Film Appreciation Class

Spring 2027

"My Favorite Foreign Films"

UNCSA Professor Emeritus Dale Pollock shares four of his favorite foreign films.  Each session begins with a lecture from Dale exploring the film’s history, the creative team, the technical aspects of filmmaking, and fascinating insights into the making of each film.  Each session concludes with a discussion of the film led by Dale. The films are shown in UNCSA's Gold Theater,  which gives a large screen theatrical experience.  Dale is an experienced feature film producer who made 13 films, including two that were nominated for Academy Awards. He is also the author of SKYWALKING, THE LIFE AND FILMS OF GEORGE LUCAS,  and a film and TV reviewer.  

 

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The Films

Week 1: CENTRAL STATION (1998), 1:50. Portuguese (Brazil)

Directed by Walter Salles. Starring Fernanda Montenegro, Vincius de Oliveiro.

Dora is a retired schoolteacher who earns a living writing letters on behalf of illiterate travelers at the Rio de Janeiro bus terminal.   Embittered by her life experiences, she resents her work and her customers.  After the death of one of her customers, a single mother, in a bus accident just outside the station, Dora feels compelled to help the orphaned boy Joshue find his father.  They undertake a bus journey that leads them from Rio de Janeiro to Bahia.  Along the way, Dora’s encounters with strangers provide chances to reframe her life and embrace new experiences.   This road drama film earned its lead actress an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and is regarded as one of the top Brazilian films.   Director Walter Salles has also directed MOTORCYCLE DIARIES and I'M STILL HERE.

Week Two: TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (2014), 1:35. French

Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. Starring Marion Cotillard.

A young wife and mother prepares her return to work after an absence for depression when she learns that the factory manager is planning to cut her position by keeping the longer work hours put in place to cover her absence.   The plant manager has pressured the other workers to accept the change by framing Sandra as a troublemaker and offering a financial incentive to retain the longer hours.  Sandra has the weekend to convince her fellow employees to reject the manager’s offer and save her job.  In speaking with her fellow workers, she learns of their struggles and what the decision means for their relationships with coworkers, with family, and their financial security.  The Dardenne brothers are Belgian filmmakers who have won many international awards, including two Best Picture wins at the Cannes Film Festival. 

Week Three: RUN LOLA RUN (1998), 1:20.  German

Directed by Tom Tykwer. Starring Franke Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu.

This German avant-garde thriller examines the idea of chance and timing through several retellings of 20 panicked minutes in the life of Lola, a young woman whose boyfriend Manni works as a bagman transporting money for a criminal organization.   Manni loses the bag and may be murdered by his superior if he doesn’t produce the money.  Lola sprints to see her father, a bank manager, to get the money that could save Manni’s life.  Meanwhile, Manni pursues his own options to obtain the money.  Along the way, small shifts in timing change the outcome of their efforts in wildly divergent ways.   Actress Franke Potente went on to become an international star with credits including a starring role in the American action movie franchise around the “Jason Bourne” character. 

Week Four:  The 400 Blows (1959), 1:39 French

Directed by François Truffaut.  Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier.

The English translation of this French coming-of-age narrative film’s title does not convey the meaning of the French phrase "faire les quatre cents coups", meaning "to raise hell or engage in wild excesses".   Inspired by François Truffaut’s own youth,  the film is the first in a series of five that follows a neglected and misunderstood adolescent boy, Antoine Doinel, into adulthood.  We meet Antoine at around age 14, sharing a cramped apartment with his constantly fighting mother and stepfather.   Antoine’s struggles with a lack of support and structure at home lead to an escalating series of rebellious activities and frequent absences from school that eventually land Antoine in a youth detention center.  He escapes from this prison as well and makes his way to the ocean, which he has always wanted to see.  The film concludes with a poignant shot of Antoine on the beach considering the past, future, and where to go next.  An early and defining film of the French New Wave, The 400 Blows won numerous awards including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director. It launched the filmmaking career of Truffaut, who was a film critic before that.

Instructor

Dale M. Pollock has produced 13 feature films, including "Set It Off," "Mrs. Winterbourne," "A Midnight Clear," "The Beast" and "Blaze." His films have received four Academy Award nominations and have won several awards, including Best Film at the Cleveland and Houston film festivals.

He was chief film reviewer for Daily Variety, chief film reporter for the Los Angeles Times (where he was a Pulitzer Prize nominee) and author of “Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas,” first published in 1984 with more than 150,000 copies in print. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Producers Guild; the Writers Guild of America, West; and frequently speaks at film festivals and conferences.