Preview: Leaders of the New Wave, Godard & Truffaut

Alas, the run of World Cinema Classics this summer come to an end this weekend, but the screenings conclude with a showcase of cinema royalty. During the 1960s the French New Wave began to reinvent film's attitudes and structures. Directors like Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Demy and Éric Rohmer were major filmmakers in this cinematic revolution, and their impact on cinema was no less distinctive than the Beatles were on the world of music. Of these players, Godard and Truffaut are usually considered the leaders of the New Wave, and in effect were the Lennon and McCartney of French film.

François Truffaut made a distinct splash with his early films The 400 Blows and Jules and Jim, each reinforcing a joy of life through film. But after setting the world on fire with those movies, Truffaut took a darker turn away from the joie de vivre with The Soft Skin. In this film, a well-to-do middle aged lecturer has an established life complete with solid career and family. He meets a young woman after one of his speeches and begins an affair. In a combination of shame and unbridled passion, his emotions overtake his better judgment and begins making choices that have dire consequences.

When Jean-Luc Godard made Breathless in 1960, he planted the flag of French New Wave cinema that threw old cinematic conventions right out the door. His filmography is vast and acclaimed. Over the decades his works have aged like a fine French wine, and he is widely accepted as one of the finest directors in the world.

Vivre se Vie ("My Life to Live") was released in 1962, just as Godard was reaching his stride as a filmmaker. It is a film divided into 12 "chapters" that chronicle a young woman's descent from housewife into prostitution. Godard uses techniques of cinéma vérité to document her story, but infuses more striking cinematography to give the movie a distinct look and emotion. Within her story, the director also comments on philosophy, consumerism, and the pop culture of the period. Although not as well-known as his other work, it nevertheless remains a quintessential example of Godard.

These leaders of the New Wave has provided riches that are still appreciated to this day. Just as The Beatles were influenced by the likes of Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Elvis Presley, these French directors were strongly inspired both by Americana and the Hollywood. Godard, Truffaut and their French contemporaries were inspired by American film makers such as Nicholas Ray, Orson Welles, John Ford and even Britain's Alfred Hitchcock. Ironically, their appreciation for the culture of the past helped fuel the evolution of cinema's future. And so from their roots, the French New Wave has paved the road to modern movie making. Like a game of tennis, the creativity has bounced from our court to theirs to ours once again. Generations to come will continue to be inspired, and their fresh ideas will no doubt spark many artists to come. Such is life, such is art. C'est le vie.

Showtimes for the films:

The Soft Skin
Saturday, Aug 18th
4:30 8:45
Sunday, Aug 19th
4:00

Vivre sa Vie
Saturday, Aug 18th
6:50
Sunday, Aug 19th
2:00 6:20

Final Notes about the screening:

$2 discount for Austin Film Society members at the box office for all "World Cinema Classics" films!

Double Features:
"When two movies are grouped together under the same thematic heading, one ticket is good for both features when viewed back-to-back on the same day." (cha-ching!)

Parking:
"Hassle-free downtown parking available for $6 at the One American Center for all summer films! Since you’re also supporting the theatre when you buy parking, they're giving you a free small soda each time you park there for a film. Buy online with your film tix and print out your confirmation e-mail or buy directly from the garage attendant (cash only). Attendant will have your soda ticket as well."

Preview: A Forgotten Master, Masahiro Shinoda

"(some preceding gibberish)

Like Kurosawa I make mad films
Okay, I don't make films
But if I did they'd have a Samurai

(more gibberish)"

-Lyrics from "One Week"

A.K.A. that one Barenaked Ladies song from the late 1990s

---

When it comes to the history of film, we've all heard of the French New Wave, and this week were introduced to the Czech New Wave courtesy of Milos Forman. But did you know there was a Japanese New Wave in the 1960s as well? It's only natural. Japan has a prolific film industry, and is one of the top producing cinematic nations in the world.

Japanese cinema has had it's share of masters over the decades, and so it irks me when people think movies from Japan are either: bizarre horror, samurai movies, or Godzilla creature features. In a cinematic culture that is as deep and diverse as any other, it's to my chagrin that most people when asked to name a Japanese director (at best) come up with... Akira Kurosawa.

While I agree that Kurosawa is a master of film (of all-time for any nation), it's nonsense to reduce the history of a country's film culture down to one name. That's like someone proclaiming Spielberg is the only American director. Uh, hello? What about Scorsese, Allen, Kubrick, Welles, Coppola, Ford, Huston, or Fleming?

A director of prime importance in the Japanese New Wave was Masahiro Shinoda. Often overlooked except by the most discerning film buff, his films often focused on those on the fringe of society. Shinoda came from a theatre background in his youth, and therefore had a flair for the dramatic and a knack for the theatrics of storytelling. This week The Paramount shines a light on this often unrecognized name of Japanese cinema.

Pale Flower tells the story of Muraki, a hard-boiled Yukuza gangster just released from prison. The ex-con revisits some of his old stomping grounds, and notices that time indeed has changed all he knew. In the the shadows of this world, he happens upon the young and nubile Saeko. She's like a flower amongst the weeds of his underworld culture, but the relationship that blossoms between the two escalates in dangerous new ways. For them, too much is not enough. A film of incredible style, stark cinematography and smash edits, Pale Flower follows Muraki down into the depths where gambling comes with rapidly raising stakes. Facing long odds, it seems this yukuza has gone all in for the largest gamble of all... the one for his soul.

Released in 1964, this film cemented Shinoda as an important voice in the new cinematic movement. Sure, crime stories had been done before (and since), but rarely with such technique. Think of this movie as a tighter and classier Carlito's Way.

Although the second example of his work is equally dark in tone, it is a far cry from gritty crime stories. In fact, this one is set in 18th century Japan, where tradition always trumps desire.

Double Suicide, you may be disappointed to know, is not an alternate title to Romeo and Juliet (sorry for the spoiler) but another film of Masahiro's screening this week. It is an adaptation of a classic Banraku, a type of theatrical puppet play. Infused with Shinoda's natural sense for the stage, the film shines as a unique tale of two doomed lovers.

A paper merchant becomes obsessed with a prostitute, and yields both his fortune and family in pursuit of this unattainable woman. Needless to say, society frowns on this. Soon, she grows equally enamored with him, and the duo's lives begin to orbit one another like objects going down a drain. Faced with pressures and desires too overwhelming to endure, the couple arrive at the conclusion that there is only one way out.

It's a classic tale with a modernist slant, not unlike Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes. Rarely has the blending of stage and film come so alive as it does in Double Suicide.

Among the deep riches of Japanese cinema, the title of crown jewel will likely always remain with Kurosawa. Yet buried like a rare pearl, Masahiro Shinoda's films still luster nearly fifty years later. An overlooked ambassador from a prominent nation's culture, Shinoda's films are true works of art whose gallery has been neglected for far too long. This week, do yourself a favor and view both movies. These haunting and moving films from Japan's forgotten master will stay with you longer than any annoying Barenaked Ladies song lyric could ever hope to.

Showtimes for the films:

Pale Flower
Thursday, Aug 18th
7:00
Friday, Aug 19th
9:10

Double Suicide
Thursday, Aug 18th
9:o0
Friday, Aug 19th
7:00

Final Notes about the screening:

$2 discount for Austin Film Society members at the box office for all "World Cinema Classics" films!

$2 from each ticket benefits the Japan Red Cross Relief Fund

Double Features:
"When two movies are grouped together under the same thematic heading, one ticket is good for both features when viewed back-to-back on the same day." (cha-ching!)

Parking:
"Hassle-free downtown parking available for $6 at the One American Center for all summer films! Since you’re also supporting the theatre when you buy parking, they're giving you a free small soda each time you park there for a film. Buy online with your film tix and print out your confirmation e-mail or buy directly from the garage attendant (cash only). Attendant will have your soda ticket as well."

Preview: Passion and Love

World cinema classics continue with tales of love, but not romance in the classic sense. Don't expect anything mushy or lovey-dovey here. These darker tales of love are unconventional to say the least, and for some may well be heart-wrenching. Desire can take many forms, and the things we do for love reveal much about who we are. Not as citizens of any particular nation, mind you, but as human beings.

In 1962, at the time of its release, Mamma Roma was highly controversial. It is the story of an ex-prostitute (the title character, played by Anna Magnani) who has retired to run a fruit stand. Now able to provide a better life, she brings back her son to live with her. Despite her best efforts, she finds raising an upstanding young man is no easy task, particular when the red-light districts can cast long shadows from the past.

Oddly, the film suffered backlash over its foul language rather than the obvious sexual overtones. Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the film reflects a dark, if poetic, view of the things we do for love. The cinematography in Mamma Roma at times hint at how alone we all can be, no matter how hard we try. It reflects also a grim view of humanity as a whole, depicting post-WWII Italy as a place populated by pimps, whores and other criminals. An indictment of the Mussolini era, Pasolini was attacked by Fascist protesters at the film's premiere. These reactions contributed to his bleak outlook in his poetry and cinema, culminating in 1975's infamous film, Salò. In his career, Pasolini illustrated sad realities where he hoped passion and love could overcome the horrors of mankind.

Over the past few decades, Miloš Forman has directed several acclaimed Hollywood films: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, The People vs. Larry Flynt and others. But before he came stateside, Forman was at the forefront on the Czechoslovak New Wave of the 1960s. A pioneer of Czech cinema that countered the oppressive Post-WWII Communist society of his country, Forman's films featured dark humor and a balance of optimism versus disappointment. They usually feature outsiders, characters fighting against the system that suppresses any counter-culture expression.

Loves of a Blonde was one of Miloš Forman's early films, yet still features nearly all of these trademarks. Released in 1966, it is the story of Andula (Hana Brejchová), a young woman in a blue-collar Czech town. When the local factory manager bargains to bring in male Army reservists to balance a disproportionate female population, Andula finds herself spurning the advances of the imported suitors. Eventually, she finds herself drawn to a young musician and subsequently drawn into discussions from others about her questionable virtues. She finds that the misadventures in love can often lead down paths with no map, and Forman paints her world as one where sexuality is depicted as an antidote for totalitarianism. Alas, it remains one that can still reveal disillusion once the paint dries.

Nominated for Best Foreign Language film, Loves of a Blonde turned a spotlight on Czech cinema and also jumpstarted Forman's career.

Exposure to other cultures is always a fine way to prevent an ethnocentric view of one's world. Foreign classics like these help open on eyes to both universal plights of the human condition, but also to situations we have the luxury of rarely encountering here in the U.S. Hardships appear everyday, regardless of if spawned by love, hate, emotions or apathy. Most often, it's our passions that drive us to action, and there lies the cautionary tale. Passion can hold the key to our very hearts, but also to Pandora's box.

Showtimes for the films:

Mamma Roma
Tuesday, Aug 16th
7:00
Wednesday, Aug 17th
8:55

Loves of A Blonde
Tuesday, Aug 16th
9:10
Wednesday, Aug 17th
7:00

Final Notes about the screening:

$2 discount for Austin Film Society members at the box office for all "World Cinema Classics" films!

Double Features:
"When two movies are grouped together under the same thematic heading, one ticket is good for both features when viewed back-to-back on the same day." (cha-ching!)

Parking:
"Hassle-free downtown parking available for $6 at the One American Center for all summer films! Since you’re also supporting the theatre when you buy parking, they're giving you a free small soda each time you park there for a film. Buy online with your film tix and print out your confirmation e-mail or buy directly from the garage attendant (cash only). Attendant will have your soda ticket as well."

Preview: Silent Movie with Live Score!

Has the run of world cinema classics the past week whet your appetite for more? Then have I got something for you. As Corleone said, it's an offer you can't refuse. You see, last year my favorite screening from the Paramount Summer Series was of the silent Best Picture classic Wings with an original live score. The movie was incredible, and the live score was amazing. It was an electric night, and one that will stay with me the rest of my days. Well guess what, friends? Lightning is about to strike twice.

This year, The Paramount presents a rarity, a true world cinema classic from Mexico. The film is El Tren Fantasma ("Ghost Train"), directed by Gabriel García Moreno and released in 1927. It's an action-packed thriller about a railroad engineer who investigates a robbery spree by bandits. The movie is full of action, creative camera movements, fight scenes, and stunts (all performed by the actors themselves).

Why is it rare, you ask? In 1982, tragedy struck when a fire at the Mexican film archive burned all of its contents to the ground. It was a devastating blow to a country's rich cinematic history, and it has been estimated that between 5,000 to 6,500 feature films and shorts were lost. Very few of Mexico's old classic remain in existence, so El Tren Fantasma is a rare example of the country's film culture. The feature now stands as one of the best surviving silent Mexican films.

As if the idea of viewing a rare classic isn't enough, that's just the beginning of why the evening will be truly special. A live score is to presented along with the film by Michael Ramos and Charanga Cakewalk. Ramos, a native Texan, is a multi-talented musician who began his career working with artists such as John Mellencamp, the BoDeans and the Rembrandts. Charanga Cakewalk is his personal project that he started in 2002, and is acclaimed for its style. A mix of jazz and urban grooves, it remains as accessible and savory as your favorite tortilla-wrapped treat.

Films doesnt need sound to convey emotion, and music doesn't need visuals to resonate, but when the two meet it can be a perfect storm of art and creativity. During a summer when rain has been few and far between, this electrifying event promises to bring the thunder.

I don't know about you, but events like this are the reason I love the summer series. I love to see new visions and drink up the culture like a parched man at an oasis. The combination of a rare national treasure and a live score is something I simply can not miss. To paraphrase the most interesting man in the world: I may not always enjoy silent film (or Mexican cinema), but when I do, I prefer them like this... at The Paramount Theatre. Stay thirsty, my friends.

Showtime for the film:

El Tren Fantasma
Saturday, Aug 13th
8:00

Final Notes about the screening:

$2 discount for Austin Film Society members at the box office for all "World Cinema Classics" films!

VIP Tickets available - Includes post show meet & greet with Michael Ramos, an original limited edition show poster, and an advance copy of Charanga Cakewalk's forthcoming album for the first 25 people! Your VIP ticket benefits Cine Las Americas.

Parking:
"Hassle-free downtown parking available for $6 at the One American Center for all summer films! Since you’re also supporting the theatre when you buy parking, they're giving you a free small soda each time you park there for a film. Buy online with your film tix and print out your confirmation e-mail or buy directly from the garage attendant (cash only). Attendant will have your soda ticket as well."

Preview: Comedy of the Past and Present

World Cinema Classics continue at The Paramount Theatre with a somewhat lighter tone. Although both of these films are comedies, there is a hefty dose of social commentary found in both, and they still do the heavy lifting of more serious works of art.

Last year I was reacquainted with Jacques Tati during a summer screening of Mr. Hulot's Holiday, and I find his style of minimalist comedy to be endearing and occasionally profound. Tati's recurring role of Monsieur Hulot is his signature character, and I love his lighthearted and oblivious nature to the world around him. Much like Chaplin's Little Tramp or even Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean, they offer a heavenly innocence as a respite from the society they inhabit.

Playtime was one of Tati's later films, released in 1967, and is easily his most ambitious film. It depicts an ultra-modern and futuristic Paris, where organization has taken the place of organic interaction. This time Mr. Hulot's adventures take place in a city made of glass, steel and a generally cold sense of efficiency. Basically, it's Paris if re-imagined as an Apple store (Genius Bar, indeed). The movie is populated by a variety of characters and Tati's trademark minimalist style, where sound effects drive the comedy more than the sparse dialogue.

Playtime took Tati nearly three years to complete, and when you see the film you'll know why. Creating the film required an enormous set to be built and maintained. Hundreds of construction workers toiled to create this world of concrete and glass, which even necessitated the creation of its own power station during filming. There were numerous setbacks to Tati that prolonged the making of Playtime, but he persevered in making a masterpiece to his exact standards. There's something remarkable in employing maximum effort to make something so minimalist and pure; where a man's idea can yield something magical. A complex concoction of modernization, malaise, satire and the unwavering human resistance to conformity, the film shows that the shortest distance to connect people is rarely a straight line.

Director Federico Fellini was a great fantastical style of director, and his films rank as some of the most influential of the 20th century. Known for 8½, Nights of Cabiria and La Dolce Vita, his movies are true works of art. Each reflects his unique and personal vision of memories, dreams, and society. Amarcord is Fellini's reflection on his youth when he grew up under Mussolini's regime. A free form film depicting the silliness that exist between the lines of the mundane, it depicts a memory (or fantasy?) of a people's vitality that not even fascism could keep at bay. Full of whimsy and quirky as life itself can be, it became perhaps Fellini's most accessible film.

For this film, Fellini won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film, but his legacy goes far beyond that one little gold statue. So many modern filmmakers are clearly influenced by his visual stylings, and in many ways he's the father of cinema by Martin Scorsese, Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, Pedro Almodovar, among many others.

And so the influence of foreign films of this caliber reaffirm that America is not the center of the cinematic universe. And like that old geocentric idea, it can be disproved by those who are willing to open their eyes to something new. Even if your ears are unable to understand the languages, the emotions and laughter can never be lost in translation. With so much volatility in the news this summer both here and abroad, films like these illustrate that fighting the system doesn't require anger, but instead can be fueled by joy.

Showtimes for the films:

Playtime
Thursday, Aug 11th
7:00
Sunday, Aug 14th
2:00 7:00

Amarcord
Thursday, Aug 11th
9:30
Sunday, Aug 14th
4:30

Final Notes about the screening:

$2 discount for Austin Film Society members at the box office for all "World Cinema Classics" films!

Double Features:
"When two movies are grouped together under the same thematic heading, one ticket is good for both features when viewed back-to-back on the same day." (cha-ching!)

Parking:
"Hassle-free downtown parking available for $6 at the One American Center for all summer films! Since you’re also supporting the theatre when you buy parking, they're giving you a free small soda each time you park there for a film. Buy online with your film tix and print out your confirmation e-mail or buy directly from the garage attendant (cash only). Attendant will have your soda ticket as well."

Preview: Theft and Thieves

August is there, and the sweltering heat is in full swing. These are the dog days, as they say. Doesn't some quality time in a chilly movie theater sound... amazing right about now? More over, this is not simply mindless entertainment, like that new Ryan Reynolds/Jason Bateman body switch movie.

Over the next two weeks, the Paramount Theatre is celebrating Classic World Cinema, foreign films of a much higher caliber than anything found in a local multiplex. First up are two French films from the mid 1950s, both of which pre-date the New Wave of Godard and Truffaut. Ahh, and who doesn't love that French sense of style? After all, if I recall correctly, tout le monde aimait quand Bradley Cooper parlait le français, non?

Bob Le Flambeur, released in 1956, is a stylish movie that shows director Jean-Pierre Melville's affinity for American noir and gangster films of the '30s and '40s. It's the story of Bob, an aged gambler and ex-con who is down on his luck. He's not the "Kenny Rogers" brand of gambler, he's an old school hustler; the kind of cool and suave fellow that knows everybody. And although Bob's walked the straight path for 20 years, he's tempted by a casino safe rumored to hold millions of francs. With that kind of jackpot at stake, Bob takes one last roll of the dice and plans a heist in the very place where the house always wins. Sure it's a risky venture, but it's a lot easier to go all in when you don't have much to lose.

A cool and confident movie with style in spades, Bob Le Flambeur is now considered to be a predecessor to the French New Wave of the early 1960s. Decades later, Melville's concept of the hardened yet cool gambler still echoed in 1996's Hard Eight and obviously in Steven Soderbergh's Oceans 11 trilogy. In 2002, director Neil Jordan (Mona Lisa, Interview with the Vampire, The Crying Game) remade this French classic as The Good Thief, starring Nick Nolte.

Robert Bresson is another influential French director who is known for making emotive and often gloomy yet beautiful tales. His Diary of a Country Priest and Trial of Joan of Arc are arguably his best known works, and examples of the Catholicism he injected into his stories about redemption and temptation. He made Pickpocket in 1959 and, far from a conventional crime story, more of a morality tale that many critics have compared with Dostoyevsky's novel, Crime and Punishment. In this film, Michel is a lonely pickpocket who is under the watchful eye of the local police inspector. This larceny begins as a hobby, but soon becomes an alternative to a series of harsh hands life deals him. Should he go straight? How much of a crime is his petty stealing? Or is he merely living by his wits?

So while the rest of the world feels so hot that it may well melt around you, say oui to the Paramount Theatre and take in these two influential French crime films. Allow them to steal your attention for a spell, and perhaps you can remove those myopic glasses and open your eyes to a larger worldview. After all, across the globe we often tackle the same problems, we face long odds, we suffer from the consequences of human nature, and we all feel the same relief when we can earn a respite from those overbearing dog days... or should I refer to them as the canicule de l'été? After all, that's what the French would say, ça va?

Showtimes for the films:

Bob Le Flambeur
Tuesday, Aug 9th
7:00
Wednesday, Aug 10th
8:40

Pickpocket
Tuesday, Aug 9th
9:00
Wednesday, Aug 10th
7:00

Final Notes about the screening:

$2 discount for Austin Film Society members at the box office for all "World Cinema Classics" films!

Double Features:
"When two movies are grouped together under the same thematic heading, one ticket is good for both features when viewed back-to-back on the same day." (cha-ching!)

Parking:
"Hassle-free downtown parking available for $6 at the One American Center for all summer films! Since you’re also supporting the theatre when you buy parking, they're giving you a free small soda each time you park there for a film. Buy online with your film tix and print out your confirmation e-mail or buy directly from the garage attendant (cash only). Attendant will have your soda ticket as well."