Cinema

Beyond the Hills
Dupa dealuri
Fri 29 March – Thu 4 April
Cristian Mungiu put Romanian filmmaking on the map with the
gruelling 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. He makes a welcome
return to our screens with Beyond the Hills, an astonishing
portrait of a young nun whose life is thrown into turmoil by the
appearance of an old childhood friend, disrupting the cloistered
community she lives in. Slowly and methodically, Mungiu uses
the daily life of the religious order to explore the schism which
exists between the spiritual and the secular as well as the
tension between individual freedom and group mentality.
Situated in a remote Moldavian landscape, the monastery where
the action takes place consists of a simple chapel and a few
huts without electricity or running water. The nuns are supervised
by a stern priest whom they refer to as ‘Papa’. Voichita
(Cosmina Stratan) is one of the most devoted of the group, but
her faith is tested by the arrival of Alina (Cristina Flutur) who has
returned from Germany and tries to convince her to leave the
order. The girls, who grew up together in an orphanage, have a
deep and complicated bond. Alina refuses to submit to the
order’s request for piety and penance, and the judgement and
punishment handed down to her by those in power is shocking.
The film’s visual look, attention to detail, pacing and naturalistic
performances all combine to create a very real sense of the lives
led by these religious women. Based on a real-life incident,
Beyond the Hills is as gripping as any horror film and as
rewarding as any drama you will see this year. The two lead
actresses (both in their debut performances) deservedly shared
the Best Actress prize at Cannes last year.
Dir: Cristian Mungiu
Romania / France / Belgium 2012 / 2h17m / Digital / 12A
Romanian with English subtitles
Mea Maxima Culpa:
Silence in the House Of God
Fri 29 March – Thu 4 April
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex
Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) tackles the
uncompromising, silent facade of the Vatican
and its response to claims of sexual abuse in
this powerful new work. The film opens with the
case of Father Lawrence Murphy, the director
of St John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee.
Four of his ex-pupils recall their numerous
attempts to notify the Church and local
authorities of the abuse they suffered at his
hands while attending the school. Their early
attempts to expose clerical abuse to local law
agencies were met with scepticism and
disregarded. Their repeated efforts to highlight
their plight to Vatican authorities were met with
a universal response of silence, secrecy and
suppression.
Gibney deftly moves from the microcosm of
Milwaukee to explore a macrocosm of global
clerical abuse, all serving to reveal a familiar
pattern of concealment, vehement denial and
on occasion reluctant admission. Through a
number of interviews Gibney shows how the
church conducts itself in the wake of
accusations, tracing responses damningly
upwards through the Vatican’s hierarchy of
offices.
This is a poignant, shocking film that
demonstrates the power of the documentary
form. Following the retirement of Pope
Benedict XVI, Mea Maxima Culpa reveals the
challenges his successor will face if he is to
tackle the culture of silence and complicity
within the Vatican.
Dir: Alex Gibney
USA 2012 / 1h46m / Digital / 15
Senior Citizen Kane Club screening
Thu 4 April, 10:30
Tickets 01382 909 900 5