Cinematheque Film Schedule

France | 1971 | Jacques Rivette

One of the “holy grails” of world cinema can now be seen! The fourth film by French New Wave master Jacques Rivette is a 12-hour and 55-minute opus (in eight episodes) featuring an all-star cast of Nouvelle Vague icons: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Bulle Ogier, Françoise Fabian, Bernadette Lafont, Michael Lonsdale, Erich Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, et al. Inspired by the epic narratives of Balzac (with a tip of the mad hat to Lewis Carroll), the...

China, Hong Kong | 2015 | Johnnie To

Chinese superstars Chow Yun-fat and Sylvia Chang star in this elaborate musical extravaganza set in the world of corporate high finance, about a billion-dollar company that is going public. Office, with a score by Chinese pop icon Lo Ta-yu, marks a striking change of pace for virtuoso HK action master Johnnie To, but he is more than up to the task. “One of the most original and imaginative musicals of the last decade.” –Ignatiy Vishnevetsky.

France, United States | 2015 | Laurie Anderson

The first film in almost three decades by musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson begins as an ode to her late pet (a rat terrier named Lolabelle) but eventually expands into a general meditation on love, loss, language, and mortality. Alternately goofy, lyrical, and enchanting, this free-associative cine-essay touches upon many things—from life in post-9/11 New York to the 2013 death of Anderson’s longtime partner, musician Lou Reed. “A celebration of life.” –San Francisco Chronicle....

Italy, United Kingdom, United States | 1966 | Michelangelo Antonioni

Antonioni’s biggest commercial success was an adults-only sensation when first released, and went on to become one of the most discussed and debated movies of its era. (It was spoofed in Austin Powers 2.) Set in “mod” London during the swinging sixties, it tells of a shallow fashion photographer (David Hemmings) who captures what may or may not be evidence of a murder in one of his outdoor shots. This colorful critique of soulless hipsters...

France, United States | 2015 | Laurie Anderson

The first film in almost three decades by musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson begins as an ode to her late pet (a rat terrier named Lolabelle) but eventually expands into a general meditation on love, loss, language, and mortality. Alternately goofy, lyrical, and enchanting, this free-associative cine-essay touches upon many things—from life in post-9/11 New York to the 2013 death of Anderson’s longtime partner, musician Lou Reed. “A celebration of life.” –San Francisco Chronicle....

West Germany | 1975 | Wim Wenders

Made between Alice in the Cities and Kings of the Road, Wim Wenders’ color road movie stars Hanna Schygulla, Rüdiger Vogler, and a 13-year-old Nastassja Kinski (her screen debut). Inspired by Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, the film follows a discontented writer as he travels across 1970s Germany, befriending a variety of individuals (a singer, an actress, an industrialist, a poet, etc.) amid echoes of the country’s Nazi past. Screenplay by Peter Handke; cinematography by Robby...

Italy, United Kingdom, United States | 1966 | Michelangelo Antonioni

Antonioni’s biggest commercial success was an adults-only sensation when first released, and went on to become one of the most discussed and debated movies of its era. (It was spoofed in Austin Powers 2.) Set in “mod” London during the swinging sixties, it tells of a shallow fashion photographer (David Hemmings) who captures what may or may not be evidence of a murder in one of his outdoor shots. This colorful critique of soulless hipsters...

West Germany | 1975 | Wim Wenders

Made between Alice in the Cities and Kings of the Road, Wim Wenders’ color road movie stars Hanna Schygulla, Rüdiger Vogler, and a 13-year-old Nastassja Kinski (her screen debut). Inspired by Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, the film follows a discontented writer as he travels across 1970s Germany, befriending a variety of individuals (a singer, an actress, an industrialist, a poet, etc.) amid echoes of the country’s Nazi past. Screenplay by Peter Handke; cinematography by Robby...

China, Hong Kong | 2015 | Johnnie To

Chinese superstars Chow Yun-fat and Sylvia Chang star in this elaborate musical extravaganza set in the world of corporate high finance, about a billion-dollar company that is going public. Office, with a score by Chinese pop icon Lo Ta-yu, marks a striking change of pace for virtuoso HK action master Johnnie To, but he is more than up to the task. “One of the most original and imaginative musicals of the last decade.” –Ignatiy Vishnevetsky.

France | 1971 | Jacques Rivette

One of the “holy grails” of world cinema can now be seen! The fourth film by French New Wave master Jacques Rivette is a 12-hour and 55-minute opus (in eight episodes) featuring an all-star cast of Nouvelle Vague icons: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Bulle Ogier, Françoise Fabian, Bernadette Lafont, Michael Lonsdale, Erich Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, et al. Inspired by the epic narratives of Balzac (with a tip of the mad hat to Lewis Carroll), the...

Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico | 2015 | Israel Cárdenas, Laura Amelia Guzmán

Geraldine Chaplin is superb in this touching, understated film about an elderly white woman vacationing on the beaches of the Dominican Republic, where she falls in love with a twentyish local black woman who works in the tourist sex trade. This sensitive drama is the Dominican submission for this year’s foreign-film Oscar. “[A] remarkably sensitive, nonjudgmental portrait of an unequal lesbian relationship.” –Variety.

Germany, Italy, Switzerland | 2014 | Alice Rohrwacher

The highly acclaimed second film from the director of Corpo Celeste focuses on a family of traditional beekeepers—father, mother, and four daughters—living in the Tuscan countryside. The stern, German paterfamilias wants to keep the modern world at bay, but enterprising oldest daughter Gelsomina thinks they should participate in a rural-oriented reality TV show in order to make some much-needed cash. Grand Prix, 2014 Cannes Film Festival. With Monica Bellucci. “A wistful but no-tears swan song...

West Germany | 1978 | Peter Handke

The final film in our three-month Wim Wenders series was produced by Wenders but written and directed by his longtime screenwriter Peter Handke. Edith Clever, Bruno Ganz, Michael Lonsdale, Gerard Dépardieu, and Rüdiger Vogler star in the movie, a laconic, painterly account of an unsettled German wife living in Paris who withdraws from her husband and family and tries to rediscover her place in the universe. Cinematography by Robby Müller. “A hymn to a woman’s...

Germany, Italy, Switzerland | 2014 | Alice Rohrwacher

The highly acclaimed second film from the director of Corpo Celeste focuses on a family of traditional beekeepers—father, mother, and four daughters—living in the Tuscan countryside. The stern, German paterfamilias wants to keep the modern world at bay, but enterprising oldest daughter Gelsomina thinks they should participate in a rural-oriented reality TV show in order to make some much-needed cash. Grand Prix, 2014 Cannes Film Festival. With Monica Bellucci. “A wistful but no-tears swan song...

United States | 1981 | Brian De Palma

Inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up (see 1/9 & 10), this celebrated Brian De Palma thriller stars John Travolta as a motion picture sound recordist who unintentionally captures an automobile accident on audio tape, and learns later that the crash might have been part of a plot to assassinate a Presidential candidate. With Nancy Allen and John Lithgow. Cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond.

United States | 1984 | Francis Coppola

Today the Cinematheque and The Musical Theater Project team up to present a special screening of the music and crime film that reunited the producer (Robert Evans), director (Francis Ford Coppola), and co-screenwriter (Mario Puzo) of The Godfather. Centered around the legendary Harlem nightclub of the 1920s and 1930s where black performers entertained white patrons, The Cotton Club is a tale of jazz musicians, mobsters, and molls, and mixes musical numbers with scenes of underworld...

United States | 1981 | Brian De Palma

Inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up (see 1/9 & 10), this celebrated Brian De Palma thriller stars John Travolta as a motion picture sound recordist who unintentionally captures an automobile accident on audio tape, and learns later that the crash might have been part of a plot to assassinate a Presidential candidate. With Nancy Allen and John Lithgow. Cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond.

Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico | 2015 | Israel Cárdenas, Laura Amelia Guzmán

Geraldine Chaplin is superb in this touching, understated film about an elderly white woman vacationing on the beaches of the Dominican Republic, where she falls in love with a twentyish local black woman who works in the tourist sex trade. This sensitive drama is the Dominican submission for this year’s foreign-film Oscar. “[A] remarkably sensitive, nonjudgmental portrait of an unequal lesbian relationship.” –Variety.

France | 1971 | Jaques Rivette

One of the “holy grails” of world cinema can now be seen! The fourth film by French New Wave master Jacques Rivette is a 12-hour and 55-minute opus (in eight episodes) featuring an all-star cast of Nouvelle Vague icons: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Bulle Ogier, Françoise Fabian, Bernadette Lafont, Michael Lonsdale, Erich Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, et al. Inspired by the epic narratives of Balzac (with a tip of the mad hat to Lewis Carroll), the...

United States | 1934 | Josef von Sternberg

The most sumptuous, excessive, and flamboyant of the seven Marlene Dietrich/Josef von Sternberg collaborations chronicles the 18th-century rise of Catherine the Great from German princess to wife of the mad Grand Duke Peter (Sam Jaffe) to empress of Russia. Unsurpassed visual spectacle—majestic, operatic, delirious, and grotesque. “Among the most bewildering and bizarre films ever to emerge from a major Hollywood studio…The most imaginative film of the sound era prior to Citizen Kane.” ­–Cult Movies. “A...

China, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan | 2015 | Hou Hsiao-hsien

Voted best film of 2015 in Sight & Sound magazine’s poll of 168 international film critics, the first feature in eight years by Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien (and his only “martial arts” movie) is easily one of the most beautiful color motion pictures ever made. Set in 8th-century China, the film follows a deadly female killer who has compassion/empathy issues that impair her work. To overcome them, she is ordered to eliminate a political enemy...

Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom | 2014 | Naji Abu Nowar

This exciting, handsomely photographed drama, set (like Lawrence of Arabia) in Ottoman-controlled Arabia during WWI, is one of the most auspicious directorial debuts of the year. It’s also Jordan’s entry for this year’s foreign-film Oscar and won the Best Director prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival. It tells of two Bedouin brothers who escort a British military officer to a well across the desert, dodging mercenaries, rebels, and bandits along the way. “A classic...

United States | 2015 | Abigail Disney, Kathleen Hughes

How can someone who is pro-life also be pro-gun? That is the question addressed in this electrifying new documentary, which follows Reverend Rob Schenck, evangelical minister, anti-abortion activist, and fixture on the political far right, as he catches flak from friends and followers when he preaches about the growing toll of gun violence in America. Schenck is eventually joined by Lucy McBath, a pro-choice Christian whose unarmed teen son, Jordan Davis, was murdered in FL....

Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom | 2014 | Naji Abu Nowar

This exciting, handsomely photographed drama, set (like Lawrence of Arabia) in Ottoman-controlled Arabia during WWI, is one of the most auspicious directorial debuts of the year. It’s also Jordan’s entry for this year’s foreign-film Oscar and won the Best Director prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival. It tells of two Bedouin brothers who escort a British military officer to a well across the desert, dodging mercenaries, rebels, and bandits along the way. “A classic...

United States | 1934 | Josef von Sternberg

The most sumptuous, excessive, and flamboyant of the seven Marlene Dietrich/Josef von Sternberg collaborations chronicles the 18th-century rise of Catherine the Great from German princess to wife of the mad Grand Duke Peter (Sam Jaffe) to empress of Russia. Unsurpassed visual spectacle—majestic, operatic, delirious, and grotesque. “Among the most bewildering and bizarre films ever to emerge from a major Hollywood studio…The most imaginative film of the sound era prior to Citizen Kane.” ­–Cult Movies. “A...

France | 1971 | Jaques Rivette

One of the “holy grails” of world cinema can now be seen! The fourth film by French New Wave master Jacques Rivette is a 12-hour and 55-minute opus (in eight episodes) featuring an all-star cast of Nouvelle Vague icons: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Bulle Ogier, Françoise Fabian, Bernadette Lafont, Michael Lonsdale, Erich Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, et al. Inspired by the epic narratives of Balzac (with a tip of the mad hat to Lewis Carroll), the...

United States | 1934 | Edgar G. Ulmer

Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi were paired for the first time in one of the creepiest and strangest movies ever to come out of Hollywood—an expressionistic tale of devil worship and futuristic architecture set in the aftermath of WWI. “A nightmare that involves necrophilia, ailurophobia, drugs, a deadly game of chess, torture, flaying, and a black mass with a human sacrifice...[A] bizarre, utterly irrational masterpiece.” –Philip French.

United States | 2015 | Frederick Wiseman

The latest film by master documentarian Frederick Wiseman (a Cinematheque guest last year) is a sprawling portrait of a Queens neighborhood that is one of the most culturally diverse communities in America. (Reputedly 167 different languages are spoken there.) In Jackson Heights, people of varied colors, religions, national origins, ages, income levels, and sexual orientation work together to try to solve some of the neighborhood’s pressing problems—protecting small businesses from gentrification, acclimating new immigrants, etc....

United States | 2014 | Matthew Barney

The indescribable but visually stupendous new film by artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney (the Cremaster cycle, Drawing Restraint 9) is a five-hour-and-19-min. opera (music by Jonathan Bepler) in three acts. (It will be shown with two 20-min. intermissions on Saturday, and a 20-min. intermission and a one-hour dinner break on Sunday.) Inspired by Norman Mailer’s 1983 novel Ancient Evenings (set in ancient Egypt) and featuring an all-star cast (Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ellen Burstyn, Aimee...

United States | 2014 | Matthew Barney

The indescribable but visually stupendous new film by artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney (the Cremaster cycle, Drawing Restraint 9) is a five-hour-and-19-min. opera (music by Jonathan Bepler) in three acts. (It will be shown with two 20-min. intermissions on Saturday, and a 20-min. intermission and a one-hour dinner break on Sunday.) Inspired by Norman Mailer’s 1983 novel Ancient Evenings (set in ancient Egypt) and featuring an all-star cast (Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ellen Burstyn, Aimee...

United States | 2014 | Matthew Barney

The indescribable but visually stupendous new film by artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney (the Cremaster cycle, Drawing Restraint 9) is a five-hour-and-19-min. opera (music by Jonathan Bepler) in three acts. (It will be shown with two 20-min. intermissions on Saturday, and a 20-min. intermission and a one-hour dinner break on Sunday.) Inspired by Norman Mailer’s 1983 novel Ancient Evenings (set in ancient Egypt) and featuring an all-star cast (Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ellen Burstyn, Aimee...

United States | 2014 | Matthew Barney

The indescribable but visually stupendous new film by artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney (the Cremaster cycle, Drawing Restraint 9) is a five-hour-and-19-min. opera (music by Jonathan Bepler) in three acts. (It will be shown with two 20-min. intermissions on Saturday, and a 20-min. intermission and a one-hour dinner break on Sunday.) Inspired by Norman Mailer’s 1983 novel Ancient Evenings (set in ancient Egypt) and featuring an all-star cast (Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ellen Burstyn, Aimee...

United States | 2014 | Matthew Barney

The indescribable but visually stupendous new film by artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney (the Cremaster cycle, Drawing Restraint 9) is a five-hour-and-19-min. opera (music by Jonathan Bepler) in three acts. (It will be shown with two 20-min. intermissions on Saturday, and a 20-min. intermission and a one-hour dinner break on Sunday.) Inspired by Norman Mailer’s 1983 novel Ancient Evenings (set in ancient Egypt) and featuring an all-star cast (Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ellen Burstyn, Aimee...

United States | 2014 | Matthew Barney

The indescribable but visually stupendous new film by artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney (the Cremaster cycle, Drawing Restraint 9) is a five-hour-and-19-min. opera (music by Jonathan Bepler) in three acts. (It will be shown with two 20-min. intermissions on Saturday, and a 20-min. intermission and a one-hour dinner break on Sunday.) Inspired by Norman Mailer’s 1983 novel Ancient Evenings (set in ancient Egypt) and featuring an all-star cast (Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ellen Burstyn, Aimee...

United States | 1934 | Edgar G. Ulmer

Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi were paired for the first time in one of the creepiest and strangest movies ever to come out of Hollywood—an expressionistic tale of devil worship and futuristic architecture set in the aftermath of WWI. “A nightmare that involves necrophilia, ailurophobia, drugs, a deadly game of chess, torture, flaying, and a black mass with a human sacrifice...[A] bizarre, utterly irrational masterpiece.” –Philip French.