antiplex

rss ical

coming up at boston's independent moviehouses - the brattle, harvard film archive, mfa and coolidge

Directed by Ousmane Sembene Senegal 1968, 35mm, color, 90 min. With Makhouredia Gueye, Ynousse N’diaye, Isseu Niang Wolof with English subtitles Sembene’s first comedy, his first film in color, and first work in Wolof - the language spoken by most of the population of Senegal - Mandabi is the deceptively simple story of a man whose initial good fortune leads to encounters with an intimidating barrage of Third World bureaucracy. The film, which consists of a series of comic mishaps involving Dieng’s futile attempts to get an identity card so he can cash his check, takes the viewer on a journey with corrupt government officials and impoverished members of Dakar’s proletariat. Mandabi was seen as a betrayal by many in the newly independent Senegal. The fact that the film was a comedy did not spare Sembene’s film from attacks in the press. one day only

Directed by Sam Peckinpah. With Jason Robards, Olivia de Havilland, Ben Johnson US 1966, video, color, 60 min. Labeled as refractory after the fiasco of Major Dundee, Peckinpah found himself in a difficult spot, blackballed by the studios and abruptly fired from The Cincinnati Kid after only a few days. Peckinpah retreated to his first passion—writing—turning out scripts for both film and television. Among these was his nuanced adaptation of Katherine Anne Porter’s short story “Noon Wine,” which earned the approval of the notoriously difficult Porter, and Peckinpah's assignment to direct the telefilm version of this story of a farmer estranged from his community and family by his steadfast defense of a falsely accused hired hand. One of Peckinpah’s most restrained and haunting variations of his favored theme of violence as a necessary evil, Noon Wine was a success, opening the door for Peckinpah’s return to filmmaking. one day only find/upload a trailer

Directed by Sam Peckinpah. With Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson US 1972, 35mm, color, 122 min. The Getaway was Peckinpah’s bid to make a conventional genre film-- one in which the forward motion of the plot is never interrupted by melancholy ruminations, extended flashbacks (or flash forwards) or complex montage sequences. Among the film's exceptional qualities are its relentless, restless pace and its wonderful pairing of matinee idol Steve McQueen as the crook and the gorgeous Ali MacGraw as his partner. Based on a novel by pulp master Jim Thompson and scripted by future auteur Walter Hill, The Getaway is a tough noir tale that reveals Peckinpah's talent for lean, propulsive filmmaking is equal to that of his mentor Don Siegel. one day only

Directed by Ousmane Sembene Senegal 1974, 35mm, color, 123 min. With Thierno Leye, Seune Samb, Miriam Niang Wolof and French with English subtitles Zeroing in on the myth of African independence and on the capitulation to white colonial policies by newly empowered black African leaders, this savage and funny satire deals with a self-satisfied, half-Westernized black businessman who is suddenly struck down by the xala: a curse that renders its victim impotent. While he desperately chases after witch doctors and soothsayers in search of a cure, the character’s condition becomes a mirror of the impotence of young African nations that are over-dependent on white technology and bureaucratic structures. 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

During Argentina’s economic crisis of the ‘90s, nine year-old Eugenia and her mother, Florencia, live a seemingly colorful life surrounded by eclectic neighbors and an offbeat collection of family. But for Eugenia, who must deal with her mother’s dysfunctional and drug-addled lifestyle, life is anything but pleasant in this darkly inspiring story of expectation, acceptance and nontraditional family, led by standout performances from director Vera Fogwill and young actress Lucía Snieg. (2005) dirs. Vera Fogwill and Martín Desalvo, Argentina, in Spanish with English subtitles, DVD,1h34m one day only

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

Directed by Ousmane Sembene and Thierno Faty Sow Senegal 1987, 35mm, color, 152 min. With Iprahima Sane, Sijiri Bakaba Wolof and French with English subtitles In 1944, the French army massacred several units of West African conscripts recently returned from the battlefields of Europe. Sembene, who had been drafted into the French army that same year, knew of this event and in 1998 used it as the basis for his sixth feature film. What was essentially a demand by African veterans that they be paid the same wages as their French counterparts led to an attack on soldiers who had only recently been fighting the Nazis in Italy and Germany. In 1944, the French colonial authorities viewed returning African veterans as second class citizens and because the colonial administration was financially bankrupt, found it convenient to refuse their demands. The resulting mutiny by the veterans of Camp Thiaroye led to a full scale artillery attack on the camp. one day only

Directed by Ousmane Sembene Senegal 1977, 35mm, color, 120 min. With Tabara N’diaye, Ismaila Diagne, Moustapha Yade Wolof with English subtitles Banned in Senegal on an absurd technicality, Ceddo, Sembene’s most ambitious film, uses the story of a beautiful princess’s kidnapping to examine the confrontation between opposing cultural forces: Muslim expansion, Christianity, and the slave trade. The “Ceddo” - or feudal class of common people - cling desperately to their customs and their fetishistic religion amidst the impending changes. Nominally set in the nineteenth century, Ceddo ranges far and wide to include philosophy, fantasy, militant politics, and a couple of electrifying leaps across the centuries to evoke the whole of the African experience. one day only

Directed by Ousmane Sembene Senegal 1971, 35mm, color, 101 min. With Ibou Camara, Ousrnane Camara, Joseph Diatta Diola and French with English subtitles Sembene's third film launched his international reputation, reaching an audience far beyond Senegal’s Diola community, to whom he had directly addressed the film. Emitai takes place in the period at the end of the World War II, as West African veterans are returning to their homes in the French colonies. General De Gaulle, the hero of the trench resistance, is now the leader of the newly liberated France, yet forced conscriptions and massacres of Diola villages continue, some of them led by former members of France’s Vichy government. With Emitai, Sembene realized his statement “film should be a school of history.” When the film was released in 1971, it was immediately banned in Senegal, and throughout Africa. one day only

The Duchess by Saul Dibb (2008, 110 min, Rated PG-13 for sexual content, brief nudity and thematic material. ) Keira Knightley stars as 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was adored for her glamour and reviled for her extravagant political and personal life. Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling also star in this lavish period production. 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 final showing

Next Open Screen: Sept. 9th" "Open Mic for movies! Tired of your usual audience of your dog, Grandma, and your cinephobe roommate? Come enjoy a room full like minded artists, hungry to see new work and showcase their own. The dramatic, the hilarious, and the downright bizarre collide in what the Boston Herald has called "infectious" and "what aspiring amateur filmmakers are hoping to bring to the revolution." Support local filmmaking, support the Coolidge, and most importantly, support yourself. As long as your movie is under 10 minutes, Open Screen will show it! Doors open at 7pm for sign-ups, movies start at 7:30pm! Formats" DVD, miniDV, VHS, super8mm. Contact imdb mrqe --> one day only

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

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 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

Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein (1925, 80 min.) One of the immortal classics of world cinema, Battleship Potemkin was a perfect vehicle for the young, brilliant and restless Eisenstein to experiment with his theories about montage, the creation of new ideas and filmic realities through the creative juxtaposition of images. Based on the famous revolt by the crew of a Russian warship in Odessa in 1905, the film celebrates the courage of the rebels and those on land who supported them, and it also depicts, in the extraordinary and oft-quoted Odessa Steps sequence, the raw brutality of the Tsarist regime. Well-received in the USSR when first released, the film was among the first Soviet films shown in the Western Europe, where it created an enormous sensationthe most powerful evidence yet of a new, revolutionary art emerging from what claimed to be a new, revolutionary society. Silent Bob Winter provides live piano accompaniment. one day only

Happiness by Aleksandr Medvedkin 1934, 66 min.). Anarchic in its humor, caustic in its view of peasant life, Happiness defies easy categorization or definition. The painted backdrops inspired by Russian woodprints evoke the atmosphere of a Russian folk tale and give the action a curious theatricality. The story concerns a poor and lazy peasant, Khmyr, who hates work of any kind and dreams of doing nothing. Before the Revolution, he and his much more industrious wife Anna make a living through a combination of improbable good luck and cutting corners wherever they can. After the revolution, the local peasants all decide to form a collective and Khmyr and Anna are invited to joinbut can this committed slacker ever be trusted? Eisenstein among others strongly defended Happiness, but its ambiguity unsettled the authorities, who effectively banned the film until the '60swhen it was re-discovered by new generations of filmmakers and film lovers both in Russia and internationally one day only

The Cranes Are Flying by Mikhail Kalatozov (1957, 98 min.). No other work more powerfully symbolized the coming of the Khrushchev "thaw" in Soviet culture than Kalatozov's masterpiece, winner of the Golden Palm at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival. Like many other Soviet films, it was a tale of wartime love and loss, but here Soviet audiences saw characters who were not model heroes but flawed, contradictory and completely understandable human beings. Veronika (Tatyana Samojlova) and Boris (Aleksey Batalov) are lovers looking forward to a life together. When the war breaks out, Boris heads off to the front while Tatyana stays behind and succumbs to Boris' cousin Mark (Aleksandr Shvorin). Aided by cinematographer Sergei Urushevsky's extraordinarily vibrant camerawork, The Cranes Are Flying achieves an almost mythic dimension, as the story of these star-crossed lovers becomes the story of a nation. one day only

The Gates by Antonio Ferrera, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Matthew Prinzing (2007, 98 min. video). In 1979, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude proposed one of the largest public art installations in history: a "golden river" of 7,503 fabric-paneled gates in Central Park. The installation was finally completed in 2005, and The Gates chronicles the artists' twenty-six-year commitment to transform winter darkness into a garden of light and color. Featuring meetings and conversations with Christo, Jeanne-Claude, and city officials from the 1970s through 2005, The Gates portrays the artists' unique passion to bring art to the people of New York City. An HBO Documentary Film. 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 final showing

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 final showing

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. final showing

Directed by Sam Peckinpah. William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan US 1969, 35mm, color, 145 min. Peckinpah’s classic tale of aging desperados determined, against all odds, to forge one last stand, gives new meaning to Hemingway’s dictum of “grace under pressure.” The Wild Bunch gained instant notoriety for its extended sequences of orgiastic violence, with less attention paid to the technical and artistic genius behind them— Peckinpah’s combination of distinct camera setups and the complex, lyrical montage and slow motion camerawork that extended the pioneering work of Kurosawa and Arthur Penn, two directors Peckinpah greatly admired. The film is riveting not only for its violence but also for its vision of a forgotten generation of obsolete warriors, not unlike the wandering ronin so prominent in the films of Kurosawa and Kobayashi. The extraordinary cast of weathered tough guys, helmed by William Holden and Robert Ryan, seem an almost Shakespearian embodiment of the studio system’s decline, a gang of vanquished matinee kings complete with the hoary Edmund O’Brien as one day only find/upload a trailer

Special Event Free Screening! Elements Of Cinema Harvard Film Archive Programmer David Pendleton Will Discuss Tabu at 11:00 am (1931) dir F.W. Murnau w/Mathai, Anna Chevalier; Cinematography by Robert Flaherty [82 min] Filmed entirely in Tahiti, TABU represents an unusual collaboration between legendary directors F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, Sunrise) and Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North). Two lovers are doomed by a tribal edict decreeing that the girl is "tabu" to all men. While the lovers' flight from judgment and the ultimate power of the tabu are reminiscent of Murnau's expressionist films, TABU is all open air and sunlight, sparkling on the ocean and glistening on the beautiful young bodies of the native men and women. Now available completely uncensored and restored by UCLA, this cinematic landmark is one of the most gorgeous black and white films ever made, and was the 1931 Academy Award winner for Best Cinematography. one day only

Directed by Dominique Abel Spain/France 2003, video, color, 105 min. Spanish with English subtitles Flamenco dancing is the lifeblood of the Gitanos, Spanish gypsies who have lived in exile for centuries. In looking for the roots of the so-called “New Flamenco,” director Dominique Abel journeys to Tres Mil Viviendas, a rundown housing project where the spirit of music and dance invigorates this multiracial community. one day only

Directed by Julio Medem Spain 2003, video, color, 110 min. Spanish, Basque, English and French with English subtitles In the wake of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the cause of the Basque people rose to national prominence as the Spanish government assumed the ETA (a militant Basque separatist group) was responsible. Completed before the attacks, this documentary examines the state of Basque culture in contemporary Spain as they continue to fight for independence.  Using extensive interview footage, Julio Medem offers a comprehensive portrait of this controversial movement.   one day only

Special Live Music Event An Evening With Juliana Hatfield at 9:30 Buy Tickets Tickets $20. Doors at 9:30 PM. It's been just about 10 years since the last time the Brattle hosted a performance by Boston's great alt-rock songstress, Juliana Hatfield, so we're thrilled to welcome her back for this full band performance in support of her brand new album, How To Walk Away. Canadian folk-rocker Hayden opens. one day only

Directed by Adán Aliaga Spain 2005, video, color, 80 min. Spanish with English subtitles Adán Aliaga’s moving documentary chronicles the lives of suburban Spaniards living under threat of displacement. Six-year-old Marina plays to the camera, ignoring the chiding of her aged grandmother, Marita who reflects on the history of her crumbling house where she has lived for over fifty-three years. As her neighborhood is targeted for redevelopment, she is forced to come to terms with her past. one day only

Directed by Fernando Trueba Spain/Portugal 2005, video, color, 125 min. Spanish and Portuguese with English subtitles Grammy award winning Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown makes his home in Candeal, a marginal area in the heart of Salvador, Bahia. Directed by Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque, Calle 54), the film is a stunning parable of how this notorious slum transformed itself into a model community through the power of music, buoyed by Brown's commitment to local youth. one day only

Tonight's screening is courtesy of the estate of Curtis Harrington. These films have been preserved by and come from the collection of the Academy Film Archive. A Fragment of Seeking one day only

Directed by Marta Arribas and Ana Pérez Spain 2006, video, b/w and color, 85 min. Spanish with English subtitles In the 1960s, some two million Spaniards left their homeland to go to work in European factories. Focusing on the journey of Josefina who left Spain at age eighteen to work in Nuremberg, Germany, this sensitive and thought-provoking documentary artfully weaves interviews and extraordinary historical footage to reveal a hidden part of European history. one day only

Directed by Curtis Harrington With Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, Gavin Muir US 1961, 35mm, b/w, 84 min. A hauntingly sincere fable of unrequited love, Harrington's feature debut is an unacknowledged masterpiece. In his first leading role, a startlingly young Dennis Hopper brings a fervent energy to his portrayal of Johnny, a sailor who is enamored with the bewitching Mora, a shimmering apparition of a woman gripped by a dark secret. One of the first wholly independent productions shot on the West Coast, Night Tide used locations in Venice, California to wonderful effect while also turning to studio veterans such as master film composer David Raskin (Laura), who gifted the film with a gorgeous score. One of the most essential postwar American independent films. one day only

Directed by Curtis Harrington With James Caan, Katharine Ross, Simone Signoret US 1967, 35mm, color, 100 min. Harrington channels Franju in his lavish, kinky tale of a swinging New York couple determined to live on the edge but unaware of the dangers invited by their reckless lifestyle. With James Caan and Katherine Ross wonderfully cast as the irresponsible couple and a sultry Simone Signoret as the mysterious neighbor who weaves her way into their lives, Games casts a dark and stylish web of intrigue and suspense. one day only

Tonight's screening is courtesy of the estate of Curtis Harrington. These films have been preserved by and come from the collection of the Academy Film Archive. A Fragment of Seeking one day only

Directed by Edward Yang. With Chen Xiangqi, Ni Shujun, David Wang Taiwan 1994, 35mm, color, 125 min. Mandarin with English subtitles Although Yang’s films are often punctuated by the director’s mordant wit, they predominantly offer far darker visions of alienation and discontent—with the important exception of this film, which marked Yang’s surprise transmutation from tragedian into comedian. A Confucian Confusion is a ribald comedy of misunderstanding and well-laid plans gone awry, set among a group of upwardly mobile yet directionless Taipei yuppies. Yang’s hilarious critique of materialist culture observes the ways in which wealth corrodes relationships and corrupts ideals, transforming art and love into numb transactions and distracting everyone from the world as it falls apart around them. one day only

Directed by Edward Yang. With Cora Miao, Li Liqun, Wang An Taiwan/Hong Kong 1986, 35mm, color, 109 min. Mandarin with English subtitles As the title indicates, this is the one of Yang’s films in which the air of menace, usually lurking at the edges of the frame, takes center stage. The film traces the intersecting fates of three co