Film Screening 8th April, 2011

Poster for Wild Target

Wild Target 

8:00 PM, 8th April, 2011

  • M
  • 98 mins
  • 2010
  • Jonathan Lynn
  • Lucinda Coxon
  • Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Martin Freeman

If you’re after a hoot, you’ve come to see the right film! A remake of the 1993 French farce Cible Émouvante, Wild Target is, quite simply, so much fun. Audience favourite Bill Nighy (Love Actually), plays the successful, though uptight, middle-aged hitman Victor Maynard who is assigned to kill the beautiful and talented con-artist Rose, played by Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria). However, things don’t exactly go according to plan for Maynard: he inadvertently saves Rose’s life and, thinking he’s a private detective, Rose hires him to protect her.

Maynard and Rose are unexpectedly joined by Tony (Harry Potter’s Grint), rounding out the three ‘Musketeers’. Hilarity ensues with a car chase involving a mini; a talking parrot; an accidentally severed ear; a pair of stolen cowboy boots; a touching birthday celebration and an overbearing mother played with relish by Eileen Atkins. The baddies of the piece are half the fun: gangster Ferguson (Rupert Everett, My Best Friend’s Wedding) and rival hitman Dixon (a genius turn by Martin Freeman from "The Office", "Sherlock" and soon to be the next Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit). Wild Target never shies away from its French roots, making this hilarious clash of cultures simply a delight.

Majella Carmody

Poster for Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick)

Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick) 

9:53 PM, 8th April, 2011

  • M
  • 106 mins
  • 2008
  • Jan Troell
  • Niklas Rådström
  • Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen, Emil Jensen

Set in Sweden from 1907 Everlasting Moments tells the story of Maria Larsson (Heiskanen). Maria is a Finnish immigrant who wins a camera in a lottery and decides to sell it as she’s desperately poor. She is stopped and convinced to keep it by an amiable photographer, Sebastian (Christensen). She learns to love amateur photography, and uses it to help keep up her spirits during her most difficult periods.

Maria and Sebastian obviously like each other, but neither talks about nor acts on their feelings. The relationship between Maria and her husband, Sigfrid (Persbrandt) is, by contrast, decidedly less serene. As time passes, Sigfrid and Maria amass a brood of seven children and sometimes it is hard to determine whether she is taking photographs to capture reality or to escape from it.

The story is told in narrative by the Larssons’ daughter Maja (Callin Ohrvall) as she remembers the hardships of life in early 20th century Sweden and the strength of her mother that kept the family together. Veteran director Jan Troell presents us with a beautiful story about a woman learning to be an artist in a restrictive time and place. The story, images, and acting are magnificent, and make this a film an engaging experience.

Tamara Lee