5/18/2009 5:55:44 PM #

I like the idea of starting the Cinematheque season under the spell of surrealism. I can’t wait to see UN CHIEN ANDALOU and L’AGE D’OR on Friday, May 22nd. Of course, I also look forward to seeing Hitchcock’s SPELLBOUND on May 24th and the Marx Brothers’ MONKEY BUSINESS on June 2nd. I’m also highly intrigued by LES VAMPIRES.
According to Jonathan Rosenbaum, LES VAMPIRES is “one of the supreme delights of film.” He calls the director, Louis Feuillade, “arguably a good deal more entertaining than Griffith, and unquestionably much more modern: his mastery of deep-focus mise en scene is astonishing, and its influence on Fritz Lang as well as Luis Buñuel and other surrealists remains one of his major legacies.” Sounds like a must-see....

Christoph Straub

5/18/2009 11:13:47 PM #

I screened all the Cornell's (but Midnight Party) yesterday for Peter Goddard and loved them (Kate kindly screened them for us). Cornell's ability to simultaneously capture living and remembering through images was both inspiring and terrifying. The way he photographs children (in this very candid but eerie way) is really moving. It's almost like you watch these children age in a second, right in front of your eyes. I highly recommend them. I am also dying to see the Painleves. The Criterion box had sold out at bay Street a few weeks ago...having the opportunity to see them in the big screen is amazing, I can't wait.

Lina Rodriguez

5/19/2009 5:51:34 AM #

I'm very psyched about Under the Spell - getting some tickets today - and having the chance to put it all in larger context with the AGO's complementary "Surreal Things" show. And I'm very excited to finally see Cornell's work (thanks for the tip, Lina!). Years ago, I read a novel called A History of the Imagination by an American author, Norman Lock, that featured a fictionalized Joseph Cornell character, and I feel like I've been dreaming about his films ever since.

And as I've seen next to nothing in terms of work by Preminger or Melville (though, Le Samourai nearly killed me when I rented it on DVD, I loved it so much), those are also high on my list.

Then with much of the New Wage programme and Leading Ladies of Italian Cinema programme, I'm making a plan to fill in some major gaps in my rather haphazard education in the history of cinema. Thank gods for Summer at the Cinematheque!

Christopher Mckinnon

5/19/2009 11:30:33 AM #

This season is almost ridiculously exciting for me…. There are several titles here - Le Doulos, Le Samourai, Playtime – that, when I saw them in the midst of grad school, made me fall in love with the cinema all over again. They completely yanked me out of my reflex for over-thinking; they made my jaw drop unconsciously, as I sat there, bemused or devastated by turns, by the French filmmakers’ incredible gutsiness with storytelling. All three of these titles now rank among my favourite films of all time.

That said, I’m also thrilled to have another chance to watch She Done Him Wrong, hopefully with an audience that will be, like I was when I first saw it, bowled over by Mae West’s role/performance: the things she gets away with saying… I love it!

However, I am perhaps most excited about Tati’s Traffic. I have never seen it but, based on Playtime, have been amazed by Tati’s finesse for critiquing modernism, consumerism, urbanism, so-called progress etc., in what appear to be brilliantly simple, almost slapstick set-pieces. Think of the rival job applicant who sits opposite Hulot in the squeaky leather chairs, in the glassed-in waiting room in Playtime. It’s brilliant. Tati distills so much down into every single image of a baffled Hulot stuck, somehow, in the modern machine, so the addition of “a camper car decked out with all manner of ridiculous gadgetry” to the director’s toolkit is thrilling for me. I feel like a kid counting the days til (an early August) Christmas.

Kate Lawrie Van De Ven

5/20/2009 9:22:24 AM #

I'm with Chris; I thought that I had seen a good number of Preminger's films, but I now realize that there will be many premieres for me in that series. I give James credit for not shying away from some of his, shall we say, "lesser works" (although we weren't able to get what may be the worst film of all time: SKIDOO). I am also excited to see more Painleve; that last batch of his shorts was some of the most unique work I have ever seen at CO.

Dave Constable

5/22/2009 8:01:31 AM #

Bicycle Thieves. Italian ladies. Melville. Nouvelle vague. Preminger. Sandra. Tati.

Kajsa

5/26/2009 1:11:13 AM #

There are so many films that I am excited to see that I'll start with the ones coming up next.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the Surrealist short films, especially THE BLOOD OF A POET which I've always wanted to see and have been waiting for the opportunity to see this on the screen.

Then comes Preminger. I can't wait for ANATOMY OF A MURDER, which I haven't seen, but I also want to point out LAURA and BONJOUR TRISTESSE. I highly recommend both for different reasons. LAURA is so wonderfully stylish and is loved by a range of film fans for good reason. Seeing on the big screen is a real treat. Then there's BONJOUR TRISTESSE. Beautifully photographed and art directed, the film perfectly captures the mood swings of teenaged Cecile (played by Jean Seberg whose haircut alone is years ahead of its time), and the shifting tone makes for an at times odd but always pleasurable viewing experience. I loved every minute of it, especially the outstanding supporting role of Elsa played brilliantly by Mylène Demongeot.

By the way, I love the Preminger A-Z. See you soon at the Cinematheque!

Allen Braude

7/8/2009 7:09:44 AM #

The Preminger series was really, really great. I actually rented some of the films I missed because I liked them all so much...Advise and Consent is actually a good one to watch on the t.v. screen, sacrilegious as that may sound...it plays well in the home environment! Though I’m sure on the big screen it’s even better.

Here’s what I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer...
-all the Chabrols in the New Wave series (I need to re-see the ones I’ve seen – but also the ultra-rare Les Godelureaux on Aug 10, which has never been shown at Cinematheque before!)
-as many Melvilles as I can see (I also rented Le Deuxieme souffle, which I highly highly recommend…I won’t be able to see it at the Cinematheque screening sadly).
-Vanini Vanina (Rossellini!)
-Traffic (and as many Tatis as I can see)
-I might have to re-see some of the Godards as well…Band of Outsiders, Made in USA and Masculin Feminin especially. I saw Une Femme est une femme last week and it was like having my faith in life restored.
-Adieu Philippine (how did I go through life without hearing about this film?)
-I Knew Her Well (the director Antonio Pietrangeli got a special mention on pg 50 of the guide, which intrigued me…)
-Sandra (I saw it during the first Summer In Italy series in 1994 but that was before I was totally knocked out by Visconti’s later films Ludwig and The Innocent, so obviously I need to see it again in that context!)
All in all it’s a tremendous-looking lineup and the season has been wonderful so far. Congratulations to the CO team on another stellar job!

Chris Cummings