Bends (2013)

Director
Flora Lau

Main cast
Carina Lau; Chen Kun; Stephanie Che; Lawrence Cheng; Tian Yuan

Genres
Drama

Description
Flora Lau’s debut feature is a beautifully formed, subtle film that focuses on the lives of two people with very different prospects – a wealthy Hong Kong woman and her mainland Chinese chauffeur – both trying to cope with life’s unexpected dramas. Anna (Carina Lau) struggles to maintain appearances with her status-conscious friends after her husband mysteriously vanishes. Fai’s (Chen Kun) wife is heavily pregnant with their second child, has no health care entitlements in Hong Kong and cannot give birth in their homeland without incurring penalties for breaching the one-child policy. While their daily routines intersect, their fates only momentarily converge and Lau elegantly critiques the social contradictions at play by paralleling their predicaments rather than constructing drama between the two protagonists. (Source: LFF programme)


Similar movies

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Ben Quick arrives in Frenchman's Bend, MS after being kicked out of another town for allegedly burning a barn for revenge. Will Varner owns just about everything in Frenchman's Bend and he hires Ben to work in his store. Will thinks his own son, Jody, who manages the store, lacks ambition and despairs of him getting his wife, Eula, pregnant. Will thinks his daughter, Clara, a schoolteacher, will never get married. He decides that Ben Quick might make a good husband for Clara to bring some new blood into the family
Corky, a tough female ex con and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caeser.
Recently released from a mental hospital, Ricky ties up Marina, a film star he once had sex with and keeps her hostage.
A tale of four generations of men, all of whom have had their offspring at a young age: a great-grandfather, a grandfather, a father in his twenties and a son who is about 7 years old. When the oldest member passes away, the trio heads out on the road together in the Southwest to search out an old family secret that connects to their past.
Hannah is a young woman who lives on her own. She starts to get this feeling that she is being watched. The phone starts ringing at night and when she answers, no one is there. Is she imagining everything or is it for real?
The year is 1919. German troops retreat from Ukraine. The Directory, the Ukrainian national government lead by Symon Petliura, takes control of Kyiv. Meanwhile, the Bolshevik division commanded by Mykola Shchors is marching on the capital. The Bolsheviks capture the cities of Vinnytsia, Zhmerynka, and others one by one, but lose Berdychiv to Petliura’s forces. They are demoralized by the defeat. By his personal example of courage and military skill, Shchors inspires the retreating Red troops and leads them to victory over the enemy.
A young Italian actress embarks on a self-destructive spree of sex, drugs and other excess while doing some soul searching to find the path for redemption.
Detective Nick Blades is a New Orleans cop on trial for corruption. Assistant District Attorney Theo Gold is the man in charge of putting him behind bars. When these two unlikely partners from opposite sides of the law stumble onto a criminal plot, they’ll need to rely on luck – and patience – to take down a dangerous killer without killing each other first.
This film focuses on an aging starlette (Silvia Perez) was once an it-girl. She returns to her hometown for her niece's birthday party and has to deal with her conservative family who does not agree with her chosen lifestyle.
As single mom Grace juggles work, bills, and her affair with a married doctor, her daughter, Ansiedad, plots a shortcut to adulthood after finding inspiration in the coming-of-age stories she's reading for school.
Secrets, rumors and betrayals surround the upcoming marriage between a young dissolute man and virtuous woman of the French aristocracy.
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.
Three flatmates in Mexico City face uncertainties: Lucía who has a great job as an art director for TV commercials is abusing alcohol and cocaine. She risks losing her job, going to prison for assault, and she's woefully in love with a bullfighter who may be two-timing her. Carmen, an artist without income, can be manic - snorting lots of cocaine and hanging out with a gay man and a transvestite. What's her future? Hanna contemplates divorce from Abraham, a wealthy momma's boy, and she's disoriented by feelings of attraction to Sandra, a customer at her jewelry store. Can any of these poor little rich girls sort things out in a world of excess?
The first in a series of fetishistic mid-'60s exploitation features, White Slaves of Chinatown follows the beautiful, brutal Olga (Audrey Campbell) as she bends and eventually breaks the wills of a group of young female runaways and ex-convicts. Olga procures prostitutes and pushes heroin for the syndicate, confining and torturing her pretty victims in a private dungeon located in New York City's sinister Chinatown. Diplomat's daughter Frenchy is forced to write letters to her father asking for money when she's not squirming topless in her squalid cell. Lola and Collette are subjected to a variety of ordeals including stocks, crucifixions, cigarette burns, and Chinese water torture.
The happy lives of three best friends from school are brutally upended when Hei (Ivy Chen) breaks up with her fiancé (Wallace Chung). High flyer Kimmy (Fiona Sit) and director May (Yang Zishan) close ranks to help a devastated Hei move on, but she clings to her old feelings despite meeting a highly eligible prospect (Shawn Yue). Whilst May considers leaving the film set to travel the world with a free spirited musician (Vanness Wu); rivalry over the same guy threatens to tear Kimmy and May apart. An unexpected, shocking incident provides a climactic test. Can the girls keep their friendship together?
A position opens up at the Institute of Psychology. Manfred, a faculty psychologist, jumps at the career opportunity of a lifetime, spurred on by his girlfriend, Therese, who is also a co-worker. Then a new psychologist joins the staff, jeopardising his plans. It pains Manfred, who bends over backwards to curry favour, no end to see his new colleague, Poul, win over the institute chairman with his smooth, easy-going style. It is time, Manfred figures, to tip the scales of justice.
Reunited after years apart, childhood sweethearts William and Janne are forced to confront the dark secrets of their past-and the menacing presence of William's pathologically jealous brother — in this haunting story from celebrated Norwegian director Sara Johnsen. (TIFF)
Before crossing paths with Peyton, falling for a woman was an unimaginable situation for Elena, a straight wife and mother. The friendship between Peyton, an out lesbian writer, and Elena, the wife of an anti-gay paster who has never experienced true love, transforms swiftly from a one-sided crush into a torrid extramarital affair. Despite their attraction, Peyton, jaded in a number of ways, has strong reservations about becoming involved with a married straight woman; Elena, recognizing that she is caught in a loveless marriage, can barely begin to rationalize the nature and magnitude of her desires. As their relationship evolves, Elena confronts the choice of leaving her husband or ending her involvement with Peyton to save her unraveling and unrewarding marriage and return to a drab and automated life. Above all, Elena faces the looming challenge of convincing Peyton that the two women have a bright future together despite their unfavorable circumstances
Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.
Hiroko is about to get married to the handsome Kenichiro when disaster strikes. Her landlord stops by the happy bride-to-be’s apartment where a pair of wayward scissors falls from a shelf and stabs him in the back as he bends forward to pick something up. His body begins to stiffen even before Hiroko realizes what has happened. On the road to Mount Fuji where Hiroko intends to dump the corpse, something falls on the hood of her car out of the blue. That “something” is Fukuko Kobayashi (Yoshino Kimura), who is dying to… die. Fukuko believes that she is irredeemably unhappy and has endeavored to commit suicide again and again. As Hiroko and Fukuko begin their journey to abandon the corpse, a weird friendship begins to build.
When Song Qi stumbles upon her boyfriend's affair with her best friend, her life quickly starts falling apart and she is subsequently drawn into a quicksand of revenge and murder. Though all is not as it seems and Song Qi will have to embark on a twisted journey into her past and the very depths of her own mind
Victor Bukowski is an out-of-work actor with problems. He's got a lousy agent, he has a habit of falling out with directors and he's still in love with his ex-girlfriend. However, Victor is about to embark on an unexpected emotional journey which will make him confront his future and his past mistakes.
Anthology film of six shorts by leading Korean directors. Park Chan-Wook, tackles racial prejudice and the economic exploitation of immigrant workers through the real-life story of a Nepalese woman in Korea. Jeong Jae-Eun, tackles the plight of a paedophile released into the community. Yeo Gyun-Dong, invites disabled actor Kim Moon-Joo to re-enact his most famous protest. Im Soon-Rye, goes for the engrained sexism of Korean men with superb wit and, Park Jin-Pyo, confronts the horror of children forced into oral surgery to improve their English-speaking ability.
Hotshot gambler Jake Green (Jason Statham) is long on bravado and seriously short of common sense. Rarely is he allowed in any casino because he's a bona fide winner and, in fact, has taken so much money over the years that he's the sole client of his accountant elder brother, Billy. Invited to a private game, Jake is in fear of losing his life.
Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.
Ronah's life unravels when she starts working with a new client, Johnny.
This is a comedy about people who work in the theater, live for the theater, think of nothing but the theater. The director seems crazy, the art director has idiotic ideas, and the acting coach is eccentric: they even look like brothers, related by their common obsession for the theater, linked as one with the actors. The new project is Mozart's Don Giovanni, in which the director insists to give it a brand new interpretation and an avant-garde treatment. Now, he has to deal with the violent objection from the actors, the musicians, the singing coach, the stage manager, and even the cafe bar attendants and the cleaners. The situation is further complicated as the director is such a womanizer like Don Juan... and his lovers and kids keep bugging him throughout the rehearsal...
Small-town sisters Dottie and Kit join an all-female baseball league formed after World War II brings pro baseball to a standstill. When their team hits the road with its drunken coach, the siblings find troubles and triumphs on and off the field.
Ten stories meet at Kerala Cafe.
Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team.
A 17th century Hungarian countess embarks on a murderous undertaking, with the belief that bathing in the blood of virgins will preserve her beauty.
After the death of his boss's wife, a young engineer faces the sudden psychological metamorphosis of his own wife, seemingly possessed by the soul of the deceased...
Straitlaced Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is caught off-guard when she makes a recruiting visit to an alternative high school overseen by her former college classmate, the freewheeling John Pressman (Paul Rudd). Pressman has surmised that Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), his gifted yet very unconventional student, might well be the son that Portia secretly gave up for adoption many years ago. Soon, Portia finds herself bending the rules for Jeremiah, putting at risk the life she thought she always wanted -- but in the process finding her way to a surprising and exhilarating life and romance she never dreamed of having.
An 18-year-old beauty develops an attraction to an older photographer.
A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.
Dr. Richard Sturgess leads a team of compassionate doctors at a veteran's hospital. Along with Drs. Morgan, Handleman and Van Dorn, he fights to deliver adequate care to needy veterans in the face of funding cuts and a corrupt administration. To succeed, the staff may have to bend the rules and circumvent the villainous "Article 99," a bureaucratic loophole that prevents veterans from receiving the benefits they deserve.
"Leave out any hope of salvation, now you're getting in, to never leave again" (Hell - Canto III) It's been years since Beatrice died. Dante, now lonely, has lost control of his life and nothing on Earth is able to help him. Is a holy soul from Paradise, her timeless love and endless care that gives Dante's life a twist. Beatrice, bending the rules of the Underworld, offers her old friend the opportunity to understand the value of life. Dante, guided by the knowledgeable soul Virgilio, will have cross Hell and Purgatory and face several challenges to have the chance of being enlightened by the vision of the Empyrean. His journey is physical and emotional. By meeting many wondering souls Dante will have cope with inner resistances and overcome them evolving and growing to move on with his life.
A fidgety, wisecracking video store clerk develops a fixation on a particularly reclusive customer, a frequent visitor to the pornography section of Cinefile, the video store where he works in Los Angeles. After multiple failures to impress her during their brief daily transactions, he finds her street address in the store's database, drives to her apartment building and initiates an unconventional campaign to win her affections.
High school basketball is king in small-town Indiana, and the 1954 Hickory Huskers are all hope and no talent. But their new coach -- abrasive, unlikable Norman Dale -- whips the team into shape ... while also inciting controversy.
An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of "Carmen Jones", becoming the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Marriages and affairs would break her heart, but her heart was strong. Seductive and easily seduced, she was born to be a star - with all the glory and all the pain of being loved, abused, cheated, glorified, undermined and undefeated. Here was a woman who wouldn't wait in the wings. Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandrige.
Groundbreaking director Mamoru Oshii continues to push the boundaries of art and anime with this universally acclaimed cyber thriller following cyborg detective Batou as he tries to unravel the reasons for a murderous robot revolt in the year 2032. A quest for a killer that becomes a mind bending search for the meaning of life.
For no apparent reason, a mute young woman assaults a youth who delivers water on his bicycle, injuring him and ruining his bike. Surprisingly, she asks him to feed her fish while she is in custody. Her tiny apartment, he discovers, is a shrine to his favorite escape, the movies.
A gritty mind-bending thriller about three twenty-somethings who find themselves in an impossible time labyrinth, where each day they awaken to the same terrifying day as the preceding one.
In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending the king to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are (contrary to Scripture) nearing conversion to the new religion. And the famous climactic dance turns out to have unexpected implications...
One clear summer day in a Baltimore suburb, a baby goes missing from her front porch. Two young girls serve seven years for the crime and are released into a town that hasn't fully forgiven or forgotten. Soon, another child is missing, and two detectives are called in to investigate the mystery in a community where everyone seems to have a secret.
U.S. government agent Scott is assigned to rescue the daughter of a high-ranking government official. As willing as he is to bend the rules to get things done, though, Scott is shocked to find that others are willing to go even further to protect a political career.
A girl reaches the age of nine and is supposed to act as a grown woman according to her family. A girl participates in a bike race against the will of her husband. An elderly woman decides she wants to buy all the things she always wanted but could never get.
The Icelandic people was born of Norwegian immigrants who would not submit to the tyranny of the king of Norway and established a republican country in the Middle Ages, where social classes were virtually diluted and developed a subsistence economy. After centuries of freedom was first submitted by Norway and then by Denmark until World War II. Iceland has always had a libertarian spirit that is born of its history and of being a place with few inhabitants and always with a rebellious and disobedient spirit.
Cocky car racer Nick Jargin has retired since he nearly caused the death of his brother at a hairpin bend on a circuit. He now holds a trendy café who keeps him busy full time until one day, Tony Boari, a new champion racer, challenges him.
Womanising, right-wing Dan Hanson and quiet, liberal Lorie Bryer work for the Baltimore Sun. Rivals for the job of new writer of a vacant column, the paper ends up instead printing their very different opinions alongside each other, which leads to a similarly combative local TV show. At the same time their initial indifference to each other looks like it may evolve into something more romantic.
A man is broken hearted at the loss of his lover, then later visits the same pain on the next woman with whom he becomes involved.
About a working class woman climbing her way up the corporate ladder and scoring a hot, rich boyfriend along the way, this romantic comedy is based on the same-name popular novel.
The story is freely inspired by the life and work of Jan Saudek, who is probably the most well-known Czech photographer internationally and has indisputably been involved in the development of international photography. He has exhibited and sold his work in the largest galleries and art houses, he has earned international recognition and awards, he enjoys great popularity and interest - he is a true phenomenon.
Hoyle a girl with a sharp mind and a weakness for bourbon -- finds herself on the trail of a reclusive genius. But her work takes a series of unforeseen twists as events around her grow increasingly fragmented... disconnected... surreal. With an ethereal lounge singer and her loyal partner as her only allies, Hoyle is plunged into a dark world of intrigue and earth-shattering cosmological secrets. Haunted by an ever-present shadow whom she is destined to face, Hoyle discovers that the most powerful force in the universe -- the power to bend reality, the power to know the truth -- lies within the depths of the human heart.
Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to chose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.
The lines between reality and perception blur in this comic journey into the life and mind (literally!) of one of sci-fi's most brilliant authors. Paranoid conspiracies of the highest order, drug-fueled interdimensional shifts, and 1970's pop culture combine for the mind-bending adventure of the century.
A look at modern-day life in China's capital centered on a ménage-a-quatre involving a young woman, her boss, her husband and her boss's wife. Massage girl Pingguo (Apple) (The stunning Fan Bingbing) lives in a cramped apartment with her bad-tempered window cleaner husband Kun (Tong Dawei), barely eking by on their miniscule pay. When Pingguo gets raped by her boss Lin (Tony Leung) one afternoon, Kun, who is washing the windows of the building, witnesses the act. The enraged Kun tries to get even first by (unsuccessfully) blackmailing Lin, then by sleeping with Lin's wife (Elaine Kam). The relationships get even more tangled when Pingguo discovers she's pregnant. With the paternity of the baby up in the air, Kun, who is eager for money, strikes a deal with Lin, who is eager for a son.
Gregoire Canvel has everything a man could want: a wife he loves, three delightful children and his dream job - he is a film producer. Discovering talented filmmakers and developing films that fit his conception of the cinema, free and true to life, is precisely his reason for living. Gregoire devotes almost all of his time and energy to his work. Although he spends weekends with his family at their house in the country, even these precious moments are regularly interrupted by demanding directors and concerned investors. While Gregoires very presence commands admiration, and his exceptional charisma lead many to believe he is invincible, the future of his prestigious production company, Moon Films, is in doubt; too many productions, too many risks, too many debts. Storm clouds are gathering, and Gregoires realisation that he may have made one gamble too many will trigger a series of events that will change the lives of his family forever.

© Valossa 2015–2024