Cinematheque Film Schedule

France | 1992 | Éric Rohmer

In the second of Éric Rohmer’s “Tales of the Four Seasons” (#3, A Summer’s Tale, showed last August), a young woman on summer holiday falls in love with a cook and returns home bearing his child. But an incorrect address causes her to lose touch with him, so she raises their child alone. For four years she is wooed by two other suitors, a hairdresser and a librarian, but she can’t help thinking about her...

United States | 1931 | William Wellman

Barbara Stanwyck stars in this tough, taut, shocking melodrama—about a city hospital nurse providing in-home care for two seriously ill little girls who are slowly being murdered. Joan Blondell and Clark Gable also appear in this essential classic that film historian William K. Everson called “Pre-Code with a vengeance.”

Estonia, France, Germany | 2013 | Ben Rivers, Ben Russell

This collaboration between two major contemporary experimental filmmakers is a triptych exploring the possibility of utopia and transcendence in the postmodern era. Musician Robert A. A. Lowe (Lichens) plays an unnamed character who is seen at an Estonian island commune, then living alone in the majestic Finnish wilderness, then as a black metal singer at an orgiastic Norwegian rock club. “An art film that’s as uncompromising as it is uncommercial…Will prove fascinating for those willing...

France | 1939 | Marcel Carné

A year after their fatalistic Port of Shadows and six years before their landmark Children of Paradise, director Marcel Carné and scenarist Pierre Prévert created another romantic screen masterpiece, one that critic Andrew Sarris called “the quintessence of French ‘poetic realism.’” Jean Gabin plays a hunted, haunted laborer who has barricaded himself in his apartment after killing a man. As the cops try to blast their way into his refuge, he thinks back on the...

United States | 2014 | Ana Lily Amirpour

Hailed as the first Iranian feminist vampire Western (though shot in California), this acclaimed, Farsi-language feature debut is set in fictional Bad City, Iran (a desolate ghost town that's kind of a parallel-universe Tehran). There a lonely, chador-wearing Nosferata roams the dark streets preying on misogynistic male scumbags. “An intoxicating blend of eerie horror and ’80s pop, made by an artist to keep an eye on.” –Time Out New York. "The biggest honest-to-God discovery of...

United States | 2014 | Lina Esco

An army of fearless, determined women takes to the streets of New York to fight for their right to go topless and breastfeed in public, decriminalizing the female breast in the U.S. This new comedy, inspired by true events, is a project of an equality movement with the same name.

United States | 2013 | David Trueba

Winner of six Goya Awards (Spanish Oscars) including Best Film, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay, this touching road comedy is set in 1966 and tells of a Spanish teacher of English and Latin who picks up two misfit hitchhikers on his way to Almeria, where he hopes to meet his idol, John Lennon, who is filming How I Won the War there. Has a 100% “fresh” rating on RottenTomatoes.com!

United States | 2014 | Lina Esco

An army of fearless, determined women takes to the streets of New York to fight for their right to go topless and breastfeed in public, decriminalizing the female breast in the U.S. This new comedy, inspired by true events, is a project of an equality movement with the same name.

United States | 1931 | William A. Wellman, William A. Seiter

Two Pre-Code rarities (in 35mm prints from the Library of Congress) for one price! Safe in Hell is one of the most jaw-dropping of Pre-Code movies. A New Orleans prostitute who thinks she has killed a man flees to a steamy Caribbean island. There she tries to reform, but the place is populated almost entirely men—criminals and other fugitives, bullies, and lecherous low-lifes—who won’t leave her alone. Diplomaniacs, on the other hand, is an anarchic,...

France, Germany | 2014 | Volker Schlöndorff

The new film from the director of The Tin Drum is a gripping historical drama, inspired by fact, set during the Liberation of Paris at the end of WWII. It tells of the extraordinary efforts of Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling (André Dussollier) to convince German general Dietrich von Choltitz (Niels Arestrup) to disobey Hitler’s orders and not level Paris and all its landmarks before the Nazis pull out of the city. “Produces at least as...

United States | 2013 | David Trueba

Winner of six Goya Awards (Spanish Oscars) including Best Film, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay, this touching road comedy is set in 1966 and tells of a Spanish teacher of English and Latin who picks up two misfit hitchhikers on his way to Almeria, where he hopes to meet his idol, John Lennon, who is filming How I Won the War there. Has a 100% “fresh” rating on RottenTomatoes.com!

Slovenia | 2010 | Dušan Moravec

Cleveland’s century-old love affair with Slovenian music is celebrated in this fun, fascinating, locally shot documentary. Filled with interviews, performances, and vintage film clips and photos, the movie traces how Cleveland-style polka music (spearheaded by Grammy-winning Polka King Frank Yankovic) became a national sensation. Joe Valencic, President of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum, who co-wrote the film and serves as on-screen narrator, will answer questions after the movie. An accordion jam...

France, Germany | 2014 | Volker Schlöndorff

The new film from the director of The Tin Drum is a gripping historical drama, inspired by fact, set during the Liberation of Paris at the end of WWII. It tells of the extraordinary efforts of Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling (André Dussollier) to convince German general Dietrich von Choltitz (Niels Arestrup) to disobey Hitler’s orders and not level Paris and all its landmarks before the Nazis pull out of the city. “Produces at least as...

United States | 2014 | Ana Lily Amirpour

Hailed as the first Iranian feminist vampire Western (though shot in California), this acclaimed, Farsi-language feature debut is set in fictional Bad City, Iran (a desolate ghost town that's kind of a parallel-universe Tehran). There a lonely, chador-wearing Nosferata roams the dark streets preying on misogynistic male scumbags. “An intoxicating blend of eerie horror and ’80s pop, made by an artist to keep an eye on.” –Time Out New York. "The biggest honest-to-God discovery of...

Denmark, Finland, Sweden, United States | 2014 | Göran Olsson

Lauryn Hill reads from Frantz Fanon’s incendiary 1962 tome The Wretched of the Earth while rare, archival 16mm newsreel footage documenting the decolonization and liberation of Africa during the 1960s shows on screen. This new found-footage compilation is from the maker of The Black Power Mixtape. “A powerful and provoking take on a violent and volatile era.” –Empire.

United States | 1932 | Victor Fleming

Clark Gable stars in this sizzling tropical romance, in which the manager of an Indochina rubber plantation must choose between a wise-cracking, platinum-haired floozy from Saigon (Jean Harlow) and the classy wife of a young engineer (Mary Astor). From the director of The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind. On the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.

Denmark, Finland, Sweden, United States | 2014 | Göran Olsson

Lauryn Hill reads from Frantz Fanon’s incendiary 1962 tome The Wretched of the Earth while rare, archival 16mm newsreel footage documenting the decolonization and liberation of Africa during the 1960s shows on screen. This new found-footage compilation is from the maker of The Black Power Mixtape. “A powerful and provoking take on a violent and volatile era.” –Empire.

United States | 1933 | Frank Borzage

Our Valentine’s Day presentation is a little-known gem that is one of the most romantic films ever made. (It has never been released to video or DVD.) Set at the height of the Great Depression, Man’s Castle stars Spencer Tracy as a fierce and fiercely independent laborer, currently out of work, who takes pity on a hungry, homeless young woman (Loretta Young) and invites her to share his Hooverville hovel, which becomes a loving refuge...

France, Japan | 1959 | Alain Renais

The first feature by the late Alain Resnais was written by Marguerite Duras and is one of the key works of modernist cinema. A French actress (Emmanuelle Riva of Amour) who’s in Hiroshima to shoot a pacifist movie has an affair with a Japanese architect. Their relationship dredges up sorrowful, guilt-ridden wartime memories for both of them. This groundbreaking film fractures chronology into a plaintive mosaic of words, images, music, and silences, but remains a...

United Kingdom | 1965 | Terence Young

The fourth James Bond film finds 007 (Sean Connery) traveling to the Bahamas to recover two atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE before eyepatch-wearing villain Emilio Largo levels an unnamed big city with them. Features lots of underwater cinematography, Oscar-winning special effects, and Claudine Auger.

United States | 1932 | Victor Fleming

Clark Gable stars in this sizzling tropical romance, in which the manager of an Indochina rubber plantation must choose between a wise-cracking, platinum-haired floozy from Saigon (Jean Harlow) and the classy wife of a young engineer (Mary Astor). From the director of The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind. On the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.

United Kingdom | 1965 | Terence Young

The fourth James Bond film finds 007 (Sean Connery) traveling to the Bahamas to recover two atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE before eyepatch-wearing villain Emilio Largo levels an unnamed big city with them. Features lots of underwater cinematography, Oscar-winning special effects, and Claudine Auger.

France, Japan | 1959 | Alain Renais

The first feature by the late Alain Resnais was written by Marguerite Duras and is one of the key works of modernist cinema. A French actress (Emmanuelle Riva of Amour) who’s in Hiroshima to shoot a pacifist movie has an affair with a Japanese architect. Their relationship dredges up sorrowful, guilt-ridden wartime memories for both of them. This groundbreaking film fractures chronology into a plaintive mosaic of words, images, music, and silences, but remains a...

United States | 1933 | Lloyd Bacon

James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powell star in this often risqué musical, about a floundering Broadway producer who decides to create spectacular “live” musical prologues before films at movie houses. Three (count ‘em) stupendous Busby Berkeley musical extravaganzas conclude the film.

United States | 1951 | Alfred Hitchcock

In one of Hitchcock’s greatest films, two strangers (Farley Granger, Robert Walker) meet by chance on a train and innocently discuss the idea of “exchanging” murders of a person each would like to be rid of. Then one of them follows through and actually does a killing—getting upset when the other refuses to return the favor! Because this funny, chilling masterpiece ends with a spectacular chase on a speeding carousel, all attendees will receive a...

United States | 1986 | Willard Huyck

The first Marvel Comics-derived theatrical movie of the post-WWII era was a critical and box office disaster. Produced by George Lucas and written by Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck (the three also collaborated on American Graffiti and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), the film tells of a talking, anthropomorphic duck from outer space who suddenly finds himself in Cleveland. There he falls for a punk singer (Lea Thompson) and battles another alien interloper,...

United States | 1933 | Lloyd Bacon

James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powell star in this often risqué musical, about a floundering Broadway producer who decides to create spectacular “live” musical prologues before films at movie houses. Three (count ‘em) stupendous Busby Berkeley musical extravaganzas conclude the film.

United States | 1951 | Alfred Hitchcock

In one of Hitchcock’s greatest films, two strangers (Farley Granger, Robert Walker) meet by chance on a train and innocently discuss the idea of “exchanging” murders of a person each would like to be rid of. Then one of them follows through and actually does a killing—getting upset when the other refuses to return the favor! Because this funny, chilling masterpiece ends with a spectacular chase on a speeding carousel, all attendees will receive a...

France, Romania | 2013 | Corneliu Porumboiu

The sly new film from the acclaimed director of 12:08 East of Bucharest deconstructs the filmmaking process in the same manner that language was parsed in his previous Police, Adjective. It’s the tale of a young director shooting a movie (and a nude scene) with an actress he’s in love with, and consists of a series of long takes in which the two of them (and others) discuss food, actors’ motivations, film vs. digital, and...

United States | 1996 | Bobby and Peter Farrelly

Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Bill Murray, Vanessa Angel, and Chris Elliott star in the Farrelly brothers’ hilarious follow-up to Dumb and Dumber, about a former pro-bowler with a real handicap (a prosthetic hand) who tutors an Amish tenpin prodigy in advance of an upcoming tournament.

France, Italy | 2013 | Paolo Virzi

Winner of seven David di Donatello Awards (Italian Oscars) including Best Film, Actress (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), and Screenplay, and Italy’s official entry for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, this slick mystery thriller charts how a road accident links the destinies of two very different families—one of them wealthy capitalists, the other middle-class wannabes. “[A] class critique wrapped around a whodunit…[Blends] biting commentary with expert narrational skills.” –Variety.

France, Romania | 2013 | Corneliu Porumboiu

The sly new film from the acclaimed director of 12:08 East of Bucharest deconstructs the filmmaking process in the same manner that language was parsed in his previous Police, Adjective. It’s the tale of a young director shooting a movie (and a nude scene) with an actress he’s in love with, and consists of a series of long takes in which the two of them (and others) discuss food, actors’ motivations, film vs. digital, and...

France, Italy | 2013 | Paolo Virzi

Winner of seven David di Donatello Awards (Italian Oscars) including Best Film, Actress (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), and Screenplay, and Italy’s official entry for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, this slick mystery thriller charts how a road accident links the destinies of two very different families—one of them wealthy capitalists, the other middle-class wannabes. “[A] class critique wrapped around a whodunit…[Blends] biting commentary with expert narrational skills.” –Variety.

Hong Kong, United Kingdom, United States | 1982 | Ridley Scott

This weekend we show all three U.S. theatrical versions of Ridley Scott’s neo-noir sci-fi thriller that is set in Los Angeles only four years from now! We begin with the original 1982 version. Harrison Ford plays a weary ex-cop who is enlisted to track down four mutinous outer space androids who have come to Earth to meet their maker. Despite mixed reviews, this gorgeous, visionary work has become one of the most popular and influential...

United States | 1931 | Rouben Mamoulian

The best film version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale—about a mild-mannered man of science who transforms into a homicidal monster—features stunning transformation scenes, Fredric March in an Oscar-winning performance, and artful cinematography by the great Karl Struss (Sunrise). With Miriam Hopkins and Rose Hobart.

United States | 2013 | Chuck Workman

Orson Welles was born 100 years ago this year, and we celebrate the occasion with a new documentary about the Promethean writer/director/actor by Academy Award winner Chuck Workman (Precious Images). Well known for his witty film-clip compilations that have enlivened many Oscarcasts, Workman here includes excerpts from almost every film Welles directed, even unfinished ones. There are also testimonials from Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Richard Linklater, Peter Bogdanovich, et al. “A lively and fresh retelling...

United States | 1982/92 | Ridley Scott

The main changes in the tenth-anniversary edition of Ridley Scott’s landmark movie are the removal of Harrison Ford’s voiceover narration, the elimination of the film’s “happy ending,” and the addition of a “unicorn dream.” See 2/27 at 9:25 pm for further description.