Theatr Mwldan Film Society / Cymdeithas Ffilm Theatr Mwldan

Dominique Abel | Fiona Gordon | Bruno Romy | 2008 | 77’

Boasting flashes of comedy gold, and much indebted to the great silent comedians, Rumba stars the Belgian clown Dominique Abel and his Canadian wife Fiona Gordon as a pair of gangly schoolteachers whose passion is entering Latin American dance contests. Their lives are transformed following a car crash in which he loses his memory and she loses her leg, but the result, believe it or not, is funny, inventive, extremely touching and never cruel.

Ffilm am bâr sy’n mwynhau cystadlu mewn cystadlaethau dawns Lladin America. Ond mae eu bywydau’n cael eu trawsffurfio ar ôl iddynt gael damwain car, ac mae’r canlyniad yn ddoniol, yn ddyfeisgar, yn dyner a byth yn greulon.

Cast | Awards

(15) Andrea Arnold | UK | 2009 | 123’ | Cast | Awards

Newcomer Katie Jarvis excels as Mia, a tricky 15-year-old who has just one interest in life: urban dance. But the moves she practices are moody, introverted and subdued, rather like the dancer herself. One hot summer’s day her dysfunctional mother brings home a handsome stranger called Connor (Michael Fassbender) who promises to change everything and bring love into all their lives – but are things more complicated than they seem?. Powerfully acted, laugh out loud funny and profoundly moving, Fish Tank is film making of the highest calibre.

Mae Mia yn ferch anodd, 15 mlwydd oed, sydd ag ond un peth ar ei meddwl: dawns urban. Mae pethau’n newid gyda dyfodiad Connor, sy’n addo newid popeth, ond ydyw pethau’n fwy cymhleth na’r olwg gyntaf? Mae Fish Tank yn ddoniol, ac yn drawiadol a theimladwy iawn – dyma wneud ffilmiau o’r radd flaenaf.

“With a terrific performance by debutant Katie Jarvis, this gritty Essex drama shows that director Andrea Arnold is Ken Loach’s natural successor.” The Guardian

Jean-Francois Richet | 2008 | 113’

The concluding part in the tale of the life of the French gangster.  Since he was killed in a hail of police bullets in 1979, Jacques Mesrine has been elevated to the status of legend both by his detractors – to whom he was a monster – and his fans, to whom he was a misunderstood hero battling the establishment on behalf of the masses.  Was he an anti-establishment icon? Or just a shameless gangster who got the ending he deserved? 

Rhân olaf stori bywyd y gangster Ffrengig. Ers iddo gael ei ladd gan fwledi’r heddlu ym 1979, y mae wedi ei ddyrchafu at statws chwedlonol gan ei edmygwyr a’i ddifriwyr. Icon neu ddihiryn?

Cast | Awards

Jean-Francois Richet | 2008 | 113’|  15

The first installment of a two part biopic of France’s public enemy No 1, the pathologically violent gangster Jacques Mesrine, who claimed to have killed 43 people and staged a jailbreak from every prison he was sent to. Retracing Mesrine’s steps through his first ventures in the criminal underworld to his Bonnie and Clyde-esque escape to Canada with his lover, Mesrine: L’Instinct de Mort is an unflinching depiction of a man on the edge of psychological stability.

Rhan gyntaf o biopig am brif elyn Ffrainc, y gangster treisiol Jacques Mesrine, a honnodd ei fod wedi llofruddio 43 o bobl a dianc o bob carchar y bu ynddo.  Mae’r ffilm yn bortread diysgog o ddyn ar ymyl sefydlogrwydd seicolegol.

Cast | Awards

Lars Von Trier | 2009 | 108’ | (18)

This controversial horror from Denmark’s provocative director stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a grieving couple who retreat to a cabin in the woods where they encounter strange and terrifying occurrences. Gainsbourg won Best Actress for her performance at Cannes, where the film divided opinion, drawing both accusations of misogyny and praise for Von Trier’s exploration of the violent underbelly of the Christian story of sin and redemption. Warning! Contains scenes of explicit sexual violence.

Ffilm arswyd ddadleuol am bâr sy’n cilio i gaban yn y fforest i alaru. Yno mae pethau rhyfedd a dychrynllyd yn digwydd. Ffilm sy’n archwilio’r stori Gristnogol o bechod ac achubiaeth.

Cast | Awards

Pedro Almodóvar | Spain | 2009 | 127’

The latest film from the Spanish maestro stars Penelope Cruz in a state of almost hyperreal gorgeousness, a sublime beauty in whose presence Almodóvar’s camera goes into a swooning trance.  Unravelling the painful memories of a torrid, sex-crazed love affair between a director and his leading lady, the film is shot in the style of ‘50s American film noir at its most hard–boiled.  Signature Almodóvar themes such as Fate, the mystery of creation, guilt, unscrupulous power, deception and betrayal, are treated with elegance and exuberance.

Ffilm ddiweddaraf y cyfarwyddwr enwog Almodóvar gyda’r seren Penelope Cruz sy’n troi o gwmpas perthynas nwydus rhwng cyfarwyddwr a’i brif actores. Wedi ei ffilmio yn null film noir America’r 50au gydag ymdriniaeth o themâu nodweddiadol y cyfarwyddwr.

Cast | Awards

(15) | Courtney Hunt | USA | 2008 | 97’

On the border of a Mohawk reservation located between New York State and Quebec, two women – one white (Melissa Leo) and one Mohawk (Misty Upham) – are drawn by the lure of ready cash into smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States across the treacherous frozen waters of the St Lawrence river. This taut, suspenseful thriller is a troubling of borders both cultural and national and testament to the virtues of communion, empathy and compassion. Tennessean writer/director Courtney Hunt’s film scooped the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2008.

Ffilm gyffro yn llawn tyndra wedi ei gosod yng ngwlad y Mohawk rhwng Talaith Efrog Newydd a Quebec. Mae dwy fenyw yn cael eu denu gan arian i smyglo mewnfudwyr anghyfreithlon ar draws dyfroedd peryglus rhewedig yr Afon St Lawrence.

(15) | Duncan Jones | UK | 2009 | 96’

Sam Rockwell’s mining engineer is working for a corporation that’s found a new source of energy for clapped-out planet Earth, but as he nears the end of his three-year contract on the moon-base, cabin fever begins to take hold. This cleverly conceived and consistently intriguing old-school science fiction thriller eschews special effects and action-oriented clatter. Instead it delivers a cerebral adventure that’s as thought-provoking as it is thrilling, which nevertheless looks fantastic, from the authentic moon-base to the weird lunar surface. Taking its time to set up a very convincing future world before introducing a mind-bending turn of events, the film finally unloads a great pay-off.

Ffilm ffug wyddonol sy’n gyffrous ac yn afaelgar. Mae Sam yn beiriannwr sy’n gweithio i gwmni sy’n cynaeafu ac anfon ffurf newydd o ynni yn ôl i’r Ddaear er mwyn cynnal yr hen blaned ffaeledig. Ond tua diwedd ei gyfnod o dair blynedd yno, mae’n dechrau cael hen ddigon, ac yna mae pethau rhyfedd yn dechrau digwydd iddo.

(15) Lance Daly | Ireland | Sweden | 2008 | 75’

A feisty and captivating coming-of-age drama which follows two young tweens, Kylie (Kelly O’Neill) and Dylan (Shane Curry), who run away from their troubled family homes on the outskirts of Dublin at Christmas time. The pair head for the centre of the city, where they glimpse human life in all its colourful diversity, but as darkness falls and the night wears on, an uglier side of the city emerges. Curry and O’Neill are phenomenal in their first ever acting roles and by journey’s end, their fusion of youthful anxiety and child-like yearning has established itself as a beautifully realised epitaph to social unrest.

Ffilm afaelgar a bywiog am grwt a chroten yn eu harddegau sy’n ffoi o’u cartrefi ar gyrion Dulyn ar adeg y Nadolig. Mae’r pâr yn mynd i ganol y ddinas ac yn gweld yno bywyd dynol yn ei holl ogoniant, yn dda ac yn ddrwg. Perfformiadau gwych gan yr actorion ifainc.

(PG) | Gu Chanwei | China | 2007 | 105’

Gu Changwei’s follow-up to his debut Peacock, And The Spring Comes won Wenli Jiang the best actress award at the 2007 Rome Film Festival. This film charts the fortunes and aspirations of a small group of misfits in a small town in central China.

Mae’r ffilm hon yn dilyn hynt a helynt grŵp bach o fisffitiaid yn nhref fach yng Nghanolbarth Tsieina.

“Determinedly unconventional, yet engaging and moving” Beyond Hollywood

Screening as part of the Chinese Film Festival, organized by the Confucious Institute at University of Wales Lampeter