The Overcoming
Tomas Gislason 2005 Denmark (1st time; big screen)
Documentary on the CSC Pro-Cycling team, and it's attempt at winning the Tour de France.
A fascinating, original subject is here opened up and explored rewardingly; for a subtitled film, however, the director clumsily also has English titles overlapping, causing information overload where a more subtle approach is needed. Herzog would have had a field day with this.


Mata Hari
George Fitzmaurice 1931 US (1st time; big screen)
An exotic dancer and undercover spy falls in love and is betrayed because of it.
Another MGM vehicle for Garbo, with striking visuals and a commanding performance which overrides everything else on screen. She was fond of her tragedies, and this is no exception.


Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Michael Winterbottom 2005 GB (1st time; big screen)
The adaptation of an unfilmable novel is narrated by one of the story's characters, played by Steve Coogan, who also plays himself in the filming of the film.
An exceedingly playful and clever film which pushes boundaries in a fast, exciting way; the intertexuality is here used to explore both the novel it is adapting, and to offer a witty insight into the filmmaking process.


Diva
Jean-Jacques Beineix 1981 France (1st time; big screen)
A postman records a performance of an opera singer who has never made a record, and is pursued by gangsters who want to make a pirate copy. He is also pursued for a tape implicating a police chief in a murder case.
The explosion of France's new New Wave, of sorts, catalysed by this beautiful fusion of thriller and surreal romance; obsessed with surface detail, any critical exploration of this film is redundant, as it's all in the film's language and style.

Highlights of the Northern Lights Film Festival, all must-see films, were:
Bleeder (1999)
Kongkabale King's Game (2004)
Wesele The Wedding (2004)
Voksne mennesker Dark Horse (2005)
The West Wittering Affair (2004)
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)

I've had to multiple post as you're only allowed eight images per post.

Mick