A bouquet of films on youth

it's a festival of films on the theme of youth. it showcases a dozen classics from three countries __ france, germany and russia. and it's for free for all cineastes at the alliance francaise and max mueller bhavan from august 17-31. the brainchild of alliance francaise director stephane foin, max mueller director rudolf bartsch and russian cultural centre, chennai, vice--consul vladimir zakharov, the festival was designed to complement the efforts of various film societies in promoting quality cinema.the films in 16 mm format with english sub-titles comprise a heady selection. there's jeux interdits, rene clement's french offering in black & white that zeroes in on world war ii and tells the story of an orphan girl and her impact on the family that adopts her. on to der junge torless, volker schlondorff's splendid 1966 study of the growing pains of a country boy who is sent to a big boarding school. puberty, veiled homosexuality, rootlessness, the hollowness of an educational system that has no place for those who seek enlightenment and other sub-themes pepper this complex work. from the dark and brooding to the subtle with andrei tarkovsky's science fiction cult offering solaris, an uncompromisingly unique and poetic meditation on space travel and its physical and existential ramifications. don't miss agnes varda's sans toit ni loi made in 1985 __ a haunting study of a a vagabond, whose story is narrated by those who've met her on the road. le matin critic michel perez best describes the movie __ let it be quite clear that agnes varda's heroine stands for nothing but herself, that she is not a social case nor the product of a new lost generation. she is an addict of wind and walking, fleeing nothing, going nowhere, but always on the go. stopping is what kills her. want to check out a thriller that is the anti-thesis of the hollywood genre ? try peter lichetefeld's zugvogel __ einmal nach inari (trains 'n' roses) that zooms in on hannes weber, an ordinary beer-delivery van driver with a penchant for mugging railway timetables. he's been invited to participate in a competition in distant finland, when the police discover his boss has been murdered and the safe plundered. sure hannes isn't guilty, but the police don't know that. cut to the chase. like romance ? blow a kiss to the barber of siberia directed by david dobkin in 1998. young love gone terribly wrong, passion and betrayal, age, the search and finally the meeting. what use tears when they flow too late, what use hope when the fire has died ? want real deep stuff, that's two hours plus long ? watch tom tykwer's winterschlafer, as it plummets down the alps, its protagonists swept away in the hubris of their individual foibles. more movies, more pleasure.