01/12/2005

Among the five titles opening this week, Portuguese moviegoers will have the opportunity to discover two very different examples of recent European productions: Oliver Twist [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Roman Polanski and art-house Rois et Reine by Arnaud Desplechin.

Academy award winners Polanski and scriptwriter Ronald Harwood, who made a splash with The Pianist [+see also:
trailer
film profile], got together again to adapt Charles Dickens' classic "Oliver Twist". Starring Ben Kingsley, Barney Clark and Leanne Rowe, the film is an example of a well achieved high-budget co-production from the old continent, involving production companies from the UK (Runteam Ltd), Czech Republic (ETIC Limited), France (R.P Production) and Italy (Medusa Film). Lusomundo handles the distribution in 15 theatres.

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Distributed by Atalanta, the second European title of the week is Arnaud Desplechin's sixth feature Rois et Reine. "Roger Bohdot – the scriptwriter - and I had only one word in mind: being brutal. Far from melancholy and discreet sense of humour, we wanted to be brutally tragic and brutally funny", stated the director. Produced by Why Why Not Productions, France 2 Cinéma and Rhöne-Alpes Cinéma with the support of the CNC, the film received 7 Cesar nominations, including Best Film and Best Director but it was Mathieu Amalric who got the prize for the Best Actor. Rois et Reine opens in one Lisbon theatre.