What are the reasons for his success, his impeccable taste and astonishing creativity? Enhancing the portrait are archival images, extracts from letters, interviews with collaborators.
Wed, Mar 7, 8 pm; Thu, Mar 8, 4:15 pm; Sat, Mar 10, 10:30am; Sun, Mar 11, 10:30 am; Thu, Mar 15, 6:30 pm; Sun, Mar 18, 10:30 am
Close to Home by Vardit Bilu and Dalia Hagar (Israel, 2005, 90 min.) Mischievous rebel Smadar and introverted Mirit are two 18-year-olds doing their military service in Jerusalem. They are assigned to patrol the city's border, to approach Palestinians, or anyone they suspect may be Arab, and check their papers. They find the work tedious and demeaning, and the relationship between such different personalities is initially frosty. It gradually evolves into a complex friendship under the weight of their own emotional issues, crushes and break-ups in their love lives, and the political reality of the city and their place in it. Description adapted from the London Film Festival.
Thu, Mar 8, 6 pm; Sun, Mar 18, 12:15 pm; Sun, Mar 25, 2:15 pm; Thu, Mar 29, 5:45 pm
51 Birch Street by Doug Block (2005, 88 min.). Filmmaker Doug Block discovers thirty-five years worth of his mother's daily diaries after her death, just as his father announces that he is moving to Florida and marrying his former secretary. Through surprising diary revelations and increasingly candid conversations with family members and friends, Block finally comes to peace with two parents who are far more complex and troubled than he ever imagined. Heartbreaking and unexpectedly funny, 51 Birch Street is a first-person journey through life-changing events that opens questions about love, marriage, and family. Co-presented by The Boston Jewish Film Festival; BJFF members receive the discounted price.
Fri, Mar 16, 8:15 pm; Sat, Mar 17, 4 pm; Sun, Mar 18, 4 pm; Fri, Mar 23, 8 pm; Sat, Mar 24, 7:45 pm
Exterminating Angels by Jean-Claude Brisseau (Les anges exterminateurs, France, 2007, 102 min.). Filmmaker François is casting actresses for a thriller. During screen tests for a brief nude scene, one actress admits to having had an authentic and intense erotic reaction, hypothesizing that the camera's presence heightened her experience. This prompts François to begin a new project, exploring the ways in which even the smallest transgressions can enhance pleasure, but despite always remaining the respectful voyeur, his experiments land him in hot water.
Wed, Mar 21, 8:30 pm; Sat, Mar 24, 12:10 pm
How to Survive the 1940s: Post-War British Public Information Films curated by the British Film Institute (2006, 85 min.). Road safety, home security, hygiene, and more are addressed in this collection of six classic short films from Britain's post-war Central Office of Information. These films capture the spirit of Britain in the late 1940s as the COI used film to deal not only with basic health and safety issues but to help bolster the national morale.
Thu, Mar 1, 6 pm; Sat, Mar 3, 11:30 am
Eden (Germany/Switzerland, 2006, 98 min.) Eden is a sensual tale about the magic combination of love and food. Gregor, a rotund and eccentric chef who specializes in aphrodisiac dishes, often dines at a street café where he meets the waitress Eden. Charmed by Eden's daughter, Gregor decides to bake the little girl a birthday cake. Can Gregor's "cucina erotica" inspire more than just gastronomic passions? Winner of the audience award at the 2006 Rotterdam Film Festival.
Thu, Mar 1, 8 pm
Sophiiiie! (Germany, 2002, 107 min.). Facing an unexpected pregnancy, 20-year-old Sophie attempts to sort out her feelings in a series of encounters with barroom bullies, sensitive theater ushers, and philosophical taxicab drivers over one tumultuous night. Her self-imposed dawn deadline looms: should she terminate the pregnancy or face the prospect of starting a family with her poet boyfriend who is not the baby's father?
Wed, Mar 7, 6:20 pm
Trouville Beach (Der Strand von Trouville, Germany, 1998, 84 min.). Young piano teacher Lukas meets Natalie, who he is sure is the love of his life. When her phone number-which he has written on the palm of his hand-rubs off, he embarks on a single-minded journey to her hometown. Finally locating her apartment, he inadvertently falls for Natalie's roommate while waiting for his dream girl's return from abroad. Made possible with assistance from Pro Helvetia-Swiss Arts Council, Swiss Roots-Cultural Offshoots, and co-presented by the Consulate of Switzerland, Boston.
Thu, Mar 1, 2:30 pm
Das Alphorn by Stefan Schwietert (2003, 76 min.). The alphorn is a frequently misused symbol of Swiss tourism, but its potential as an instrument is infinite. Stefan Schwietert explores the diversity of alphorn music from the wild "Bichelsatzli"Â of central Switzerland to jazz musician Hans Kennel performing modern sound collages, to the traditional melodies by contemporary composer Hans-Jurg Sommer, to the bombastic towers of tone performed by "hornroh"Â groups in train stations and expressway underpasses. In Swiss-German with English subtitles.
Thu, Mar 1, 4 pm
Namibia Crossings by Peter Liechti (2004, 92 min.). The artists of The Hambana Sound Company embark on a tour across Namibia, a country in the process of re-inventing itself from scratch, staging seven concerts and inviting local musicians to perform with them. Director Peter Liechti joins the tour bus full of twelve very individual musicians and singers--from Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Switzerland, and Russia--and documents the tension, conflict, success, and inspiration that infuses Hambana's attempt to mix classical, jazz, and traditional African music. In Afrikaans, English, and German with English subtitles.
Thu, Mar 8, 2:30 pm
My African Family by Thomas Thümena (2004, 80 min.). Money, a coup, and dead monkeys cause commotion in the daily life of Thomas, a slightly calculating film director, and his wife Léa, a proud, independent African woman. She feels homesick, he thinks about the rent. She complains about her difficulty integrating with the Swiss, he has to cope with importing monkey meat in his suitcase. Together they make an explosive couple in director Thümena's tragicomic love story. In French and Swiss-German
with English subtitles.
Sat, Mar 3, 1:30 pm
Mirrorball #3: | Made in Japan (2006, 73 min.) Robots, games, fashion, and art... Japan has always been at the aesthetic cutting edge, and this year's selection of promos and shorts proves no exception. With the likes of director Nagi Noda (Partizan Productions) leading the pack, the bar has been set very high. From the dizzily surreal to the so-cute-it-hurts, Mirrorball presents a veritable bento box of live action and animated visual styles. Curated by the Edinburgh Film Festival.
Sat, Mar 10, 12:15 pm; Thu, Mar 18, 8 pm; Sat, Mar 17, 10:30 am; Sat, Mar 24, 10:30 am
China Blue by Micha Peled (2005, 85 Min.). China Blue takes us on a poignant journey inside a bluejeans factory, where the working conditions Jasmine and her teenage friends must endure are harsh beyond imagination. They are also unlawful by international standards, and tensions in the factory are running high. So when the factory owner strikes a deal with a Western client and demands around-theclock production to meet the deadline, a confrontation becomes inevitable. Shot clandestinely in China
under difficult conditions, this is a deep-access account of how the clothes we buy are actually made-an account that both China and the international retail corporations don't want us to see.
Fri, Mar 23, 6:15 pm; Sat, Mar 24, 2 pm; Sun, Mar 25, 12:30 pm; Thu, Mar 29, 4 pm; Fri, Mar 30, 4 pm
Our Daily Bread by Nikolaus Geyrhalter (2005, 92 min.). Welcome to the world of industrial food production and high-tech farming. Moving to the rhythm of conveyor belts and immense machines, this meditative film looks without comment into the places where food is produced in Europe: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes with bizarre sounds-a cool, industrial environment that leaves little room for individualism. People, animals, crops, and machines play a supporting role in the logistics of a system responsible for our society's standard of living. Nikolaus Geyrhalter's Our Daily Bread is a wide-screen tableau of a feast that isn't always easy to digest, and in which we all take part. It is a pure, meticulous, and high-end film experience that enables the audience to form their own ideas.
Sat, Mar 10, 2:15 pm
Maine Women: Living on the Land by Lauren Shaw (2006, ? min.). Photographer Lauren Shaw shares the stories of ten remarkable Maine women in this series of sensitive portraits and interviews. Shaw began her photographic journey in 1996 in an effort to understand and connect with the women of rural Maine. Her photographs celebrate their tenacity, ingenuity, and integrity, and by extension, other women who lead challenging lives on the land. The communal story Shaw's work portrays is one we all share and
brings us to a better understanding of our place in the world and the relationship between all things. Director present along with two women profiled: Deb Soule, founder of Avena Botanicals, and Carol Varin, owner of Beddington Ridge Farms, as well as other members of the production team. All will sign copies of the companion book in the MFA Bookstore & Shop following the screening. Presented in conjunction with an exhibition of Shaw's photographs at the Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Feb 8-Mar 12.
Thu, Mar 15, 8:15 pm; Fri, Mar 16, 6:15 pm; Sat, Mar 17, 2:15 pm; Sun, Mar 18, 2:15 pm; Sat, Mar 24, 5:45 pm; Sun, Mar 25, 4:15 pm
Two or Three Things I Know about Her by Jean-Luc Godard (1967, 90 min.) A film that feels every bit as relevant and intelligent today as it was 40 years ago, Two or Three Things I Know appears on various Best of All Time lists, including J. Hoberman of the Village Voice. Godard's inventive essay presents the landscape of Paris never captured before or since on film. We follow a day in the life of a housewife from the suburbs of Paris. Goddard himself asks us in a conspiratorial whisper, "Is her hair dark chestnut or
light brown? Is she Marina Vlady or Juliette Janson?"Â She's both: an actress in a film and a housewife who turns tricks in the city once a month to make ends meet-and to pay for the latest styles seen in omnipresent fashion magazines. Said Godard, "I wanted to include everything: sports, politics, even groceries. Everything should be put into a film."Â Description adapted from Film Forum.
Sat, Mar 10, 4 pm; Thu, Mar 15, 4:30 pm; Sat, Mar 17, 12:15 pm
Beauty and the Beast by Jean Cocteau (1946, 96 min.). Jean Cocteau conjures spectacular visions of enchantment, desire, and death that have never been equaled. This newly restored print sparkingly captures Henri Alekan's spectacular cinematography and Christian Bérard's fairytale sets. Turning the traditional fairytale ending upside down, Cocteau said, "My aim would be to make the Beast so human, so sympathetic, so superior to men, that his transformation into Prince Charming would come as a terrible
blow to Beauty..."Â
Fri, Mar 23, 4:15 pm; Sat, Mar 24, 3:45 pm; Sun, Mar 25, 10:30 am; Thu, Mar 29, 2 pm
The Rules of the Game by Jean Renoir (1939, 106 min.). At La Colinière, the deceptively idyllic country estate of a wealthy Parisian aristocrat, a selection of society's finest gather for a rural sojourn and shooting party, and over the course of the weekend reveal themselves to be absurdly, almost primitively, cruel and vapid. It took decades for Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game to be recognized as a masterpiece. The film received terribly negative reviews and even provoked near riots in Paris upon its
release, in 1939. As a result, Renoir cut twenty-three minutes from the original version. And even then, it was banned by the French government. The original negative was destroyed during World War II, and only in 1959 was the film fully reconstructed from surviving prints and embraced by audiences and critics alike. Now, thanks to an unprecedented complete digital restoration, audiences today can see the film as Renoir originally intended. Playing with the lightest of touches, yet stinging like the greatest of tragedies, The Rules of the Game has come to be regarded as one of the finest movies ever made.
Thu, Mar 29, 7:45 pm
Opening Night: Waiting for Heaven by Dervis Zaim (Cenneti Beklerken, 2006,107 min.). In 17thcentury Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the painter Eflatun creates a portrait of his recently deceased son in a Western artistic style. He is conflicted by his talents, however, and believes that painting "like a Venician or Frank"Â distances him from the lessons of his own masters. Meanwhile, his skills are noticed by an Ottoman vezir, who tells Eflatun that a pretender to the throne has been captured in a distant Anatolian province and is to be executed. To ensure the identity of the rebel, the palace orders Eflatun to paint a portrait of the rebel in the Western style. His apprentice Gazal is held as collateral by the vizer until Eflatun accomplishes his mission and returns. Shortly after setting off across Anatolia with a contingent of palace guards, the group is joined by a slave girl, and Eflatun's difficult journey unfolds. Reception follows.
Fri, Mar 30, 6 pm
My Father and Son by Çagan Irmak (Babam ve Ogum, 2005, 108 min.). Young Deniz, who lost his mother during the 1980 military coup, journeys to an Aegean farm to meet his father Sadik and grandfather Hüseyin Efendi for the first time farm. Hüseyin Efendi disowned his son years ago, disapproving of his political activities, but Sadik has returned to entrust his son to the grandfather's care. Deniz suddenly finds himself in the middle of a loud, eccentric family where everyone speaks at once. In addition to the feuding men, Deniz finds the handmaids of the farm, including an angry aunt, a fabulous tractor-driving grandma who communicates using a walkie-talkie, and Hanife the bride decked in bracelets from wrist to neck. While Sadik is in town trying to reconcile with a country he fought for, with his lover, and with himself, Deniz explores the farm and begins to melt the ice between his father and his
grandfather.
Fri, Mar 20, 8:15 pm
Ice Cream, I Scream by Yüksel Aksu (Dondurmam Gaym-k, 2006, 100 min.). This at time outrageous comedy-a zany reworking of the Italian class The Bicycle Thief-is Turkey's submission for the 2007 Academy Awards. Filmed with a cast of mostly non-professional locals in the Agean city of Mugla, Ice Cream, I Scream begins as independent, ever-jubilant ice cream peddler Ali is having a nightmare. His efforts to make a television ad that will allow him to survive the cutthroat competition from the multinational ice cream brands is being sabotaged. How can he go on? They're corrupting his message. But he buys a brand new yellow motorbike, and peddles his sweets through town. He's forever chased by local boys who want free ice cream. The final straw comes when his bike is stolen. Ali accuses his competitors of the theft and begins relentlessly questioning them. All the while the local, naughty boys are having a fun time-except for having tummy aches. Ice Cream, I Scream is an entertaining commentary on how hard it is for the independent businessman to survive to the Wal-Mart world.
Sat, Mar 31, 11 am
The Play by Pelin Esmer (Oyun, 2005, 70 min.) Pelin Esmer's documentary follows women in a small Turkish mountain village as they collaborate on and perform a play based on their stories of hard work, abuses and forced marriage. For days on end, under the curious gazes of the village men, they work tirelessly, discuss, and create the play, "The Outcry of Women!" Rehearsing while working in the fields and at home, the women find a new confidence and gain the respect of their husbands and families along the way. Preceded by Crash by Umut Aral (Çarpýma, 2005, 18 min.). Three men from different corners of the crime world-a hired gun, a con man, and a thief-cross paths at Central Station, but find that their pasts get in the way of future plans.
Tickets for films are $8 for members, students, and seniors and $9 for general admission, except when a special price is noted. Bargain prices ($6, $7) apply to films beginning before 5:30 pm on weekdays and before 12:30 pm on weekends. Buy tickets in person at the Remis Auditorium box office open daily, 10 am-4:30 pm, and Wednesday-Friday until 8:30 pm. No phone orders day of show. Films are wheelchairaccessible. Children under 8 are not admitted. -- www.mfa.org
Posted February 1st, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
