The Last Mistress

THE LAST MISTRESS marks the monumental pairing of cinema's premiere provocateur, director Catherine Breillat (ROMANCE, FAT GIRL) with the most fearless and explosive actor of our generation, Asia Argento (MARIE ANTOINETTE, BOARDING GATE). A penniless rogue, Ryno de Marigny (newcomer Fu-ad Ait Aattou), shocks 19th century France with his engagement to the virginal gem of the aristocracy, Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida of FAT GIRL). As lurid speculations of Ryno's ten year affair with the carnal Vellini (Argento) manifest, a supremely erotic and wickedly humorous depiction of human lust is revealed - overriding the brittle facade of nobility and reverence. Bolstered by Breillat's mastery of the medium and Argento's commanding performance, THE LAST MISTRESS is a highly entertaining yet incredibly provocative film that has resulted in unanimous praise from audiences and critics across the world.

(France, 2008) 104 min

• Official Site
• New York Times | Manolha Dargis Review
• Chicago Sun Times | Roger Ebert Review
• Philadelphia Inquirer | Carrie Rickey Review
  

Elsa and Fred

Seventy-seven-year-old Elsa is garrulous and completely self-absorbed, and she doesn’t always tell the truth. She loves Fellini films. Alfredo is quiet, reserved, almost rigidly honest. When he moves into her apartment building Elsa introduces herself to him by backing into his daughter’s car. From there on it’s romance. Spanish director Marcos Carnevale directs veteran Uruguayan actress China Zorilla and the elderly Spanish leading man Manuel Alexandre in a twilight romance with decidedly robust performances. Alexandre's physical frailty and control are a spot-on counterpoint to Zorrilla's delightfully excessive exuberance, the pair weaving a delicate magic.

(Spain/Argentina, 2005)  106 min.

Fri: 5:30; 7:40/Sat & Sun: 3:20; 5:30; 7:40

• San Francisco Chronicle | Ruth Steine Review
• New York Times | Jeannette Catsoulis Review
  

Chris and Don

This is one of those legendary but true L.A. stories that confounds the city's cliched Tinseltown image, and "Chris & Don: A Love Story" is well-attuned to this, focusing on the texture and sweetness of a particularly beguiling real-life gay love saga. The 20 year love affair between writer Christopher Isherwood (who wrote the memoir that was the basis of Cabaret) and celebrated American portrait artist Don Bachardy, who Isherwood met (and seduced) when Bachardy was in his teens. Made with gentle grace and sensitivity by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara, the film has a rich supply of archival and home movie material, showing the heady life in Weimar Berlin that drew Isherwood like a moth to a flame, and inspired his classic "Berlin Stories". He fled Germany during the Nazi rise, and landed in Manhattan alongside the brilliant poet and pal W. H. Auden (also seen in rare homemovie glimpses). Isherwood soon moved to Los Angeles, where he met Bachardy, as well as a dazzling cultural circle including Igor Stravinsky and Aldous Huxley. Michael York, who played the Isherwood character in Cabaret, narrates with perfect pitch.

(US, 2007) 90 min.

Mon-Thurs: 5:30 & 7:30

• New York Times | Stephen Holden Review
• National Public Radio Review | Fresh Air, July 9, 2008
  

Eastern US Theatrical Premiere
Soldiers of Conscience

An incredibly moving documentary about the most unlikely of the Iraq War’s conscientious objectors. Co-director’s Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg never preach but succeed in showing how much this war and any war destroys even the most patriotic and gung ho soldiers. In fact, in the first half hour as we’re introduced to various young men and women, it’s hard to tell who is the CO and who isn’t. It’s this fairness and conscious objectivity that makes the film unique.

Eight U.S. soldiers, some who have killed and some who said no, reveal their inner moral dilemmas in "Soldiers of Conscience." Made with official permission of the U.S. Army, the film transcends politics to explore the tension between spiritual values and military orders. Soldiers follows the stories of both conscientious objectors and those who criticize them.

(US, 2007) 90 min.

Fri: 5:30 & 7:30; Sat and Sun: 3:30, 5:30 & 7:30

• Links coming soon!
  

Planet of the Apes
On Its 40th Anniversary

It’s been 40 years since audiences first heard Charlton Heston scream “Take your hands off me you filthy ape!” and the significance of the film has grown richer every year. Now it seems like an allegory about race relations, doomsday environmentalism, totalitarianism, even the Bush regime’s denial of good science. Its screenwriters were Rod Serling, host of The Twilight Zone and a noted writer of science fiction stories and of television screenplays, paired with the formerly black-listed Michael Wilson. Together they wrote some of the best dialogue ever in s science fiction film. Jerry Goldsmith, usually a stalwart studio composer, took a lot of chances with a futuristic often atonal score.  Heston is the chest beater and the chimps are the quiet  and thoughtful ones, most notably played by Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter.

This new 35mm print is from Criterion Pictures.

(US, 1968)  112 min.

• Links coming soon!
  

My Winnipeg

A multilayered journey through the imagined hometown of celebrated and whimsical Canadian director Guy Maddin. Employing the filmmaker's fusion of silent film technique and  self-mocking melodrama,  he has made what he calls a “docu-fantasia”, with hokey dialogue. In telling his own story and the  Manitoba city’s, we are never sure what is fact and what is fiction. The film's central notion is that after living in this isolated city all his life Maddin (played by actor Darcy Fehr) is desperately trying to escape Winnipeg's wintry grasp. To do so, he has to take a half-real, half-imaginary dream train through his own past, revisiting the people, places and events that meant the most to him. The 1940’s B-movie icon Ann Savage (Detour) is wonderful as his domineering mom. If you’ve never seen a Maddin film, this is the one to see.

(Canada, 2008) 80 min.

Mon – Thurs: 5:30 & 7:15

• Chicago Sun Times | Roger Ebert Review
• Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum Review
• Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan Review
• Special NPR Report on the works of Guy Maddin | Friday, August 15
  

Manhattan Short Film Festival

In venues all over the world from September 21-28 audiences see the shorts and then vote on them, creating a true “world” festival.  In 2007 films screened in 99 cities and 19 countries and 32 states in the US. Come and vote for your favorite.

• Links coming soon!
  

The Desert Trilogy

Tunisian director Nacer Khemir is also a poet, painter and professional storyteller. His film Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul made its theatrical debut in the US this year. But that film, as great as it is, was only the last in a stunning series Khemir called The Desert Trilogy. It includes The Wanderers of the Desert and The Dove’s Necklace. Rich as an Ottoman miniature, bright as a tiled mosaic, Khemir’s three films depend on his great onscreen story-tellers who are mesmerizing. Stories within stories unfold against lush architecture and barren desert landscapes resembling the best of Arabic fantasies and parables.  

Part One. The Wanderers of the Desert
Khemir creates an exotic world with Wanderers of the Desert when a young teacher arrives to take over a village school isolated in the shimmering desert. Reminiscent of the best Iranian films of the 1970s in its use of color and setting, it also has something of the wit, cruelty and ambiguity of the Arabian Nights. Legendary figures materialize out of wells and the desert itself, groups of children hurry through a labyrinth of underground corridors, the teacher is whisked away to a mysterious rendezvous and never returns. Nothing is really explained; Khemir merely shows how legend, tradition and fate hang heavily over this community.

(France,1984)  95 min.

Part two. The Dove's Necklace
A visually ravishing folktale reminiscent of “The Thousand and One Nights.” The story revolves around Hassan, who is studying Arabic calligraphy from a grand master. Coming across a fragment of manuscript, Hassan goes in search of the missing pieces, believing that once he finds them, he will learn the secrets of love. With the help of Zin, a lovers’ go-between, he meets the beautiful Aziz, Princess of Samarkand. After encountering wars, a battle between false prophets and an ancient curse, he learns that an entire lifetime would not suffice for him to learn the many dimensions of love.

(France,1991) 90 min.

Part three. Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul
A visual poem of incomparable beauty, this masterpiece begins with the story of a blind dervish named Bab’Aziz and his spirited granddaughter, Ishtar. Together they wander the desert in search of a great reunion of dervishes that takes place just once every thirty years. To keep Ishtar entertained, Bab’Aziz relays the ancient tale of a prince who relinquished his realm in order to remain next to a small pool in the desert, staring into its depths while contemplating his soul. As the tale of the prince unfolds, the two encounter other travelers with stories of their own Filled with breathtaking images and wonderful music, Nacir Khemir has created a fairytale-like story of longing and belonging, filmed in the enchanting and ever-shifting sandscapes of Tunisia and Iran.

(Switzerland/Hungary/France/Iran/Tunisia/UK, 2006)  96 min.

All films are in Arabic with English subtitles.

Fri 9/26: Bab'aziz 5:30; The Wanderers 7:30
Sun 9/28: The Wanderers 3:30; Dove's Necklace 5:30; Bab'aziz 7:30
Mon 9/29: The Wanderers 5:30; Dove's Necklace 7:30
Tues & Wed 9/30-10/1:  Dove's Necklace 5:30; Bab'aziz 7:30
Thurs 10/2: Bab'Aziz 5:30 & 7:30

• Links coming soon!
  

In Search of a Midnight Kiss

From emerging, award-winning filmmaker Alex Holdridge and the producer of Before Sunrise and Dazed and Confused, In Search of A Midnight Kiss is a funny and bittersweet look at love, sex, and modern romance. With an unsold script, no concrete plans, and a love life reduced to getting caught in compromising positions (alone!), a twenty-nine-year aspiring writer, Wilson (Scoot McNairy) just had the worst year of his life. That is until his best friend, Jacob, browbeats him into posting a personal ad for New Year's Eve on Craig's List. When Vivian, a sexy, sarcastic, and seemingly blind-date-from-hell responds, the two strangers embark on an unexpected, chaotic, and hilariously awkward journey through the black-and-white streets of Los Angeles hoping to meet the right one before the stroke of midnight. The film evokes early Jim Jarmusch and Woody Allen without the money.

(US) 97 min

Fri 10/3 5:30, 7:30, 9:30; Sat 10/4 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30; Sun 10/5 3:30, 5:30, 7:30; Mon – Fri 10/6 – 10/10 5:30, 7:30; Sat 10/11 5:30 & 9:30; Sun 10/12 5:30

• Links coming soon!
  

Anita O'Day, Life of a Jazz Singer

Before her death in November 2006 at age 86, Anita O'Day, one of jazz's most complex and rhythmic vocalists, smiled on the music world for six decades. This film portrait captures all the magic that took this sly Chicago native, a girl who could hold her own against Billie and Ella, from Gene Krupa's bandstand to solo stardom. Film footage of Anita O'Day's appearance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, immortalized in the 1960 documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day and excerpted here, may be the defining moment of the post-bebop era.

(US, 2007, 90 min)

• Variety | Dennis Harvey Review
  

Man on Wire

“An adventure tale that astonishes in every respect." Robert Koehler, Variety

“Riveting. This exhilarating film makes you shake your head in amazement.” Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"Shows, step by thrilling step, how Philippe Petit pulled off his astonishing tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.” David Ansen, Newsweek

“Exhilirating! A crowd pleaser in such witty, poetic ways that even a curmudgeon couldn’t deny.” Aaron Hillis, Village Voice

(US) 94 min.

Sat & Sun 10/11&12 3:30 & 7:30; Mon – Wed 10/13-15 5:30 & 7:30

• Links coming soon!
  

Days and Clouds

Well-to-do, sophisticated couple Elsa and Michele have enough money for Elsa to leave her job and fulfill an old dream of studying art history. After she graduates, however, their lives change. Michele confesses he hasn't worked in two months and was fired by the company he founded years ago. Elsa overcomes her initial shock by pouring extra energy into facing the crisis, while Michele, exhausted by an unsuccessful job hunt, lets himself go, alternating between vivacity and apathy. The growing distance between them eventually leads to a break-up. Only when they part do they realize that they risk losing their most precious possession: the love that binds them. This poignant Italian film by director Silvio Soldini (Bread and Tulips) has a wonderful message of hope.

(Italy/Switzerland, 2007)  115 min

Fri 10/17 5:30 & 7:45; Sat & Sun 10/18 & 19 3:15, 5:30, 7:45; Mon 10/20 5:30 & 7:45

• New York Times | Stephen Holden Review
• Variety | Eddie Cockrell Review
  

Planet B-Boy

Break dancing? Yep! International groups in a world competition in Japan show how the style has come a long way in 30 years. Incredibly absorbing and at times hilarious, it’s the kind of movie where you pick your favorites and root for them until the last frame.

• Links coming soon!
  

Stuff and Dough

Directed and Co-written by Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu whose later film The Death of Mr. Lazarescu garnered international attention. Stuff and Dough, made in 2001 has just been given its American debut this year. The recent Romanian renaissance in film is in good evidence here. Shot on a very low budget, the film looks great. It’s dark, funny, mysterious, blending the rhythms and speech of real life with elements of a thriller. A young hustler takes a road trip with two friends. They’re on a dubious errand for a local mobster. Corrupt cops, break-downs on bad roads, fuel shortages are just a few of the things they encounter in this unvarnished view of the post-communist country. A small movie with enormous humanity. It should be a model for any aspiring filmmaker.

(Romania, 2001) 90 min.

Tues 10/21 – Thurs 10/23 5:30 & 7:30

• Links coming soon!
  

Mr. Foe

Jamie Bell (Billie Elliot, Flags of Our Fathers) is Hallam Foe, a troubled young man whose knack for voyeurism paradoxically reveals his darkest fears, and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother’s death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city of Edinburgh for love. This is a juicy character part for Bell, who is fast becoming an international actor to be dealt with. Splendid use of Edinburgh, Scotland's cityscapes, a basket full of startling surprises in the screenplay and characters without a fleck of sentimentality. Featuring a lively soundtrack with Franz Ferdinand, Sons and Daughters and Orange Juice among others, Mister Foe is a darkly twisted, entertaining work of magical realism from one of the leading lights of the new Scottish cinema.

(UK, 2007) 95 min.

Fri 10/24 5:30, 7:30, 9:30; Sat 10/25 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30; Sun 10/26 3:30, 5:30, 7:30;  Mon-Thurs 10/27 – 10/30 5:30 & 7:30; Fri 10/31 5:30, 7:30, 9:30; Sat 11/1 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30; Sun 11/2 3:30, 5:30, 7:30

• Links coming soon!
  

Words and Music

The life stories of Broadway tunesmiths Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart are prettified for the screen in MGM's Words and Music. Billed fourth, the colorless Tom Drake plays Rodgers, but never mind that: the film belongs to Mickey Rooney, as the dynamic, self-destructive Lorenz Hart. Understandably, Hart's bisexuality is downplayed. According to MGM, his biggest problem in life is that he was never satisfied with his work. We are, however, especially when those great Rodgers & Hart tunes are performed by the likes of Judy Garland, Janet Leigh, Perry Como, Lena Horne, June Allyson, Cyd Charisse, Betty Garrett, Ann Sothern, Mel Torme, Allyn McLerie, Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen. The musical highlights include Garland's powerhouse rendition of Johnny One-Note, Kelly's Slaughter on 10th Avenue dance solo, Horne's interpretation of Where or When, Allyson's take on Thou Swell, and, best of all, Rooney's premiere performance of I'll Take Manhattan, which he allegedly had just written on the back of an automobile advertisement!

(1948, US, 122 min)

• 1948 New York Times Review
  

Favela Rising

Film Field Trips for School Groups

See more info on our Education programs

Made possible with the support of Real Art Ways Members, Travelers, the George A. and Grace L. Long Foundation, the Fisher Foundation, the Hartford Courant Foundation, the Kohn-Joseloff Foundation and Lincoln Financial.

Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks

Film Field Trips for School Groups

See more info on our Education programs

Made possible with the support of Real Art Ways Members, Travelers, the George A. and Grace L. Long Foundation, the Fisher Foundation, the Hartford Courant Foundation, the Kohn-Joseloff Foundation and Lincoln Financial.