8 minute read
- PETERBOGDANOVICH (1939-2022) 60 MONICA VITTI (1931-2022
MONICA VITTI (1931-2022)
REMEMBERED
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Monica Vitti was born in Lazio, Rome, on November 3, 1931. She was an actress and writer, known for ‘L’Avventura’ (1960), ‘Red Desert’ (1964) and ‘L’Eclisse’ (1962). She died on 2 February 2022 in Rome. With her strong association with Antonioni’s films, we are screening ‘L’Avventura’ as a tribute to her (well that’s my excuse anyway!) – Roger Gibson.
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Sun 21 Aug 10:00 – Auditorium
L’AVVENTURA
A woman disappears on a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other. A group of rich Italians head out on a yachting trip to a deserted volcanic island in the Mediterranean. When they are about to leave the island, they find that Anna is missing. Anna’s boyfriend Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti) and friend Claudia (Monica Vitti) try unsuccessfully to find her. While they are searching, Claudia and Sandro develop an attraction for each other. ‘L’Avventura’ created a stir in 1960, when Pauline Kael picked it as the best film of the year. “Too shallow to be truly lonely,” Kael wrote, “they are people trying to escape their boredom by reaching out to one another and finding only boredom once again.” For Martin Scorsese “this film gave me one of the most profound shocks of my life.” Awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, it went on to become a landmark of European cinema. (Subtitles) ITALY/FRANCE 1960 MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI 145M
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JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO (1933- 2021)
REMEMBERED
Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-2021) was born in Neuilly, and the son of sculptor Paul Belmondo. Kicked out of several schools for unruly behaviour, he trained as a boxer before turning to acting. His drama teachers thought that he did not have the physique and talent to get lead roles, but Jean-Luc Godard decided that he had just the right laidback spontaneity to play Michel Poiccard in ‘Breathless’ (1960). Never really attracted to Hollywood, Belmondo worked with the greatest French directors of his time, but his popularity waned in the late 1980s despite a César for best actor (his only one) in ‘Itinerary of a Spoilt Child’ (1989). From 1991 Belmondo mostly worked for the stage until his acting career ended when he suffered a major stroke that left him unable to speak for two years. In 2011, he was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or in Cannes for his outstanding contribution to cinema, and last year, France paid him an emotional tribute with a state funeral attended by thousands.
Mon 15 Aug 13:30 – Studio
An illustrated talk on Jean-Paul Belmondo by Martine Pierquin. “You see that bar, you go in”, explains Godard. “And what do I do there?” asks Belmondo. “Whatever you want.”; “You go into that phone booth.” “And I say what?” “Whatever you want.” Belmondo trained as a stage actor and dreamed of joining the Comédie Française, France’s prestigious national theatre troupe. Instead, and despite a long list of commercial action films to his name, he’ll remain forever in film history the emblematic figure of the French New Wave thanks to Jean-Luc Godard who saw in him a representation of modern masculinity perfectly suited for a new, rebellious form of cinema. In this illustrated talk, we will survey the career of the legendary actor, aptly described by Ginette Vincendeau as “the face of the New Wave and the body of popular cinema”. Martine Pierquin has taught French cinema at Edinburgh and Stirling universities. She is a curator for French Film Festival UK’s short film programme. 100M NB. Preceding this talk, there will be a complete screening separately of ‘Stavisky’ on Mon 15 Aug 10:00 – a perfect bridge between Resnais and Belmondo.
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Tue 16 Aug 11:00 – Auditorium
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Thu 18 Aug 10:00 – Auditorium À BOUT DE SOUFFLE
A small-time thief (Jean-Paul Belmondo) steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he reunites with a hip American journalism student. Michel Poiccard (Belmondo), an irresponsible sociopath and small-time thief, steals a car and impulsively murders the motorcycle policeman who pursues him. Now wanted by the authorities, he renews his relationship with Patricia Franchini, a hip American girl (Jean Seberg) studying journalism at the Sorbonne, whom he had met in Nice a few weeks earlier. Poiccard seems oblivious to the dragnet that is slowly closing around him as he recklessly pursues his love of American movies and libidinous interest in the beautiful American. Godard pays homage to the pace and energy of American gangster B-movies of the 1940s. The young Belmondo, his face battered by boxing, was cast in the lead, modelling his manner on his idol, Humphrey Bogart. A revolution swept French cinema into the 1960s, and this film seized the public by its throat. (Subtitles) FRANCE 1960 JEAN-LUC GODARD 90M
LEON MORIN, PRIEST
LÉON MORIN, PRÊTRE
Set during occupied France, a faithless woman finds herself falling in love with a young priest. A fascinating change of subject matter for director Jean-Pierre Melville. Set in a town overrun at first by Italians, then Germans during WWII, Barny is a widowed mother and communist. When the Germans arrive, she sends her half-Jewish daughter to live in a farm in the countryside and finds that Sabine’s brother has been arrested and sent to a concentration camp One day she goes to confront a priest. She chooses Father Léon Morin (Belmondo), because his name sounds less bourgeois. She goes into the confessional and begins her attack. The response by the young priest however takes her by surprise. He has wise and rational responses to her every claim. The two begin conversing regularly. ‘Léon Morin, Priest’ is a surprising film. Remarkable in its direction and acting as well as its portrayal of life in an occupied town, and in its sheer intelligence and humility. (Subtitles) FRANCE 1961 JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE 117M
JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO (1933- 2021) – REMEMBERED
Wed 17 Aug 20:30 – Studio Thu 18 Aug 13:30 – Pic Palace
LE DOULOS
A burglar, betraying other criminals, prepares for a big heist with a trusted friend that might be as untrustworthy as he. Martin Scorsese’s favourite gangster movie. Fresh out of prison and hell-bent on revenge, Maurice Faugel, finds himself, once more, on the run from the police after what should have been a quick and simple robbery. Everything points to Maurice’s former friend and partner-in-crime, Silien. However, did Silien really rat on Faugel? Jean-Pierre Melville is influenced by American crime movies of the 1930s: shadows, night, trench coats, guns, tough guys, cigarettes, slinky dames, cocktail bars, crooked cops – confining the characters within their own lives and space. Terrific performances, and equally terrific camerawork from Nicolas Hayer – more gris than noir – conjure a rivetingly treacherous, twilit world. (Subtitles) FRANCE 1962 JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE 108M
Sat 20 Aug 20:30 – Studio
A WOMAN IS A WOMAN
UNE FEMME EST UNE FEMME
The film tells the story of exotic dancer as she attempts to have a child with her unwilling lover. In the process, she finds herself torn between him and his best friend Alfred (Belmondo). Sometimes, solemn but somehow empty vows of love and devotion are just not good enough, and a simple “I love you” may prove to be insufficient. Angela (Anna Karina), a graceful exotic dancer, has set her sights on talking her unwilling lover, Émile (Jean-Claude Brialy) into starting a family; however, he seems absorbed with his other passion: cycling. But, Angela wants a child, and she takes no for an answer. Could Alfred Lubitsch, a handsome neighbour and Émile’s bosom friend, lend a hand? Godard’s third feature film and his first in colour, ‘A Woman is a Woman’ is one of the most enjoyable of all the master’s works. (Subtitles) FRANCE 1964 JEAN-LUC GODARD 84M
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Sun 21 Aug 20:45 – Studio
PIERROT LE FOU
Dissatisfied in marriage and life, Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) takes to the road with the babysitter, his ex-lover Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina), and leaves the bourgeois world behind. Ferdinand Griffon, married to a wealthy Italian wife, has recently been fired from the television station where he worked. Feeling bored at a bourgeois party, He meets Marianne, who was his mistress five years ago and insists on calling him Pierrot, and offers to take her home. They spend the night together and he learns that she’s involved in smuggling weapons. They decide to leave Paris and his family behind and go on the run, on a crazy journey to nowhere. A stylish mash-up of anti-consumerist satire, au courant politics, and comic-book aesthetics, as well as a violent, zigzag tale of, as Godard called them, “the last romantic couple”. (Subtitles) FRANCE 1965 JEAN-LUC GODARD 118M
STAVISKY
Mon 15 Aug 10:00 See Alain Resnais Centenary for full details on Pg46
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