|
EDINBURGH SCREENINGS |
ICA
Projects presents ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH, Bookings and Inquiries: 020 7930 3647/ www.ica.org.uk ‘Compelling… always lively and entertaining’ Screen International EDINBURGH
FILM FESTIVAL SCREENINGS (ROSEBUD SECTION): OPENS AT THE ICA FRIDAY 17 SEPTEMBER, 2004 Selected
for Un Certain Regard, Winner Prix de la Jeunesse, Cannes Film Festival,
2004 Brooding
antihero Bulcsú is a down at heel ticket inspector on Bupapest’s
gothic underground railway system, a subterranean kingdom that he inhabits
day and night. Fleeing his troubled past, Bulcsú has joined a not-so-merry
band of hapless and eccentric ticket inspectors, acting as their group
leader. His days are taken up with endless skirmishes with the public
and epic battles with a rival gang of ticket inspectors who patrol the
same train system. The turning point comes when Bulcsú falls in
love with a kind and free-spirited girl who travels the system in a bizarre
mouse outfit. For the first time in years he begins to consider emerging
from his underground world. This becomes a spiritual quest when he is
also forced to face a deadly shadowy figure that is terrorising underground
travellers, plunging his formerly safe haven into crisis. The mythic and
everyday converge in this funny and visually astonishing film. IN CASABLANCA ANGELS DON’T FLY (A Casablanca
Les Anges Ne Volent Pas) ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH, Bookings and Inquiries 02079303647/ www.ica.org.uk OPENS 3 SEPTEMBER 2004 Selected for Critics Week, Cannes 2004 ‘Demonstrates considerable skill and imagination’ Variety This assured debut feature by Mahamed Asli is a gently tragicomic tale of three men who work at a café in Casablanca. Said, Ismail and Ottman work for a pittance, but all nurture dreams of escape and fulfilment. Said is trying to save up money to send home to his expectant wife, Aicha. She has difficulty staying in touch with Said as she doesn't know how to write and has a hard time accessing the village's only telephone. While Ismail is delivering an order he sees a fine pair of new shoes in a shop window and decides he must find a way to buy them, even though the price is far outside his budget. Ottman's pride and joy before he left the village was his fine Arabian stallion. Now that he's gone, his mother wants him to sell the horse so she can pay her bills. Unexpected poetic and comic flourishes and strong performances from the largely non-professional cast, complimented by an authentic Moroccan soundtrack, result in a truly magical watch.
|
i
|