Set during the cultural revolution in China we follow two urbane young men after they are dismissed to a remote, but beautiful, mountainous corner of the country to re-learn the basic tenets of Chairman Mao's communist ideology. At first depressed by their predicament, the two lads soon perk up when they come across a hidden selection of western literature, a find they eagerly share with the curious and beguiling local seamstress. They also survive by telling stories, making music and pulling te find out more...

Dickens classic novel is updated and shifted to modern America in this admirable adaptation by Mexican director Cuaron. Seen through the eyes of the grown-up Finn (Ethan Hawke), the story kicks off in 1970s Florida, with the orphan fatefully bumping into an escaped convict (Robert De Niro), and meeting the love of his life Estella (Paltrow), niece of batty old Anne Bancroft. Ten years later, the now successful Finn inhabits the elite New York art world, aided by his mystery benefactor, and conti find out more...

An intelligent, thoughtful, highly engaging biopic of Harvey Milk, the San Francisco based idealist, who became the first openly gay activist to run for political office in the US. Before his assassination Milk was a leading cog in the battle for civil rights for the gay community, as in the 1978 fight against Proposition 6, which could have banned gay and lesbian individuals from teaching in schools. The story may have been a terriby tragedy, but the tone of the movie is upbeat and vibrant, Gus find out more...

Firecracker Eliane arrives in a French village setting all the manhood on edge. But what seems like it might be a modern day bodice ripper turns to a more complex tale of betrayal and exploitation is it turns out that Eliane is not here to romance, but to track down and take revenge on the man who raped her mother years before. find out more...

A wonderful tale of a girl's passage from childhood to adulthood, a time that coincided with the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and his replacement by the tyranny of a fundamentalist theocracy. find out more...

Gogol is a very strange name and somewhat of an embarrassment, as are his parents with their strange sub-continental ways, to a first generation Bengali American, but it is a name that will have relevance to his struggle to forge a personal identity. This charming film spans over three decades from the first fumbles of a successful arranged middle-class Calcutta marriage, through pain and gain, to a slow integration into an American immigrant identity. Not quite an epic, but a heart-warming tale find out more...

A retired legal counsellor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior, both of which still haunt him decades later. The central performance by Ricardo Darin is a highlight of the film, counterbalancing its dark plot of catharsis and revenge with a beguiling warmth and humanity.
Winner of the 2010 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, beating stiff, and arguably superior, competition from Haneke’s ‘The White R find out more...

A sublime film about the nature of loneliness told through the experience of the eponymous Tony Takitani. Brought up by his musician father, Tony lives a socially secluded life until he meets and falls in love with Eiko, a fashion-obsessed fitty, and the intimacy he shares with her is both tender and, ultimately, tragic. A remarkable film, meditatively paced, touchingly sincere with a fascinating aesthetic style, and the soundtrack is measured and judged to perfection. A deeply humane effort fro find out more...