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Family road trips unravel deeper emotions in Treasure, as Ruth and Edek navigate grief and trauma in Poland. Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry excel in portraying a complex father-daughter relationship with touching and heady performances. Despite good intentions, Treasure struggles to fully explore emotional themes, leaving poignant moments unfulfilled.

Family road trips are a pain no matter what. Using a family road trip to unpack the grief and trauma left behind in the wake of death complicates things further. In 1991 Poland, Ruth (Lena Dunham) meets her Polish father Edek (Stephen Fry) to visit the place he's from and where he lived for much of his life before World War II upended it.

Treasure (2024)

DirectorJulia von HeinzRelease DateJune 14, 2024Studio(s)Seven ElephantsWritersJohn Quester, Julia von HeinzCastWenanty Nosul, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Petra Zieser, Lena Dunham, Stephen FryRatingRRuntime112 Minutes Expand

Treasure seems stuck between two places, a father-daughter road trip comedy and a deeper meditation on grief,...

Wonky-toned story follows Dunham as a journalist visiting Poland, and Fry as her cuddly European dad, both trying to get to grips with family history

An uncomfortable experience this: a laboriously acted odd-couple heartwarmer starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry, with a sentimentality unsuited to its theme: the horrors of the Holocaust. Director and co-writer Julia Von Heinz has adapted the 1999 autobiographical novel Too Many Men by Lily Brett, whose father Max was a Holocaust survivor from the Lodz ghetto.

It is 1991 and Dunham plays Ruth, a New York journalist recently divorced, who has come to Poland to get to grips with family history. With a heavy heart she has brought along her eccentric, affectionate widower dad Edek, played by Stephen Fry in full teddy-bear mode with a cod Polish accent. The pair of them travel through the country staying at down-at-heel hotels, squabbling but of course finally and cathartically getting to know each other.

Stephen Fry, normally the embodiment of droll detachment, cuts a much earthier figure in Treasure, the new film from German writer-director Julia von Heinz. With a thick beard and scraggly gray hair, a credible Slavic accent, and a distinctly oafish slump in his large frame, Fry transforms himself into Edek Rothwax, a haunted Holocaust survivor and recent widower who, in accompanying his daughter Ruth (Lena Dunham) to his homeland of Poland in 1991, would rather flirt with translators and sing karaoke than revisit the locales of his past.

Heinz shoots Poland through a gauzy gray filter that’s almost as extreme as the hackneyed orange tint used to portray Mexico in so many thrillers that center around drug trafficking. The dreary look is certainly appropriate, though, to the depressing landscapes of ramshackle buildings, not to mention the immediately post-communist time period and lingering trauma of the Holocaust half a century earlier.

"What Jew goes to Poland as a tourist?" Bleecker Street has unveiled their official trailer for a film titled Treasure, based on a true story and adapted from the novel of the same written by Lily Brett. This initially premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival a few months ago (here's our review), and will also play at the Tribeca Film Festival soon. It's now set for a theatrical US release in June coming soon this summer. Set in the 1990s, an American journalist named Ruth travels to Poland with her father Edek to visit his childhood places and the home where he grew up. But Edek, who's a Holocaust survivor, resists reliving his trauma & sabotages the trip creating unintentionally funny situations & taking her to strange places, befriending a taxi driver. Starring Lena Dunham as Ruth & Stephen Fry as Edek, along with Zbigniew Zamachowski, Tomasz Wlosok, Wenanty Nosul, Iwona Bielska, and Maria Mamona.

After several years working in German TV and locally-oriented film projects, Julia von Heinz had a significant breakthrough with “And Tomorrow the Entire World” — a taut, punchy political thriller with a youthful spirit of anti-fascist revolt, vigorous enough to land a Venice competition slot. Its success evidently raised the status of the director’s long-held passion project, an adaptation of Australian novelist Lily Brett’s semi-autobiographical 2001 title “Too Many Men,” which reckoned thoughtfully with her parents’ experience as Auschwitz survivors, and the hereditary nature of trauma. It emerges here, in somewhat simplified form, as “Treasure,” a watchably meandering vehicle for Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry to wrestle out father-daughter conflicts both trivially universal and hauntingly specific to history. The urgency and dynamism that marked von Heinz’s last feature are largely absent; for a story of such particular and searing sorrow, it feels rather mild.

Premiering in an out-of-competition Berlinale slot,...

Set in 1991, not long after it suddenly became much easier for Holocaust survivors and their descendants to visit sites like Auschwitz-Birkenau, German-French co-production Treasure follows a father and daughter (played by Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham) making exactly this kind of voyage of remembrance. It’s adapted from the comic-tragic novel Too Many Men by Australian Lily Brett, and directed by German director Julia von Heinz, whose well-regarded previous two films (Nothing Else Matters and And Tomorrow the Entire World) also explore the aftermath of the Holocaust on later generations. So, as a package, Treasure would seem gifted with the raw material needed to make a compelling, inherently interesting work.

Alas, the film is an inept, ill-made mess — or as my grandmother would call it, a mishegoss, so muddled and misbegotten it’s hard to perform an evidential postmortem, based strictly on one viewing, of where it all goes wrong.

Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry joined filmmaker Julia von Heinz for a press conference for new tragic comedy Treasure, which debuts this weekend in the Special Gala section at the Berlin Film Festival.

As well as Dunham and Fry, the drama stars Zbigniew Zamachowski and is based on the bestselling book Too Many Men by Lily Brett. Treasure is set in 1990 following the fall of the Iron Curtain. Music journalist Ruth (played by Dunham) and her father Edek (played by Fry), a Holocaust survivor, go on a tour of his homeland of Poland. Their journey takes them to Warsaw, Łódź, Krakow and the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Ruth wants to explore her family’s history while Edek accompanies his daughter primarily to keep an eye on her. Only when the two visit the family’s former home and meet the Polish family who now live there does Edek’s attitude start to change.

The upcoming 74th Berlin Film Festival looks set to be its starriest edition in years with Kristen Stewart, Adam Sandler, Cillian Murphy, Lena Dunham, Sebastian Stan, Amanda Seyfried and Rooney Mara among the talent due to attend this year.

Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian confirmed the actors’ presence in an interview with Deadline following the festival’s official press conference on Monday.

“Yes. All the stars we have invited are expected to be here and have confirmed their presence,” he said, when quizzed on the above names. “I think the glamor aspect on the red carpet is a good one this year.”

Most are attending in movies due to be showcased in the Berlinale Special Gala line-up.

Stewart, who was at the festival last year as jury president, returns for the Berlinale Special Gala screening of Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding alongside Katy O’Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco and Jena Malone.

FilmNation Entertainment and Bleecker Street are teaming up on the worldwide release of Julia von Heinz’s Berlinale Special Gala selection Treasure (formerly Iron Box) starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry.

The road trip film takes place in 1990s Poland as American music journalist Ruth and her charming, stubborn Holocaust survivor father Edek take a trip to his homeland.

As Ruth tries to make sense of her family’s past, Edek embarks on the trip with his own agenda.

The film is the third in von Heinz’s ‘Aftermath Trilogy’ exploring the legacy of Germany’s Nazi past following 2013’s...

FilmNation Entertainment and Bleecker Street will partner on the worldwide release of Treasure (fka Iron Box), a road trip pic starring Lena Dunham (Girls) and Stephen Fry (The Sandman) that’s set to world premiere as a special gala presentation at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

An adaptation of Lily Brett’s bestselling autobiographical novel Too Many Men from director Julia von Heinz (And Tomorrow the Entire World), the film will be the first to be co-distributed globally by the two companies, which have previously collaborated on Waitress: The Musical, as well as Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience. It’s the third part of Von Heinz’s “Aftermath Trilogy,” examining the legacy of Germany’s Nazi past, on the heels of 2013’s Hanna’s Journey and Germany’s official 2020 Oscar entry, And Tomorrow the Entire World.

The story takes place in 1990s Poland and follows Ruth (Dunham), an American music journalist,...

FilmNation Entertainment and Bleecker Street will partner on Treasure, the new drama from German director Julia von Heinz (And Tomorrow the Entire World) starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry as father and daughter. The two companies will co-distribute the film together in the U.S. and jointly handle worldwide sales.

Set in the 1990s, Treasure is adapted from Lily Brett’s best-selling autobiographical novel Too Many Men. Dunham plays Ruth, a neurotic businesswoman who takes her father Edek (Fry), a charmingly stubborn Holocaust survivor, on a road trip through Poland to make sense of her family’s past. Zbigniew Zamachowski (Three Colors franchise) co-stars. Treasure will have its world premiere as a Berlinale Special screening at the Berlin Film Festival next month and FilmNation and Bleecker will kick off sales talk with international buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market.

Von Heinz is best known for her political drama And Tomorrow the Entire World,...

New films featuring Carey Mulligan, Adam Sandler, Amanda Seyfried, Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough are among 2024 Berlinale Specials lineup, the out-of-competition gala presentations at next year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

Spaceman, a Netflix sci-fi drama from Chernobyl director Johan Renck, starring Sandler, Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini and Paul Dano, will have its world premiere in the Berlinale Special gala sidebar. Sasquatch Sunset, an adventure comedy from the Zellner brothers which stars Keough, Eisenberg, Nathan Zellner, and Christophe Zajac-Denek, will screen in Berlin after its Sundance debut. Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils, which had its world premiere in Toronto, and stars Seyfried alongside Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Ambur Braid, and Michael Kupfer-Radecky, will also have its international premiere in the Berlinale Specials gala section.

Treasure (aka Iron Box), the 90-set English-language feature from German director Julia von Heinz (And Tomorrow The Entire World), which stars Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry...

The Berlinale has announced the first seven productions, including one series, to be invited to the Berlinale Specials strand of its 74th edition running from February 15 to 25, 2024.

The line-up will include the world premiere of Johan Renck’s sci-fi drama Spaceman starring Adam Sandler as an astronaut on a lone space mission.

The drama, also featuring Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini and Paul Dano in the cast, goes on worldwide release on Netflix on March 1, 2024

The Sandler sci-fi drama is due to go on worldwide release on Netflix on March 1, 2024.

There will also be international premieres for David and Nathan Zellner’s Sasquatch Sunset, with Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Nathan Zellner and Christophe Zajac-Denek, which is due to world premiere at Sundance.

Atom Egoyan’s TIFF-selected Seven Veils, featuring Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Ambur Braid, Michael Kupfer-Radecky in the cast, is also in the line-up.

“We are...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every other day throughout the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the thriller Jack Strong, starring Patrick Wilson. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Written and directed by Wladyslaw Pasikowski, Jack Strong has the following synopsis: In the midst of the Cold War, Ryszard Kuklinski, a colonel in the Polish army, challenges the Soviets when the communist regime was still powerful. The colonel discovers that Poland was the target of the US plans for a nuclear counterattack.

Wilson is joined in the cast by Marcin Dorocinski, Maja Ostaszewska, Dimitri Bilov, Dagmara Dominczyk, Oleg Maslennikov, Ireneusz Czop, Miroslaw Baka, Zbigniew Zamachowski,...

Stephen Fry has joined the cast of “Iron Box,” a multi-generational comedy about a New York businesswoman who journeys with her father to Poland in an effort to explore their roots.

The film is being directed by Julia Von Heinz, best known for her work on “And Tomorrow the Entire World” and “Isolation.” Principal photography begins this month. Zbigniew Zamachowski (“Three Colors: White”) has also joined the cast. The package is coming together for the European Film Market (EFM) at Berlin.

Fry is an actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter, film director and bon vivant. He starred to great acclaim as Oscar Wilde in “Wilde” and teamed memorably with Hugh Laurie on “A Bit of Fry and Laurie,” “Jeeves and Wooster” and “Blackadder.” On screen, Fry’s credits include “V for Vendetta,” “Sherlock Holmes” and “The Hobbit” series. He recently appeared on Hulu’s “The Dropout.” He...

A Night at the Kindergarten (Noc w przedszkolu) is a movie directed by Rafal Skalski starring Piotr Witkowski and Lena Gora.

It is still Christmas, and this time around a hero – who knows how to rap, parent despite not being a father, and pull off some MacGyver moves – is here to save it.

Premise

The kindergarten parent teacher meeting/dress rehearsal of the nativity play turns into a judgment over the naughty 5-year-old, defended by the boy’s mother’s partner. Initially driven by selfish motives, the man begins to mature into the role of a father during the trial.

Movie Review

A Night at the Kindergarten is theatrical in its setting, and manages at times to step outside the scene showcasing situations that go beyond its genre. The movie manages to a certain extent to hit the mark, with the development of the characters and the story.

Piotr Witkowski is back,...

"I also want someone to hold hands with. To talk to... about my feelings." Mubi has debuted a new official trailer for an indie film from Poland titled Sweat, which originally premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year. It also played at the Zurich, Hamburg, Chicago, Tokyo, New Horizons, Tallinn Black Nights, and Rotterdam Film Festivals. Sweat is about three days in the life of fitness motivator Sylwia Zajac, a social media celebrity surrounded by loyal employees and admirers, who is really looking for true intimacy. It's yet another cautionary tale trying to bring to the light the honest truth about how vapid and soul-sucking social media is, and how it's easy to get caught up in the craze of the attention it brings. Magdalena Kolesnik stars as Sylwia. This also stars Julian Swiezewski, Aleksandra Konieczna, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Tomasz Orpinski, Lech Lotocki, and Magdalena Kuta. This looks like it's going to be very,...

A cat-and-mouse police grilling is blunted by explosive flashbacks in this real-life story of radical cleric Jan Zieja

Robert Gliński’s foursquare historical drama extends the national self-examination through priests that Polish cinema initiated with Kler (2018) and last year’s Oscar-nominated Corpus Christi. Under surveillance here is real-life greybeard Father Jan Zieja (Andrzej Seweryn), who in the mid-70s found himself in the drab offices of security services major Adam Grosicki (Three Colours White’s Zbigniew Zamachowski), accused of preaching subversion while aiding anti-government factions. Reviewing the facts, Grosicki ventures: “It is enough for several biographies”, although Gliński and screenwriter Wojciech Lepianka shoehorn roughly two volumes’ worth into a 110-minute film.

Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)

This week’s question: In honor of “The Trip to Spain,” what is the best movie trilogy?

Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow), The New Yorker

Far be it from me to choose between Antonioni’s non-trilogy “L’Avventura,” “La Notte,” and “L’Eclisse” and Kiarostami’s explicitly-denied “Koker” trilogy of “Where Is the Friend’s Home?,” “Life and Nothing More,” and “Through the Olive Trees” (and I’m tempted to make a trilogy of trilogies with Carl Theodor Dreyer’s “Day of Wrath,” “Ordet,” and “Gertrud”), but if I put Kiarostami’s films first, it’s because he puts their very creation into the action. Reflexivity isn’t a...

“Tracking Shot” is a top of month featurette here on Ioncinema.com that looks at the projects that are moments away from lensing. This November, we’ve got a fivesome of projects that we feel are worth signaling out, but before we put the focus on those, the previous month was a rather fruitful one for mostly indiewood film productions. Films that we’ll be seeing in 2016 and which are for the most part still filming include: Mark Williams‘ workplace drama The Headhunter’s Calling (with Alison Brie, Gretchen Mol, Gerard Butler, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina), Philippe Falardeau‘s bio boxing drama The Bleeder (with Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Elisabeth Moss), Taron Lexton’s coming-of-ager In Search of Fellini (with Ksenia Solo, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Maria Bello), Kevin Tent‘s Black List scripted rom-com (with Domhnall Gleeson, Christina Applegate, Thomas Haden Church, Nina Dobrev), Sophie Brooks‘ NYC set Euro-fizzled comedy,...

Can Jim Carrey serve as a replacement for Christoph Waltz? The world at large may have its doubts, but the filmmakers behind True Crimes think he can, as Waltz is no longer being talked about in connection with the murder mystery, but Carrey is now preparing to star alongside Agata Kulesza, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kati Outinen, Zbigniew Zamachowski and Marton Czokas.Jeremy Brock’s script is drawn from David Grann’s 2008 New Yorker article about the slaying of advertising company manager Dariusz Janiszewski, whose body washed up in Poland’s Oder River in December 2000. The crime baffled the authorities until detective Jacek Wroblewski tracked Janiszewski's missing cell phone to an eBay auction. The seller was Krystian Bala, a Polish intellectual whose sado-sexual novel Amok had been published after Janiszewski's death, and featured a plot that seemed eerily similar the real-life killing.Speaking to Screen International, Brock explained that he travelled to...

Exclusive: Principal photography on thriller True Crimes, starring Jim Carrey, will begin in Poland’s Krakow on Nov 7.

Speaking to ScreenDaily, the film’s UK screenwriter Jeremy Brock explained that his screenplay was inspired after reading David Grann’s New Yorker article True Crimes - A Post-Modern Murder Mystery, which centres on a Polish murder investigation turning to clues found in a novelist’s book that bear a bizarre resemblance to the case.

Brock, whose screenwriting credits include Mrs Brown, The Last King Of Scotland and Brideshead Revisited, spent a week in Poland in 2008 “just getting my bearings”.

“I spent the intervening time to find my inspiration for what has become an original screenplay,” he recalled, noting that, in his 30 years as a screenwriter from his beginnings as a co-writer of the BBC TV series Casualty in 1985, “I haven’t worked so long and persistently on one project as I have done on this one”.

“Through working...

Aftermath (Poklosie) Movie Review Menemsha Films Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on RottenTomatoes.com Grade: B+ Director: Wladyslaw Pasikowski Screenwriter: Wladyslaw Pasikowski Cast: Marcej Stuhr, Ireneusz Czop, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Zuzana Fialová, Andrzej Mastalerz, Zbigniew Zamachowski Screened at: Critics’ screener, NYC, 11/3/13 Opens: November 1, 2013 One mystery that has remains resolved by historians, psychologists, philosophers, sociologists and thinking people everywhere is this: why is it that on the whole, some nations acts morally and some do not? World War II provides an excellent example. As the Nazis conquered one state after another, the people under German occupation resisted and collaborated to different degrees. The Danes acted well: when word [ Read More ]

The post Aftermath Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Watch the trailer and see images from Aftermath directed and written by Wladyslaw Pasikowski, starring Maciej Stuhr, Ireneusz Czop, Zuzana Fialova, Andrzej Mastalerz, Zbigniew Zamachowski and Danuta Szaflarska. From Meneshma Films, the release hits theaters in New York on November 1st followed by a Los Angeles release date on November 15th, 2013. Franek and Jozek Kalina, sons of a poor farmer, are brothers from a small village in central Poland. Franek immigrated to the United States in the 80’s, and cut all ties with his family. Only when Jozek’s wife arrives in the Us, without explanation, does Franek finally return to his homeland.

Chicago – Movies don’t get much more personally influential than Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Blue,” “White,” and “Red,” collectively known as the “Three Colors” trilogy, and recently released in one gorgeous box set from The Criterion Collection. As we all do, I was a bit concerned that perhaps my memory of these films had been enhanced with time, but I found the opposite — they’re even better with age and stand as one of the best film achievements of not just their era but of all time. I can’t say enough about Kieslowski’s talent as a director and, while some may point to the “Decalogue” films or “The Double Life of Veronique,” I’ve always considered “Three Colors” to be the greatest accomplishment of one of history’s greatest directors. And Criterion has done one of their most notable acquisitions justice with one of their best releases of the year.

It’s a little daunting writing about Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours Trilogy. Filmed back to back and released to universal acclaim at consecutive Venice (Blue, 1993), Berlin (White, 1994) and Cannes (Red, 1994) Film Festivals, the Polish director’s disparate trilogy has taken on a kind of legendary status, with each film recognised as a classic even if removed from the pretence of any overarching theme (nominally that each film represents a French revolutionary ideal: liberty, equality and fraternity) or strained attempt at inter-film continuity (all three stories touch on each other in ways which are arguably entirely superfluous).

Each film is entirely different, not only in terms of story but in genre, setting and mood. Blue, which stars Juliette Binoche as a widow living in the shadow of a car crash which has killed her husband and daughter, is a tragedy and deeply introverted drama about a person’s longing to...

From 7pm GMT join Andrew Pulver as he watches the second in Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy. You can stream it on our site if you're in the UK or Ireland, or just fire up the DVD player

3.00pm: Have you recovered yet? Have your tear ducts dried and your ears stopped tingling? Last night Xan Brooks liveblogged Three Colours Blue, the first in Krzysztof Kieslowski's tricolour trilogy, all of which we're currently streaming on the film site. A wild old time was had by all, both above and below the line, and, hopefully, by those just watching quietly at home. Tonight, at 7pm, it's the turn of Andrew Pulver and Three Colours White; tomorrow Peter Bradshaw will be in the hotseat for the final instalment, alongside Joe Websper, the winner of our competition to come into the office and feed into Peter's blog.

As we found last night, as...

Over the next few weeks, we're going to be hearing quite a bit about Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy — Blue (1993), White (1994) and Red (1994) — on both sides of the Atlantic. On Friday, the Guardian will begin streaming all three films in the UK and Eire, and you can read about the concurrent live-blogging sessions here. On Tuesday, Criterion will release the trilogy on DVD and Blu-ray and, on November 21, Artificial Eye will follow with its R2 Blu-ray package.

The Guardian has set up a special section on trilogy, gathering several related reviews and interviews it's run over the years. Dipping in, we can begin with Richard Williams, who wrote in 2006, "When Krzysztof Kieslowski died on March 13, 1996, it was as though a certain kind of cinema had come to an end along with him. The calm, reflective, compassionate gaze he brought to bear on the dilemmas faced by his characters made...

Krzysztof Kieslowski's 1990s trilogy had a touch of dinner party trendiness on release, but the colours stay fast today

For some cinephiles, reconsidering Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy is like finding an old photo of yourself in 90s clothes and a 90s haircut. This series of three conceptually interlocking movies – his last work, in fact, before he died of cancer in 1995 – was by far Kieslowski's biggest international hit, helped in this country by poster campaigns featuring the luminous stars of each: Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy and Irène Jacob, a gorgeous young aristocracy of French cinema. The films were co-written by Krzysztof Piesiewicz, a lawyer by training; now a parliamentarian and somewhat conservative figure in Poland.

And, yes, there is a definite touch of dinner-party trendiness that clings to the memory of these movies now, together with a touch of critical doubt, a suspicion that the Three Colours were contrived,...

Kieslowski's latest Euro-story is fine comedy from the cock-eyed pessimist, wrote Derek Malcolm of the second in the Three Colours trilogy in this article originally published on 09 Jun 1994

Three Colours White, the second part of Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy based on the colours of the French flag and upon the precepts of liberty, freedom and equality, is the easiest of the three films to negotiate but by no means the least in weight. It's the kind of comedy only a hopeful pessimist could have made and, if that sounds like a contradiction in terms, you don't know Kieslowski very well.

The film specialises as much in a kind of ironic gallows humour as in laughter pure and simple, but bitterness is also avoided - which is a small miracle in itself considering the subject matter and the setting.

Its central character is a Polish version of the eternal little man,...

One of the most acclaimed achievements in modern cinema, The Three Colours Trilogy comes to Blu-ray on 21st November, and to mark the release we have a box set to give away to one lucky winner!

Available for the first time in the UK on Blu-ray, Krzysztof Kieslowski’s multi award-winning trilogy is a landmark of world cinema. Three Colours: Blue, White and Red have been acclaimed as masterpieces by critics and audiences the world over.

The films, co-written by Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with whom he wrote the epic Dekalog cycle, explore the French Revolutionary ideals of freedom, equality and brotherhood and their relevance to the contemporary world. Blue examines liberation through the eyes of a woman (Juliette Binoche) who loses her husband and son in an auto accident, and solemnly starts anew. White is an ironic comedy about a befuddled Polish husband (Zbigniew Zamachowski) who takes an odd...

Release Date: Nov. 15, 2011

Price: DVD $59.95, Blu-ray $79.95

Studio: Criterion

Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blue, White and Red receive the Criterion treatment this November.

Legendary Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy, a boldly cinematic trio of stories about love and loss, was a defining event of the art house boom of the 1990s. The films — Blue (1993), White (1993) and Red (1994) — were named for the colors of the French flag and stand for the tenets of the French Revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. But that only hints at the film’s beauty, richness and humanity.

Set in Paris, Warsaw and Geneva, Blue, White, and Red (Kieślowski’s final film) range from tragedy to drama to comedy. They follow a group of ambiguously interconnected people experiencing profound personal disruptions.

Marked by intoxicatingly lush cinematography and memorable performances by such actors as Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Julie Delpy (Guilty Hearts), Irène Jacob (Beyond the Clouds) and...

In 1922, Robert J. Flaherty gave us Nanook of the North, one of my favourite silent films and an early example of a snow movie--that is, a movie that wouldn't be what it is without its wintry landscape. In some films, snow is incidental--a pretty backdrop or a minor metaphor (like the snowfall that blankets the Bride's duel with O-Ren Ishii in Kill Bill Vol. I). In others, a snowy climate is central to the story or sometimes even a character in its own right. Here are 10 movies that each use ice, snow, and cold in a specific way; together, they collectively demonstrate the range one symbol can have.

As with a typical Pajiba Guide, many genres are represented (don't worry Nanook fans -- silent film, documentary, and Inuit culture are all covered below in some form). And as with a typical Guide, apologies must be made for omitting many more...

Juliette Binoche in Blue

Photo: Miramax Home Entertainment In 2005 Crash was a film I could respect for what it attempted to do in terms of telling a racially charged story, but the coincidence factor was all wrong. The film seemed to exist in order to fulfill the coincidence at the end of the film as opposed to the story being a result of the coincidence. The largest problem with this was that the film itself depended on that ending for its emotional punch. Sure, there were a few things here and there to supply the audience with something to think about along the way, but the film's heavy reliance on the coincidence caused the audience to piece the story together for themselves so by the time it all ended you already knew what was going to happen. This removed almost all of the emotion the film attempted to gain and for me,...

• Screen Daily has gathered some more details on the upcoming financing slate for the Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Film Fund. The Ffhsh is a film funding entity that provides subsidies for both features and TV productions that promise high-quality content as well as showcasing the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. As we reported yesterday, the institution has funneled $1.26 million into Fatih Akin’s upcoming comedy Soul Kitchen. That represents the largest single contribution of a $4.8 million initiative to fund new films by local auteurs Tom Tykwer (left), Hans Weingartner (center), and Akin (right). Also included in the allocation is funding for international co-productions helmed by France’s Eleonore Faucher (A Common Thread), Norway's Sara Johnsen (Kissed by Winter) and Poland's Radek Wegrzyn, the lone fresh face of the bunch. Details are scarce on the various projects. Along with the Akin’s comedy, Wegrzyn will be mining for laughs with Father, Son

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