This spellbinding, poetic, and hallucinatory tale of paganism versus Christianity in Medieval times is one of the most gorgeous epics of the 1960s. Beautifully filmed in black and white widescreen, Vláčil’’s Czech masterwork has deservedly earned comparisons with Tarkovsky. The title character (Vášáryová) is a young woman in the 13th century caught up in a feud between two rival clans that transforms her from pure innocent to violent rebel.

Half a century after igniting the French New Wave with his revolutionary Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard has produced his first 3D feature, a mind-blowing fusion of art and technology that seems beamed in from a future era of moviemaking.  One of cinema’s true visionaries, Godard applies his relentless creativity to 3D, using custom-made camera rigs to conjure breathtaking, eye-bending effects like you’ve never seen before, and that absolutely must be experienced on the big screen.  A magisterial meditation on philosophy, infinity, and the auteur’s own pet dog, Goodbye to Language is as dazzling and invigorating as anything in Godard's legendary filmography.  Far and away one of the most acclaimed films of the year, Goodbye to Language won the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where New York Times critic Manohla Dargis called it a “thrilling cinematic experience that nearly levitated the theater.” The UW Cinematheque is proud to present the Wisconsin premiere of this awe-inspiring achievement; as an added bonus, our 3D screening will be introduced by UW Madison’s Jacques Ledoux Professor of Film Studies Emeritus David Bordwell, who has declared Goodbye to Language “the best new film I’ve seen this year, and the best 3D film I’ve ever seen.” Professor Bordwell will also lead a post-screening discussion with the audience. The benefit 3D screening will take place on Thursday, November 13, at 7 p.m., at the Marcus Point Cinema, 7825 Big Sky Drive, in Madison. Tickets for this screening are $20 and proceeds will benefit the UW Cinematheque’s efforts to bring digital 3D projection to our regular screening venue on campus. Tickets, $20, can be purchased through the Wisconsin Film Festival’s ticketing system here. (MK)

One of the most breathtakingly beautiful films of all time, Bertolucci’s master class in visual storytelling demands to be experienced on the big screen.  Trintignant (recently seen in Amour) stars as a man who, tormented by memories, joins Mussolini’s Fascists in an attempt to repress his true nature.  “A triumph of feeling and style—lyrical, flowing, velvety style, so operatic that you come away with sequences in your head like arias” (The New Yorker). (MK)