Calendar: Week 7

May 11 - May 17

The Orphanage
Antonio Bayona, 2007 - 106 min.

Like producer Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, The Orphanage is a rich mixture of unsettling supernatural phenomena and intense emotion. A young couple move with their young son Simón into the old country mansion that housed the orphanage Laura lived in as a child with the intention of turning it into a home for disabled children. Their philanthropic dreams quickly turn into nightmares as Simón takes on invisible children as his playmates, and horrible secrets about the orphanage are gradually revealed. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm.

Persepolis
Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 2007 - 95 min.

Based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical novel, Persepolis provides a personal account of a nearly unknown way of life. The film follows Marjane, a precocious young woman growing up during the Iranian Revolution, as she rebels against the new Islamic regime, discovers punk and Iron Maiden, experiences first love, and most importantly learns to remain true to her identity. Filled with intelligence and humor, this stylistically cool, award-winning film blends serious historical issues with the pains of adolescence. In French with English subtitles. 35mm.

The Great Garrick
James Whale, 1937 - 89 min.

Following Laemmle’s departure from Universal Whale signed a one-picture deal with Warner Brothers. The result was The Great Garrick, a period farce about a match of wits between the famous eighteenth-century actor David Garrick and the members of the Comédie Française who lampoon his pomposity by taking over a local inn. Whale invested The Great Garrick with an immense feeling for milieu, grafting memories of his own theatrical background at the Playfair onto his historical plot. Audiences stayed away in droves, but the film garnered a critical following that remains strong. 16mm.

Under the Volcano
John Huston, 1984 - 112 min.

Malcolm Lowry’s towering achievement of a novel follows the final day of Geoffrey Firmin, a hopeless alcoholic who recently left his job as a diplomat in Quauhnahuac, Mexico, and whose marriage exploded when his wife and brother had an affair. John Huston’s film, part of the masterful end-game of his career, brings clinical, painfully distinct imagery in place of Lowry’s gothic mental meanderings. Forcefully evacuated of interiority, Huston’s characters move as tragic automata programmed for disaster, literalizing the metaphorical use Lowry had for setting his narrative on the Day of the Dead.35mm.

Le Ciel est à Vous
Jean Grémillon, 1944 - 105 min.

Often considered Grémillon’s best film, it was released during a politically chaotic time in France (spring 1944) and unfortunately got lost in the shuffle and never achieved the success it deserved. The strongly feminist narrative tells the story of a female pilot who, supported by husband, attempts to break the world solo flying record for women. This film has been called “beautiful” and Grémillon has been praised (by Dave Kehr) for the “perfection” of his musicianly technique. Le Ciel Est à Vous is also said to have been an important influence on the neorealist movement coming to the fore in this period.In French; subtitled. 35mm.

The Ipcress File
Sidney J. Furie, 1965 - 109 min.

Likely the best adaptation of Len Deighton’s spy stories, this film features Michael Caine as British counter-espionage agent Harry Palmer, an ex-criminal, ex-army anti-James Bond coopted into the intelligence services to avoid jail time. When several top British scientists are kidnapped – then returned brainwashed and useless – the government sends Palmer to investigate. After enduring bureaucratic rivalries and struggles with the Americans, Palmer begins to realize that his superiors view him as expendable. This film represented a clear alternative to James Bond extravagance from Bond’s producer. 35mm.

***Schedule Change***La Perla
Emilio Fernández, 1947 - 85 min.

From imdb.com: "Quino is a Mexican diver that discovers a pearl at the bottom of the sea. He and his wife Juana, and their son have just taken possession of a pearl that is worth thousands. Everyday people try to get in on the cash, even Pearl Dealers try to rip them off. When Quino is attacked one day, he kills his attackers in self defence. His brother suggests their only hope is to leave the village. But on their journey to give their son an education they never had, someone may just do anything to prevent it." In Spanish with English Subtitles. Archival 35 mm.

The Lost World
Harry O. Hoyt, 1925 - 105 min.

This classic follows Professor Challenger, explorer extraordinaire, and London newspaperman Edward Malone in a mission to rescue Challenger’s lost partner Maple White in Amazonia. Both Challenger and White’s daughter’s diary claim that dinosaurs survive in this isolated region, but the party is still shocked to find the claim validated! Dino fights, impossible love, and dino city rampages all follow, laying the groundwork for many dinosaur films that followed. Preceded by a short, The Dinosaur and the Missing Link. 35mm.
Accompanied by pianist Daniel Sefik. Print courtesy of George Eastman House.

Planet of the Apes
Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968 - 106 min.

You had a crush on Dr. Zira, or maybe on Nova. You could recite all the dialogue, especially Heston’s coarse final monologue. Maybe you even discussed the caste system of the movie (orangutan: judicial; chimpanzee: scientific; gorilla: military) in relation to Austen in your freshman English class. Admit it: you have a soft spot for Planet of the Apes that age, pretense, and sour memories of the Tim Burton version will never, ever wipe away. So come see the original Apes in a brand new print and learn anew that “no human can remain human on the Planet of the Apes.” 35mm.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Julian Schnabel, 2007 - 112 min.

Based on the true story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was completely paralyzed by a stroke at 43, save his left eye. Bauby is trapped in his body, with his mental faculties completely intact but unable to express as much to the outside world. Initially frustrated, he overcomes his inability to communicate with others by traditional means by developing a blinking alphabet. Through this system, he then dictates his memoirs for publication, and shares his dreams and fantasies, which reveal a vibrant and complex inner life. In French with English subtitles. 35mm.