The Cinematheque SEPT+OCT 2016

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EXPERIENCE ESSENTIAL CINEMA

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THE HUNGER

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OCT 2016

1131 Howe Street | Vancouver | theCinematheque.ca

A CINEMA OF CRUELTY HALLOWEEN VAMPIRES THE DECALOGUE 3D - ADVENTURES IN STEREO ART21

UN CHIEN ANDALOU

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n 1975, a new anthology of film criticisms written by the immeasurably influential French film critic André Bazin – then 17-years deceased – was published in France under the tendentious title The Cinema of Cruelty. Conceived and assembled by Bazin’s protégé, nouvelle vague-er François Truffaut, the posthumous collection brought together Bazin’s writings on a group of master cineastes who, in their own unique ways, shared a stylistic, subversively-minded approach to filmmaking that resulted in “cruel” cinema – films that, for varying political, ethical, spiritual, or sadistic purposes, measured artistic efficacy in degrees of suffering.

This series recognizes the continued significance and recurrence of cinematic cruelty as a vital, albeit challenging, mode of film expression espoused by some of the medium’s most prestigious and controversial figures. Taking as its impetus Bazin’s themed collection, This is Going to Hurt includes masterworks à la cruelty by pantheonic auteurs covered in those pages – Luis Buñuel, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Alfred Hitchcock – as well as watershed wincers extending beyond Bazin’s lifetime by a Who’s Who of arthouse giants and shit disturbers: Robert Bresson, Werner Herzog, Stanley Kubrick, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Lars von Trier, David Lynch, Catherine Breillat, and Michael Haneke. Scandalous, offensive, infuriating, devastating: these films remind us of the affecting, cathartic power of cinema by transgressing its modes of normalcy and, in some cases, decency (we’re looking at you, Salò). They may not be much fun, but their pessimism belies a deeply humanistic desire to incite awareness of the world as is – in all its startling indignation. “Each film brings out the moralist in the director,” wrote Truffaut in his introduction to The Cinema of Cruelty, “and makes each of them a filmmaker of cruelty.”

Opening Night

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 Opening Night with Refreshments & Introduction 6:00 pm – Doors 7:00pm – Un Chien Andalou + Psycho with Introduction

“It assaults old and unconscious habits of moviegoing. It is disturbing, frustrating, maddening.” – Roger Ebert

Un Chien Andalou France 1929. Dir: Luis Buñuel. 16 min. Blu-ray Disc

The premiere film by Spanish troublemaker Luis Buñuel, made in collaboration with Salvador Dalí, is cinema’s most famous (and infamous) work of avant-gardism, and a veritable calling card for the surrealist aesthetic. Its deluge of images – oneiric, disturbing, and resolutely anti-rational – spews forth like unmediated eruptions from the subconscious. Of its many, many provocations, the still-shocking, Pixies-immortalized moment of debasement (ha ha ha ho!) is the toughest to stomach; Buñuel himself wields the razor. This digital presentation features the now-iconic “Tango” score, added under Buñuel’s supervision in 1960. followed by

“The most morally unsettling film ever made.” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Psycho

USA 1960. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. 109 min. DCP

After years of suave, sophisticated, highly-polished colour thrillers, Alfred Hitchcock abruptly and unexpectedly changed gears with this more modest (and more morbid!) monochrome masterwork, a blistering exercise in mind-blowingly manipulative horror. Janet Leigh is Phoenix secretary Marion Crane, absconding with a small fortune of her employer’s money. Anthony Perkins is nervous Norman Bates, proprietor of the motel that Miss Crane makes the unfortunate mistake of checking into. Psycho’s celebrated shower scene is one of cinema’s great montage sequences, while the film’s subversive disruption of conventional audience identification, its stimulus/response control and implicit indictment of our voyeurism, remains absolutely, breathtakingly shocking. Critics decried Psycho as “nauseating” and “sadistic” even while acknowledging its undeniable technical brilliance. The film is now deservedly recognized as one of the director’s most important and profound achievements. Michael Haneke, unsurprisingly, counts it among his favourites. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 - 7:00PM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 – 8:25 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 – 6:30 PM

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A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

“The pinnacle of silent cinema – and perhaps of the cinema itself.” – Jonathan Rosenbaum

The Passion of Joan of Arc (La passion de Jeanne d’Arc)

France 1928. Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer. 97 min. Blu-ray Disc

Few films plumb depths of emotion like Carl Theodor Dreyer’s late silent masterpiece, oft-cited as one of the greatest films of all time (it placed ninth in Sight & Sound’s 2012 decennial poll). Based on the actual transcripts of the proceedings, the film compresses the 18-month trial, torture, and execution of Joan of Arc into a single 24-hour period; Renée Falconetti, in the only film she ever made, gives a towering, indelible performance in the lead. The brilliant cinematography of Rudolph Maté employs extreme close-ups against stark white backgrounds, and eschews the use of makeup on the actors. The result is a wrenching triumph of pain and pathos; seldom has the face provided a more harrowing window to the human soul. This presentation of the 2012 digital restoration runs at 20-frames-per-second, includes Dreyer’s original Danish-language intertitles (with English subtitles), and features a piano score by Japanese silent film composer Mie Yanashita. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 – 8:50 PM

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“The greatest movie ever made.” – Harmony Korine

Even Dwarfs Started Small (Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen) Germany 1970. Dir: Werner Herzog. 96 min. DCP

“I saw the whole film like a continuous nightmare in front of my eyes,” said Werner Herzog of his brazenly-bizarre sophomore effort, still the most audacious work in the great German director’s stacked filmography. On an undisclosed, arid island (but shot on the Canary Island of Lanzarote), the inmates of an asylum stage a frenzied coup d’état that gives way to barbarity and disturbingly-puerile, comic mayhem. In its most surreal (and ohso-real) moment, a monkey tied to a crucifix is processioned through a courtyard strewn with flaming furniture and flower pots! Banned in its native country for being both “anarchistic and blasphemous” (no arguments here), Dwarfs is Herzog’s deranged, Kafkaesque take on insurgence against institutional oppression, illustrated most strikingly – and contentiously – in its casting of only little people, whose characters exist in a world cruelly indifferent to their diminutive stature. The fever-dream cousin to Tod Browning’s Freaks. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 – 8:30 PM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 – 6:30 PM

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“A masterpiece . . . We have never seen such a film before and will probably never see one again.” – Catherine Breillat

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

“Perfect in its absolute unity of content and form . . . The most precious of all cinematic jewels.” – Michael Haneke

Italy/France 1975. Dir: Pier Paolo Pasolini. 117 min. 35mm

Hailed by Jean-Luc Godard as “the world in an hour and a half,” Robert Bresson’s profound Passion parable is one of cinema’s most resolutelyconceived, heartrending works of high art, on top of being perhaps the high-water mark in the French auteur’s near-flawless oeuvre. It centres on the life of an exploited, saintly donkey, Balthazar, who, as he’s coldly passed from owner to owner, bears witness to the full range of human failings, cruelties, and vices – but also capacities for love. In a parallel and intersecting tale, a young farm girl (Anne Wiazemsky, Godard’s future star and wife, in her debut) is seduced and abused by the leader of a motorcycle gang. Together with its follow-up/companion film Mouchette (also screening), Balthazar finds Bresson at his most “transcendental,” the austerity of his aesthetic wedded perfectly to the edifying nature of the film’s stark, often severe abasements. An emotional and essential watch.

(Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma)

Pier Paolo Pasolini’s infamous, widely-banned final film, premiered just weeks after the director’s heinous murder, is one of the (if not the) most assaulting, scandalous, and essential works of political film art ever made. Transposing Marquis de Sade’s 18th-century novel to the Republic of Salò, Italy, in 1944 – a final vestige of fascism after Mussolini’s fall – Salò centres on four upper-class libertines (a duke, a banker, a judge, and a monsignor) who subject a group of teenage captives to systematic sexual and psychological torture over 120 grisly, graphically-illustrated days. Disturbingly subservient and devoid of characterization, the victims become mere bodies of affliction in the sadists’ theatre of degradation. A searing statement on absolute power and the indoctrination of cruelty, Pasolini’s vision of hell is also a fiery adieu to the sexual liberation of the 1960s, each carnal act onscreen an ugly, abject one. Be warned!

Presenting Partner:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 – 6:30 PM FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 – 9:00 PM

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“A brilliant and dangerous work . . . I was shocked and sickened and moved.” – Vincent Canby, New York Times

A Clockwork Orange Great Britain/USA 1971. Dir: Stanley Kubrick. 136 min. DCP

Stanley Kubrick’s ultrainfluential (and ultracontroversial) follow-up to 2001: A Space Odyssey was another masterful, future-set thought experiment that pulled no punches in its artistic resolve – much to the chagrin of finger-wagging moralists everywhere. A dystopian tomorrow tale adapted from Anthony Burgess’s notorious 1962 novel – complete with “Nadsat” street slang intact – the film adopts the viewpoint of Ludwig van-loving, sociopathic teen protagonist/narrator Alex (Malcolm McDowell, Kubrick’s only choice for the role) as he brutally robs, rapes, and murders with his gang of dopedup “droogs” in futuristic London. Double-crossed and arrested, Alex volunteers for an experimental aversiontherapy treatment to “cure” him of his sadistic impulses. Condemned by some for its perceived glorification of violence – not helped by Kubrick’s request to have the film pulled from UK distribution after a rash of copycat crimes – it still received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture (the second and final time for an X-rated film). THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 – 8:45 PM FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 – 6:30 PM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 – 4:00 PM

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Bresson × 2

BREAKING THE WAVES

Au Hasard Balthazar France 1966. Dir: Robert Bresson. 95 min. 35mm

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 – 8:05 PM

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“Achieves an intense purity of a kind that few directors essay, let alone achieve . . . The result is an extraordinarily spiritual meditation.” – Tony Rayns, Time Out

Mouchette France 1967. Dir: Robert Bresson. 78 min. DCP

A work of extraordinary purity and grace, the almost unbearably moving Mouchette was Bresson’s second adaptation of a Georges Bernanos novel – Diary of a Country Priest was the first – and stands as something of a companion piece to Au Hasard Balthazar (also screening) in its somber but ultimately transcendent account of earthly suffering. The film chronicles the final 24 hours in the life of 14-year-old Mouchette (Nadine Nortier), a lonely, loveless, and mistreated peasant girl living in Provence with her alcoholic father and dying mother. Bresson charts Mouchette’s torments with a relentlessness that some have found oppressive, even sadistic; others have praised the film for its serious, unsentimental treatments of innocence and childhood. The soundtrack makes sublime use of Monteverdi’s Magnificat; the tour-de-force denouement ranks among the most devastating in cinema history. We side with Ingmar Bergman: “Oh, Mouchette. I loved it, I loved it!” SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 – 8:25 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 – 6:30 PM


“He’s repeated the formula many times since, but here, in his breakthrough film, it was unfamiliar, and moved many a viewer to either tears or outrage, or both.” – Steve Rose, The Guardian

Breaking the Waves

Denmark 1996. Dir: Lars von Trier. 159 min. Blu-ray Disc

After a trio of pasticheheavy films that prioritized form over feeling, Lars von Trier astonished critics and audiences alike with Breaking the Waves, a deeply-affecting, morallyunsettling, vérité-styled melodrama that marked an artistic turning point for the Danish firestarter, and announced the hitherto-unknown Emily Watson to the world (culminating in a much-deserved Oscar nod). Watson is Bess, a simplehearted ingénue living in an insular, devoutly Calvinist coastal village in ’70s Scotland. When her newlywed husband Jan (von Trier mainstay Stellan Skarsgård), a Norwegian oil rigger, is left bedridden after a terrible work accident, Bess submits herself to a torturous test of love and faith at Jan’s behest. Sensitively shot hand-held by Wim Wenders lenser Robby Müller (taking cues from von Trier and countryman Thomas Vinterberg’s newly-mandated Dogme 95 manifesto), the film is the first – and in our estimation, the best – in the divisive Dane’s studies in modern martyrdom. It screens here in Criterion’s digital 4K restoration. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 – 7:00 PM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 – 7:00 PM

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“As fascinating as it is discomfiting and as intelligent as it is primal . . . France’s foremost bad girl has made an extremely good movie — and maybe even a great one.” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Fat Girl (À ma soeur!)

France/Italy 2001. Dir: Catherine Breillat. 86 min. 35mm

Arguably the chef-d’œuvre in envelope-pushing French filmmaker Catherine Breillat’s prickly, uncompromising career, Fat Girl, the provocateur's no-holds-barred look at sibling rivalry and sexual awakening, gleans gut-dropping truths from its brutal, unflinching honesty. Anaïs (brilliant newcomer Anaïs Reboux) is a pudgy, taunted, 12-year-old girl committed to unceremoniously losing her virginity to “a nobody.” Her sister Elena (brave Roxane Mesquida), a flirty, knowingly-attractive fifteen-year-old, is determined to save herself for first love. On summer vacation with their oblivious parents, the sisters meet a smooth-talking Italian law student who coerces Elena into a sordid, sexual relationship under the guise of grande amour; Anaïs is helplessly (and literally) left to witness – as are we. A Rohmerian holiday film by way of New French Extremity, Fat Girl is punctuated by one of the most shocking, disturbing, and oddly cathartic denouements in recent memory. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 – 6:30 PM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 – 9:00 PM

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“The director’s cruellest film since Eraserhead . . . A genuinely disturbing, genuinely frightening descent into Hell.” – Kim Newman, Sight & Sound

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me USA/France 1992. Dir: David Lynch. 135 min. 35mm

David Lynch’s much-maligned featurelength prequel to his and Mark Frost’s seminal ’90s television series can claim one of the greatest critical about-faces in recent years. Savaged by reviewers upon release – “It’s not the worst movie ever made; it just seems to be,” snarked Vincent Canby – Fire Walk with Me is now considered to be one of Lynch’s canonical films, maybe even his magnum opus! In retrospect, the hostility can be appreciated: returning to a cast of curio characters left dangling after a WTF series finale, Lynch opted to backtrack then retread what was already solved in the

show’s “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” arc, swapping outré humour and soap-opera camp with gutting brutality and adult content. A death-march depiction of the final days in the life of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee, in a tour-de-force turn), FWwM is Lynch’s brilliant, sobering reminder that, beneath its amusingly off-kilter veneer, Twin Peaks was a show about a teenage daughter’s incestuous rape and murder. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 – 8:15 PM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 – 4:00 PM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 – 6:30 PM

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Haneke × 2 “This is not an easy watch, but its harshness definitely has a purpose.” – Mark Kermode

Benny’s Video

Austria 1992. Dir: Michael Haneke. 105 min. 35mm

Feather-ruffling Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke’s second feature, the centrepiece of his so-called “Glaciation Trilogy,” is a characteristically icy and unsettling account of child murder and cover-up set against the backdrop of today’s violence-saturated media culture. Benny (creepy thennewcomer Arno Frisch) is the privileged, pampered, teenage son of a wealthy Viennese couple. Obsessed with all forms of screen violence, especially his self-shot footage of a pig’s slaughter taken while on rural vacation, Benny invites a random girl home and films himself killing her – an excruciatingly protracted act, slyly mediated by a video monitor, that ranks as “one of the most harrowing scenes ever” (Amos Vogel, Film Comment). His parents, in-the-know, then consider their options. A disquieting treatise on ethical absence in the face of realitydissociating technologies, Benny’s Video was Haneke’s first international attention-grabber and the thematic precursor to his radical, self-reflexive, twice-made Funny Games (the original 1997 version screens in this series). SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 - 6:30PM

With special introduction by Lisa Coulthard SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 - 8:35PM

Lisa Coulthard is Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of British Columbia. She has published widely on the works of Michael Haneke, as well as on contemporary American and European cinemas. She currently holds a SSHRC Insight Grant for the study of sound and violence in film, and is completing a manuscript titled “The Super Sounds of Quentin Tarantino.”

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“Brilliant, radical, provocative, it’s a masterpiece that is at times barely watchable.” – Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Funny Games

Austria 1997. Dir: Michael Haneke. 108 min. 35mm

A thematic sequel-of-sorts to his punishing Benny’s Video (also screening), polarizing auteur Haneke's Funny Games is a decidedly unfunny, unrelenting critique of screen violence and consumer complicity that, problematically or otherwise, renders its own audience culpable for the atrocities enacted onscreen. While on summer vacation at their lake house, an upper-middleclass family – husband, wife, and son – meet a pair of polite young strangers who, for reasons left intentionally ambiguous, proceed to subject them to a series of perverse, humiliating "funny games," which escalate into torture. In Haneke’s most audacious formal conceit, one of the sociopaths (Arno Frisch, possibly reprising his role as Benny from Benny’s Video) ruptures the film’s realism with fourth-wall-breaking direct address, unnervingly implicating the viewer in the horror. Easily one of the most controversial and vehemently-debated films of the ’90s, it received a shot-for-shot Hollywood remake in 2007, helmed by Haneke again, with hopes of reaching a mass American audience. It missed the mark. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 – 8:45 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 – 6:30 PM

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NEW DOCUMENTARY

“Startling and chilling . . . It touches a nerve substantially deeper than the ‘I’m sure glad I don’t live there’ one.” – Glenn Kenny, New York Times “A fascinating study in state propaganda and the darker truth that hovers just outside the frame.” – Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter “The insanity speaks for itself . . . An enticing observational puzzle.” – Eric Kohn, IndieWire

Under the Sun

Russia 2015. Dir: Vitaly Mansky. 90 min. DCP

The subject of some controversy after being pulled from MoMA’s Doc Fortnight Festival for fear of retaliatory action if screened, Vitaly Mansky’s cunning, clinical exposé on life behind North Korea’s Iron Curtain is, from a Westerner’s perspective, akin to a trip to Mars. Made (initially at least) with the cooperation of the North Korean government – who supplied the veteran documentarian with a script, pre-selected shooting locations, and 24/7 supervision – Under the Sun was ingenuously (yet ingeniously) conceived as a profile of an average Pyongyang family whose eight-yearold daughter is being inducted into the state’s Korean Children’s Union. The resulting film, on the other hand, is a razor-sharp, self-reflexive undressing of DPRK’s mechanisms of propaganda, exposing the process by which the state controls its image – and images. Flubbed lines, fake jobs, strained smiles, real tears: it’s a sleight-of-hand document of its own making, and a chilling window into the indoctrination of youth in a totalitarian dictatorship, no frills necessary. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 – 6:30 PM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 - 4:30 PM & 8:30 PM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 - 8:30 PM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 6:30 PM MONDAY, OCTOBER 24 - 8:30 PM

“A uniquely insightful memoir-cum-critical-treatise on the nature and ethics of [Johnson’s] craft.” – Nick Schager, Variety “A transcendent documentary experience . . . Johnson has undeniably created something new.” – Eric Kohn, IndieWire “A masterclass in documentary filmmaking.” – Dorothy Woodend, DOXA Documentary Film Festival

Cameraperson

USA 2016. Dir: Kirsten Johnson. 100 min. DCP

Culled from director Kirsten Johnson’s 25-year career as a documentary cinematographer, this utterly remarkable, utterly unconventional visual memoir serves as both an illuminating treatise on being “witness” and a slowly-unfurling, affecting portrait of a mother and daughter. Comprised (almost) entirely of Johnson’s cutting-floor footage for docs helmed by, among others, Laura Poitras (Citizenfour), Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11), and Kirby Dick (The Invisible War), Cameraperson masterfully repurposes these discarded, disparate moments into something uniquely personal and cohesive; sans narration, its piecemealed scenes – a defeated boxer in a Brooklyn locker room, a Muslim family returned home after the Bosnian genocide, a Nigerian midwife forcing breath from a limp newborn – ask us to consider the ethical, emotional, practical, and aesthetic decisions made by the eyes behind the images. The inclusion of Johnson’s Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother, clearly a beacon of love for the filmmaker, colours the work with profound intimacy and warmth. A deserved winner of the Feature Documentary Award at this year’s DOXA. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 – 8:15 PM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 – 6:30 PM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 – 4:30 PM & 8:15 PM MONDAY, OCTOBER 24 – 6:30 PM

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UNDER THE SUN

“Charming . . . An intelligent, affectionate documentary . . . Notfilm testifies to an almost inexhaustible fascination with the pleasures and paradoxes of cinema.” – A. O. Scott, New York Times “A revelatory documentary . . . This is a gift for film-lovers, even if you are not a Film-lover.” – Tim Grierson, Paste “Completely fascinating . . . A thoughtful, incisive meditation on its decades-old events, Notfilm is gossipy and philosophical by turn.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Vancouver Premiere!

Notfilm

USA 2015. Dir: Ross Lipman. 128 min. DCP

In 1964, an all-star assembly of talent – dramatist Samuel Beckett, silent-era comedy genius Buster Keaton, famed cinematographer Boris Kaufman, and prominent stage director Alan Schneider – came together in New York to collaborate on a short film entitled Film. Beckett’s “interesting failure” – the Nobel winner’s only venture into cinema – is the absorbing subject of film preservationist Ross Lipman’s “kino-essay” (the nod to Dziga Vertov, Kaufman’s brother, is deliberate). This ambitious documentary recounts the making of Film, its historical and cultural context, and its philosophical and conceptual underpinnings, with an expansive purview that encompasses the birth of cinema, the nature of consciousness, and Beckett’s larger career. Including interviews, rare archival footage, and never-before-heard audio recordings, Notfilm – so titled because it was shot digitally and not on film – also has conceptual and ontological ideas of it own, which link it in deeper ways to Beckett’s concerns in Film. preceded by

New Restoration!

Film

(aka Samuel Beckett’s Film) USA 1965. Dir: Alan Schneider. 22 min. DCP

Samuel Beckett’s sole foray into film was made with legendary silent comedian (and absurdist fellow-traveller) Buster Keaton and directed, under Beckett’s supervision, by Alan Schneider (who had directed the first American stage production of Waiting for Godot). Keaton is O, a man attempting to evade all extraneous perception of his existence, but unable to escape the inevitability of self-perception. Film was intended as an exploration of 18th-century Irish philosopher George Berkeley’s dictum that esse est percipi – to be is to be perceived. “Dark, witty and fascinating . . . Intriguing [for] the wholly appropriate casting of Keaton who, in the classic comedies of the ’20s, envisaged a universe notable for its cruel, arbitrary absurdity” (Time Out). There will be a 10-minute intermission between Film and Notfilm THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 – 7:00 PM TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1 – 7:00 PM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 – 7:00 PM

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HOW TO BUY TICKETS

The Cinematheque is recognized as an exempt non–profit film society under the B.C. Motion Picture Act, and as such is able to screen films that have not been reviewed by the B.C. Film Classification Office. Under the act, all persons attending cinematheque screenings must be members of the Pacific Cinémathèque Pacifique Society and be 18 years of age or older, unless otherwise indicated.

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Decalogue One + Two – 3:00 pm

Decalogue Five + Six – 2:00 pm

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Decalogue Five + Six – 7:30 pm

The Decalogue

The Decalogue

Decalogue Seven + Eight – 6:30 pm

Decalogue One + Two – 6:30 pm

Decalogue Nine + Ten – 8:40 pm

Decalogue Three + Four – 8:40 pm

Decalogue Sidebar

Decalogue Seven + Eight – 4:15 pm A Cinema of Cruelty

The Decalogue

A.I. Artificial Intelligence – 1:00 pm

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Decalogue Sidebar

Decalogue Three + Four – 5:15 pm

A Short Film About Love – 4:30 pm

Sci-Fi Cinema Sunday

7

Decalogue Sidebar

A Short Film About Killing – 4:30 pm

12

The Decalogue

6

13

19

A Cinema of Cruelty

Breaking the Waves – 7:00 pm

14

Decalogue Sidebar

A Short Film About Love – 4:30 pm

A Short Film About Killing – 4:30 pm

The Decalogue

Decalogue Five + Six – 6:30 pm

Opening Night

15

3

9

Doors – 6:00 pm Un Chien Andalou + Psycho with Introduction – 7:00 pm

Even Dwarfs Started Small – 8:30 pm

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom – 6:30 pm

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25

A Cinema of Cruelty

Funny Games – 6:30 pm

26

Benny’s Video – 8:35 pm

A Clockwork Orange – 4:00 pm Au Hasard Balthazar – 6:30 pm Mouchette – 8:25 pm

Decalogue Seven + Eight – 8:40 pm

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GUEST

Frames of Mind

22

A Cinema of Cruelty

Breaking the Waves – 7:00 pm

Hollywood Beauty Salon – 7:30 pm

23

A Cinema of Cruelty

Fat Girl – 6:30 pm

24

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – 8:15 pm

GUEST

A Cinema of Cruelty

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – 4:00 pm Benny’s Video / Special Introduction - 6:30 pm Funny Games – 8:45 pm

Au Hasard Balthazar – 8:05 pm

REQUIRED FOR THOSE 18+

A Cinema of Cruelty

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom – 9:00 pm

Mouchette – 6:30 pm

$3 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP

Even Dwarfs Started Small – 6:30 pm

17

A Clockwork Orange – 6:30 pm

A Cinema of Cruelty

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED

A Cinema of Cruelty

Un Chien Andalou + Psycho – 8:25 pm

A Cinema of Cruelty

A Clockwork Orange – 8:45 pm

Decalogue Three + Four – 6:30 pm

10

A Cinema of Cruelty

The Passion of Joan of Arc – 6:30 pm

A Cinema of Cruelty

Decalogue Nine + Ten – 8:40 pm

SAT

SEPTEMBER

A Cinema of Cruelty

The Decalogue

Un Chien Andalou + Psycho – 6:30 pm Decalogue Nine + Ten – 6:30 pm The Passion of Joan of Arc – 8:50 pm Decalogue One + Two – 8:40 pm

ALL SCREENINGS ARE RESTRICTED TO 18+

theCinematheque.ca

The Decalogue

FRI

2

Vancouver Latin American Film Festival August 26 – September 4 vlaff.org

TICKETS

Day–of tickets go on sale at the Box Office 30 minutes before the first show of the evening. Advance tickets are available for credit card purchase at theCinematheque.ca ($1 service charge applies). Events, times, and prices are subject to change without notice.

THURS

A Cinema of Cruelty

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – 6:30 pm

27

Fat Girl – 9:00 pm

FREE

GUEST

ART21

Art in the TwentyFirst Century –

28

DIM Cinema

All That is Solid – 7:30 pm

29

30

1

Vancouver – 7:00 pm

IN THIS ISSUE A CINEMA OF CRUELTY 2–5 NEW DOCUMENTARY 6–7

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4

9

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7

8

13

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Vancouver International Film Festival September 29 – October 14 viff.org

HALLOWEEN VAMPIRES 8–9 THE DECALOGUE 12–13 DECALOGUE SIDEBAR 14 ESSENTIAL CINEMA 14 3D - ADVENTURES IN STEREO 15

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DIM CINEMA 16 FRAMES OF MIND 17 CINEMA SUNDAY 18 ART21 19

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GUEST

Sci-Fi Cinema Sunday

Frankenstein – 1:00 pm

17

Essential Cinema

Essential Cinema

The Mother and the Whore – 7:00 pm

19

18

GUEST

Frames of Mind

The Farewell Party – 7:30 pm

20

OCTOBER New Documentary

Under the Sun – 6:30 pm

21

Cameraperson – 8:15 pm

Rated G Rated PG Rated 14A

New Documentary

Under the Sun - 4:30 pm

HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY SALON

New Documentary

Cameraperson – 6:30 pm

Under the Sun - 8:30 pm

24

New Documentary

Cameraperson – 4:30 pm

Cameraperson – 6:30 pm

Under the Sun - 6:30 pm

Under the Sun - 8:30 pm

25

26

27

DIM Cinema

Experiments in Education – 7:30 pm

Cameraperson – 8:15 pm

New Documentary

Film + Notfilm – 7:00 pm

28

29

GUEST

3D with S3D Centre

Reception - 6:30 pm Adventures in Stereo: 3D Shorts and Feature - 7:30 pm

Rated 18A BACKGROUND IMAGE:

The Mother and the Whore – 7:00 pm

Under the Sun - 8:30 pm

Cameraperson – 6:30 pm

The Mother and the Whore – 7:00 pm

23

22

New Documentary

Essential Cinema

Bite Nite

Doors – 5:30 pm The Fearless Vampire Killers – 6:15 pm The Hunger – 8:20 pm Near Dark – 10:15 pm

30

Halloween Vampires

31

Halloween Vampires

Near Dark – 6:30 pm

The Hunger – 5:00 pm

The Hunger – 8:20 pm

Near Dark – 7:00 pm The Fearless Vampire Killers – 8:50 pm

1

New Documentary

Film + Notfilm – 7:00 pm

2

New Documentary

Film + Notfilm – 7:00 pm

NOVEMBER “a must-see exhibition” of unconventional collections.

Vancouver’s story begins here.

-Vancouver Magazine 1100 Chestnut St. @ Vanier Park


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MON

TUES

WED

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HOW TO BUY TICKETS

The Cinematheque is recognized as an exempt non–profit film society under the B.C. Motion Picture Act, and as such is able to screen films that have not been reviewed by the B.C. Film Classification Office. Under the act, all persons attending cinematheque screenings must be members of the Pacific Cinémathèque Pacifique Society and be 18 years of age or older, unless otherwise indicated.

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Decalogue One + Two – 3:00 pm

Decalogue Five + Six – 2:00 pm

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Decalogue Five + Six – 7:30 pm

The Decalogue

The Decalogue

Decalogue Seven + Eight – 6:30 pm

Decalogue One + Two – 6:30 pm

Decalogue Nine + Ten – 8:40 pm

Decalogue Three + Four – 8:40 pm

Decalogue Sidebar

Decalogue Seven + Eight – 4:15 pm A Cinema of Cruelty

The Decalogue

A.I. Artificial Intelligence – 1:00 pm

8

Decalogue Sidebar

Decalogue Three + Four – 5:15 pm

A Short Film About Love – 4:30 pm

Sci-Fi Cinema Sunday

7

Decalogue Sidebar

A Short Film About Killing – 4:30 pm

12

The Decalogue

6

13

19

A Cinema of Cruelty

Breaking the Waves – 7:00 pm

14

Decalogue Sidebar

A Short Film About Love – 4:30 pm

A Short Film About Killing – 4:30 pm

The Decalogue

Decalogue Five + Six – 6:30 pm

Opening Night

15

3

9

Doors – 6:00 pm Un Chien Andalou + Psycho with Introduction – 7:00 pm

Even Dwarfs Started Small – 8:30 pm

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom – 6:30 pm

16

25

A Cinema of Cruelty

Funny Games – 6:30 pm

26

Benny’s Video – 8:35 pm

A Clockwork Orange – 4:00 pm Au Hasard Balthazar – 6:30 pm Mouchette – 8:25 pm

Decalogue Seven + Eight – 8:40 pm

21

20

GUEST

Frames of Mind

22

A Cinema of Cruelty

Breaking the Waves – 7:00 pm

Hollywood Beauty Salon – 7:30 pm

23

A Cinema of Cruelty

Fat Girl – 6:30 pm

24

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – 8:15 pm

GUEST

A Cinema of Cruelty

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – 4:00 pm Benny’s Video / Special Introduction - 6:30 pm Funny Games – 8:45 pm

Au Hasard Balthazar – 8:05 pm

REQUIRED FOR THOSE 18+

A Cinema of Cruelty

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom – 9:00 pm

Mouchette – 6:30 pm

$3 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP

Even Dwarfs Started Small – 6:30 pm

17

A Clockwork Orange – 6:30 pm

A Cinema of Cruelty

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED

A Cinema of Cruelty

Un Chien Andalou + Psycho – 8:25 pm

A Cinema of Cruelty

A Clockwork Orange – 8:45 pm

Decalogue Three + Four – 6:30 pm

10

A Cinema of Cruelty

The Passion of Joan of Arc – 6:30 pm

A Cinema of Cruelty

Decalogue Nine + Ten – 8:40 pm

SAT

SEPTEMBER

A Cinema of Cruelty

The Decalogue

Un Chien Andalou + Psycho – 6:30 pm Decalogue Nine + Ten – 6:30 pm The Passion of Joan of Arc – 8:50 pm Decalogue One + Two – 8:40 pm

ALL SCREENINGS ARE RESTRICTED TO 18+

theCinematheque.ca

The Decalogue

FRI

2

Vancouver Latin American Film Festival August 26 – September 4 vlaff.org

TICKETS

Day–of tickets go on sale at the Box Office 30 minutes before the first show of the evening. Advance tickets are available for credit card purchase at theCinematheque.ca ($1 service charge applies). Events, times, and prices are subject to change without notice.

THURS

A Cinema of Cruelty

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – 6:30 pm

27

Fat Girl – 9:00 pm

FREE

GUEST

ART21

Art in the TwentyFirst Century –

28

DIM Cinema

All That is Solid – 7:30 pm

29

30

1

Vancouver – 7:00 pm

IN THIS ISSUE A CINEMA OF CRUELTY 2–5 NEW DOCUMENTARY 6–7

2

3

4

9

10

11

5

6

7

8

13

14

15

Vancouver International Film Festival September 29 – October 14 viff.org

HALLOWEEN VAMPIRES 8–9 THE DECALOGUE 12–13 DECALOGUE SIDEBAR 14 ESSENTIAL CINEMA 14 3D - ADVENTURES IN STEREO 15

12

DIM CINEMA 16 FRAMES OF MIND 17 CINEMA SUNDAY 18 ART21 19

16

GUEST

Sci-Fi Cinema Sunday

Frankenstein – 1:00 pm

17

Essential Cinema

Essential Cinema

The Mother and the Whore – 7:00 pm

19

18

GUEST

Frames of Mind

The Farewell Party – 7:30 pm

20

OCTOBER New Documentary

Under the Sun – 6:30 pm

21

Cameraperson – 8:15 pm

Rated G Rated PG Rated 14A

New Documentary

Under the Sun - 4:30 pm

HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY SALON

New Documentary

Cameraperson – 6:30 pm

Under the Sun - 8:30 pm

24

New Documentary

Cameraperson – 4:30 pm

Cameraperson – 6:30 pm

Under the Sun - 6:30 pm

Under the Sun - 8:30 pm

25

26

27

DIM Cinema

Experiments in Education – 7:30 pm

Cameraperson – 8:15 pm

New Documentary

Film + Notfilm – 7:00 pm

28

29

GUEST

3D with S3D Centre

Reception - 6:30 pm Adventures in Stereo: 3D Shorts and Feature - 7:30 pm

Rated 18A BACKGROUND IMAGE:

The Mother and the Whore – 7:00 pm

Under the Sun - 8:30 pm

Cameraperson – 6:30 pm

The Mother and the Whore – 7:00 pm

23

22

New Documentary

Essential Cinema

Bite Nite

Doors – 5:30 pm The Fearless Vampire Killers – 6:15 pm The Hunger – 8:20 pm Near Dark – 10:15 pm

30

Halloween Vampires

31

Halloween Vampires

Near Dark – 6:30 pm

The Hunger – 5:00 pm

The Hunger – 8:20 pm

Near Dark – 7:00 pm The Fearless Vampire Killers – 8:50 pm

1

New Documentary

Film + Notfilm – 7:00 pm

2

New Documentary

Film + Notfilm – 7:00 pm

NOVEMBER “a must-see exhibition” of unconventional collections.

Vancouver’s story begins here.

-Vancouver Magazine 1100 Chestnut St. @ Vanier Park


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14

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4

41 TEN FILMS, TEN COMMANDMENTS, ONE TOWERING MASTERPIECE

THE DECALOGUE

New Restoration!

THE DECALOGUE (Dekalog)

Poland 1988. Dir: Krzysztof Kieślowski. 10 one-hour episodes. DCP

The Cinematheque is pleased to present a beautiful new restoration of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s The Decalogue, one of the monumental achievements of European cinema and one of the first truly great works of long-form television. Active in his native Poland since the late 1960s, Kieślowski rocketed to worldwide acclaim in the early 1990s with a quartet of strangely metaphysical films that became major art-house hits: The Double Life of Véronique (1991), and the “Tricolour Trilogy” of Blue (1993), White (1993), and Red (1994). It was The Decalogue, however, that first secured Kieślowski’s status as a film artist of international importance; and, in his moral and spiritual concerns, his exploration of the mysterious forces that shape our lives, as a true successor to the mantle of Robert Bresson, Ingmar Bergman, and Andrei Tarkovsky. Co-written by Kieślowski and his regular collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz, produced for Polish TV in 1988, and screened to awe and astonishment at the Venice Film Festival in 1989, The Decalogue is made up of ten discrete, hour-long episodes, each based on one of the Ten Commandments, and each centring on fallible characters caught up in a difficult moral or ethical dilemma. Each was shot by a different cinematographer and features a largely different cast; all are situated around the same Warsaw housing complex. Each part is entirely self-contained and can be appreciated on its own; all share subtle cross-references and resonances, which gives the work as a whole a tremendous cumulative power. Two of the parts were expanded into theatricallyreleased features, A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love, both of which will also be screened. Kieślowski died in 1996, at the age of 54. At the time, many considered him to be to be the most significant European filmmaker of the last quarter of the 20th century. If any single one of Kieślowski’s achievements can best sustain such weighty claims, it is The Decalogue.

“These films have the very real ability to dramatize their ideas rather than just talking about them . . . They do this with such dazzling skill, you never see the ideas coming and don’t realize until much later how profoundly they have reached your heart.” – Stanley Kubrick Program Note Episodes of The Decalogue have been paired together (1+2, 3+4, 5+6, and so on) into single programs of approximately two hours’ duration, for which our regular single bill (two episodes) and double bill (four episodes) pricing structure applies. Special triple-bill pricing available on dates with three screenings in series (including Decalogue Sidebar): September 5, 6, 7, 12 & 13. Single bill (two episodes): $11 / $9 Students + Seniors Double bill (four episodes): $16 / $14 Students + Seniors Triple bill (six episodes, or four episodes + A Short Film About…): $22 / $20 Students + Seniors Annual $3 membership required.

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“For true film buffs, this is the cinema event of the year.” – Variety “Magnificent . . . It may be the best dramatic work ever done specifically for television.” – Robert Fulford, National Post “One of the twentieth century’s greatest achievements in visual storytelling.” – The Criterion Collection “A masterwork of modern cinema, essential viewing for anyone who cares about the movies as a serious art form.” – Stephen Holden, New York Times

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Decalogue One – Thou shalt have no other God but Me. The computer-obsessed father of a computerobsessed son finds the limits of his rationality tested by random fate and tragedy. 53 min. + Decalogue Two – Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain. The elderly doctor of a cancer patient is asked to play God by the patient’s wife, who is pregnant with another man’s baby. 57 min. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 – 3:00 PM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 – 6:30 PM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 – 8:40 PM

Decalogue Three – Thou shalt honour the Sabbath Day. On Christmas Eve, a taxi-driver is lured away from his family by an ex-mistress who insists that he help her search for her missing husband. 56 min. + Decalogue Four – Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother. Anka, a drama student, is very close to her architect father; her mother died in childbirth. One day, while her father is away on business, she discovers an old envelope marked, “To be opened in the event of my death.” 55 min. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 – 5:15 PM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 – 8:40 PM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 – 6:30 PM

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Decalogue Five – Thou shalt not kill. After brutally murdering a taxi driver, an aimless youth faces the death penalty, while his idealistic young lawyer struggles to find a defence for the crime. Also released in a feature-length version as A Short Film About Killing (which screens September 6 & 7). 57 min. + Decalogue Six – Thou shalt not commit adultery. A virginal 19-year-old gets more than he bargained for when he begins spying by telescope on an attractive thirtysomething woman who lives in the apartment opposite. Also released in a feature-length version with an entirely different ending, A Short Film About Love (which screens September 12 & 13). 58 min. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 – 7:30 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 – 2:00 PM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 – 6:30 PM

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Decalogue Seven – Thou shalt not steal. A young woman, determined to face up to her responsibilities and to stop living a lie, abducts the “younger sister” who is actually her daughter. 55 min. + Decalogue Eight – Thou shalt not bear false witness. Surprising revelations emerge when an elderly Warsaw ethics professor and a visiting American researcher discuss the case of a Polish Catholic couple who apparently refused to shelter an imperilled Jewish child during the Nazi Occupation. 55 min. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 – 4:15 PM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 – 8:40 PM

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Decalogue Nine – Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife. A successful surgeon, learning that he is permanently impotent, assumes his wife will want to take a lover. 58 min. + Decalogue Ten – Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods. Two brothers, one a punk singer, the other older and married, inherit their estranged father’s extremely valuable stamp collection. 57 min. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 – 8:40 PM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 – 6:30 PM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 – 8:40 PM

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DECALOGUE SIDEBAR

A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING AND A SHORT FILM ABOUT LOVE Among the finest works of the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski are two extraordinary features that were expanded versions of episodes from his 10-part magnum opus The Decalogue: A Short Film About Killing (from Decalogue Five – “Thou Shalt Not Kill”) and A Short Film About Love (from Decalogue Six – “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”).

New Restoration!

A Short Film About Killing (Krótki film o zabijaniu)

Poland 1988. Dir: Krzysztof Kieślowski. 84 min. DCP

One of the great (and most fearless) films of the 1980s, Kieślowski’s morally-troubling masterpiece was a sensation at Cannes and helped bring about a moratorium on the death penalty in Poland. After he murders a cab driver (Jan Tesarz) in a senseless act of violence, an aimless youth (Miroslaw Baka) faces execution by the state, while his idealistic young lawyer (Krzysztof Globisz), fresh out of law school, struggles to finds any defence for the brutal crime. The movie is a feature-length expansion of an episode from Kieślowski’s Decalogue (Decalogue Five – “Thou Shalt Not Kill”). “A shattering film . . . Shot by Sławomir Idziak through a range of filters that give Warsaw the look of a city of pestilence” (Tony Rayns). “An intense, original work whose moral force is rivaled only by its technical bravura . . . If Hitchcock had filmed Dostoevsky, this would be the result” (Deborah Young, Variety). TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 – 4:30 PM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 – 4:30 PM

New Restoration!

A Short Film About Love (Krótki film o miłości)

Poland 1988. Dir: Krzysztof Kieślowski. 86 min. DCP

Kieślowski’s splendid film “remains one of most moving statements on love in decades” (Richard Armstrong, The Rough Guide to Film). Tomek (Olaf Lubaszenko), a virginal 19-year-old in Warsaw, spies by telescope on neighbour Magda (Grażyna Szapołowska), an attractive, sexually-active woman in her thirties. A growing infatuation leads to bolder behaviour by the inexperienced youth, who’s in over his head when jaded, formidable Magda starts returning his attentions. Kieślowski’s darkly ironic yet deeply romantic tale of intimacy, obsession, and voyeurism recalls Hitchcock’s Rear Window, and features superb performances from the two leads. The film expands an hour-long episode from the director’s Decalogue (Decalogue Six – “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”) and also adds an entirely different ending, resulting in a substantially altered work. “An absolutely masterly movie . . . As an account of love in the late 20th century, it’s in a league of its own” (Tony Rayns, Time Out). MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 – 4:30 PM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 – 4:30 PM

ESSENTIAL CINEMA “A film that deserves to be in perpetual repertory . . . It is more shocking than Last Tango, or nearly any other ‘sexy’ film you can think of.” – David Thomson “An emotionally shattering, historically earthshaking film . . . A range of intimate disasters that have the feel and tone of epic clashes.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

The Mother and the Whore (La maman et la putain)

France 1973. Dir: Jean Eustache. 219 min. 35mm

Voted the second greatest French film of all time (after Renoir’s The Rules of the Game) in a poll conducted by Time Out Paris, Jean Eustache’s monumental masterpiece – both the apotheosis and the end of the French New Wave – was a succès de scandale for its devastating dissection of sexual mores and social disenchantment in post-1968 Paris. Few films have caught the tempo of their times with more ferocious brilliance! New Wave icon Jean-Pierre Léaud is Alexandre, a narcissistic young man involved in a wrenching ménage à trois with live-in girlfriend Marie (Bernadette Lafont) and sexually-liberated nurse Veronika (Françoise Lebrun). Shot in the cramped flats and crowded bistros of the Left Bank, this remarkable three-and-a-half-hour film has a lively, improvisational feel that belies Eustache’s tightly scripted, highly disciplined shooting methods. Conversational and confrontational, erotic and obsessive, with utterly naked performances, it probes the social, psychological, and sexual dynamics of its characters with a depth rare in the cinema. Print courtesy Institut Français/Cultural Services of the French Embassy. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 – 7:00 PM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 – 7:00 PM MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 – 7:00 PM

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BoooM

An evening of 3D presented by S3D Centre at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and The Cinematheque

Adventurous stereoscopic 3D cinema from artists in B.C. and Alberta is showcased in this special program of four short films and one feature, co-presented by the S3D Centre at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and The Cinematheque.

BoooM ● Peruvian-Ecuadorian director Benavente Fortes’s Vancouver-made psychedelic film combines high frame rate (HFR) stereoscopic 3D with 2D animation to represent the internal struggle of a South American mestizo seeking to make sense of his conflicting cultural mix. Canada-Peru-Ecuador 2016/Alonso Benavente Fortes. 3 min. The Depths ● Canada’s first underwater 3D film, made by Edmonton-born, Vancouver-based filmmaker Dowler-Coltman, enacts a pas de deux of connection and separation as two dancers/free divers interact while suspended in a body of water. Canada 2013/Jordan Dowler-Coltman. 7 min. The Promise ● In Vancouver writer-director Karman’s stereoscopic 3D dance film, two men travel together, share a romantic connection, and make sacrifices in order to achieve personal fulfillment. Canada 2016/Jason Karman. 5 min. Transference ● An experimental stereoscopic 3D narrative short from Vancouver artist and filmmaker Arden explores themes of loss, memory, and personal reconciliation as a young woman drags a heavy curtain through natural and urban landscapes of Canada’s west coast. Canada 2016/Sean Arden. 7 min. Screening format: DCP

40 Below and Falling Canada 2015. Dir: Dylan Pearce. 93 min. DCP

Shot in native 4K 3D in wintery northern Alberta, Edmonton-based filmmaker Dylan Pearce’s mix of romantic comedy and snowy adventure won the 3D Feature Jury Award at the 3D Creative Arts Awards in Los Angeles and also received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for its direction. Stranded by a blizzard on the way to her wedding and the start of a new life, a smalltown schoolteacher (Firefly’s Jewel Staite) hitches a ride on the back of a snowmobile driven by a surly stranger (Shawn Roberts), and begins to question her decision to get married. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28

6:30 pm - Reception 7:30 pm - Screening Guests in attendance. Q&A after screening. Tickets for the evening: $11 Adults / $9 Students + Seniors Annual $3 membership required

BoooM

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ALL THAT IS SOLID

Moving-image art in dialogue with cinema www.dimcinema.ca

DIM Cinema and SFU Gallery present two programs of short films that consider architecture as geological formation and experimental laboratory. Programmed by Melanie O’Brian and Michèle Smith

All That is Solid

Reimagining the birth of the city of Brasília as an epic tale of exploration, prophecy, and myth, Ana Vaz’s A Idade da Pedra (The Age of Stone) leads us into the central plateau of Brazil to witness the raising of a monumental structure from its geological foundations. In her latest film, Quarry, Amie Siegel traces the production of value, from the extraction of raw marble in the cavernous chambers of the world’s largest underground quarry, to its deployment as a sign of exclusivity in luxury-apartment showrooms. All That is Solid, by Canadian filmmaker Eva Kolzce, explores the utopian visions that inspired the Brutalist movement, and the material and aesthetic connections between concrete and celluloid. Featuring iconic examples of institutional architecture in and around Toronto (including the University of Scarborough campus, where David Cronenberg shot Stereo), the film serves as a bridge to next month’s DIM program. A Idade da Pedra (The Age of Stone) | Ana Vaz/France-Brazil 2013. 29 min. HD Video Quarry | Amie Siegel/Germany-USA 2015. 34 min. HD Video All That is Solid | Eva Kolzce/Canada 2014. 16 min. 16mm transfer WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 – 7:30 PM

Experiments in Education

Introductory remarks by Aoife MacNamara, Dean of the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology at SFU. Beginning as a campus tour and ending with a reenactment of Michael Asher’s influential “PostStudio” class, Redmond Entwhistle’s Walk-Through explores the site, design, and philosophy of the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles as a starting point for wider questions about pedagogical models and their relationship to emergent forms of social, political, and economic exchange since the 1970s. Raphael Bendahan’s Rochdale College, shot inside an 18-storey tower in downtown Toronto, is a contemporary document of a failed experiment in free education and communal living. The University of Scarborough’s Brutalist campus doubles as the “Canadian Academy of Erotic Inquiry” in David Cronenberg’s slim first feature, Stereo. Filmed without synchronized sound, it follows seven volunteers in a parapsychology experiment whose telepathic abilities allow them to slip out of the control of their overseers. Walk-Through | Redmond Entwhistle/Great Britain 2012. 18 min. DCP Rochdale College | Raphael Bendahan/Canada 1970. 21 min. 16mm Stereo | David Cronenberg/Canada 1969. 65 min. 35mm WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26 – 7:30 PM These two programs are inspired by ideas raised in Erosion, a new film by German artist Andreas Bunte that was shot on SFU's Burnaby campus this past January. Commissioned in partnership with Cineworks, Bunte’s film will be shown at SFU Gallery from September 13 to November 18, 2016.

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WALK-THROUGH


HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY SALON

A Monthly Mental Health Film Series Presented by The Cinematheque and the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry

The Cinematheque is pleased to join with the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry in presenting “Frames of Mind,” a monthly event utilizing film and video to promote professional and community education on issues pertaining to mental health and illness. Screenings, accompanied by presentations and audience discussions, are held on the third Wednesday of each month. Series directed by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Director of Public Education, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia. Programmed by Caroline Coutts, film curator, filmmaker, and programmer of “Frames of Mind” since its inception in September 2002.

Vancouver Premiere!

Hollywood Beauty Salon USA 2015. Dir: Glenn Holsten. 88 min. DCP

It may have only one sink and two chairs, but the diminutive size of the Hollywood Beauty Salon, an intimate beauty parlour inside the Germantown Recovery Community in Philadelphia, belies its huge import. A gathering place for both clients and volunteers of this non-profit, community-based mental health program, the salon provides a safe, nurturing, and companionable space where women (and men) can share stories and support one another – and yes, get their hair done. The salon is operated by Rachel (“Hollywood”) Carr, an irrepressible force of nature who initially approached the Community for help with her own mental health issues; she now works there as a certified peer specialist and “guide on the side.” As Rachel and other salon clients ready themselves for the annual “Recovery Hair Show,” this heart-warming and inspiring documentary reminds us that mental health recovery and hope can be found in the most unlikely of places. Post-screening discussion with Caroline MacGillivray and Susan Severs. Ms. MacGillivray is the founder and Executive Director of Beauty Night Society, a registered charity that provides wellness programs, life-skills development, and makeovers to women and youth living in poverty. Ms. Severs is the Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association North and West Vancouver Branch, which operates the Kelty Dennehy Mental Health Resource Centre, a community-based mental health hub that provides mental health information, community resources, and support to those affected by mental health challenges. Co-sponsored by Beauty Night Society WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 – 7:30 PM

THE FAREWELL PARTY

The Farewell Party (Mita Tova)

Israel/Germany 2014. Dirs: Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon. 95 min. Blu-ray Disc

A box-office hit in Israel, this tender and humanistic film audaciously walks the finest of lines between comedy and tragedy. In a Jerusalem retirement home, 75-year-old amateur inventor Yehezkel (Ze’ev Revah) is building a machine for self-euthanasia at the request of his dear friend Max, who is suffering greatly from an incurable illness. Helping him are Max’s wife Yana and two other retirement-home residents: a former veterinarian (who supplies the drugs) and a retired police chief (who provides the intel to help them get away with this illegal task). Though Max gets his wish, word leaks out and soon the group is besieged with requests for similar help, engendering moral dilemmas that increase exponentially when one of their own faces a health crisis. “The Farewell Party not only thinks the unthinkable, it laughs at the unlaughable . . . A consistently warm and comic film about an unmistakably serious subject” (Kenneth Turan, L.A. Times). Post-screening discussion with Dr. Derryck Smith, Dr. Terry Anderson, and Dr. Michael Varelas. Dr. Smith is a Clinical Professor Emeritus with the Department of Psychiatry at UBC, a past president of the Medical Legal Society, and a board member of Dying with Dignity Canada. Dr. Anderson has been a health care ethicist for over 40 years, and is currently serving as the ethicist for VCHA Richmond. Dr. Varelas is a neurologist in Richmond, and is the chair of the Richmond Ethics Committee and co-chair of the VCHA regional ethics council. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19 – 7:30 PM

17


A.I. Artificial Intelligence

The Cinematheque’s Education Department presents

An Afternoon Film Program for Children and Their Families $6 Children & Youths (under 18) $9 Adults (Cinematheque membership not required)

Attention all ages! Beam aboard the Starship Cinematheque for a 12-month mission as we explore the outer reaches of cosmic cinema with our 2016 series, “Sci-Fi Cinema Sunday.” Each month, we present a science-fiction film that inspires wonderment beyond the infinite with tales of faraway galaxies, alien encounters, ripples in spacetime, and technological tomorrows. Films will be introduced by Vancouver film history teacher, critic, and intergalactic space pirate Michael van den Bos. In-theatre giveaways courtesy of Cinema Sunday community sponsors Videomatica Sales, Golden Age Collectables, and Kidsbooks.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence USA 2001. Dir: Steven Spielberg. 146 min. DCP

Conceived by the late, great Stanley Kubrick but realized by New Hollywood alumnus Steven Spielberg, A.I. Artificial Intelligence is a push-pull showcase for the very distinct sensibilities of the two filmmakers; against odds, it results in a fascinating, top-tier work of science-fiction cinema (nevermind the naysayers). Based on a short story by Brit author Brian Aldiss – and boasting Spielberg’s first screenplay for a self-helmed film since 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind – it features Haley Joel Osment as humanoid-child robot David, a prototype “mecha” programmed to love by a grieving population decimated by global warming. Rejected and abandoned by his conflicted mother figure, he embarks on a Pinocchio-referencing adventure in hopes of becoming a real (and thus, really loved) boy. “A misunderstood classic” (Robbie Collin, The Telegraph). Why would humans create artificial intelligence? What is the state of robot development today? Does science fiction overlap with science fact? Join us after the film for a discussion with The Cinematheque Education Department! Please note: A departure from our typically all-ages Cinema Sunday program, this film is rated 14A and is intended for a teenage audience. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 – 1:00 PM

Frankenstein

USA 1931. Dir: James Whale. 71 min. DCP

“It’s alive! IT’S ALIVE!” Sci-Fi Cinema Sunday cranks up the creepy this Halloween season with Universal’s 1931 adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic novel, without doubt the most enduring cinematic version of the oft-iterated tale. Colin Clive plays the titular mad genius seeking to play God; Boris Karloff, giving a remarkably nuanced performance underneath Jack Pierce’s now-iconic makeup, is the misunderstood, misshapen monster, assembled from various cadavers and jolted to life in truly spectacular fashion. The film made Karloff a star; British expat James Whale, here making his first horror film, directs with stylish, Expressionist flair. “The film has a weird fairytale beauty not matched until Cocteau made Beauty and the Beast . . . Karloff gives one of the great performances of all time” (Tom Milne, Time Out). After the screening, join world-class makeup effects studio Lindala Schminken Special Effects (LSFX) for a special presentation. LSFX specializes in character prosthetics, animatronics, and creatures, and has worked on such feature films as Warcraft and the upcoming Power Rangers, as well as television shows Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, and The X-Files. lsfx.com SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 – 1:00 PM

18

FRANKENSTEIN


Liz Magor at her studio in Vancouver, Canada, 2015. Production still from ART21’s series Art in the TwentyFirst Century, Season 8, 2016. © ART21, Inc. 2016.

FREE SCREENING! CANADIAN THEATRICAL PREMIERE! ART21, The Cinematheque, and The Contemporary Art Gallery present

Art in the Twenty-First Century – Vancouver “In small and tightly-knit Vancouver, artists reframe the world through a series of sophisticated illusions. By recreating historical moments, staging photos of vernacular scenes, and crafting intricate sculptures that trick the eye, artists reveal how everyday images and moments from the past are not always what they seem. Liz Magor (b.1948, Winnipeg, MB) makes uncannily realistic casts of humble objects – gloves, cardboard boxes, cigarettes – that speak to mortality and local histories. Through complex video installations, photos, theatrical productions, and virtual reality simulations, Stan Douglas (b.1960, Vancouver, BC) reenacts historical moments of tension that connect the history of Vancouver to broader social movements of struggle and utopian aspiration. Brian Jungen (b.1970, Fort St. John, BC) draws from his family’s ranching and hunting background, as well as his Dane-zaa heritage, when disassembling and recombining consumer goods into whimsical sculptures. Attentive to the accidental encounters that can inspire an image, photographer Jeff Wall (b.1946, Vancouver, BC) recreates flashes of inspiration by building sets and repeatedly photographing gestures until they coalesce into a picture that’s printed on a grand scale.” (ART21) We are delighted to present the Canadian theatrical premiere of this one-hour film, part of ART21’s new season. ART21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art, and the go-to place to learn first-hand from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, ART21’s mission is to inspire a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists. Season 8 of Art in the Twenty-First Century premieres fall 2016 on PBS with stories on artists who live and work in four North American cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Vancouver. For more information on ART21’s films and educational programs: art21.org TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 – 7:00 PM

No membership required. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 6:30pm on Tuesday, September 27. For more information, call 604.688.8202.

Jeff Wall. A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993. Transparency in lightbox; 229 x 377 cm. © Jeff Wall. Courtesy of the artist.

October 1 + 2, 2016 11am – 4pm daily Presenting Sponsor

David + Kaoru Coates, Riding the Pine Queen Reclaimed Hockey Stick Shadow Box Grad Year: 1988 + 1991

Pacific Cinemateque ad size: 7.25 x 3.5” 4 colour process

Platinum Sponsor

ecuad.ca

VANCOUVERARTBOOK FAIR.COM


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A Sound Experience

Subscribe and save up to 25% Tickets and info at chancentre.com

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue – SEP 25 Mariza – NOV 2 I Diego El Cigala – NOV 20 Dianne Reeves – FEB 22 I Noche Flamenca’s Antigona – MAR 12 I Anda Union – MAR 26 Max Raabe and Palast Orchester – APR 9 Bobby McFerrin – APR 29

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE

VOLUNTEERS

THE CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAM GUIDE

200 – 1131 Howe Street Vancouver, BC V6Z 2L7 Phone: 604.688.8202 Fax: 604.688.8204 Email: info@theCinematheque.ca Web: theCinematheque.ca

Theatre Volunteers: David Avelino, Sarah Bakke, Mark Beley, Taylor Bishop, Eileen Brosnan, Jeremy Buhler, Nadia Chiu, Andrew Clark, Rob Danielson, Steve Devereux, Bill Dovhey, Yaz Ebrahi, Moana Fertig, Kevin Frew, Lesli Froeschner, Andrew Gable, Shokei Green, Owen Griffiths, Paul Griffiths, Savannah Kemp, Tash King, Michael Kling, Ray Lai, Christina Larabie, David Latimer, Sharon Lee, Britt MacDuff, Abbey Markowitz, Liam McClure, Vit Mlcoch, Kelley Montgomery, Sean Murphy, Adrian Nickpour, Chahram Riazi, Will Ross, Sweta Shrestha, Paige Smith, Stephen Tweedale, Nathaniel Vossen

Program Notes: Jim Sinclair, additional program notes by Shaun Inouye Advertising: Shaun Inouye Proofreading: Lizzie Brotherston Design: Marc Junker

STAFF Executive + Artistic Director: Jim Sinclair Managing Director: Kate Ladyshewsky Operations + Programming Associate: Shaun Inouye Communications + Marketing: Lizzie Brotherston Education Manager: Liz Schulze Education Coordinator: Hayley Gauvin Venue Operations Manager: Linton Murphy Assistant Theatre Managers: Gabi Dao, Jessica Johnson, Aryo Khakpour, Viktor Koren Head Projectionist: Al Reid Relief Projectionists: Tim Fernandes, Ron Lacheur, Cassidy Penner, Helen Reed, Ryan Ermacora BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Jim Bindon Vice President: David Legault Treasurer: Elizabeth Collyer Secretary: Lynda Jane Members: Moshe Mastai, Wynford Owen, Tim Reeve, Eric Wyness

theCinematheque.ca

Distribution: Hazel Ackner, Horacio Bach, Kyle Bowman, Michael Demers, Gail Franko, Jeff Halladay, Alan Kollins, Martin Lohmann, Lynn Martin, Vincent Oat, Matthew Shields, Lora Tanaka, Vanessa Turner, Harry Wong Office: Jo B., Betty-Lou Phillips Education: Michael van den Bos Archive: Charlotte Cavalié

Published six times a year with a bi-monthly circulation of 10–15,000. Printed by Van Press Printers. ADVERTISING To advertise in this Program Guide or in our theatre before screenings, please email advertising@theCinematheque.ca or call 604.688.8202. SUPPORT The Cinematheque is a charitable not-forprofit arts society. We rely on financial support from public and private sources. Donations are gratefully accepted — a tax receipt will be issued for all donations of $50 or more. To make a donation or for more information, please call our administration office at 604.688.8202.

And a special thanks to all our spares! The Cinematheque gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the following agencies:

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