The ninth European Union Film Festival continues Friday, March 10, through Thursday, March 30, at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312-846-2800. Tickets are $9, $7 for students, and $5 for Film Center members. Following are films screening through Thursday, March 16; for a full festival schedule visit www.chicagoreader.com.
Attila Janisch directed this 2004 feature. In Hungarian with subtitles. 120 min. a Sat 3/11, 5:30 PM, and Tue 3/14, 7:45 PM
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Returning home after a two-year prison term, a small-time hood (Dariusz Majchrzak) finds that his sweetheart has married his younger brother, who’s trying to sell the family farm out from under him; the ex-con struggles to win back his woman and his inheritance while fending off the advances of his old criminal cohorts. This digital video from Poland (2004, 114 min.) has its awkward moments, but director Przemyslaw Wojcieszek compensates by skillfully ratcheting up the tension between the characters, aided by gritty performances from an excellent cast (notably Przemyslaw Bluszcz as a slick but emotionally unhinged crime boss). In Polish with subtitles. (Reece Pendleton) a Sun 3/12, 5:15 PM, and Mon 3/13, 8 PM
R Evil
Lithuanian director Janina Lapinskaite poaches on Tarkovsky territory with this chilly, enigmatic 2004 story of a woman (Jurga Kalvaityte) who’s struggling with motherhood. Saddled with an emotionally detached husband, she’s the primary caregiver for two challenging children: an infant who may die of an unnamed disease and a little girl who keeps running off to nearby marshes to await the arrival of some mysterious beings. Increasingly unable to cope with the stress, the woman begins to deteriorate, her desolation mirrored by lingering shots of the austere winter landscape. Lapinskaite tries to suggest a deeper spiritual struggle as well, but it’s overshadowed by the sweeping sense of clinical depression. In Lithuanian with subtitles. 70 min. (Reece Pendleton) Lapinskaite will attend the screening and a 6 PM reception. a Sun 3/12, 7:15 PM
R Mother of Mine
A woman on a blind date (Michela Cescon) is immediately criticized by her companion (a memorably creepy Vitaliano Trevisan) for not being thinner; she tries to leave, but he insists on a drink and she reluctantly consents. The opening scene of this 2004 Italian drama sets the tone for a low-key study of power and obsession as the couple descend into a sadomasochistic relationship. Director Matteo Garrone (The Embalmer) shows great finesse in depicting the man’s ever-growing control of the woman’s dress and diet, yet the allusions to vampirism (specifically Murnau’s Nosferatu) aren’t developed enough, and the shadowy environment is increasingly stifling. In Italian with subtitles. 97 min. (JK) a Sat 3/11, 5:15 PM, and Wed 3/15, 8 PM
