Alternative Cinema (From Daily Echo)

Alternative Cinema

12:10pm Friday 20th April 2012 in Local Screens By Lorelei Reddin, Entertainments Editor

WINNING the Grand Prix at Cannes 2011, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is a haunting journey into the heart of darkness in Turkey.

The hypnotising crime thriller follows the search by police, prosecutors, a doctor and the alleged culprit for the body of a man buried in the Anatolian steppes.

Starting at dusk and ending the following day, the slow passage of time mirrors the gradual uncovering of the body itself plus new secrets and guilt.

The film is showing at Harbour Lights Picturehouse in Southampton on Sunday.

n THE Opera Australia series, coming in its entirety to Southampton’s Odeon, launches with La Boheme next week.

The production, which was received with acclaim in Australia, is set in Weimar Germany and the influences of Hollywood can be seen in its undeniable glamour, but the impending doom of a world on the brink of disaster also gives it a fragile quality.

Here, the glitter of the Spiegeltent provides a decadent veneer over the hand-to-mouth existence of the era.

Café Momus becomes a cabaret joint, all mirrored panels and carnival colours, populated by characters inspired by the paintings of Otto Dix and George Grosz.

It has a strong cast of international repute, including Ji-Min Park, Taryn Fiebig, Takesha Meshé Kizart and José Carbó. It is conducted by Shao-Chia Lü and directed by Gale Edwards.

La Boheme is showing on Monday.