World Films at the Library

Featuring on Thursday, May 10, 2012, at 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. 

The Piano in a Factory (China)

When Chen's estranged wife reappears asking for a divorce and custody of their daughter, the talented but sensible little girl decides she will live with whoever can provide her with a piano. Chen’s epic struggle begins. When efforts to borrow money and even steal a piano fail, Chen concocts a preposterous plan - he'll make a piano from scratch! He persuades a bunch of reluctant, but loyal, misfit friends to help him forge the instrument in a derelict factory from a heap of scrap steel. Though crude in design and tune, the factory piano awaits its first performance from his little girl.

This charming, lighthearted film, which in places is laugh-out-loud funny, is a current favorite of the art film circuit. Carefully developed minor characters create a portrait of a community gearing itself up for new challenges that go far beyond the project at hand. Although Chen’s girlfriend is the only woman involved, she's assertive enough to provide a glimpse of the changing role of women in Chinese society. She’s also divorced with a child but, though she sympathizes with our hero's plight, remains wary of a marriage that might reduce her to the role of full time caregiver. In the end, this film is a perfect cinematic example of the steel piano they wind up creating: a labor of passion whose faults are part of its cobbled together charm.

In Mandarin with English subtitles.  

The next film in this series will be May 24. Unless otherwise notified, the library will show films on the 2nd & 4th Thursday of each month. All films in the series are free of charge.

While we will continue to show films from Film Movement, a distributor of award-winning foreign and independent films, we are also excited to now be able to select and present a wider variety of titles with an emphasis on motion pictures that have not been exhibited at local theaters. Film programs at the library will now include, but not be limited to, current first run features, independent films, film classics, world films and documentaries. Our goal is to provide the community with an opportunity to view motion pictures from many different genres and cultures and to enhance awareness and understanding of the art of film. 

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See you at the movies!

Already Shown

 2012

January 26: Sarah's Key (France & US)
February 9: Beginners (US)
March 8: Incendies (Canada & France)
March 22: Made in Dagenham (Great Britain)
April 12: Take Shelter (U.S.)March

2011

May 19: Bomber (US/UK)
June 16: 1981 (Canada)
July 21: Only When I Dance (Brazil)
August 18: The Drummer (Hong Kong)
September 15: The Wind Journeys (Columbia)
October 20: If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (Romania)
November 17: The Colors of the Mountain (Columbia)
December 15: Holiday Affair (US)