New Films from Europe - at the HFA

Starting tonight at the Harvard Film Archive a selection of exciting new films from Europe. Many of which have no distribution in the U.S.A. at all.

I only hope I have time for all of them.

Screening on January 19 (Thursday) 7 pm
Les Amants Reguliers
(Regular Lovers)
Directed by Philippe Garrel
France, 2005, color, 178 min.
With Louis Garrel, Clotilde Hesme, Eric Rulliat
French with English subtitles

January 20 (Friday) 7 pm
January 21 (Saturday) 8:30 pm
Ghosts
Directed by Christian Petzold
Germany 2004, color, 85 min.
With Julia Hummer, Sabine Timoteo, Marianne Basler
German with English subtitles

Screening on January 20 (Friday) 9 pm
January 21 (Saturday) 7 pm
Through the Forest (À travers la forêt)
Directed by Jean-Paul Civeyrac
France 2005, color, 65 min.
With Camille Berthomier, Aurélien Wiik, Morgane Hainaux
French with English subtitles

Screening on January 22 (Sunday) 7 pm
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
Directed by Cristi Puiu
Romania 2005, color, 154 min.
Romanian with English subtitles

Screening on January 27 (Friday) 7 pm
January 28 (Saturday) 9 pm
Fallen
Directed by Fred Kelemen
Latvia/Germany 2005, b/w, 90 min.
With Egons Dombrovskis, Nikolaj Korobov, Vigo Roga
Latvian and Russian with English subtitles

Screening on January 24 (Tuesday) 7 pm
January 27 (Friday) 9 pm
Under Construction (Insaat)
Directed by Ömer Vargi
Turkey 2004, color, 108 min.
With Sevket Çoruh, Emre Kinay, Suna Pekuysal
Turkish with English Subtitles

Screening on January 24 (Tuesday) 9 pm
The Horizon of Events (L'Orizzonti degli Eventi)
Directed by Daniele Vicari
Italy 2005, color, 115 min.
With Valerio Mastrandrea, Gwenaelle Simon, Lulzim Zeqja
Italian with English subtitles

January 28 (Saturday) 7 pm
January 31 (Tuesday) 9 pm
Zozo
Directed by Josef Fares
Sweden/United Kingdom/Denmark 2005, color, 103 min
With Imad Creidi, Antoinette Turk, Elias Gergi
Arabic and Swedish with English subtitles

January 30 (Monday) 9 pm
January 31 (Tuesday) 7 pm
Kinetta
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Greece 2005, color, 95 min,
Evangelia Randou, Aris Servetalis, Kostas Xikominos
Greek with English subtitles

Haruki Murakami at MIT - TONIGHT

This should be interesting. I've never seen him speak in person. I have read a majority of his texts. I also own Jay Rubin's metatext "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words" that Harvill Press put out a few years ago in the UK. He is a fascinating author of contemporary fiction that tells odd stories of investigations into modern life in Japan.

I'd recommend arriving at least an hour early.

Brazil - TONIGHT at the Brattle 8pm

This evening my most favorite film of all time is playing at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square. The theme music for my radio show comes from this film. I love the references to Orson Welles' "The Trial" and Eisenstein's 'Odessa Steps' sequence. Again, this film is-- while ostensibly a critique of life under Regan and Thatcher and the bureaucratic nightmare (and having social commentary, science fiction, romance, adventure, drama, comedy, and a Christmas film)-- staggeringly prescient in so many ways. The scene in the restaurant, for instance, when Sam's mother's friend, asks him "Why don't you do something about these Terrorists?" and Sam Lowry repiles: "Its my lunch hour. Besides, Its not my department."

This screening is brought to us in conjunction with the Huntington Theater's performance of Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing".

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Thursday, September 22

Special Engagements
The Huntington Theatre Company and the Brattle Film Foundation Present
Brazil at 8:00
(1985) dir Terry Gilliam w/Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin [142 min]

plans for le weekend

Still recovering from a busy week. It looks like the coming weekend won't be a picnic either. I hope to check out the Harvard yard sale tomorrow and possibly catch a film later in the day. Sunday night is my friend Vin's birthday, which may entail a visit to River Gods for various festivities. This week's edition of the Montreal Mirror has Brazilian Actor/Musician Seu Jorge on the cover, I believe he is due to play a the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston soon. Also, Nouvelle Vague are on tour. It may be a good idea to catch them this time round because the will perform a number of covers to be on a forthcoming release (Blondie, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, New Order and Bauhaus and the Smiths). It would appear that Bossa Nova covers are definately in style. I also want to check out the Degas exhibit at the Sackler museum. That reminds me, the Harvard Film Archive's new calendar starts tonight. They'll be doing a retrospective of Louis Malle's work for most of this month. I'll put together a 'highlights' of the schedule shortly. Also of note: the lastest issue of the New Left Review has a book review by Jonathan Rosenbaum of a new compilation of French Film Critic Serge Daney's work. I must get a hold of that shortly.

I'll be on the air tonight playing mostly older material. The new Goldfrapp "Supernature" disc is already out in Europe to stellar reviews. Hopefully the disc will be released here shortly.

Bonne chance!

Harvard Film Archive - upcoming films

this is all from the HFA website -

Films of interest to be screened at the Harvard Film Archive:

full info on Alain Resnais series: http://www.harvardfilmarchive.org/calendars/05_spring/resnais.html

Screening on April 6 (Wednesday) 9 pm
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Directed by Alain Resnais
France/Japan, 1959, b/w, 91 min.
With With Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Bernard Fresson
French with English subtitles

Screening on April 13 (Wednesday) 9 pm
My American Uncle (Mon Oncle d’Amerique)
Directed by Alain Resnais
France, 1980, color, 126 min.
With With Gérard Depardieu, Nicole Garcia, Roger Pierre
French with English subtitles

Screening on April 15 (Friday) 7 pm
Not on the Lips (Pas sur la bouche)
Directed by Alain resnais
France/Switzerland, 2003, color, 115 min.
With With Audrey Tautou, Isabelle Nanty, Sabine Azéma
French with English subtitles

Screening on April 15 (Friday) 9 pm
Same Old Song (on connait la chanson)
Directed by Alain Resnais
France/UK/Switzerland, 1997, color, 120 min.
With With Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azéma, Jan-Pierre Bacri
French with English subtitles

Screening on April 16 (Saturday) 7 pm
Je t’aime, je t’aime
Directed by Alain Resnais
France, 1968, color, 91 min.
With With Claude Rich, Olga Georges-Picot, Anouk Ferjac
French with English subtitles
A poetic work of science fiction akin to Chris Marker’s La Jetée, Resnais’s film is a tightly wrought, mesmerizing exploration of memory and time. A man (Rich) is rescued from suicide by scientists and sent traveling in time, accompanied by a charming mouse who has been previously used in such experiments. The man becomes lost as fragmentary episodes from his past take over in a chaotic series of unordered events. Beautiful, tranquil, but increasingly menacing moments point to a love affair with a girl the man may or may not have killed.

Statues Also Die (Les Statues meurent aussi)
Directed by Alain Resnais and Chris Marker
France, 1950-53, b/w, 22 min.
French with English subtitles
This collaborative film, banned for more than a decade by French censors as an attack on French colonialism (and now available only in shortened form), is a deeply felt study of African art and the decline it underwent as a result of its contact with Western civilization. Marker’s characteristically witty and thoughtful commentary is combined with images of a stark formal beauty in this passionate outcry against the fate of an art that was once integral to communal life but became debased as it fell victim to the demands of another culture.

Screening on April 16 (Saturday) 9 pm
La Guerre est finie
Directed by Alain Resnais
France, 1966, b/w, 122 min.
With With Yves Montand, Ingrid Thulin, Genevieve Bujold
French with English subtitles
Guernica
Directed by Alain Resnais and Robert Hessens
France, 1950, b/w, 13 min.
French with English subtitles

Screening on April 17 (Sunday) 7 pm
Providence
Directed by Alain Resnais
France/Switzerland, 1977, color, 107 min.
With With John Gielgud, Dirk Bogarde, Ellen Burstyn
English

Screening on April 17 (Sunday) 9 pm
Stavisky…
Directed by Alain Resnais
France/Italy, 1974, color, 120 min.
With With Jean-Paul Belmondo, François Périer, Anny Duperey
French and English with English subtitles
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Screening on April 9 (Saturday) 7 pm
Ripley’s Game
Directed by Liliana Cavani
US/UK/Italy, 2002, color, 110 min.
With With John Malkovich, Ray Winstone, Uwe Mansshardt
English, German, and Italian with English subtitles
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Screening on April 12 (Tuesday) 7 pm
April 13 (Wednesday) 7 pm
In the Mood for Love (Hua yang nian hua)
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
France/Hong Kong, 2000, color, 98 min.
With Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung
Cantonese and Mandarin with English subtitles