journey across the Pacific on a primitive raft, made famous by his own book and documentary, comes alive in this spirited, visually dazzling epic. Ethnographer Heyerdahl (who couldn’t swim and had never sailed!), along with a motley crew, constructs a hemp and balsa wood raft inspired by the pre-Columbian Incas as a means of proving his theory that the Polynesian Islands were settled by South Americans crossing the 4,000-mile Pacific. What follows is the Peru-to-Polynesia excursion, which co-directors Rønning and Sandberg—employing a crew of hundreds and technological magic—fill with high-seas adventure and nail-biting suspense, set against majestic cinematography and the vastness of the ocean. (118 mins.)

Selected Filmography: Bandidas (06), Max Manus: Man of War (08)

This year’s Norwegian submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Sponsored by the Norwegian Consulate General, San Francisco.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: Oscar Submissions, Narrative Feature, History, Literature.

Based on the children’s book by Taiwanese illustrator Jimmy Liao, the gentle Starry Starry Night follows the intersecting lives of inward 13-year-old Mei, who’s coping with the death of her grandfather and her parents’ crumbling marriage, and shy Jay, who endures a rootless existence caused by his abusive father. When Mei falls in love with Jay, a recent transfer student at her school, she finds solace from her troubles and begins a journey to find the missing parts of her troubled life. Venturing into the starry night, Mei and Jay set off on a romantic, perilous trip into the mountainous...

Based on the children’s book by Taiwanese illustrator Jimmy Liao, the gentle Starry Starry Night follows the intersecting lives of inward 13-year-old Mei, who’s coping with the death of her grandfather and her parents’ crumbling marriage, and shy Jay, who endures a rootless existence caused by his abusive father. When Mei falls in love with Jay, a recent transfer student at her school, she finds solace from her troubles and begins a journey to find the missing parts of her troubled life. Venturing into the starry night, Mei and Jay set off on a romantic, perilous trip into the mountainous wilderness to find her grandparents’ cottage, a place of comforting memories, and destinations further. “A charming bit of whimsy that speaks to anyone who experienced a sense of emotional injustice during their formative years.”—Slant (99 mins.)

Selected Filmography: Winds of September (08)

Sponsored by Steven Smith Teamaker.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: Narrative Feature, Asian, Literature.