Thank you for your support this year, it has been a pleasure to be able to put on films for you and once again, thanks to the Players Theatre for providing such an amazing venue.
We start with Parallel Mothers (15) on Thursday 9th at 8pm. Two women, who are both unexpectedly pregnant, meet in a maternity room. Janis (Cruz) is middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatised. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance, develops and complicates, and changes their lives in a decisive way. Vintage Almodavar, with bright colours, sense of theatre and plot twists.
Then on Friday 24th at 8pm we screen Paterson (15). A long overdue appearance at HVC for a Jim Jarmusch film, this gently observed film centres on a bus driver (Adam Driver) who lives in Paterson, New Jersey, home to many famous poets and artists. As he goes about his routine life, he observes life and picks up snippets from his customers, using them as inspiration for his poetry. His wife Laura is very supportive and champions his gift for writing. There is a gentle rhythm to the film, not unlike a poem itself and Driver gives a wonderfully understated and restrained performance.
Our final offering is The Miracle Club (12) at 3pm on Sunday 26th. Set in 1967 the film follows the story of three generations of close friends, Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) of Ballygar, a hard-knocks community in Dublin, who have one tantalising dream: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes. When the chance to win presents itself, the women seize it. However, just before their trip, their old friend Chrissie (Laura Linney) arrives in Ballygar for her mother’s funeral, dampening their good mood and well-laid plans. The women secure tickets and set out on the journey that they hope will change their lives, with Chrissie, a sceptical traveller, joining in place of Chrissie’s mother. Warming Sunday afternoon fare, with a stella cast.