The Counterfeiters - November 21st

 

The Counterfeiters is Port Fairy Film Society’s November screening this Friday 7.30pm.

 

Salomon Sorowitsch is regarded as ‘the most charming scoundrel in Berlin’ and the best counterfeiter in the world. As his fellow Jews begin disappearing, he is given the chance by the Nazis to save himself by forging money to help bankroll the war effort. Sal chooses life. ‘Nobody’s prepared to die for a principle,” he says.

 

This year’s winner of Best Foreign Film Oscar, The Counterfeiters is based on a true story. Like last year’s German drama The Lives of Others, this film explores the moral murkiness of collusion. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, but at what cost to conscience?

 

Karl Markovics’ portrayal of a Sal, a man who understands that to survive he must sacrifice others, has been lauded for its understated power.

 

"What distinguishes The Counterfeiters is the masterfully subtle manner by which (director Stefan) Ruzowitzky gets under your guard and wreaks havoc with your conscience," wrote Jim Schembri in The Age.

 

"One of the most vital releases of 2008," wrote Leigh Paatch from the Herald Sun. 

Click below to watch preview:

 

Screening starts at 7.30pm. Memberships at the door, tea and coffee provided. For more info contact Damien on 55681358

The Edge of Heaven - October 17th

Review by Damien Becker.

The Edge of Heaven is Port Fairy Film Society’s October screening after our Annual General Meeting this Friday at 7.30pm.

This German/ Turkish film directed by Fatih Akin takes the idea we have seen recently in Crash and Babel that many of our stories are linked in ways we don’t see, so that the viewer, witness to the concidences and near misses, is drawn to shout, ‘Look out behind you!’ to help the characters along.

Chance intertwines the lives of six characters. A retired Turkish widower living in Germany invites a younger woman to stay with him for payment. She accepts, partly to help her daughter whom she thinks is studying in Turkey but who is in fact on the run in Germany as a wanted terrorist. A German mother despairs for her daughter who has fallen in love with the young fugitive. The widower’s son returns to Turkey as redemption for a crime he cannot understand. Two of the six will die, the others left to reassemble their lives. 

Winner of Best Screenplay at Cannes, The Edge of Heaven requires patient viewing, which is rewarded by the detailed observation of the characters lives and the essential humanity of their dilemmas. The film lacks the polish or overt political commentary of Babel, but it’s a more humble film and a better one for that reason. It is also a not-so-gentle reminder of the complexities of the modern European dream. Akin is a gutsy filmmaker because he’s prepared to gamble that there is there is more meaning in the spaces in between action – the silence in conversation, the gaps in narrative, the physicality of a loved one’s absence – and that film can be a way to convey this.

"Circular in structure and story, this potent drama captures all the pathos and surprise of life itself,” wrote Louise Kellar of Urban Cinefile.

“It’s a truly excellent film,” said Margaret Pomeranz from ABC TV’s At the Movies. “Four-and-a-half stars.”

Click below for preview:

A screening of the Moyneyana House short film ‘A Little More Conversation, a Little Less Action’ will take place before the main film.

AGM starts at 7.30pm. Memberships, tea, coffee and lollies are available at the door from 7.15pm.