Venue: The British Council, Jalan Bukit Aman, KL
Time: 8 pm
Tuesday 7 April
Citizen Kane
Orson Welles; US, 1941, 119 min., bw.
Few debuts in the history of cinema have been as auspicious as this film, made when Welles was only 25. It broke all the rules and invented some new ones - cliched but true. Its story of a reporter's quest to find the "truth" about the life of a newspaper tycoon closely parallels the life of William Randolph Hearst. The cinematography, music score and screenplay are all stunning, and the film has been considered by many to be the finest ever made in America. Whether this is your first or tenth time, viewing it is a mesmerising experience. With Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, Agnes Moorehead.
Tuesday 14 April
Bandit Queen
Shekhar Kapur; India, 1994, 119 min., col.
An action-packed character study of the notorious female outlaw Phoolan Devi who emerged from a life of poverty and ritual brutalization to be charged with numerous kidnappings, robberies and killings, but yet remains beloved by many of India's poor as a Robin Hood-like legend. A controversial film and a commercial as well as a critical success. With Seema Biswas, Nirmal Pandey, Manoj Bajpai. "There's a searing anger running through the film, at the oppression of women and at the caste system which keeps everyone in place" (Time Out).
Tuesday 21 April
Irma Vep
Olivier Assayas; France, 1996, 96 min., col.
Maggie Cheung plays herself in this striking French production. She comes to Paris to plav Irma Vep the female jewel thief in a remake of the popular silent series Les Vampires directed by Louis Feuillade in 1915-1916. However on the chaotic set, no one seems to take the director seriously, and after several disastrous rushes, it looks as if the whole project is doomed. This is a delirious, erotic and very funny satire on contemporary French cinema from young auteur Assayas. With Jean Pierre Leaud, Nathalie Richard.
