Eurocinema February Lineup
Eurocinema brings you another great group of films in February. This is your last month to see THE EDGE OF LOVE with Kiera Knightly and Sienna Miller, so if you haven’t seen it yet, just check your on demand menu for the title or look for Eurocinema.
Coming this month 3 new films a comedy from Russia a thriller and a documentary from Italy.
Let’s start in Russia with FAT, STUPID RABBIT; Russian with English subtitles, directed by Slava Ross this film has won 3 international film awards and stars Aleksey Maklakov (DAY WATCH, NIGHT WATCH) and Nikita Mikhalkove (12) and critics call it “a little known Russian Gem”. Vodka, women, and dreams define the black comedy FAT STUPID RABBIT, The film set in a children’s theater in a small Russian town, centers on the lives of drunken actors who perform as pigs, goats, and plants. Arcady has spent the last ten years playing the role of a Rabbit. He understands that this may be the only part left in his actor’s life, but he wants more, he wants real art. Then a sponsor comes forward and wants to create a new show and wants Arcady to play the lead role. But Arcady will have to make creative concessions. A rare mix of a French drama, English humor and Russian depression.
We move on to Italy for THE UNKNOWN WOMAN, Italian w/English subtitles a multi-award winning film (13 awards) and the official Italian entry for the Academy Awards. Directed by Guiseppe Tornatore (CINEMA PARADISO, BAARIO, MALENA) and he wrote EVERYTHING IS FINE which stars Robert DeNiro, Drew Barrymore and Kate Beckinsale and it is still in theatres around the country.  THE UNKNOWN WOMAN (LA SCONOSCIUTO) stars Ksenya Rappaport, Claudia Gerina and Pierfrancesco Favino. A Ukrainian woman named Irena calculatedly insinuates herself into the lives of a young, affluent Italian family. Stopping at nothing to become the couple’s trusted maid and the beloved nanny to their fragile young daughter.  Irena risks everything in her quest to uncover the truth about the family. Like an intricately constructed jigsaw puzzle, THE UNKNOWN WOMAN reveals piece by piece the enigma of Irena’s past. Roger Ebert gave it 3 ½ stars and calls it “Hitchcockian and it has an Ennio Morricone score as well”.
Also from Italy making its North American debut the same day it is released on DVD and theatrically, MAYBE GOD IS ILL (FORSE DIO E MALATO) Italian w/English subtitles, Directed by Franco Brogi Taviani, from a book and the travels of Walter Veltroni. The filmed sequences were shot in a number of different African countries, Kenya, Guinea, Angola, Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa, with each addressing one or more issues selected from among the many that are dramatically and, at times, explosively relevant to much of Africa today. The unifying motif of the film is the presence of singers, storytellers and musicians, both traditional and modern. By narrating a number of episodes interspersed with slices of real life they contribute to providing a portrait of a continent undoubtedly burdened by any number of painful, often cruel situations, but also full of life and, in many respects, unpredictable, with a magnetic allure that is hard to resist. WINNER X IBTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS. Piero Spilla, Vice President, Italian Cinema Journalists says “A Film that tells about, that narrates, explains, is indignant, is touched and touches.”

Jim Hague is an author, lecturer, owner of Crystal Digital Images LLC, has no party affiliation and is a moderate. He is the author of ‘Abandoned Son: Roe vs. Wade is overturned.’