The 14th European Union Film Festival runs Friday, March 4, through Thursday, March 31, at Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312-846-2800. Tickets are $10, $7 for students, and $5 for Film Center members. Following are selected films screening through Thursday, March 10; for a full schedule see siskelfilmcenter.com.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Amer This French-Belgian feature (2009) pays tribute to the Italian giallo, a flashy horror genre of the 60s and 70s whose breast-and-blade fetish helped birth the American slasher film. Writer-directors Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani present three 30-minute segments that follow their female heroine from childhood to adolescence to adulthood; the first places the girl (Cassandra Foret) in an eerie old house with her grandfather’s corpse and nicely encapsules the sex/death vibe that made the giallo tick, but the directors’ mostly wordless narrative, with its endless close-ups, more than wears out its welcome in the last hour—it’s the horror movie as sports-car commercial. The last segment concludes in classic giallo style, with the heroine (Marie Bos) being chased through the forest by a razor-wielding killer, and provides a suitable cherry to this dubious sundae. —J.R. Jones Sat 3/5, 9:15 PM, and Wed 3/9, 8:45 PM.
Jane Eyre Umpteenth screen version of the Charlotte Bronte novel, with Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right) as Jane and Michael Fassbender (Hunger) as Rochester. Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) directed this UK feature, which begins a commercial run March 18. 120 min. Fukunaga and Wasikowska will attend the screening. Sun 3/6, 7:30 PM.
