University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 19, Feb. 13, 1997
International film series to open this weekend

      The University's 1997 International Film Series opens
Sunday, Feb. 16, with a screening of Bound, which has been
described as an overlooked gem of independent film-making.
     This and all other films in the free, public series will be
shown at 7:30 Sunday evenings in the Trabant University Center
Theatre.
     Bound tells the story of two women who plot to steal $2
million from a mob functionary. The caper goes predictably wrong
in unpredictable ways. In 1996, Siskel and Ebert called it "one
of the year's 10 best."
     Microcosmos is scheduled for March 2. Directors Claude
Nuridsany and Marie Perennou spent three years filming this
documentary about a summer's day in a French meadow. Using a
specially designed camera, they provide a bug's eye view of the
extraordinary world of insects. The New York Times called this
film "a must...amazingly beautiful."
     Crows, the story of a child who kidnaps a 3-year-old to be
her make-believe daughter, is scheduled for March 9. As the two
set off on an impossible journey to "the end of the world," the
film captures the inner world of childhood. Piers Harding says,
"The magic and splendor of this film almost defy analysis... it will
make you see through different eyes."
     Scheduled for March 16 is Three Lives and Only One Death,
four whimsical, surrealistic tales from Chilean director Raul
Ruiz. Marcello Mastroianni plays the lead role in each, including
a man whose apartment is haunted by beings who eat time and a
businessman whose imaginary family comes to life. The Los Angeles
Times calls this "a sly, droll, deliciously intricate fable... an
exquisite film."
     Some Mother's Son is scheduled for March 23. From the makers
of In The Name of the Father, it tells the story of members of
the IRA who, in l981, staged a hunger strike to force the British
government to recognize them as political prisoners. Two mothers
are caught between upholding their sons' beliefs and saving their
lives. A critic in The New York Times wrote, "Magnificent...   
compelling. Nothing in recent film captures with more devastating
force the perilous atmosphere of life during wartime."
     The series concludes on April 6 with a showing of Kenneth
Branagh's Hamlet, with Julie Christie as Gertrude, Kate Winslet
as Ophelia, Derek Jacobi as Claudius and Billy Crystal as the
gravedigger. Critic Gene Siskel called it "a towering
achievement!"
     The International Film Series is sponsored by the Faculty
Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events, the
University Honors Program and the Film Program in the Department
of English.
     For information, call 737-3955.
                                                  -Beth Thomas