Thank You, David Bordwell, Part 2
David Bordwell (1947-2024)
This August-December, the Cinematheque continues our series tribute in remembrance of our friend David Bordwell (1947-2024). The Jacques Ledoux Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, David’s many books, blog postings, and video essays made him a mentor to film academics and cinephiles around the world. The Bordwell favorites screening in the second phase of our series include masterpieces by Dreyer and Ozu, director subjects of two Bordwell books, as well as Repeat Performance, an imaginative and innovative gem from the 1940s that was discussed in Bordwell’s Reinventing Hollywood. Plus, a contemporary classic from Wes Anderson and Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday shown on David Bordwell’s personal 35mm print.
- Fri., Aug. 30 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Sometime in the first half of the 20th Century, in an unspecified European country on the brink of war, a luxury hotel concierge (Fiennes) and his bellboy protégé (Revolori) are wrapped up in a plot that involves an art theft, a large family inheritance, and romance! Winner of four Academy Awards, Anderson’s most celebrated feature is one of the grandest entertainments in recent memory. The director’s distinct visual style is explored in a video essay by David Bordwell that will be shown after the feature.
- Sat., Sep. 21 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Dreyer’s haunting allegory, made during Germany’s occupation of Denmark, is a tale of witch hunts set in a small village in 1623. Powerfully ambiguous, Dreyer uses black costumes, images of fire and death, and dark, moody cinematography to conjure up an unforgettably oppressive atmosphere, a world where persecuted people could easily convince themselves of being inspired by the Devil. “Day of Wrath illustrates how a film may fascinate us not by its clarity but by its obscurity, not by fixed certainties but by teasing questions” (David Bordwell).
- Sat., Oct. 19 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Tensions arise between a sophisticated wife and her simple husband when their strong-willed, modern niece enters their Tokyo household, exposing years of secrets between the middle-aged couple. Ozu’s quietly poignant depiction of an unraveling marriage is “a generous comedy that gives the main characters, no matter their failings, moments of warmth and dignity” (David Bordwell). The screening of a restored 4K DCP will be followed by David Bordwell’s video essay on The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice. Presented with the support of the Center for East Asian Studies at UW-Madison.
- Sat., Nov. 16 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In a gender-bending version of Hecht and MacArthur’s comedy The Front Page, Russell plays a whiz of a reporter determined to give up her typewriter for a wedding ring from Bellamy. But her editor and ex-husband Grant makes it hard for her to leave. The breathlessly delivered gags and dialogue are a signature of master comedy director Hawks. David Bordwell’s personal 35mm print will be screened, courtesy of the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research. Of His Girl Friday, Bordwell wrote, “I fell in love with its heedless energy. It seemed to me a perfect example of what Hollywood could do.”
- Fri., Dec. 13 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
After experiencing a tragedy on December 31, Broadway actress Sheila Page (Leslie) is magically allowed to relive the previous year of her life, but will she be able to avoid the fateful mistakes that led to the disastrous New Year’s Eve? Repeat Performance was singled out by David Bordwell as “one of the few time-travel dramas of the forties” and part of a cycle of movies that “become fascinating, surprising variants of changes that were rippling through Hollywood cinema.” 35mm print Preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive. Preservation funding provided by the Film Noir Foundation and the Packard Humanities Institute.