CINEMA NOUVEAU PRESENTS “La Vie en rose”

( Tuscaloosa ) Cinema Nouveau’s line-up of notable and successful films continues at the Bama Theatre with “La Vie en Rose,” January 11 – 16, 2008. Showtimes are weeknights and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. $7 will be charged for general admission, $6 for seniors and children, and $5 for Arts Council members. Call 758-5195 or go to www.tuscarts.org for more information. Tickets will be on sale at the Bama box office approximately one half hour before showtime. The Bama Theatre is located at 600 Greensboro Avenue , in Tuscaloosa .

January 11 – 16, 2008
“La Vie en rose” (2007)
Directed by Olivier Dahan

Biography-Drama-Music / Rated PG-13 / 2 hours 20 minutes / French-English/ color

Starring Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Paul Rouve, Gérard Depardieu

Nominated for 2008 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (Cotillard)

SYNOPSIS

According to Marlene Dietrich, chanteuse Edith Piaf’s voice was "the soul of Paris ." This French drama explores the often troubled life of the singer as her fame took her from the City of Lights to America to the South of France. Abandoned by her mother, Piaf grew up in her grandmother’s brothel and her father’s circus, which is hardly the fun one might imagine. While singing on the streets of Paris as a teen, Piaf (played as an adult by Marion Cotillard, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT) is discovered by club owner Louis Leplée (Gérard Depardieu), and this chance encounter changes the woman’s life. Her powerful voice takes her all over the globe, but it can’t guard her from the pain and suffering she can’t avoid.

As Piaf, Cotillard is mesmerizing. She fully inhabits the singer’s ivory skin, crafting a character that never descends into caricature or camp. She lip syncs to Piaf’s legendary voice, but the performance is seamless. Like WALK THE LINE and RAY, this biopic creates a fascinating picture of an artist whose songs only begin to reflect the singer’s painful life. But director-writer Olivier Dahan (LA VIE PROMISE) doesn’t take the traditional biopic route with LA VIE EN ROSE. Instead, the film jumps between various moments in the singer’s life, with little concern for linear narrative. Cotillard is just as adept at playing the teenage Piaf as she is the songbird on her deathbed at the age of 47, and it’s her amazing performance that makes LA VIE EN ROSE worth seeing.

Cinema Nouveau presents "Sicko"

(Tuscaloosa) Cinema Nouveau, the Arts Council’s independent/art film series at the Bama Theatre, continues with Michael Moore’s “SICKO,” September 14 - 20, 2007. Showtimes are weeknights and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. $7 will be charged for general admission, $6 for seniors and students, and $5 for Arts Council members. Tickets will be on sale at the Bama box office approximately one half hour before showtime. The Bama Theatre is located at 600 Greensboro Avenue, in Tuscaloosa. Cinema Nouveau is one of the many programs sponsored by the Arts Council. Call 758-5195 or go to www.tuscarts.org for more information.



September 14 - 20
Sicko (2007)
www.michaelmoore.com/sicko
Directed by Michael Moore
Documentary -Health Care / Rated PG-13 / 1 hour 53 minutes / color

America 's most incendiary filmmaker, Michael Moore, returned in 2007 with this health-care-industry exposé. SICKO tackles material as controversial as the topics explored in Moore's other films, yet does so in a way that places the focus on ordinary Americans affected by the nation's health-care crisis.

After providing some historical background on how our nation's medical care system became so ravaged and unfair, Moore interviews a series of individuals and families who have had their lives all but destroyed by the denial of care in the service of profit. While there are two sides to
the gun-control debate and even a legitimate discourse for how to best wage the war on terror, it's simply impossible to justify how a baby girl can wind up dead because her mother's health insurance wasn't accepted at a nearby hospital. Moore smartly allows this and other stories to be told with little or no interference, conjuring strong feelings of empathy, rage, and deep sadness.

Of course, SICKO isn't a PBS documentary, it's a Michael Moore movie, and his fingerprints are all over it. Moore visits countries that have universal health care--spectacularly so when he takes several World Trade Center workers to Guantanamo Bay (and then to Cuba) to receive health care that they were denied in the United States--and presents a compelling argument
for adopting a similar system in the States. Moore 's ultimate purpose here is to compel Americans to care for one another, and it's a simple request that shockingly must be made via a major motion picture, making SICKO essential viewing.