"The Return of Films of Distinction"
January 13, Cline Library, 7:00pm
Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Savage Antiwar Satire…
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
[Stanley Kubrick, 1964, 93 minutes] “Seen after [many] years,
Dr. Strangelove seems remarkably fresh and undated - a clear-eyed,
irreverent, dangerous satire. And its willingness to follow the situation
to its logical conclusion - nuclear annihilation - has a purity that
today's lily-livered happy-ending technicians would probably find a
way around. Its black and white photography helps, too, putting an
unadorned face on its deadly political paradoxes. If movies of this
irreverence, intelligence and savagery were still being made, the world
would seem a younger place.”—Roger Ebert. PG. Members of
the Northern Arizona Film Society (NAFS) and faculty from the Humanities,
Arts, and Religion (HAR) department will lead a discussion following
this 40th Anniversary screening.
January 20, Cline Library, 7:00pm
Fully Restored with New Footage!
Metropolis [Fritz Lang, 1927, 153 minutes] Perhaps the most famous
and influential of all silent films, Metropolis had for 75 years been
seen only in shortened or truncated versions. Now, restored in Germany
with state-of-the-art digital technology, under the supervision of
the Murnau Foundation, and with the original 1927 orchestral score
by Gottfried Huppertz added, Metropolis can be appreciated in its full
glory. Referenced in films from Frankenstein to the Matrix Reloaded,
its images have influenced video artists such as Madonna and Queen.
It is, as A. O. Scott of The New York Times declared, "A fever
dream of the future. At last we have the movie every would-be cinematic
visionary has been trying to make since 1927." PG. Members of
NAFS and HAR faculty will introduce this classic silent film by honoree
director Fritz Lang.
January 27, Cline Library, 7:00pm Winner of 10 Oscars including Best
Picture
West Side Story [Jerome Robbins, 1961, 151 minutes] “An operatic
overture introduces and summarizes Leonard Bernstein’s sublime
musical program. [A] sequence of aerial-view establishing shots hover
over and mythologize Manhattan as the cultural capital of the twentieth
century.…Before the plot has even begun to unfold, the viewer
is completely mesmerized by what is about to happen….West Side
Story has often been characterized as a latter-day, American Romeo
and Juliet. It is true that the romance upon which the plot pivots
is in the troubadour tradition of doomed romantic love…as much
as Shakespeare’s Renaissance-era tragedy. But that is more a
narrative device upon which a much greater tragedy….is framed.
That the film is such a passionate homage to New York by so many New
Yorkers among its ensemble is inescapable. That film’s arete,
or aesthetic excellence, suggesting in the phrase of Albert Auster, “the
beauty and menace of the city,” is a monumental transformation
of the Hollywood musical into “serious art” is equally
undeniable.”—Les Wright. Members of the NAFS and HAR faculty
will introduce this “New Classic.”
February 3, Cline Library, 7:00 pm Alfred Hitchcock’s Iconic
1954 Thriller
Dial M for Murder [Alfred Hitchcock, 1954, 105 minutes] "Dial
M, of course, is a fable about a cool English citizen who comes to
the casual conclusion that he must do away with his wife. Seems that
she's getting much too cozy with a stuffy American sort of chap, thereby
threatening to deprive our shiftless hero of the generous wealth and
livelihood she provides. And so he plots to kill her, not by his own
silken hand but by the hand of a seedy acquaintance whom he blackmails
into taking on the chore. The only trouble is that the maneuver that
our hero carefully plans doesn't work, and the wife kills the murderer
instead of him killing her…. Credit the veteran director with
keeping the whole thing on the move, without letting interest slacken,
within the confines of virtually one room….Dial M has all the
space it needs, Ray Milland, Grace Kelly and John Williams-- the latter,
especially, in the role of a sharp-nosed detective -- play it capably.” --
Bosley Crowther, New York Times, 1954. Members of the NAFS and HAR
faculty will introduce this 50th Anniversary screening.
February 10, Cline Library, 7:00 pm Neo Noir at its Best
Devil in a Blue Dress [Carl Franklin, 1995, 102 minutes] “Reviving
the long dormant genre of film noir, Devil in a Blue Dress has both
the required feel (with a character-driven, convoluted detective plot)
and the correct period (Los Angeles, 1948). By themselves these are
not enough to Rawlins (Denzel Washington) became a PI seduces our attention….
This is some stylish picture. The buildings look right, the extras
look right, even the light is just perfect… put together these
give a deeply authentic feel to the action. Washington doesn't let
us down with his portrayal of Easy either; he is immensely natural
as an everyday, hard-working black guy in the 40s… it's simple
to see why Washington has the power, in Hollywood, to hold an entire
film by himself.”— Movie Reviews UK. R. Members of the
NAFS and HAR faculty will introduce and lead a discussion following
this “New Classic.”
February 17, Cline Library, 7:00 pm Kate at Her Comedic Best
Bringing Up Baby [Howard Hawks, 1938, 102 minutes] “Hepburn
stars as a loony heiress whose pet leopard, Baby, steals a bone needed
for a paleontologist (Cary Grant) to complete his dinosaur skeleton. ‘Though
Bringing Up Baby hasn't the prestige or reputation of Hepburn's later
comedy success, The Philadelphia Story, it's her best comedy’ (Pauline
Kael). With this film Grant established himself as the preeminent farceur
of American screen comedy, and Hepburn replied with a frantic style
much more intense than her usual blend of brashness and emotional vulnerability
in the 30s. The rapid-fire dialogue, zany story, and wacky characterizations,
plus …Howard Hawks' whimsical direction make Bringing Up Baby
the screwiest of screwball comedies and a truly memorable film.”—Cornell
Cinema. PG. Professor Boles of HAR will lead the discussion of this
film, part of a tribute to Kate Hepburn.
February 24, Cline Library, 7:00 pm Not Quite The Seventh Seal…
Love and Death [Woody Allen, 1975, 85 minutes] Sonja: “Judgment
of any system, or a priori relationship or phenomenon exists in an
irrational, or metaphysical, or at least epistemological contradiction
to an abstract empirical concept such as being, or to be, or to occur
in the thing itself, or of the thing itself.” Boris: “Yes,
I've said that many times.” “Love and Death is an absolutely
hilarious parody of ‘epic’ Russian literature and the population-shattering
war/peace events which drive such tragedies along….The script
is a real gem, riddled with one-liners and set-ups for gags which pay
off a little later. Allen and Keaton make a perfect comic team, he
pulls marvelously sly expressions while she dead-pans the most outrageous
lines…. The musical score is both appropriate and excellent,
with Prokofiev standing in for the usual jazz arrangements. Altogether,
a fine and terrifically funny movie which is perfectly executed (literally).” —Damian
Cannon. PG. Members of the NAFS and HAR faculty will lead a discussion
of this “New Classic.”
March 2, Cline Library, 7:00 pm Important New Film from Korea: Arizona
Premiere
Take Care of My Cat [Jae-eun Jeong, 2001, 112 minutes] Five girlfriends
in their early twenties live in the dingy port town of Incheon. A close-knit
circle in high school, their paths begin to diverge as they step into
the adult world. At the center of the group is the beautiful and vain
Hae-joo, who dreams of becoming a successful career woman. She leaves
Incheon for an apartment in Seoul and a junior position with a brokerage
firm. The other girls are left behind in a state of solitude and unease;
Tae-hee works for free for her parents and takes dictation from a poet
suffering from cerebral palsy and Ji-young seeks a job, while caring
for her grandparents in their dilapidated apartment. The twins Bi-ryu
and Ohn-jo buffer themselves from change with constant togetherness….A
lost cat, Tee tee, enters the lives of these young women, passing from
one owner to the next as circumstances pull lives and friends apart
and others together. HAR faculty will introduce this film by rising
director Jae-eun Jeong.
March 9, Cline Library, 7:00 pm “When Will You Make an End?”…. “When
I am Finished!”
The Agony and the Ecstasy [Carol Reed, 1965, 138 minutes] Starring
Charlton Heston , the film centers on the five years during which Michaelangelo
painted the Sistine chapel. The artist’s battles of will with
Rex Harrison’s Pope Julius II on questions of theology, art,
and loyalty frame the drama. [The film equates…] “ personal
unhappiness with artistic creativity in a way which conforms closely
with Romantic and post-Romantic conceptions of genius. There would,
these days, be something truly shocking and innovative about representing
a major artist….as thoroughly at ease with himself and his society,
concerned more about property deals than crises of the soul. The Agony
and the Ecstasy… opens up similar discussion points about the
Renaissance artist needing to emancipate himself from Christian hatred
of the body whilst simultaneously having to defend himself from the
charge of being ‘unclassical’. Charlton Heston towers heroically
above his…ecclesiastical critics as he looks down from the scaffolding
and tells them: ‘He [God] created man with pride not shame. It
was left to the priests to create shame.’ But when he is accused
of contorting his figures in an unclassical manner, his contempt for
the Church is shown to coexist with genuine religious feeling: ‘I’ll
tell you what stands between us and the Greeks. Two thousand years
of human suffering stands between us. Christ and his cross stands between
us.’” --Rowland Wymer. PG. This “Tortured Artist” film
will be introduced by Alyce Jordan, Professor of Art History.
March 23, Cline Library, 7:00 pm Reinventing the Road Picture
Thelma and Louise [Ridley Scott, 1991, 129 minutes] “Thelma and
Louise reflects not only on America's violent history in relation to
the place of women, but on the myth of expansion and material progress
that can consume both sexes and catalyze sexist exploitation. More
specifically, Khouri-Scott's film accomplishes a transformation of
the road outlaw genre by forcing its central narrative conflicts into
the perceptual terms of contemporary sign culture. America is shown
to have aged from a land of natural bounty and promise to a landscape
of simulational spectacle and defensive protectionism. Ridley Scott's
images suggest the impact of a voracious consumerism, which has buried
the old frontier under an interconnected urban grid of commerce, signified
here by food and motel chains, strip malls, and redundant bi-ways and
parking lots where even the Lone Ranger isn't safe.” Jack Boozer,
Literature Film Quarterly. R. Members of the NAFS and NAU faculty will
lead a discussion of tonight’s film, including the controversial
alternate ending.
March 30, Cline Library, 7:00 pm “Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what
we are put in this world to rise above”
The African Queen [John Huston, 1951, 105 minutes] “[Hepburn
starred in…] The African Queen, playing a missionary who must
enlist the help of a boozing steamboat captain (Humphrey Bogart) to
escape East Africa after the German occupation in World War I. Written
by James Agee and directed by John Huston, its luster has not dimmed
with time. Whoever had the odd idea of teaming Hepburn with Bogart
turned out to be a genius. It would appear that opposites not only
attract; they make good movies too. Bogart seems fresh and vulnerable
and endearing. He won an Oscar for the role, and this tends to make
us forget how good Hepburn is in the picture. It's one of her most
sustained performances - very controlled, perfectly timed, a tour de
force of subtlety and quiet strength. That this prim and proper lady
would fall for the washed up, uncouth Bogart character seems unlikely.
She makes it seem not only likely, but inevitable.” –Chris
Dashiell. Professor Boles of HAR will lead the discussion of this film,
part of a tribute to Kate Hepburn.
April 6, Cline Library, 7:00 pm Oscar Winner, 1944…and a Total
of 12 Nominations!
The Song of Bernadette [Henry King, 1943/4, 156 minutes] “Based
on the historical novel by …Franz Werfel, the beloved classic
The Song of Bernadette stands head and shoulders over most religiously
themed fare from Hollywood’s golden age. Comparatively unsentimental,
the film can depict key characters from church officials to Bernadette’s
parents behaving unsympathetically without losing sympathy for them,
then seamlessly redeem them. There’s room for ambiguity….
and the film makes some effort to grapple with the meaning and significance
of suffering.” --Steven D. Greydanus . Arne Hassing, Professor
of Religious Studies, will introduce this 60th Anniversary screening.
April 13, Cline Library, 7:00 pm Winner of 7 César Awards [France]
and Nominated for 14!
Camille Claudel [Bruno Nuytten, 1988, 175 minutes] “Bruno Nuytten's … film
about the French sculptor who studied with Rodin and became his lover,
has a tempestuous, romantic spirit. …A gifted artist in her
own right, Camille worked mostly in Rodin's shadow, both as his first
female apprentice, who sculpted under her master's signature, and as
an artist under his influence who put his revolutionary ideas into
practice… In the film's first scene we see [Isabelle] Adjani's
ability to demonstrate Camille's ravenous appetite for her work, as
she struggles in freezing pitch black before dawn at river's edge filling
a suitcase with clay, all to the racket of protest from her family.
[Gerard] Depardieu is the perfect embodiment of Rodin's monumental
energy, and he captures the declining spirit of the man who desperately
needs the inspiration and fire that Camille brings to him. The truly
rare and great accomplishment of the film, though, is that it manages
to express the impulses that drive artists in their work. Because of
its kineticism, sculpture is an ideal form for this, and watching Adjani
in the throes of creation, ravaging her clay with a combination of
frustration and furious love, we see how much a product of emotion
these works are.” Hal Hinson, Washington Post. R. This “Tortured
Artist” film will be introduced by HAR faculty .
April 20, Cline Library, 7:00 pm What is Real and What is Invented?
Abode of Illusion: The Life and Art of Chang Dai-chien [Richard Gordon,
1993, 58 minutes] “China has nurtured the world's oldest continuous
painting tradition. Many of the artistic concepts that the West has
developed only in the past hundred years were already in the mainstream
of China's art world for centuries. Few westerners, however, can
name a single Chinese painter or painting. Abode of Illusion is a
film which explores the life and art of painter Chang Dai-chien,
an artist who symbolizes a bridge between China's past and present,
as well as between East and West. Chang was the first Chinese artist
who achieved international recognition both through his original
paintings and through his skills at emulating, and forging, past
masters. His vision and courage to embrace the past and to re-legitimize
art traditions which had fallen out of favor made him a landmark
figure in Chinese painting.” --Morning Sun Professor Zsuzsanna
Gulacsi, Professor of Art History, will present this “Tortured
Artist” film.
April 27, Cline Library, 7:00 pm “Blissful…a pleasure
to watch!” Elvis Mitchell, NY Times.
Derrida [Kirby Dick , Amy Ziering Kofman, 2002, 84 minutes] “What
if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues?
What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as
themselves at work and in their daily life… Filmmakers Kirby
Dick and Amy Ziering Kofman asked themselves these questions, and decided
to team up and document one of the most visionary and influential thinkers
of the 20th century, a man who single-handedly altered the way many
of us look at history, language, art, and, ultimately, ourselves: the
brilliant and iconoclastic French philosopher Jacques Derrida. …The
filmmaking team shadowed the renowned philosopher, best known for "deconstruction," and
captured intimate footage of the man as he lives and works in his daily
life. They filmed Derrida on his first trip to South Africa, where
-- after visiting President Mandela's former prison cell -- he delivers
a lecture on forgiveness to students at the University of the Western
Cape.…Yet Derrida is in no way a talking heads movie or conventional
biographical portrait. Its bold, visual style, mesmerizing score by
Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, and novel editorial approach
create a rich, lively cinematic experience, at once provokes, amuses
and entertains.” Zeitgeist Films. This “Tortured Artist” film
will be introduced by Alison Brown, Professor of Humanities, who will
be joined by members of the English and Humanities Department faculty
for the discussion.
May 4, Cline Library, 7:00 pm “Ever gone a week without
a rationalization?”
The Big Chill [Lawrence Kasdan, 1983, 105 minutes] In The Big Chill
a large portion of the entertainment comes from the way words are used
for the sheer fun of it. The dialogue flashes and sparkles from start
to finish but it's also used to build character. Seven friends gather
for the funeral of another, and the weekend extends into a spontaneous
reunion. Famously, the corpse is played by Kevin Costner in one of
his first screen roles. All the living characters are superbly cast
with William Hurt, Kevin Kline and Glenn Close at the beginning of
their major movie careers…[Lawrence Kasdan] explores the predicament
of people formed by the political radicalism of the 60s who find that
going into the 80s they have become all the things they once despised.
The youthful idealism and dreams of changing the world have given way
to compromise, materialism and regret. But Kasdan exploits all this
as much for laughs as anything else. In confronting each other with
what time has done, the friends are forced to come to terms with themselves
in new ways.”—Peter Thompson. Rated R. Members of the NAFS
and HAR faculty will introduce this “New Classic.”