Colin Firth in "The Railway Man"
The Arts Array Film Series presented by Virginia Highlands Community College is in its 44th year. All films are presented at the Abingdon Cinemall on Mondays and Tuesdays at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The Arts Array Film Series is part of the comprehensive cultural outreach program of Virginia Highlands Community College. The series is co-sponsored by the Abingdon Cinemall, the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, Emory & Henry College and King University.
Admission to the films is free for the faculty members and students at the supporting institutions. Members of the general community may attend for $7.75. For more information, call 276-739-2451
• OCT. 6 & 7: "The Railway Man" is on screen. Outstanding performances from Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Stellan Skarsgard highlight this true story of wartime torture and peacetime reconciliation. Based on a 1995 memoir by Englishman Eric Lomax, a World War II soldier in the Far East, this film intercuts between the 1980 version of a shell-shocked Lomax and his younger self. Highly-charged scenes from a Thai POW camp frame this deeply personal film. "Wrenching, profound, and beautifully-made," says the New York Observer.
• OCT. 13 & 14: "The Immigrant" is shown. It's 1921. In search of a new start, Ewa Cybulska and her sister Magda sail to New York from their native Poland. When they reach Ellis Island, doctors discover that Magda is ill, and the two women are separated. Ewa is released onto the mean streets of Manhattan while her sister is quarantined. Alone, with nowhere to turn and desperate to reunite with Magda, she quickly falls prey to Bruno, a charming but wicked man.
• OCT. 20 & 21: "A Most Wanted Man" is on screen. When a half-Chechen, half-Russian, brutally tortured immigrant turns up in Hamburg's Islamic community, laying claim to his father's ill-gotten fortune, both German and U.S. security agencies take a close interest. As the clock ticks down and the stakes rise, the race is on to establish this most wanted man's true identity - oppressed victim or destruction-bent extremist? Based on John le Carré's novel, "A Most Wanted Man" is a contemporary, cerebral tale of intrigue.
• OCT. 27 & 28: "Young & Beautiful" is shown. Isabelle is on summer holiday with her family when she decides to lose her virginity to a German boy named Felix. But the experience leaves her cold. By autumn she is exploring her sexuality further as she begins working as a prostitute under the name Lea, having regular meetings with the much older George, and building a list of other clients. During one encounter with George, he dies. The police eventually track down Isabelle and reveal her secret life.
