Directed by Ousmane Sembene
Senegal 2000, 35mm, color, 118 min.
With Venus Seye, Mame Ndoumbé Diop, Tabara N’diaye
Wolof and French with English subtitles
Faat-Kiné, the manager of a sparkling new gas station, drives an elegant car, lunches with fashionably dressed friends, and worries about her children passing their high school finals. But Sembene contextualizes his heroine’s thoroughly modern triumphs and anxieties within the complex culture and politics of Dakar, with its contrastive architecture of shantytowns and high-rises, streets crowded with cattle and Mercedes, and women whose lives have been shaped as much by tribal custom and male prejudice as by their twenty-first century aspirations. As it examines the changing roles of women in Senegalese society, Faat-Kiné opens onto a new chapter in the career of this legendary director.
one day only
Romance of Astrea and Celadon by Eric Rohmer (2007, 109 min.). From My Night at Mauds to A Tale of Springtime, Eric Rohmer has made a career from treating modern romance like great classical love stories. In his latest film, the romance of ill-fated lovers Celadon and Astrea is torn asunder by a sudden misunderstanding. A suicide attempt lands Celadon in the clutches of the sensual Galathea and her handmaidens, but a helpful passerby soon inspires our hero to reconcile with Astrea. Filled with nymphs, druids, and angels, the film is literally atwitter with medieval soundslutes, crickets, and waterfalls dominateand sensuously aflutter with countless breezes caressing the billowing shirts of our hero, heroine, and sundry nubile lasses. Like all things old becoming new again, this ancient tale embodies Rohmers contemporary themes, presenting its mlange of romantic befuddlement, entanglement, and desire as effortlessly and entertainingly as any modern romance.
showing through friday
Sadko
MFA
wednesday, september 10, at
6 pm
Sadko by Alexandr Ptushko (1952, 90 min.). In one of the darkest years for Soviet cinema, the master of fantastic cinema managed to create his most beautiful work. Aleksandr Ptushkoalready internationally famous for The New Gulliver and The Stone Flower transformed the Arab seafarer Sindbad into Sadko, a medieval Russian adventurer. Sadko sets out on a voyage in search of true happiness. His travels take him to every exotic corner of the globe, as well as to a sprawling undersea kingdom before he finally returns to the arms of his beloved Lubava, Special effects master Ptushko creates a true cinema of enchantment, with every character, object and background alive with wondrous possibilities. Years later, Sadko was purchased by American producer Roger Corman, who released the film as The Magic Voyage of Sinbad after it had been re-edited by a very young Francis Ford Coppola.
one day only
"As the summer heats up, let Frozen River wash over you; let its bracing drama and the intensity of its acting restore your spirits as well as your faith in American independent film." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"Melissa Leo is startlingly good...You feel like you're watching a life, not a performance." - Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
FROZEN RIVER is the story of Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo), an upstate New York trailer mom who is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams up with Lila, a smuggler
showing through thursday
Box Office Babies presentation Fri, Sept 5 @ 1:00
“RIVETING. This exhilarating film makes you shake your head in amazement.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world’s tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released.
Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent eight months in New York City planning the execution of the coup. Aided by a team of friends and accomplices, Petit was faced with numerous extraordinary challe
showing through tuesday
Off the Couch Presentation Tues, Sept 9 @ 7:00 with discussion leader RACHEL SEIDEL, MD
In Woody Allen' latest, two young Americans spend a summer in Spain and meet a flamboyant artist (Javier Bardem) and his beautiful but insane ex-wife (Penelope Cruz). Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is straight-laced and about to be married. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is a sexually adventurous free spirit. When they all become amorously entangled, the results are both hilarious and harrowing.
dir. Woody Allen, w/ Bardem, Cruz, Johansson, and Hall
showing through thursday
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