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6/4-7: Lourdes, Monteiro, A Prophet & More!

06/01/10  |  Posted by Cinematheque  |  Posted in Cinematheque

Was LOURDES the best film at this year's Cleveland International Film Festival? Jessica Hausner's Austrian film LOURDES was the best film we saw at this year's Cleveland Int'l Film Festival. On Friday or Saturday you can see if you agree. The amazing Sylvie Testud stars as a paraplegic with MS who makes a pilgrimage to the French Catholic shrine of the title-not because she's looking for a miracle, but because it's one of the few excursions available to people in wheelchairs. There she and her fellow pilgrims seek blessing, healing, and love. But the path to transformation is full of twists and pitfalls. Here's the film's original theatrical trailer; since it doesn't have English subtitles, it doesn't give away too much. Monteiro series opens with 1989 comedy RECOLLECTIONS OF THE YELLOW HOUSE RECOLLECTIONS OF THE YELLOW HOUSE (1989), showing Friday and Saturday, is the first of four dark, absurdist comedies written and directed by-and starring-the late, idiosyncratic Portuguese filmmaker João César Monteiro that we will show in June. The series is entitled "Perverse Poet: João César Monteiro," and you can see why in this short clip from the opening film. The gaunt, skeletal Monteiro -- playing his alter ego João de Deus (John of God) -- stars as a lonely, impoverished tenant of a seedy Lisbon boarding house who obsesses over the clarinetist daughter of his prim and proper landlady. When he finally makes his move, it's a pathetic spectacle. Monteiro is regarded by some as one of the giants of contemporary European cinema, but his work is unknown in the U.S. That changes with this current retrospective, which is coming to Cleveland (its only Midwest appearance) after playing in New York City and Cambridge, MA. Note that tickets to each Monteiro movie are $12, Cinematheque members and CIA students & staff $8, and no passes, twofers, or radio winners will be accepted. Also, no one under 18 will be admitted. New doc about grown thalidomide babies reminds us that NOBODY'S PERFECT In the 2008 German documentary NOBODY'S PERFECT, filmmaker Niko von Glasow and 11 other people born disfigured as a side effect of the drug thalidomide (which their mothers took for morning sickness before it was banned in 1961) decide to pose naked for a calendar, thus allowing those who glance surreptitiously at their stubby or missing appendages to take a good, long look. Von Glasow's search for fellow thalidomiders willing and disabled to disrobe uncovers a group of fascinating individuals who, despite their deformities, have lived rich, productive, "normal lives". Watch the trailer , read the favorable New York Times review , and then catch the movie Friday or Saturday. Print this post and present it at the box office and pay only $6 ($5 if you're a Cinematheque member). It's our Deal of the Week! (Limit two discount admissions per print-out) A PROPHET charts Arab youth's thrilling rise through France's criminal underground Acclaimed by some as the best movie at last year's Cannes Film Festival (where it won the Special Jury Prize), Jacques Audiard's epic crime drama A PROPHET went on to garner a host of int'l honors and accolades-among them an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, a BAFTA Award (Britain's Academy Award) for Best Film Not in the English Language, the National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and nine César Awards (French Oscars), including Best Film, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay. The movie charts the rise of a French Arab teenager who enters prison as a young thug, goes to work for a Corsican mob boss there, and eventually finds his place in the underworld. Move over Godfather, Goodfellas, and Scarface; make room for the new kid on the (cell) block! Overall metacritic.com score: 90 (out of 100). Don't miss it Monday night. Adults only! This week's films Fri., June 4, at 5:30 pm Sat., June 5, at 5:30 pm NOBODY'S PERFECT Fri., June 4, at 7:05 pm Sat., June 5, at 9:05 pm RECOLLECTIONS OF THE YELLOW HOUSE Special admission $12, members/CIA $8 Fri., June 4, at 9:30 pm Sat., June 5, at 7:05 pm LOURDES No films Thu & Sun Mon., June 7, at 6:45 pm A PROPHET Next week's films Thu., June 10, at 6:30 pm Sat., June 12, at 7:00 pm GOD'S COMEDY Special admission $12, members/CIA $8 Fri., June 11, at 7:00 pm Sat., June 12, at 5:15 pm NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW Fri., June 11, at 8:45 pm Sat., June 2, at 10:10 pm BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR The Cinematheque The Cleveland Institute of Art 11141 East Boulevard Cleveland, OH 44106 Phone: (216) 421-7450 http://cia.edu/cinematheque

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