Israel/France/USA, 2007

In his feature directorial debut, director Andrei Kravchuk addresses with intelligence and poignancy the urgent issue of illegal adoption in Russia, already a well-documented international crisis. Based on the true story of a small Russian boy abandoned in an orphanage who goes in search of his birth mother, The Italian offers insight into contemporary Russian life.

Aye, there be gold in them thar' island! As part of "Bowen Reads 2007", we are pleased to screen Disney's first live-action movie, a classic film based on the original novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Enchanted by the idea of locating Captain Flint's buried treasure, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and young Jim Hawkins charter a sailing voyage to a far away island. Unfortunately, many of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship, including Long John Silver, the endearing cook intent on finding the booty first.

96 Minutes

Rated G 

"... everything is just dripping with pirate atmosphere ... rum, big ships, treasure chests of gold, and a seaside village." - MonsterHunter Movie Reviews 

This seasons’s final Bowen Island Film Society screening is Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles [Qian li zou dan qi] (2005).  The story and direction are by China's master filmmaker Zhang Yimou, auteur of celebrated back-to-back martial arts epics Hero (2003) and House of Flying Daggers (2004).

Back in my university days, about a hundred years ago, I lived down the block from a small repertory cinema, which meant that I could frequently be found the night before a big deadline in the throes of desperate procrastination, absorbing the likes of Shohei Imamura's ‘Black Rain’, Thomas Vinterberg’s ‘Celebration’, Lars von Triers ‘Zentropa’, or Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘The Sacrifice’.  Last but not least on this list of unforgettable films was an early Zhang Yimou effort, ‘Red Sorghum’.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles represents the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream of Yimou to make a film with his childhood idol Ken Takakura (the supposed ‘Clint Eastwood of Japan’), an iconic yakuza star but also an actor of great range and depth.

The January screening of the Bowen Island Film Society is Quinceañera. The film is written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland. The executive producer is Todd Haynes, of Shortbus infamy.

Quinceañera begins with an elaborate celebration. From the money lavished on it, it could be a wedding - except that a single figurine sits atop a tiered cake where a bride and groom would be. The ceremony, from which this warmly appealing film takes its title, marks a Latina's 15th birthday when she ostensibly becomes a woman.

This particular quinceañera is in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park. Looking on with envy is 14-year-old Magdalena (Emily Rios). With her own big day approaching, she worries that her parents won’t be able to afford the big blowout her cousin is luxuriating in, including a Hummer limo for a chariot.