2 X CLAIRE DENIS

HIGH LIFE

In June, the Cinematheque continues its tradition of showcasing the work of modern cinema’s greatest poet of sound and image, Claire Denis. Denis, working closely with a team of trusted collaborators, makes films that take the form of reveries, crafting mood pieces that are at once deeply subjective and gloriously physical.  She has called this uniquely sensuous and beguiling body of work “open cinema,” a term reflective of films that are as aesthetically entrancing as they are politically complex. This summer’s program includes the only local theatrical showing of Denis’ most recent feature, the sci-fi freakout High Life, and a 35mm print of her enigmatic adventure movie, L’intrus. (MK)

 

  • Thu., Jun. 27 | 7:00 PM
    4070 Vilas Hall

Light years from Earth, a spaceship drifts towards a black hole. Onboard are a father and daughter, the last survivors of a doomed mission. The mysterious fate of the rest of the crew—a group of death row inmates under the care of a witchy doctor (Binoche)—is revealed through a web of flashbacks. A 21st century companion to deep space head trips like 2001 and Solaris, Denis’s long-awaited sci-fi freakout is a visually astonishing, mind-melting trip into the interstellar abyss. (MK)

  • Fri., Jun. 28 | 7:00 PM
    4070 Vilas Hall

An aging ex-mercenary leaves the solitude of his Alpine home to procure a black-market organ transplant and pursue the son he abandoned long ago.  Stylish and enigmatic, this haunting mid-career work from the director of High Life and Let the Sunshine In is pure art cinema. “This mysterious object may be Denis’ most gorgeous film (which is saying something), but more than that, it’s a fearless filmmaker's boldest experiment yet, a direct line from her unconscious to yours” (Dennis Lim, The Village Voice). “Denis is one of cinema’s greatest narrative poets, and L’Intrus, the story of an adventurer, is her most adventurous cinematic poem” (Amy Taubin, Film Comment). 35mm print courtesy the Institut Français, Paris. (MK)