SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Women's International Film Series Schedule for Spring 2009
The Women's International Film Series 2009 is sponsored by the Mary Behrend Cultural Fund and Student Activity Fee
BLACK BOX (2007) Paul Verhoeven, Netherland
March 30, 2009
Reed Lecture Hall Room 117 @ 7:00 p.m.
Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book, set in 1944, is a thriller about the Dutch underground based on true events. The story follows Jewish singer named Rachel Stein (Carice Van Houten) who after her family is brutally slain, joins the resistance movement. On assignment, she encounters German general Ludwig Muntze (Sebastian Koch) with whom she begins an affair. Verhoeven is not afraid to criticize his fellow countrymen, asking some uncomfortable questions about the similarities of the behavior of the resistance fighters and that of the Nazis.
THE FLOWER OF EVIL (2003) Claude Chabrol, France
April 6, 2009
Reed Lecture Hall Room 117 @ 7:00 p.m.
Claude Chabrol’s The Flower of Evil is about the impact of the past on the present for a family – but, in Chabrol’s case, also for a nation. Francois (Benoit Magimel) returns home to the picture-perfect Bordeaux chateau of the family from a 3-year stay in the US. He quickly rekindles a romance with his cousin Michele (Melanie Doutey). His mother Anne (Natalie Baye) is stirring up a controversy by running for public office. When a slanderous letter appears in the newspaper revealing family indiscretions - incest, adultery, murder and even war crimes – the family remains in denial of any wrongdoing. Elderly Aunt Line (Suzanne Flon) is brilliant as the keeper of family secrets.
HOUSE OF SAND (2006) Andrucha Waddington, Brazil
April 13, 2009
Reed Lecture Hall Room 117 @ 7:00 p.m.
Andrucha Waddington’s saga House of Sand is situated in the remote barren desert of northern Brazil. The place seems to be situated on a different planet, the memory of a dream. The filmmaker uses this labyrinth of sand in Maranhao, northern Brazil, to tell a multigenerational tale of love and loss, roots and restlessness, but most significantly, the changing dynamics of mother-daughter relationships. The two actresses (Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro) – real-life mother and daughter – assume different roles as the story unfolds. The film is full of magically surreal moments like an encounter in the middle of the desert with a group of wandering astronomers.
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