At AFI, Ledger's last role and Blunt's ascent as Victoria
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The best of modern European cinema visits Silver Spring this month for the 22nd annual AFI European Union Film Showcase. Thirty-nine offerings from 24 countries are on view through Nov. 24, and while the lineup includes the requisite share of largely unknown titles, there are some serious stars and potential box-office hits included, too. Check out our recommended viewing; for a complete schedule and festival pass information ($125 for access to every film), visit http:/
"THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS" (FRANCE)
You can't mention this film without noting that it features the late Heath Ledger's final screen appearance. And as anyone who has seen the trailer knows, Terry Gilliam's film, opening nationally on Christmas day, promises to be visually breathtaking. It doesn't hurt to have a cast that includes Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell as members of a magical theater troupe who make a deal with the devil, played by the incomparably voiced Tom Waits.
9:30 p.m. Saturday. PG-13, $6-$10.
"JOHN RABE" (GERMANY)
Ulrich Tukur stars as John Rabe, a German industrialist who eventually became known as "China's Oskar Schindler" after he helped save an estimated 200,000 Chinese after the Nanking Massacre by creating a safe haven at his company's plant. Tukur, who chillingly portrayed an East German Stasi official in 2006's "The Lives of Others," is joined in the effort by a French school teacher (Anne Consigny) and an American doctor, played by the ever-dependable Steve Buscemi.
7 p.m. Friday and Sunday. Unrated, $6-$10.
"MID-AUGUST LUNCH" (ITALY)
Gianni Di Gregorio made a splash internationally with his script for 2008's "Gomorrah." Now, Di Gregorio steps in front of the camera as Giovanni, a well-meaning son who unwittingly ends up housing his mother and three other elderly ladies during Italy's traditional late-summer holiday. The film's improvised, breezy feel makes it something of a geriatric, Italian take on "Old School."
3 p.m. Saturday and 5:15 p.m. Sunday. Unrated, $6-$10.
"POLICE, ADJECTIVE" (ROMANIA)
Audiences at this year's Cannes Film Festival were floored by Corneliu Porumboiu's police-state narrative that details an aggressive police officer (Dragos Bucur) and his obsessive pursuit of a suspected teenage pot dealer. Cinematography buffs will be enthralled by the filmmaker's use of the long take, which creates a dramatic element when coupled with the script's long stretches of silence.
