Belgian comedy opens year for Whanganui Film Society

NEW SEASON: Whanganui Film Society s first screening is Belgian filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael s comedy The Brand New Testament.

Whanganui Film Society president Helen Marie O'Connell says the 2018 season is opening with an irreverent comedy by Belgian film director Jaco Van Dormael.

"It stars some of France's favourite comedic actors, including Yolande Moreau, François Damiens, and Catherine Deneuve."

The screening is open to members only, but anyone can join, she says.

Memberships are available online at whanganuifilmsociety.org.nz or from 7pm at the venue.

"In the Belgian filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael's wickedly amusing religious satire, The Brand New Testament, God (Benoît Poelvoorde) is a snarling, mean-spirited bully who rules the universe from an apartment in Brussels," wrote NY Times reviewer Stephen Holden.

"Inside his locked office, surrounded by walls of card files, the tyrannical, perpetually bored deity sits behind a computer and plays nasty practical jokes on humans.

"A favourite pastime is contriving Laws of Annoyance, like making sure that when a piece of toast falls, it always lands with the jelly side down.

"God's wife (Yolande Moreau) is a silent, slavishly dutiful housekeeper; his son, JC, has been reduced to a statue. It remains for his rebellious young daughter, Ea (Pili Groyne), to flout his authority.

"Sneaking into his office, she hacks into his computer and, in what the news media later names 'DeathLeaks', sends text messages to everyone in the world, informing all of the dates of their deaths.

"Suddenly, millions are free to use the time they have left as they see fit."

Whanganui Film Society has changed slightly this year. Full membership entitles admission to all 32 films in the 2018 season and is now $95 or $75 (discounted for returning members).

Half year memberships (all films in either half of the year) are $50, and three-film samplers are now available for $25.

Youth under 18 years can get a full year's membership at a subsidised rate of $25 (less than $1 per film).

All membership types can be paid off by instalment.

■ The Brand New Testament screens at the Davis Theatre, Whanganui Regional Museum, Watt St, at 7pm on Monday, March 5.