2003 Movies : Foreign

With Shahab Ebrahimi • Iran Ghobadi • Faegh Mohamadi • Allah-Morad Rashtian • Bahman Ghobadi

Set during the final days of the war between Iran and Iraq, this is the story of an elderly Iranian Kurd musician who ventures off with his two sons, also musicians, into the dangerous territory of Kurdish Iraq in search of his wife, Hanareh, a singer with an amazing voice, who they fear may be in danger there, after she ran away with the old man's best friend.

With Chiara Conti • Luigi Maria Burruano • Maya Sansa • Mariella Valentini • Regina Orioli

After accidentally causing the death of her mother (Mariella Valentini), a young lesbian, Lenni (Regina Orioli), runs away with her auto mechanic girlfriend, Stella (Maya Sansa), with the mom's body in the trunk of their car and a gang of crazies on their tail.

With Alain Guellaff • Johnny Hallyday • Riton Liebman • Jean Rochefort • Arm • Edith Scob • Charlie Nelson • Pascal Parmentier • Jean-François Stévenin • Isabelle Petit-Jacques • Elsa Duclot

At a deserted train station, a teacher and a gangster meet and realize that each might have been better suited to the other man's way of life. As a friendship of sorts develops between these opposite personalities, each starts to envy the other and by the week's end, everything will change for both of them.

With Ricardo Blat • Emiliano Queiroz • Karim Ainouz • Lázaro Ramos • Marcelia Cartaxo • Flavio Bauraqui • Felipe Marques • Renata Sorrah • Giovana Barbosa • Guilherme Piva • Marcelo Valle • Floriano Peixoto • Gero Camilo • Gláucio Gomes • Orã Figueiredo

Legendary criminal. Proud homosexual. Cabaret star. Passionate lover. Killer. Devoted father of seven adopted children. Saint or devil? Madame Satã. Born to slaves in the arid wasteland of Northern Brazil and sold by his mother at the age of 7, he pursued his freedom on the mean streets of Lapa, Rio de Janeiro. Jet-black, six feet tall, 180 pounds of proud muscle in a silk shirt and tight pants, a cutthroat razor in his back pocket. Karim Aïnouz's extraordinary portrait of the triumphs and tragedy of this explosive and paradoxical personality unfolds against the vibrant, sordid background of Lapa: thronging underworld of pimps and whores, of cut-throats, queers and artists, of dark bars and brothels thick with smoke, drenched in sweat and cheap perfume. A world run through with violence and raw desire, where desperate dreams spring from poverty and squalor.

With Audrey Tautou • Cécile De France • Kelly Reilly • Romain Duris • Judith Godreche • Xavier De Guillebon • Cédric Klapisch

A young Frenchman moves into an apartment full of international students in Barcelona and discovers that mixing with students of many nationalities gives him a new perspective on life.

With Mathilde Seigner • Michel Serrault

Nominated for two Cesar awards in 2002, including Best First Feature Film, "The Girl From Paris" tells the story of Sandrine, a young Parisienne who decides to leave the city and pursue her dream of becoming a farmer. Adrien is the older, taciturn farmer who agrees to sell Sandrine his land and herd of goats before retiring to Grenoble. Sandrine allows Adrien stay at the farm for eighteen months, then begins renovations in earnest. Sandrine succeeds where Adrien was sure she would fail; she earns a living in the spring and summer by opening up the farm to tourists and selling goat cheese over the Internet. But the arrival of winter brings a tide change and conflicting emotions: Sandrine faces the harsh isolation of the Rhone-Alps while forming a growing attachment to Adrien. Between their mutual curiosity and misunderstandings, Sandrine and Adrien are forced to live side by side when the only thing they share is their love for mountains and nature.

With Jacques Frantz • Axelle Abbadie • Jean-Pierre Bacri • Émilie Dequenne • Brigitte Catillon • Catherine Breillat

After his wife leaves him, a man (Jean-Pierre Bacri) hires an unqualified but lovely suburban girl to clean his Paris apartment. The two become close as they chat while she's working, but can the lonely older guy sweep her off her feet?

With Rowan Atkinson • John Malkovich • Ben Miller • Henry Naylor • Natalie Imbruglia • Peter Howitt

When her majesty's crown jewels are stolen by a conniving Frenchman (John Malkovich), who also plans to steal the queen's throne, Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson), a bit unseasoned but intensely enthusiastic, is thrown onto the case. Fast cars, high tech gadgets, top secret info - Johnny can hardly believe it. He may be in over his head, but his courage and dedication are unmatched - especially after he meets double agent Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia) and discovers that falling in love makes saving the nation even more exciting.

With Eiji Okuda • Yumiko Nogawa • Misa Shimizu • Nagiko Tono • Masatoshi Nagase • Hidetaka Yoshioka • Renji Ishibashi • Miho Tsumiki • Michiko Kawai • Tenshi Kamogawa • Yukiya Kitamura • Kumiko Tsuchiya • Kei Kumai

Set in a small Edo period Japanese brothel near Tokyo, this is the story of a young samurai, Fusanosuke (Hidetaka Yoshioka), who seeks refuge there in the company of a young prostitute, Oshin (Nagiko Tono), after he accidentally wounded a powerful samurai during an argument whose colleagues are now seeking to kill Fusanosuke in return. Soon falling in love with Oshin, Fusanosuke hopes to be able to cleanse her from the sins of her occupation so that she may be his wife, even as danger lurks all around the brothel.

With Elie Belvaux • Ornella Muti • Christine Henkart • Gilbert Melki • Catherine Frot • Lucas Belvaux • Dominique Blanc • Patrick Descamps • Olivier Darimont • Alexis Tomassian • Yves Claessens • Jean-Henri Roger • Hervé Livet • Eric Vassard

Bruno Le Roux (Elie Belvaux) breaks out of the prison in which he's served 15 years of a life sentence for his membership in an armed wing of a left-wing revolutionary movement, the Popular Army. Bruno is determined to continue the fight against capitalist society, and to avenge his fallen comrades-in-arms. But most of his former associates are dead or behind bars, and the others are either unwilling or untrustworthy. He seeks help from former radical Jeanne (Catherine Frot), but she's now a mother and schoolteacher. Another former contact is local crime boss Jaquillat (Patrick Descamps). Years earlier, Bruno and Jaquillat had been allies in a bank robbery, but now Jaquillat's drug dealing is seriously constrained by the massive police presence as the manhunt for Bruno continues. It's in Jaquillat's interests to finish off Bruno. An alliance between Jaquillat and local cop Pascal Manise (Gilbert Melki) makes things even more dangerous for Bruno. Whatever ideals Bruno might once have had have been distorted by imprisonment and suffering. Bruno is now willing to kill for the most casual reasons -- he's turned into a psychopath with nothing to lose. However, he finds an unexpected ally in Agnes (Dominique Blanc), Manise's junkie wife. Bruno helps her when she is attacked by a street dealer, and, without really knowing who he is, she finds him a place to stay, in the chalet owned by her friend, Cecile (Ornella Muti).

With Imelda Staunton • Ralph Brown • Ian McNeice • Charlotte Church • Jemma Redgrave • Craig Ferguson • Stephan Noonan

This is the story of how a washed-up 1980s pop star (Craig Ferguson) gets a chance at a new direction in his life when he discovers that he has a teenage daughter, Olivia (Charlotte Church), in Cardiff, Wales (her real-life hometown) as the result of a weekend affair he had back at the height of his fame, especially when she decides she wants to follow him with a musical career of her own, against the wishes of her mother (Jemma Redgrave).

With Jonathan Zaccai • Ludmila Mikael • Liliane Rovere • Helene Fillieres • Jean-Michel Noirey

This film tells the stories of the locals living in a resort town in northern France so renowned for its pebble-covered beach that the central character, Marie (Helene Fillieres), works at a pebble processing factory. As the town changes seasonally from being completely empty in the winter and crowded during the summer, the working class lives of the locals whose livelihoods depend upon the money spent while others have a great time on vacation go on...

With Hideaki Ito • Yumiko Shaku • Shiro Sano • Yoichi Numata • Kyusaku Shimada • Yoko Maki • Shinsuke Sato

Set in an unnamed country in a post-apocalyptic future, this is the story of a young female assassin, Yuki (Yumiko Shaku), who discovers that the leader of the band of outlaws she belongs to murdered her mother. Finding herself targeted for elimination after she confronts the group's leader about her mother's death, Yuki goes on the run from her former coworkers. Barely surviving an attack, she finds refuge with a young man who used to be a terrorist, with whom she gradually falls in love, but with trained killers getting closer and closer to finding her, can their love survive?

With Secun de la Rosa • Natalia Verbeke • Tomás Cimadevilla • Paz Vega • Guillermo Toledo • Leticia Dolera • Ernesto Alterio • Alberto San Juan • Geli Albaladejo • Roma Alfaro • Ramon Barea • Maria Esteve • Daniel Gonzalez • Javier Gutierrez • Emilio Martmnez Lazaro • Tomas Cimadevella • José Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña • David Serrano

Two young couples in Madrid (Alterio and Vega; Toledo and Verbeke) are searching for love and happiness, but ultimately they find only lies and heartache, as they switch lovers back and forth, and the erotic tension escalates. There's also a good deal of singing and dancing amidst all the bed swapping.

With Jessica Pare • Ranjit Chowdhry • Rishma Malik • Jazz Mann • Rahul Khanna • Deepa Mehta

Set in Toronto, a romantic tale which revolves around Rahul Seth, a Westernized, young dot.com millionaire, and his unconventional relationship with the beautiful and wild Sue Singh. Rahul is devastated after the untimely death of his beautiful, pop artist, blonde girlfriend Kimberly. To make matters worse, he is under extreme pressure from his family to get engaged to a good Hindu girl before his sister's upcoming wedding. Lest one forgets, according to the popular Hindu adage, 'the best cure for a broken heart is marriage'. Desperate, he hires the services of the gorgeous Sue, a local escort girl, to pretend to be his fiancée during the ten days of celebration, leading up to his sister's marriage ceremony. While Rahul is the scion of a typically successful NRI family, Sue is the daughter of a humble car mechanic and--professionally speaking--is one of the highest paid escorts in Toronto. They enter into the relationship as opposites. However, during this fateful period of much song, dance and merriment, Rahul and Sue's relationship slowly transcends that of employer and employee. With her passion for life, Sue manages to break through Rahul's hardened exterior to reveal a sensitive man who is not as emotionally dead as he would like to believe. In turn, Rahul's strong personality and advice enables Sue to see her parents in a more positive light.