A Bolt From the Blue

Lightning strikes, a cancer comedy and dolphin death make this a dangerous week at the multiplex.

“Import/Export”
Noted for his unashamedly bleak characterizations of his homeland, Austrian novelist and filmmaker Ulrich Seidl shines a sobering light on the grotesque realities of the former Soviet Block and the tide of damaged souls drifting westward into Central Europe. A dual story of dispirited migration, “Import/Export” centers on Olga (Ekateryna Rak), a Ukrainian nurse who hopes to find steady work in Austria, and Paul (Paul Hofmann), a laid-off, debt-ridden security guard who heads across the border in the opposite direction. In German, Slovak, Russian, and English with subtitles.
Opens in New York.

“Lorna’s Silence”
The latest from Belgian brothers and two-time Palme d’Or winners Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, “Lorna’s Silence” picked up a Best Screenplay prize at last year’s Cannes. Lorna (Arta Dobroshi), an Albanian immigrant trapped in a marriage of convenience with serially relapsing junkie Claudy (Jérémie Renier), finds more trouble when a mobbed-up “fixer” plans an accident for Claudy so that Lorna might assist one of his shady connections in obtaining citizenship of his own. In Belgian and Albanian with subtitles.
Opens in New York and Los Angeles.

“Love Aaj Kal”
Essentially translating to “Love, Present, Past,” the latest from “Jab We Met” helmer Imtiaz Ali is an unapologetically traditional Bollywood song-and-dance romancei. Two parallel narratives separated by the generational divide depict the change in attitude towards love as Jai and Meera (Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone) finds themselves at a crossroads in contemporary London, while back in 1965, Delhi Veer Singh pursues his dream woman Harleen Kaur (also Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone). In Hindi with subtitles.
Opens in limited release.

“Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!”
Aussie writer/director Mark Hartley’s latest offers a candid tour of Down Under’s cinematic basement, where fresh young talent took advantage of recently relaxed censorship laws to do it dirtier, sexier and cheaper than their mainstream rivals. Shining a light on the forgotten and the obscure films from the ‘70s and ‘80s, combined with testimony from frazzled directors and rabid fans (Quentin Tarantino among them), Hartley showcases the films and the filmmakers that reflected a culture riding a wave of revolution.
Opens in New York and Los Angeles.

“Sergio”
Putting an all-too-literal spin on the life-or-death stakes of international conflict mediation, “Frontline” investigative journalist Greg Barker blends eulogy with harrowing archival footage and elements of a cinematic thriller for the story of U.N. special peace envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. Barker celebrates his subject’s many remarkable achievements prior to the 2003 bombing of the Baghdad U.N. headquarters that buried him and his colleagues under a mountain of rubble.
Opens in Los Angeles.

“Thirst”
South Korean sensation Park Chan-Wook, director of “The Vengeance Trilogy,” picked up a Jury Prize at Cannes for his latest, a slow-burning, farcical chiller taken from French horror scribe Émile Zola’s 19th century grubby page-turner “Therese Raquin.” “The Host”‘s Song Kang-ho stars as Sang-hyeon, a priest struck down by a deadly virus and reanimated in the form of a vampire. Kim Ok-vin co-stars as Tae-joo, a childhood friend who indulges him in his newfound bloodlust. In Korean with subtitles.
Opens in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

“You, The Living”
If you’ve never seen a Roy Andersson film, try to imagine the deadpan introspection of Wes Anderson, but directed by someone who recently received irrefutable proof that there is no God and acted out by a cast all of whom have just that second been informed of the death of a close friend. Continuing his fascination with all things morose, thr Swedish helmer tours a series of dingy urban locales, peering in on the unfulfilled lives of their inhabitants, employing a playful, bouncy score to offer an almost rhythmic quality to the surreal miserablism at hand. In Swedish with subtitles.
Opens in New York.

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