INTERNATIONAL DISCOVERIES
FALLEN LEAVES
Your friendly neighborhood Cinematheque will take you around the world this summer on Thursday evenings with international features that demand to be seen with an audience on the big screen. These special movies have all been recently discovered by our programmers and are lovingly curated for your cinematic pleasure.
- Thu., Jun. 20 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
When Fanny (de Laâge) unexpectedly reunites with an old acquaintance (Schneider), he unveils a long-held crush, initiating a clandestine series of meetings over drinks and lunches. Meanwhile, Fanny navigates the delicate art of concealing these encounters from her possessive, affluent husband (Poupaud). For his 50th theatrical feature, writer-director Woody Allen has returned to themes of crime and punishment that he previously explored in Crimes and Misdemeanors and Match Point. A compelling tale of fate and murder with a sardonic sense of humor, Coup de Chance “looks and plays like many of [Allen’s] recent movies, only better; it sounds like them, too, except that it’s in French” (Manohla Dargis, The New York Times).
- Thu., Jun. 27 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
All aboard for this ultraviolent extravaganza, set almost entirely on a passenger train across India. Commando Amrit is riding the Rajdhani Express to rescue his girlfriend from an arranged marriage, when knife-wielding bandits climb on board. Armed with a fire extinguisher and anything else he can get his hands on, Amrit takes them on, teeing off a nonstop barrage of close-combat mayhem. “Sublimely savage. It’s adrenaline-fueled combat for the ages—a special brand of action showstopper that will leave you begging for more.” (/Film). (MK)
- Thu., Jul. 4 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
After a chance encounter at a karaoke bar in contemporary Helsinki, Ansa (Pöysti) and Holappa (Vatanen) encounter a series of obstacles, including misplaced contact information, alcoholism, and an endearing stray dog. Amidst the trials of lost connections and unexpected companions, the duo navigates a poignant and heartwarming path towards happiness in this charming tale. Filled with deadpan comic touches and homages to other filmmakers like David Lean, Leo McCarey, Yasujiro Ozu, and Jim Jarmusch, Fallen Leaves is also one of the most touching and pleasurable movies of this century. Don’t miss your chance to experience it in a cinema with an audience.
- Thu., Jul. 11 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
When a typhoon makes landfall, a group of junior high students are stranded inside their school, while their classmate (Mystery Train’s Yuki Kudo) runs away to Tokyo. Winner of the Grand Prix at the first Tokyo Film Festival and voted the 10th best Japanese film of all time in a poll by Kinema Junpo (Japan’s leading film magazine), Typhoon Club is another waiting-to-be-discovered classic by Shinji Somai, director of 2024 Wisconsin Film Festival favorite Moving. (MK)
- Thu., Jul. 18 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Junhee, a disillusioned novelist, meets a film director during a visit to an old friend, reigniting her passion for storytelling. As she bonds with Kilsoo, a renowned actress grappling with her own artistic identity, Junhee decides to embark on a unique cinematic journey, envisioning a film that defies conventions and reflects her own creative vision. For his 27th feature film, the prolific and immensely gifted Hong Sang-soo holds a mirror up to his own artistic process and asks what exactly it is we’re looking for from a work of art. “One of the director’s sweetest films, registering ultimately as a touchingly sincere tribute to his life in filmmaking, and to love discovered through art-making” (Matt Turner, Little White Lies).
- Thu., Jul. 25 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In a genuine movie star performance, Mikkelsen embodies Ludvig Kahlen, a determined figure born of humble origins, who rises within Denmark's military ranks in the 18th century. Following the wishes of the King to cultivate the unforgiving heath of Jutland, Kahlen confronts not only the harsh terrain but also the numerous cruelties of an enormously wealthy local landowner (Bennebjerg), who knows that any progress on the heath will cost him his power. “A full-blooded epic of one man’s achievements against all odds played perfectly by Mads Mikkelsen” (Leonard Maltin), The Promised Land is grand entertainment that demands to be seen on the big screen.