SLOUGH COOPERATIVE FILM SOCIETY

Tsotsi (thug) is the perfect name for this violent, cold-hearted young gang leader whose turf is the townships outside Johannesburg where he leads his friends in vicious robberies and worse. One night, he shoots a young woman and steals her car. Little does he know that the baby he later discovers in the back seat will change his life forever. Based on Athol Fugard’s novel, Tsotsi is shot with an urgent energy and music soundtrack that recalls films like City of God. Tsotsi was this year’s Foreign Language Oscar-winner.

24^th October

The Squid and the Whale (15)

Dir. Noah Baumbach. USA 2005 (81 mins)

The middle-class, Brooklyn-based Berkman family boasts two doctors – of literature. Dad (Jeff Daniels) is a pompous, past-it author who teaches college creative writing whilst Mom (Laura Linney) has just had her first novel published. Following the split, 16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and younger brother Frank (Owen Kline) are forced to take sides. “I made an emotional movie about intellectuals.” (Director Noah Baumbach)

31^st October

Hidden (Caché) (15)

Dir. Michael Haneke. Fr/Austria/Ger/It 2004 (118 mins)

Probably director Michael Haneke’s most accessible work, this multi-layered thriller follows a well-off Parisian family whose life is disturbed by a number of videos left on their doorstep. Creepily, each tape records the family’s daily movements, taken from nearby. Yet they can never find their tormenter. Soon, the video campaign escalates, causing increasing paranoia and the eruption of old wounds.

7^th November

Good Night, and Good Luck (PG)

Dir. George Clooney. USA/Fr/UK/Jap 2005 (93 mins)

This film seamlessly melds B&W archive footage with meticulously recreated period scenes to commemorate the televised 50s showdown between journalist Edward R. Murrow and red-baiting, commie-hunting senator Joe McCarthy. Despite pressure from sponsors, Murrow and his team publicly challenged the validity of the House Un-American Activities Committee. John Sayles’s stalwart Strathairn is marvellous as Murrow, with the role of McCarthy filled by actual recordings of the man himself.

14^th November

The Child (L’Enfant) (12A)

Dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Belg/Fr 2005 (95 mins)

Bruno (Renier) is a feckless petty thief who shares his life with his girlfriend Sonia (François) and would sell his mother for cash. Trouble arises when he sells their new baby and is forced to seek his return.

21^st November

The Wind That Shakes the Barley (15)

Dir. Ken Loach. UK/Eire/Ger/It/Sp/Switz 2006 (127 mins)

An impassioned and politically charged story of Ireland's fight for independence that seeks to reveal the “true underbelly” of Britain's colonial history. Damien (Murphy) joins his brother Teddy (Delaney) as a guerrilla freedom fighter against the deadly British 'Black & Tan' units shipped over to halt the bid for liberation. After desperate fighting, both sides finally agree to a treaty, but not everyone agrees with its compromise and civil war erupts, ripping apart friends and families. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. "Maybe if you tell the truth about the past, you might tell the truth about the present." (Ken Loach)

28^th November

Forty Shades of Blue (15)

Dir. Ira Sachs. USA 2004 (110 mins)

The 2006 Sundance drama winner follows egotistical music producer Alan James, his Russian trophy wife Laura and their young son. Alan rules their lives until his semi-estranged grown son seeks refuge at his father's home - and finds Laura.

5^th December

The Three Burials of Melquidas Estrada (15)

Dir. Tommy Lee Jones. Fr/USA 2005 (121 mins)

With a time-shifting screenplay by Guillermo Arriaga (writer of Amores Perros), Jones’ directorial début is a politically charged, Peckinpah-tinged Western set in the Tex-Mex borderlands. Ranch foreman Pete kidnaps the man responsible for the murder of his best friend, and the two make a long and dangerous trek south to bring Estrada’s body home. Veteran British cinematographer Chris Menges turns the stunning landscapes into an equally important character.

12^th December

Volver (15)

Dir. Pedro Almodóvar. Sp 2005 (121 mins)

In Volver, director Pedro Almodóvar creates another wonderful (Cannes-winning) female ensemble and elicits Penélope Cruz's best performance. Spanish from top to toes, the film moves between a La Mancha village and working-class Madrid where village daughter Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) struggles to support her family. Circumstances seem to conspire against her, but surrounded by three generations of women - hairdresser sister Sole, teen daughter Paula, former neighbour Agustina and haunted by her dead mother, Raimunda will do more than survive.

19^th December

Three Times (12A)

Dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien. Fr/Taiwan 2005 (135 mins)

This is a triptych of love stories set in three eras - all with the same leads as the central couple - Shu Qi and Chang Chen. In 1966 it's an army recruit and a pool hall girl; in 1911 a prostitute and her largely absent patron; in 2005 an epileptic musician and a photographer..