SUMMER CINEMATHEQUE AT THE CHAZEN
Presented in collaboration with the Chazen Museum of Art, this fun and eclectic selection of summer movie treats is a cinephile’s dream come true! A pre-code musical gem, classic comedy from W.C. Fields, an auteurist Western masterpiece, French fantasy and sci-fi, and a fascinating Iranian hybrid of fiction and documentary are just some of the programming highlights. Join us in the Chazen’s auditorium every Thursday from June 19 to August 7.
- Thu., Jun. 19 | 7:00 PMChazen
A homeless drifter (wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper) discovers a reason for the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor: a conspiracy by non-human aliens who have infiltrated American society in the guise of wealthy yuppies. With the help of special sunglasses that reveal the aliens’ true skull faces and their subliminal messages (“marry and reproduce”; “submit to authority”), our hero tries to stop the invasion. Carpenter’s deliriously imaginative satire of Reaganomics and the “greed is good” era also has one of the funniest (and longest) fight scenes in American cinema. Presented in conjunction with “I Knew Him” Jim Dine Skulls: 1982-2000, in the Pleasant T. Rowland Galleries at the Chazen Museum of Art, May 16-August 17.
- Thu., Jun. 26 | 7:00 PMChazen
Noted playwright, artist, and filmmaker Cocteau brings his multi-talented vision to the screen in this adaptation of the famed children’s fable. More poetry in motion than child’s play, the film uses visual metaphors and hypnotic music (by Georges Auric) to transport the audience along with country maiden Belle (Josette Day), as she journeys from the comforts of her home to the fantastic and mystifying castle of The Beast, played by Cocteau’s muse, Jean Marais. A newly struck 35mm print will be shown.
- Thu., Jul. 3 | 7:00 PMChazen
One of the best films of the 1970s centers around a quartet of young working class friends living in the shadow of the Indiana University in Bloomington, the school that their stone cutter fathers help to build. The story focuses on bicycle loving Dave (Christopher) as he trains for a race against Italy’s Team Cinzano, considers going to college, and continually frustrates his loving, xenophobe of a dad (a great performance by Paul Dooley, who proclaims “I want American food. I want French Fries!”). The conclusion takes place at Bloomington’s Little Indy 500 bike race, a sequence as rousing as the final boxing match in Rocky. Steve Tesich’s heartfelt screenplay won an Academy Award.
- Thu., Jul. 10 | 7:00 PMChazen
In this outrageous knee-slapper, the brilliant Fields plays the exasperated “memory expert” Ambrose Wallfinger, who’s only appreciated by his sweet adult daughter (Brian). A partial remake of Fields’ 1927 silent, Running Wild, the zany story begins when the henpecked Ambrose lies and tells his boss that his mother-in-law has died so he can attend a wrestling match. Preceded by the animated short The Bandmaster (Dick Lundy, 1947, 7 min.).
- Thu., Jul. 17 | 7:00 PMChazen
A sort-of variation on the play and film Six Degrees of Separation, Kiarostami’s meta-movie tells of an ambitious young man who poses as acclaimed Persian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. After the faux-director convinces a gullible family that he wants to make a movie of their lives, the truth is revealed and the impostor is put on trial. Seamlessly blending real-life courtroom footage with dramatic recreations using the actual participants, Kiarostami delivers his finest achievement – a one-of-a-kind meditation on the meaning of celebrity – Iranian style. “The greatest documentary on filmmaking I’ve ever seen” (Werner Herzog).
- Thu., Jul. 24 | 7:00 PMChazen
After a failed suicide attempt, a broken-hearted man (Rich) is recruited by an anonymous corporation for some time travel experiments. Using a not-so-perfect device, our hero is sent back a year to revisit one minute of his life...but there are complications. This fascinating, elliptical and existential work of science fiction is one of the finest achievements by French New Wave co-founder Resnais (1922-2014). A new 35mm print, courtesy of Bleeding Light Film Group and The Film Desk, will be screened. “With Marker’s La Jetée and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris, [Je T’aime Je T’aime] is part of a holy trinity of meditations on the horrors of eternal life” (Raymond Durgnat).
- Thu., Jul. 31 | 7:00 PMChazen
This wonderful, spare western, filmed in color, is one of the few major studio efforts by the prolific, expressive, and eclectic European émigré director Ulmer. A romantic triangle develops when an outlaw (Kennedy) convinces a poor and reluctant homesteader couple to be his accomplices in a series of robberies. “Francois Truffaut later cited this picture as the inspiration for Jules and Jim—you can see what he means, but just barely” (Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader).
- Thu., Aug. 7 | 7:00 PMChazen
Capitalizing on the success of the elaborate escapism of 42nd Street, this marvelous Warner Bros. pre-code musical goes even further with three grandiose Busby Berkeley production numbers (including "We’re in the Money" sung by Rogers). The story revolves around songwriter Powell, who must raise $15,000 for his show, a plot device that sets up three separate love stories (between Blondell and Warren William, Guy Kibbee and Aline MacMahon, and Powell and his frequent on-screen dance partner Ruby Keeler). One of the greatest entertainments in all Depression-era cinema, don’t miss your chance to see it on the big screen. Print courtesy of Library of Congress.