Comedy of errors at the Majestic Mr.Bean’s Holiday

WIRUMA

Sri Lankan TV fans who had watched Mr.Bean from their living rooms now could have a hearty laugh watching him in the movie “Mr.Bean’s Holiday,” which will come on screen from September 14 at the Majestic cinema, Colombo.

The film, directed by Steve Bendelack for Universal Pictures and produced by Eric Fellner, Peter Bennet-Jonesand Tim Bevan, runs for about 89 minutes bringing back Rowan Atkinson 10 years after the first film to the big screen.

He returns to the iconic role that made him an international star in “Bean II” and this time for a more self-contained adventure clearly inspired by Chaplin, Keaton and Tati.

And it works surprisingly well: charming, silly and extremely engaging.

Mr.Bean, the nearly wordless misfit who seems to be followed by a trail of pitfalls and hijackings goes on holiday to the French Riviera and becomes ensnared in a European adventure of cinematic proportions.

Tired of the dreary, wet London weather, Bean packs up his suitcase and camcorder to head to Cannes for some sun on the beach. Ah... vacation. But his trip doesn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped when the bumbling Bean falls face first into a series of mishaps and fortunate coincidences, far-fetched enough to make his own avant-garde film.

Wrongly thought to be both kidnapper and acclaimed filmmaker, he has some serious explaining to do after wreaking havoc across the French countryside and arriving at his vacation spot with a Romanian filmmaker’s precocious son and an aspiring actress in tow.

Will Bean be arrested by the gendarmes or end up winning the Palme d’Or? It’s all caught on camera as Atkinson again applies his awkward athleticism to a comedy of errors in “Bean II.”

The screen play is by Robin Driscoll, Simon McBurney and Hamish McColl.

Cast:

Rowan Atkinson .... Mr. Bean

Max Baldry .... Stepan

Emma de Caunes

Willem Dafoe .... Carson Clay

Stéphane Debac ....

Traffic Controller #2

Jean Rochefort

Karel Roden

Pierre-Benoist Varoclier

Films for International Day of Peace

The International Centre for Ethnic studies, Colombo will celebrate the International Day of Peace which falls on September 21 by hosting a film festival from September 27 to 29 at the ICES Auditorium, Colombo 8. The schedule is as follows:

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September 27

3.00 p.m. and 5.30 p.m.

No man’s land (Bosnia)

(A film by Danis Tanovic)

Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Language Film

Stuck in an abandoned trench between enemy lines, an injured Bosnian soldier named Ciki retreats to a trench, where he finds himself trapped with a wounded comrade and worse ...... a Serbian! With no way to escape and with his fellow soldier lying on a spring-loaded bomb set to explode if he moves, Ciki realizes he must do the unthinkable - trust his enemy - if he wants to survive.

Tanovic directs with a ferocious, angry, eloquence and makes his points with vivid metaphors and a savage humour as harrowing as it is hilarious. Starring: Branko

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September 28

3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m

Kandahar (Iran)

(A Film by Mohsen Makhmalbaf)

Kandahar’ is an epic tale of hope and courage, inspired by the true story of woman’s attempt to enter Afghanistan. Nafas, an Afghan born Canadian journalist, returns to her homeland in a desperate attempt to reach her sister.

Overcome with grief after being injured in a landmine and her despair over the Taliban’s systemic oppression of women she has vowed that she will commit suicide at the time of the next solar eclipse.

Starring: Hayatalah Hakimi. (85 mins)

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September 29

3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Amandla! A revolution in four-part

harmony

(A film by Lee Hirsch)

Documentary Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival

The stirring account of the struggle against racial oppression in South Africa cannot be told without the role of music in that struggle, and that’s the context and subject matter of this documentary film, Amandla!

The film focuses on the role that music played in surviving and challenging white domination for more than 40 years.

Filmmaker Lee Hirsch lays down the bare bones apartheid history - from the enactment of racial discrimination laws in 1948 to the release of Nelson Mandela from life imprisonment in 1990 - and turns to an impressive array of South African musicians and others to fill in the story. (104 mins).

The mission is on at ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’

It lasted six hours 1755 rounds were fired Six deaths were reported

This is the story of how the maverick lawman chased Khalistani extremists, the story of handpicked cops like the inspector Kaviraj Patil and constable Javed Shaikh who dared to engage trigger-happy gangsters in residential locality of Mumbai.

Maya, the maverick from the wrong side of the law who along with the likes of psychotic Buwa made extortion the buzzword in the early 90s, dared disobey the big bhai of the underworld and fought back a possess of policeman for six hours.

It is also the story of how the deeds of these boys with toys on both sides of the law affected the lives of those who dealt with them personally and professionally.

Like a workaholic ACP’s attention - starved wife, a dreaded gangster’s ambitious mother and their own fears and guilt.

“Shootout at Lokhandwala” is based on a true story and it is screening at Ritz, Borella, Anusha, Maharagama and Jaya Kegalle.

Credits:

Directed by Apoorval Lakhia

Produced by Sanjay Gupta, shobhan Kapoor and

Ekta Kapoor

Cast: Amithabh Bachchan

Sanjay Dutt

Suniel Shetty

Atbaaz Khan

Abhishek Bachchan (special appearance)

Vivek Oberoi

FACTBOX-Who won what at the Venice film festival

US actor Brad Pitt who won the awara for best actor saluting the fans. AFP

Australian actress Cate Blanchett who won the award for best actres arrives for a premiere. AFP

Director Ang Lee’s spy thriller “Lust, Caution” won the top award at the Venice film festival on Saturday.

Here is a list of the main winners and what they said on the night:

GOLDEN LION FOR BEST FILM

“Lust, Caution” by Taiwanese director Ang Lee

“This honour, coming from you, is overwhelming to me. It is also overwhelming because this movie has taken me to some very difficult places. I have invited you to come along with me and at the end to stay down there with me ... You are the seven samurais, I needed your help.”

SILVER LION FOR BEST DIRECTOR

Brian De Palma (U.S.) for “Redacted”

“It’s a very emotional film. And having worked with many Iraqi refugees ... their stories are as moving as the pictures you see at the end of the movie.”

Taiwanese director Ang Lee poses with the Golden Lion for Best Film. AFP

Russian Nikita Mikhalkov poses with his career award. AFP

Franco-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche poses with his special jury award. AFP

“This war is not going to be over quickly and the more we can show what’s actually going on from the voices that come across the Internet, the better informed the American public will be. Hopefully if they someday see the pictures, they may be out on the streets like we were in the 1960s.”

SPECIAL JURY PRIZES

1. Tunisian-born director Abdellatif Kechiche for “La Graine et Le Mulet” (“The Secret of the Grain”)

“I want to say that the film’s actors, for whom this was the first time on the screen, and myself have been deeply touched by the warmth and the reception we had from the Venice public.”

2. U.S. director Todd Haynes for “I’m Not There”

“This means so much to me coming from a jury of directors. Directors know how, to get a unique vision off the ground, it takes a combination of creative risk taking and financial and producing might, and we had both.”

“It was a battle to the death to get this film made.”

SPECIAL GOLDEN LION FOR BODY OF WORK

Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov

“Grazie, Grazie. I want to thank the magnificent Russian artists that worked with me ... Italy has always been very generous to me and I’ll always be very grateful.”

BEST ACTOR

Brad Pitt (U.S.) for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”

(Message read on his behalf) “Upon receiving the news I was surprised and very grateful ... I wish I could be with you there tonight and thank you again.”

BEST ACTRESS

Australian-born Cate Blanchett for “I’m Not There”

(Message read on her behalf) “I am sorry I can’t be standing up here, throwing my arms around Todd, weeping in public and behaving just like a woman.”

BEST SCREENPLAY

Paul Laverty (Britain), for Ken Loach’s “It’s a Free World...”

“I write the script, Ken directs. It’s very hard to separate the collaboration. When it works well, it’s very hard to decipher ... He’s a very good friend. It’s very organic, there is a constant dialogue, a conversation.”

Reuters.