The Soul of Cinema - 6 Week Series

To Book Email: info@glendaloughsanctuary.ie

Film 1 Jan 25 th The Apartment (1959)

Theme: Integrity

Film 2 Feb 1 st A Separation (2011)

Theme: Truth

Film 3 Feb 8 th Tootsie (1982)

Theme: Pretence

Film 4 Feb 15 th The Celebration AKA Festen (1998)

Theme: Denial

Film 5 Feb 22 nd Audience Vote. The Truman Show (1998) OR Goodbye Lenin

(2003).

Theme: Reality

Film 6 March 1 st Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Theme: Authenticity

Facilitator: Maria O’Loughlin

A graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, Maria has more than 25 years’ experience as a screenwriter, producer, story consultant and educator. She has developed and scripted TV projects for the Walt Disney Company, Brown Bag Films, Apple TV, Nickelodeon and the BBC. Most recently, she worked as Head Writer on “101 Dalmatian Street”, which she developed for television from the Disney classic “101 Dalmatians”. She has given talks and taught courses on screenwriting and creativity for the Irish Writers Centre, the Animation Skillnet and Screen Ireland among others. She is currently working as a story consultant for Netflix.

Film 1 - The Apartment (1959)

Theme: Integrity

Directed by Billy Wilder, this ahead-of-its-time satire tells the cautionary tale of an ambitious insurance executive who gains underserved promotions by allowing philandering senior executives to use his apartment for secret trysts.

But when he falls for his boss’s mistress, he finds himself faced with some tough life choices. Starring Jack Lemon, Shirley McClaine and Fred McMurray, this dark comedy won five Academy Awards - including Best Picture.

Film 2 – A Separation (2011)

Theme: Truth

Steven Spielberg’s favourite film of 2011, director Asghar Farhadi’s fine drama explores the slipperiness of truth after an Iranian couple’s marriage breaks down and descends into confrontation and manipulation. With superb performances

and the kind of suspense you’d normally expect from a taut thriller, it’s not surprising that this masterpiece won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012.

Film 3 – Tootsie (1982)

Theme: Pretence

Having alienated every producer in New York, “difficult” actor Michael Dorsey is now so desperate for work that he pretends to be a woman to land a role in a top TV soap. After “Dorothy Michaels” becomes a national sensation, he then finds himself falling for the show’s leading lady – making life very complicated indeed.

Directed by Sydney Pollack, and starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, Teri Garr and Charles Durning, this cracking comedy was nominated for ten Academy Awards, with Lange winning a Best Supporting Actress gong.

Film 4 – The Celebration AKA Festen (1998)

Theme: Denial

Hailed by Steven Spielberg as the finest film of the 1990s and winner of the Cannes Jury Prize, Thomas Vinterberg’s dark comedy-drama was denied entry into the Academy Awards because it was shot on home video with no artificial

lighting, costumes, or locations. However, the plot and performances more than make up for it in this genius tale of a Danish clan gathering to celebrate their father’s 60th birthday – all while trying to ignore family undercurrents of abuse

and trauma.

Film 5 – Audience Vote! The Truman Show (1998) OR Goodbye Lenin (2003).

Theme: Reality

The Truman Show

Starring Jim Carrey and directed by Peter Weir (Witness, Dead Poet’s Society), this ground-breaking satire about a man who doesn’t realize he’s living in a scripted Reality TV show is as relevant today as it was when it was released 25

years ago. Ed Harris and Laura Linney also star.

OR

Goodbye Lenin

Set in East Berlin in 1989, this tragicomedy tells the tale of young Alex, whose Communist mother is so shocked when she spots him at an anti-government protest that she suffers a heart attack and falls into a coma. When she wakes up 8

months later, both the Wall and Communism have collapsed, so now Alex tries to protect his mother from the potentially fatal shock of finding out that the East Germany she knew and adored no longer exists. It didn’t win any Oscars – but it’s

still quite the gem!

Film 6 – Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Theme: Authenticity

Based on her blackly hilarious memoir of the same name, this is the true story of Lee Israel who rocked the New York literary world with a series of scandalous forgeries in the 1990s. Having messed up her successful career as a biographer

and desperate for money, Lee starts forging letters by literary greats – until it all goes so horribly wrong that she is forced to face herself in the mirror. Directed by Marielle Heller (a woman!) and starring Melissa McCarthy (in her first serious

role), this bleakly funny caper was nominated for three Academy Awards, with Richard E. Grant winning Best Supporting Actor for a star turn as Lee’s lounge- lizard partner-in-crime, Jack Hock.