Ipswich Film Society

Ipswich Film Society - 2009/10 Season

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David Clare (Chairman)

A MESSAGE FROM
THE CHAIRMAN

David Clare
CHAIRMAN

If you happen upon this page you are either already members or just curious, in which case let me persuade you to join the Society for the 2009/10 Season, one which boasts an array of fine films from around the world, all for the bargain subscription of �30 for sixteen films.
As often happens, an unintentional trend seems to have established itself and we have a distinctly musical flavour to the season, whether in the titles (Waltz, Sonata) or the subject matter, or just the presence of fine music. We have films handling such issues as homosexuality, war crimes and gluttony, as well as a trio of feel-good movies to bookend the season and provide us with an agreeable Christmas film.
Half the programme is drawn from members� responses to a questionnaire of relatively recent titles, half of which are foreign language. Our members have gone for a discerning selection: on the English language side we have stories of musicians from Ireland (Once) and the Deep South (Honeydripper), hit men turning good guys In Bruges and military men turning bad guys in Berlin (The Good German). The foreign language titles range from the colour and sweep of Sergei Bodrov�s Mongol to the intimate drama of I�ve Loved You So Long and The Edge of Heaven. Finally, eager perhaps to relive the pleasures of Le D�ner de Cons a few years ago, members voted overwhelmingly for Dany Boon�s phenomenally successful comedy, Bienvenue chez les Ch�tis.
The other half of the programme is divided between English language revivals and recent foreign language successes. Among the former we have two very different triumphs of colour cinematography, Meet Me in St Louis and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Both may prove controversial: some may think the Minnelli film over-familiar for a Society choice, but last season�s Some Came Running justifies our revisiting this master stylist, and can there be a more poignant Garland film? Greenaway�s shock fest, on the other hand, will no doubt delight and enrage in equal measure, but he is a figure somewhat neglected nowadays and this is surely the film in which his formal concerns worked most to the service of an affecting personal drama. A triangular story of a different sort comes with Sunday, Bloody Sunday, a reminder of the wonderful Peter Finch and another film from John Schlesinger, whose Billy Liar so delighted us a couple of years ago. Finally, it was felt appropriate to pay tribute to that fine actor Paul Newman who died earlier this year. His trademark drawl fitted him especially for Western roles as well as contemporary southern dramas and we have chosen Hud, which as a modern Western fits neatly into both categories, besides covering environmental issues of very topical concern and affording the actor the challenge of playing one of his least likeable rogues.
The committee�s foreign language choices represent some of the lesser seen films from further afield in world cinema: from Japan there is Tokyo Sonata, a moving study of the effect of redundancy on a family, a subject last seen by members in Time Out. Then we have another angle on joblessness from Uruguay in the form of The Pope�s Toilet, in which our feckless heroes aspire to make a quick peso by providing washroom facilities for the crowds of the faithful during a prospective papal visit. A brace of films from Israel, The Band�s Visit and Waltz with Bashir, is more than justified by that country�s general absence from our programmes and the excellence of these two very different looks at the historic religious and ethnic divides existing in that region.
What happens next? If you would like to join, you can download the Brochure and Application Form for printing or pick up a copy from either the Hollywood Film Theatre, Tourist Information Centre or Ipswich County Library. They will be on display from around the middle of August. Alternatively, please contact Trudi Keeble, Membership Secretary on 01473 787165. Join as promptly as you can to avoid disappointment: we do fill up sometimes.

Membership �30.00 - Student �15.00
Guest �5.00 - Student �2.50
Ipswich Film Society would like to thank Hollywood
Film Theatre for the continued use of the facilities