SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Spring 2013 special presentations include new 35mm prints of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia and Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Petit Soldat. The latter title will be presented with two rarely-screened short films by Godard, episodes he directed for early 1960s European portmanteau features.

  • Sat., Jan. 18 | 7:00 PM
    4070 Vilas Hall

In one of Tarkovsky’s most enigmatic and beautifully-composed films, world-weary Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov (Yankovsky) travels to Italy with translator Eugenia (Giordano) to study the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. Haunted by memories of his family back home, Andrei becomes increasingly unmoored after an encounter with a local madman (Ingmar Bergman regular Josephson), who purportedly locked away his wife and children for seven years in fear of the forthcoming apocalypse. Tarkovsky evokes his protagonist’s psychic and spiritual malaise through a series of extraordinary long takes, crafting a visual symphony of flooding ruins, fog-shrouded vistas, and echoing corridors bathed in fading afternoon light. A new 35mm print will be shown. (MC)

  • Sat., Mar. 1 | 7:00 PM
    4070 Vilas Hall

Le Petit Soldat, Godard’s second feature, was initially banned in France for its critical portrayal of the French/Algerian War. Bruno (Subor, who would reprise his role almost 40 years later in Claire Denis’ Beau Travail) is a photojournalist ordered by the government to murder the man who helped him escape military service. When he refuses, he is taken hostage by the Algerian Liberation Front. Godard explains: “I wanted to show that the most terrible thing about torture is that people who practice it don’t find it arguable at all. They all end up by justifying it.” (TY). The feature will be preceded by two rarely shown Godard short films, La Paresse (1962, 15 min.) and Le Grand Escroc (1964, 25 min.), his contributions, respectively, to the portmanteau features Les Sept Péchés Capitaux and Les Plus Escroqueries du monde. New 35mm prints courtesy of Rialto Pictures, Film Desk, & Olive Films.

  • Fri., Apr. 11 | 9:30 PM
    Marquee

One of 2013's most acclaimed films, Nebraska stars veteran actor Bruce Dern as Woody Grant, who, believing he possesses a valuable winning sweepstakes ticket, sets out on the road from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his prize. In tow is Woody's estranged son, David (Will Forte), who struggles to bond with the grumpy, alcoholic old man as they stop to visit old friends and family in the Cornhusker State, and are later joined by Woody's no-nonsense wife Kate (June Squibb) and David's brother Ross (Bob Odenkirk). As funny as it is dramatically poignant, Nebraska is also an authentic journey into the wintry heart of the Midwest, evocatively captured in wide-screen black and white by cinematographer Phedon Papamichael. The film earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Director for Alexander Payne. Payne, whose previous films include Election, Sideways and The Descendants, will join us in person to answer questions following the screening. Co-presented with the WUD Film Committee. Special thanks to the Wisconsin Film Festival.

  • Sun., Apr. 13 | 7:00 PM
    Marquee

Just fired from his job and facing eviction, married dad and failed writer Craig (Pat Healy, Compliance, The Innkeepers) runs into an old pal, the shady Vince (Ethan Embry), at a bar. Mildly estranged for years, Craig and Vince’s reunion is interrupted when they meet a seemingly fun couple, Colin (Anchorman’s David Koechner) and Violet (Sara Paxton, Healy’s co-star of The Innkeepers). Flaunting a large wad of bills, Colin has a penchant for daring others to do things for money. At first relatively harmless, the game gets nastier and nastier when the foursome head out to a strip club and, later, to Colin and Violet’s upscale home. As the cash offers get bigger and harder to walk away from, the desperate Craig and the shadowy Vince find themselves pitted against each other, all for the amusement of the decadent one-percenters. A horror film for our recession, Cheap Thrills also works as a jet black comedy with echoes of John Waters’ gross-out classic Pink Flamingos and Terry Southern’s satirical novel The Magic Christian. The lean and shock-filled original screenplay by David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga slyly exploits the economic divide in the country today and the efficient direction by E.L. Katz makes the most of the script’s many surprises. A hit at the 2013 Wisconsin and SXSW Film Festivals, Cheap Thrills has been released across the country this spring to critical acclaim. It is a movie you definitely want to see with an audience. Director E.L. Katz and actor Pat Healy will join us in person for this special screening, a collaboration between the WUD Film Committee and UW Cinematheque.

  • Sat., May. 10 | 7:00 PM
    4070 Vilas Hall

Highlighting works produced in Communication Arts Media Production courses at UW Madison, this program is curated by the instructors of film, video and animation courses and gives new filmmakers the opportunity to present their films on screen for the first time.