(continued) Below are the remaining films not listed in the message posted
here a week ago about the forthcoming spring film series presented by the
Arts & Education Council at the Bijou Theater:

Feb.14 - 20             The Pianist
Roman Polanski's `The Pianist,' winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, has
less in common with Spielberg's `Schindler's List' than with Kozinski's
`The Painted Bird': it's based on the autobiogrpahy of a Polish Jew who
survived in the midst of the holocaust and who, somewhat like Polanski,
slipped by the Nazis throughout the war. Instead of being a child like
Kozinski's hero (or Polanski during the war) Wladyslaw Szpilman (Vladek) is
an artist, but he has very much the same detachment as a wanton child. This
is a singular tale about a man reduced to bare existence, but it's also a
vision of the survival of the human spirit.  Written soon after the
war,`The Pianist' has a coolness and restraint other holocaust movies have
lacked. This doesn't mean we're spared terrible sorrow. It simply means
Polanski tells it like it is, with both horror and moral ambiguity.  And we
respect what we see because it is without theatricality or schmaltz.

Mar.7 - 13              Intacto
A thriller by Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Intacto puts you in
the middle of a world where luck isn't all luck. In this world some people
really DO have more luck than others, and it can be transferred from one
person to another by touch.  Federico (Eusebio Poncela) wins several rounds
of roulette in a row, betting on single numbers. He approaches casino owner
Sam (Max von Sydow), who hugs him, stealing his luck) and then throws him
out. Federico wants revenge, so he begins to look for a very lucky person
to help him.

Mar.14 - 20             All Or Nothing
A group of inhabitants of a Southeast London housing estate lead
directionless lives of diminishing expectations until a family crisis
brings them together.  Director Mike Leigh's films focus on down and out
English people.  His actors live with their roles for months before
shooting even begins, becoming so deeply involved that they can easily
improvise scenes.  In Italian terms, the characters are neo-realist; in
American terms, they're preposterous sad sacks.  But in Leigh's terms,
they're to be taken straight, sympathetically, without condescension or
pity. Their follies and crises are seen with wry detachment, and the drama
that develops finally moves toward reunion and reconciliation.

Mar.21 - 27             Spirited Away
Fantastic animated fantasy by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki
constructs a unique story about a little girl who winds up in an amusement
park for the spirits and must avoid her parents' fate of being turned into
swine all the while encountering odd characters, both benevolent and
malevolent. Awesome set pieces and colorful dreamscapes perpetuate the
engrossingly entertaining storyline as it progresses with much humor, dread
and sense of utter disbelief at just how magical animation can be. One of
the best of its genre.
Fritz Efaw,
Emma Goldman Distinguished Professor of
Political Economy and Inorganic Psychology.