The 4K restoration of SÁTÁNTANGÓ—Béla Tarr’s durational magnum opus, based on the novel by László Krasznahorkai—will screen twice this month, presented by the AmericanCinematheque.
Early on, I noticed that when the camera is rolling and the whole scene is moving, everyone starts to breathe in the same rhythm: the actors, the crew members, the cinematographer, everyone. You are all “in.” And that is very important. It creates a special tension. It gives a special vibration. Somehow you can feel it on the screen too. You become a part of it. — BélaTarr
As a centerpiece of the fifth edition of its The French Had a Word for It festival of noir, the American Cinematheque presents 35mm prints of three Alain Delon crime thrillers, two of them opposite Jean Gabin as the embodiment of the term “OG à la française.”
But first Gabin plays on the right side of the law as inspector Maigret and commandant Lequévic in, respectively, MAIGRET AND THE ST. FIACRE CASE (1959) and PORT DU DESIR (1955).
Long before Dennis Hopper or Matt Damon, John Malkovich or Barry Pepper, Delon was the archetype of Patricia Highsmith’s indelible passive-aggressive villain Tom Ripley, and his star turn in PURPLE NOON (1960) brought Delon to the world’s attention. The film—beautifully directed by René Clément—screens on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday night brings the double bill of MÉLODIE EN SOUS-SOL(1962)—a highly stylized casino caper set in Cannes—and THE SICILIAN CLAN (1969), in which criminal heavies Delon and Gabin must contend with the gravitational pull of Lino Ventura. Both films were directed by Henri Verneuil.
From top: Alain Delon in Purple Noon; Jean Gabin in Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case; Port dudesir poster; Delon in Purple Noon (2); Mélodie en sous-sol poster; Delon in Mélodie en sous-sol; Les clans des siciliens poster.
Apart from being a distinguished artist, Kieslowski had a striking moral authority. Both in his private and public life, he was known as an honest and straightforward man… He was all opposites: his love for others was covered by an outer harshness. This was because he was afraid of lies in public life: he was very severe and refused to compromise… Everything about his life was “clean”—all was transparent. — Krzysztof Zanussi
The American Cinematheque’s SHORT SERIES ABOUT KRZYSZTOF KIEŚLOWSKI features a pair of double features and a Sunday triple-bill of the director’s valedictory TROISCOULEURS films.
The series opens with A SHORT FILM ABOUT LOVE and A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING—both 1988—the full-length versions of two of the filmmaker’s Decalogue episodes.
Friday night features a masterworks double bill: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VÉRONIQUE (1991)—with Irène Jacob in a dual role—and BLIND CHANCE (1981), starring Bogusław Linda, and presented in its complete original form.
The series wraps on Sunday with the trilogy marathon BLUE (1993), WHITE (1994), and RED (1994), Kieślowski’s final features.
If, in our century, something sacred still existed, if there were something like a sacred treasure of the cinema, then for me that would have to be the work of YasujiroOzu… Never before and never again since has the cinema been so close to its essence and its purpose: to present an image of man in our century, a usable, true and valid image in which he not only recognizes himself, but from which, above all, he may learn about himself. — Wim Wenders
Ozu’s TOKYO STORY—starring the great Setsuko Hara and voted the “greatest film of all time” in a 2012 Sight & Sound poll—will screen this week at the Aero as part of the American Cinematheque’s new Tuesday Matinee series.
Yasujiro Ozu, Tokyo Story, from top: cast; Chishû Ryû (left) and Setsuko Hara; ChiekoHigashiyama and Hara; Sô Yamamura (left) and Haruko Sugimura; Hara and Ryû; cast.
The touring retrospective of the films of Abbas Kiarostami is here. A Taste of Kiarostami—presented by the American Cinematheque at the Aero in Santa Monica over the next four days—opens with a double bill of LIKESOMEONE IN LOVE (2012, shot in Japan) and the director’s last work 24 FRAMES (2017).
On Friday and Saturday TASTE OF CHERRY (winner of the Palme d’Or in 1997), TEN (2002), the fictional documentary CLOSE-UP (1990), and THE WIND WILL CARRY US (1999) will screen.
The retrospective will close with a trilogy of films set in the Iranian village of Koker—a matinee program beginning at 2 pm.
A series of Kiasrostami shorts—chiefly from the 1970s—will play each day before the features, and on opening night the director’s son Ahmad Kiarostami will be on hand to introduce the screening.
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