I’ll limit my Cinematheque recommendations this week to the one film I’ve already seen–Kolya, a Czech Academy-Award winner from 1996.
Frequently, it seems, the foreign-film Oscar goes to the most sentimental and accessible of the candidates, i.e., the “heartwarming” one. Kolya fits that description, but transcends its predictability with humor and charm. It has appealing performances by the Russian five-year-old boy adopted unexpectedly by the grumpy, womanizing bachelor musician with the unforgettable face, played by Zdenek Sverak, the director’s father. Tonight at 7:35 pm; Saturday at 5:15 pm.
The Cleveland Museum of Art shows a Miyazaki animated film tonight, From Up on Poppy Hill, directed not by Hayao Miyazaki, though, but by his son Goro. It looks to be a gentle, beautiful family drama. Tonight at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 1:30 pm.