APRIL 2013! Douglas Sirk, the Middle Ages and the long shadow of Weimar cinema!
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April. Breathe that word in friends. Glorious April. It seemed for a stretch back in February that this day would not arrive, that baseball and bike rides and the slow tranquil greening of our magic kingdom would skip a year and we'd be blighted by Ingmar Bergman weather until our next spin round the sun. So let's all let out a cathartic exhale and celebrate this changing of the seasonal guard. For those of you especially who braved the Canadian winds that invaded our metropolis, trudging toward Film Forum or BAM or MOMA because you guessed you were only getting the one chance to see your chosen film classic in its proper venue, I say to thee REJOICE! Cinegeek weather is upon us! To parapahrase from the baseball lexicon, let's watch three!
The Blue Ribbon winner this month is MOMA, which presents a month-long tribute to the enormous influence German expressionist cinema of the 20's had on the history of the medium. The Weimar Touch features mostly Hollywood works from directors informed by the stylistic movement, but also showcases a generous helping of the innovators themselves, having fled their rapidly changing homeland during the Furher's rise. On display are some of the best from William Dieterle, Ernst Lubitsch, Max Ophuls and the big bad Fritz Lang! Films include little seen works like the original VIKTOR UND VIKTORIA, Frank Borzage's THE MORTAL STORM and Edgar G. Ulmer's GREEN FIELDS, as well as heavyweights like John Ford's HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, Michael Curtiz's CASABLANCA and Billy Wilder's SOME LIKE IT HOT. Not a lemon in the bunch, kids. HIGHLY recommended.
MOMA's Auteurist History of Film series also continues through the month with screenings of John Frankenheimer's debut feature THE YOUNG STRANGER, Jules Dassin's NEVER ON SUNDAY, and Otto Preminger's EXODUS. An annual membership costs 85 bucks and grants ya free admission to every screening plus discounted tix for friends. It's a cinegeek bargain! I'm told there's actually a museum attached to the theaters as well, so I may have to check that out one day.
Running a close second to MOMA is that marvel of civilization among the unwashed of Brooklyn, an oasis of culture amidst a sea of facial hair, the venerable BAM, offering multiple tribs and fests this month. Foremost of these is their weekend mini-retrospective Magnificent Obsession, dedicated to the cinematic partnership of Douglas Sirk and Rock Hudson. Long recognized the master of Soap and Technicolor, Sirk was an established filmmaker before he embarked on the sudsy melodramas of the 50's that featured his most famous leading man, but it was that decade and his output during that defined him forever. BAM unspools the duo's MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, THE TARNISHED ANGELS, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS and WRITTEN ON THE WIND. Bring your Kleenex.
Animation great Hayao Miyazaki also gets the career retro treatment as BAM offers up the autuer's entire Studio Ghibli output. Classic screenings include CASTLE IN THE SKY, NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO. Be sure to check the whole list here.
Terrence Malick is awarded a day of his own at BAM, which is ironic as some people find it takes one to watch one of his films. Kiddin'. I'm a huge Makick fan. The autuer's sophmore effort DAYS OF HEAVEN won Nestor Almendros the Oscar for cinematography, but the director pulled one of the more notorious disappearing acts in the film's wake and wouldn't make another film for 20 years, which is ironic because some people find it takes that long to watch one of his films. HIGHLY recommended. Can't wait for his new flick!
Finally at BAM the Tuesdays with Elliott series continues in honor of film critic/historian/enthusiast Elliott Stein. KING KONG, the man's personal fave, and Michael Powell's PEEPING TOM both unspool as part of BAM's tribute.
One night only screenings include a who?what?now? 25th anniversary dusting off of Julien Temple's EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY, and the just-for-the-hell-of-it screenings of John Badham's SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and Steve Rash's THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY. Something for everyone.
Back safely on Manhattan's balmy shores Anthology Film Archives, the closest thing we have left to the Times Square grindhouses of old, honors its forebears with a weekend devoted to Old School Kung Fu. Selections include the Sammo Hung vehicle THE ODD COUPLE, Gordon Lui's SHAOLIN AND WU-TANG, and a special secret screening occuring on the twentieth of the month. Whadda they got to hide, mewonders...
AFA also offers a mini-fest dedicated to depictions of the Middle Ages on film, appropriately titled The Middle Ages On Film. Among the bleak delights to be had at this fest are Andrei Tarkovsky's ANDREI RUBLEV, Robert Bresson's THE TRIAL OF JOAN OF ARC, John Huston's A WALK WITH LOVE AND DEATH, and Youssef Chahine's SALADIN, which presents the Crusades from the Musilm perspective and remains the most expensive Arabic production of all time. They have my interest.
The Film Forum takes a breather after their exhaustive retrospective 1933 and the back-to-back revivals of Fritz Lang's M and Michael Cimino's HEAVEN'S GATE. April brings week-long bookings of Hitchcock's 3D trifle DIAL "M" FOR MURDER, Hal Ashby's New Hollywood masterpiece THE LAST DETAIL, Frank Tashlin's postwar American culture skewering WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?, Sam Fuller's Cinemascope classic HOUSE OF BAMBOO, Jean-Pierre Melville's world weary noir UN FLIC, and the immortal Harold Lloyd in his most iconic perf in SAFETY LAST! Some breather, huh?
The Film Society of Lincoln Center dedicates a week to a Brazillian film pioneer. Their synopsis as follows; "Carlos Diegues was a pioneer of the revolutionary Cinema Novo movement, which made film an integral part of the cultural and sociopolitical struggles facing Brazil in the 1960s. Diegues’ now-iconic films had a historical emphasis but were conceptually groundbreaking and were among the first to bring Afro-Brazilian culture to life on film." Films screening in the series include BYE BYE BRAZIL, GANGA ZUMBA, THE HEIRS and XICA. If ya know me ya know I've never seen a single one of these damn films, so mebbe ya seez me at the Walter Reade for a night or two. Check here for the complete list of screenings.
The Rubin Museum's Cabaret Cinema series trods forth through its current slate dedicated to the eye's untrustworthiness. Illusions Revealed finishes up this month with screenings of John Huston's KEY LARGO, Sam Peckinpah's CROSS OF IRON, and Hitchcock's new Sight & Sound champ VERTIGO. LARGO and IRON are worth your time. A drink purchase nabs you a free tik to the museum's screening lounge. The downside? They never project 35mm prints. The upside? Didn't you read the part about the drinks?
After that it gets a little slim. Museum of the Moving Image over in Astoria offers Buster Keaton's THE GENERAL and Robert Wise's WEST SIDE STORY as part of their April doings.
The Nitehawk Cinema in B-Burg offers midnight screenings of Dennis Hopper's EASY RIDER and Dan Curtis' BURNT OFFERINGS as part of their Karen Black tribute, and David Lynch's DUNE, as tribute to shrooms. Brunch at the Nitehawk brings Sam Peckinpah's PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID, Michael Ritchie's THE BAD NEWS BEARS, Orson Welles' F FOR FAKE, and the friggin' masterpiece from F.W. Murnau FAUST. Good luck enjoying your breakfast tacos during that last flick.
The IFC Center's reliable rebooking of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s batshit midnight classic HAUSU is no less deserving of your attendance.
The Clearview Chelsea Cinemas offers Gene Saks' BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, Big Al's MARNIE, Herbert Ross' CALIFORNIA SUITE, and Colin Higgins' 9 TO 5. Spot a trend?
Symphony Space finally gets off its ass and fires up its projector to unspool Edgar G. Ulmer's MOON OVER HARLEM. This RARELY screened "race film" from the late 30's concerns a gangster's eforts to separate a rich spinster from her money, but the real highlight promised is the casting of Sidney Bechet and his cornet as themselves.
There be April, laddies! And I still haven't seen what the Landmark Jersey Loews has cooked up for their monthly booking yet! I hope you make it to as many classic screenings as you can and that you save me the last decent seat in the house! Check with the site for calendar updates and the weekly Pick Of the Day column, and be sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook for all my other cinematic musings and mullings! Vive Film, Suckazhz! Go Yanks!
-Joe Walsh