The Elgiva film listings

Feb 16 2012 by Camilla Goodman, Buckinghamshire Advertiser

The Iron Lady (12A)

February 20 and February 21, 1pm and 8pm

1hr 44min

A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.

Also stars Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher and Richard E Grant as Michael Heseltine.

The Shop Around The Corner (U)

February 22, 1pm and 8pm

1hr 39min

Matuschek’s is the gift shop around the corner. Among the staff is Alfred Kralik, a likeable young man who is in love with a woman he has never met and whose name he does not even know (their ‘romance’ has been conducted through a post office box). When Klara Novak comes to work as a clerk in the shop, the sparks begin to fly: she and Alfred cannot stand each other.

Of course, what neither knows is that Klara is the woman Alfred has been romancing through the mail.

Stars Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart.

Chocolat (12)

February 28, 7.30pm

2hr 1min

When a single mother and her six-year-old daughter move to rural France and open a chocolate shop, with Sunday hours and across the street from the local church, they are met with some scepticism. But as soon as they coax the townspeople into enjoying their delicious products, they are warmly welcomed.

Stars Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche.

Abel (15)

March 14, 1pm and 8pm

1hr 22min (Spanish with English subtitles)

Abel is an unstable child whose problems have only grown worse since his father walked out on the family. A stay in a mental hospital does little to ground him. However, one day Abel wakes up and decides that he is the man of the house, and begins acting like his absent father. To the surprise of everyone, adult responsibilities agree with Abel. But this proves to be short-lived when Abel’s real dad returns unexpectedly.

War Horse (12A)

March 20, 1pm and 8pm

2hr 26min

An epic adventure from director Steven Spielberg for all ages. Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, War Horse begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets, before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land.

The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse, an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. War Horse is one of the great stories of friendship and war.

The Artist (PG)

March 27, 1pm and 8pm

1hr 40min

It is the late 1920s, and George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent film legend whose stardom rubs off on a budding starlet, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), after a chance encounter at a premier. At first he finds Peppy’s fame-by-association cute, but the arrival of sound turns her into a serious rival.

White Material (15)

March 28, 1pm and 8pm

1hr 46min (French with English subtitles)

Maria is a white farmer who runs (with her ex-husband, his father, and their son) a failing coffee plantation in an unnamed African country in the present day. Civil war has broken out and rebel soldiers are advancing on the area. Maria’s workers leave, but she refuses to abandon the plantation. As she and her family await the inevitable, the tensions in their personal relationships, and in their relations with the African community, become exposed. Maria puts the farm in even more danger when she looks after a wounded rebel officer known as The Boxer.

Coriolanus (15)

April 10, 1pm and 8pm

2hr 2min

The citizens of Rome are hungry. Coriolanus, hero of Rome, a great soldier and a man of inflexible self-belief, despises the people. His extreme views ignite a mass riot. Rome is bloody. Manipulated and out-manoeuvred by politicians – and his own mother, Volumnia – Coriolanus is banished. He offers his life or his services to his sworn enemy, Tullus Aufidius.

Coriolanus and Aufidius march on Rome intending to destroy the city. Volumnia appeals to her son. He tries to reject her but eventually breaks. Aufidius, feeling bitterly betrayed, brutally murders Coriolanus.

Directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes