UK welcomes Harry Brown, The Man From London in Germany

France:

Roland Emmerich’s 2012 tipped the scales on its first day of release in France by grabbing 591,517 moviegoers to become the third best opening day ever for a film in France.

Tresor, the last film directed by Claude Berri, who passed away earlier this year, was released in France on November 14. The comedy starring Alain Chabat, Mathilde Seigner and Fanny Ardant, went out via Pathe on 437 screens to land in second place for the day with 103,227 admissions. Jointly directed with Francois Dupeyron, the film is a peculiar love triangle story between a man, his lover and a dog.

Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus was released by Metropolitan Filmexport on Wednesday clocked up 61,624 admissions on 234 screens. The last film, which features the last  appearance by Heath Ledger, had a special screening in Cannes this year which received a relatively warm welcome. The story revolves around the eponymous doctor and his traveling theatre troupe. In a rare move, three actors stepped in to replace Ledger when he passed away: Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.

Another film that appeared in Cannes, A L’Origine, was also released on Wednesday. Xavier Giannoli’s film based on the true story of a small-time crook whose latest scheme brings hope to a depressed community, stars François Cluzet, Emmanuelle Devos and Gerard Depardieu. EuropaCorp Distribution released the film on 283 screens and sold 45,584 tickets on Wednesday.

UK:

Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner The White Ribbon reaches the UK on November 13, released by arthouse indie Artificial Eye. The European co-production is set in a rural village in northern Germany prior to World War I, and begins when the local doctor suffers a mysterious accident.

Lionsgate UK will be hoping that local production Harry Brown will connect with audiences off the back of positive local press when it opens nationwide this weekend. Michael Cane provides the star power in Daniel Barber’s film about an ex-serviceman who decides to take the law into his own hands. Emily Mortimer and Iain Glen also star.

Australian production Love The Beast, Eric Bana’s directorial debut, gets a limited release through Metrodome Distribution, also from November 13. The documentary focuses on Bana’s love of his first car, a 1974 Ford Falcon XB coupe.

Germany:

Almut Getto’s laconic romantic comedy Ganz Nah Bei Dir had a premiere in Berlin on Tuesday evening (November 10) and has now been released in 27 towns throughout Germany by Timebandits Films.

UK-born, Berlin-based filmmaker Cynthia Beatt’s documentary The Invisible Frame is being given a theatrical release by Filmgalerie 451 at Berlin’s Arsenal Cinema. The film reunites Beatt with Tilda Swinton after 21 years, as the Scottish actress traces the course of the Berlin Wall on her bicycle. In 1988, they had made a short film together about cycling alongside the Wall in the then West Berlin. The Invisible Frame was given its world premiere at last month’s Viennale, with the German premiere last Sunday evening (November  8) in Berlin with Swinton in attendance.

Hungarian auteur Bela Tarr’s Cannes competition film The Man From London has finally come to German cinemas courtesy of Basis Film with bookings in Berlin.

Spain:

Alta Films will be showing Danis Tanovic’s thriller Triage, starring Colin Farrell, on 123 screens in Spain, the country where the film was shot. Set in the 1980s, the drama unfolds with war photographer Mark (Farrell) returning from an emotionally battering experience in Kurdistan, only to find his best friend and fellow photographer has not returned. Tanovic picked up the foreign language Oscar in 2002 for his previous war film No Man’s Land.

Canadian director Kari Skogland’s hard-hitting drama 50 Dead Men Walking arrives in Spain through local outfit Yedra. An award winner at last year’s Vancouver International Film Festival, the film tells the true story of the young Irish man Martin McGartland, who in the 1980s was hired by the British police to infiltrate and spy on the IRA’s activities.

Golem will release French director Catherine Corsini’s romantic drama Leaving, starring Kristin Scott Thomas as a well to do English woman living in the South of France, who has a passionate affair a builder, played by Sergi Lopez. Backed by Pyramide Productions and Canal +, the film has already taken a respectable $5m in France.