Wednesday, September 10, 2 pm and 7:30 pm
The Visitor (PG)

(USA, 2007; 103 minutes)

  A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment. The latest film from writer/director Thomas McCarthy (The Station Agent) cuts across one of the West's most contentious political issues without ever getting political, in an elegant and unassuming way. Featuring a terrific performance from Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) as a man awakened to a new life.

"'Visitor' tilts toward the soulful rather than the political, and could be this year's humanistic indie hit." -- John Anderson, Variety

  Visually stunning, this documentary by Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang is part travelogue, part social critique of China's economic miracle and the cultural changes it is forcing in its wake.

"If the title 'Up the Yangtze!' suggests 'up a creek!,' it's no coincidence. China's Three Gorges Dam is considered by many experts to be a full-steam-ahead eco-disaster, but helmer Yung Chang's gorgeous meditation is more concerned with the project's collateral human damage: old farmers evicted, young people in servitude to Western tourists, all brought about by an endeavor whose collective weight may ultimately tilt the Earth's axis. A gloriously cinematic doc of epic, poetic sadness, 'Yangtze' should be a hit on the specialized circuit and could break out, thanks to its embrace of irony rather than righteous indignation." -- John Anderson, Variety

Wednesday, October 8, 2 pm and 7:30 pm
The Edge of Heaven
Auf der anderen Seite (14A)

(Germany/Turkey, 2007; 122 minutes; English subtitles)

BEST SCREENPLAY, CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

  As the narrative travels across space and time, in Istanbul and Germany, the characters are connected but don't connect with each other. Loneliness, loss and capricious love guide the fortunes of three families in this powerful, beautifully realized drama from writer/director Fatih Akin.

"There's a shadow of Kieslowski (especially of his 'Three Colors' trilogy) in the way 'The Edge of Heaven' interweaves multiple points-of-view and coincidence. Perhaps most refreshing of all - even more welcome than a story that can boast substance over style - is the film's sense of unpredictability. Finally, a movie in which the viewer can't guess what's coming next." -- James Berardinelli, Reel Views

* * * * -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  Sensitively adapted from Anne Michaels' luminous novel, it is a poetic and emotionally charged film about love, loss and redemption in World War II Poland. Directed by Jeremy Podeswa (The Five Senses).

"Podeswa uses his time-shifting narrative to illustrate how the past can inform and sculpt the present. This isn't all there is to appreciate about Fugitive Pieces, which treats its material -- and consequently its audience -- with uncommon intelligence and grace."
* * * ½ -- Kevin Williamson, Jam! Movies

  The much-anticipated first feature from Toronto writer/director Deepa Mehta since her Oscar-nominated Water. Bollywood superstar and Indian supermodel Preity Zinta stars as a Punjabi bride living in Brampton, whose life changes over the course of seven days.

CLICK HERE to read QFA's one-on-one interview with Director Deepa Mehta on her inspiration, casting, and why she loves the Quinte Mall!

  Forty years after their collaboration Closely Watched Trains won the Oscar for best foreign-language film, director Jiri Menzel has adapted another novel by the late Bohumil Hrabal, this one about the rapid rise of an opportunistic waiter in 1930s Prague. Mixing social commentary with exuberant charm, it balances its often harsh subject matter with a delightfully audacious tone to create a larger-than-life black comedy.

"A saga of opportunism, identity, money, sex and, of course, beer. And sex.... There's nothing lecherous about the parade of beautiful women on view, all of whom are photographed as lovingly as the beer." -- Eddie Cockrell, Variety

  Acclaimed director Mike Leigh employs the powerful writer-director combination that he employed in such QFA favourites as Topsy-Turvy (1999), Career Girls (1997) and Secrets & Lies (1996). It is a marked departure from his 2004 work Vera Drake, stating that he wanted this film to be "anti-miserablist." Here Leigh gives us a look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy (Sally Hawkins, Persuasion), a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her. Check out the performance that's already building Oscar buzz.

  The chemistry between the two lead actresses, and brilliantly nuanced performances, have met with critical acclaim. Hunt packs her film with visual detail and maintains the tension as events escalate and the complications mount. "Frozen River" bids to find a popular niche among audiences who like films that are special as opposed to Hollywood juggernauts.

* * * * -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"Let 'Frozen River' wash over you; let its bracing drama and the intensity of its acting restore your spirits as well as your faith in American independent film." -- Kenneth Turan, LA Times

  After his entire department is outsourced, an American novelty products salesman named Todd (Josh Hamilton) heads to India to train his replacement. A stranger in a strange and vibrant land, Todd struggles to help low-paid call centre employees understand "selling kitsch to rednecks," and get customer calls down from 12 minutes per call. He gets lessons in culture from the beautiful Asha (Ayesha Dharker), and romance blossoms.

"Smart enough to eschew character quirkiness in favor of location flavor, letting the environment set the pace and dictate the relationship. A tremendously genial screen presence who manages to portray both puzzlement and proficiency, New York stage vet Hamilton is perfect [as] a stranger in a strange land who surprises himself with his own adaptability. The troubled protagonist of 'The Terrorist' and Queen Jamillia in 'Star Wars: Episode II' Dharker now proves herself equally adept at light romantic comedy as the capable, passionate Asha. The chemistry between the two is natural and unforced." -- Eddie Cockrell, Variety

"In a time when the word 'chemistry' is lightly bandied about, what they generate is the real thing. As in most Indian movies, there is no explicit sex, but because this is a U.S. production, there is some kissing and waking up together under the sheets, and wow, it beats anything in the Kama Sutra." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times