In his latest feature, documentarian and cinephile Alexandre O. Philippe (78/52) directs his focus toward David Lynch: a filmmaker who has elicited more curiosity from audiences than any other filmmaker, and met it with nearly no answers. Philippe enlists an impressive cast of Lynch enthusiasts and colleagues– including filmmakers John Waters and Karyn Kusama, and critic Amy Nicholson– to probe into the thing Philippe believes is at the core of Lynch’s filmography: The Wizard of Oz. LYNCH/OZ offers a compelling…
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Werckmeister Harmonies 2000
Slow cinema master Béla Tarr– in a co-directing effort with Ágnes Hranitzky– crafted a prescient tale of social unrest in his long-elusive WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES. In this haunting adaptation of László Krasznahorkai’s novel The Melancholy of Resistance, viewers are plunged into the point of view of János: a cosmos-obsessed paper carrier, whose village has unwillingly become host to a mysterious traveling circus. Among this century’s great masterworks, WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES is a timeless story of societal agitation and discontent, and the resulting…
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Boy 1969
One of Nagisa Oshima’s more tragic societal critiques, BOY is a warning about the effect of post-war Japan’s economic scaffolding on even its smallest units. The film follows Toshio: a ten-year old whose parents use him as the centerpiece of an elaborate scheme that involves staging car accidents, then extorting the drivers. BOY is a haunting argument against capitalist systems, and the moral corruption they breed.
Screening on Friday 5/12 and Saturday 5/13 at Film at Lincoln Center as part of The World of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Tickets here
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The Last Emperor 1987
Bernardo Bertolucci’s Best Picture winner THE LAST EMPEROR showcases both the musical and acting talents of the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. THE LAST EMPEROR follows the life of Pu Yi– the final emperor in China’s long reign– from his ascent to power as a child, to his later imprisonment by the Chinese Communist Party, and a complete fall from grace as a forgotten memory of China’s monarchal past. Sakamoto, who plays Japanese imperial officer Masahiku Amakasu, additionally scores this epic…
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Mysterious Object at Noon 2000
Even in his feature debut, Apichatpong Weerasethakul hones in on themes and a style that courses through his entire filmography: from folklore, to the surreal and spiritual, and the blurry line between what is real, and what isn’t. In MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON, Thai villagers are enlisted to spontaneously conceive scenes for a collective story– an increasingly mystical daisy chain replete with spirit animals, and witchcraft. MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON plays this Saturday (5/6), and Tuesday 5/16 as part of The World of Apichatpong Weerasthakul at Film at Lincoln Center, with Apichatpong in person Saturday for a Q&A. Tickets here
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I Vitelloni 1953
A masterful study of living in limbo, Fellini’s I VITELLONI arrives in NYC this weekend. I VITELLONI follows five young men over the course of a year as they blunder through a series of inconsequential days and nights, considering what shape their lives may take– whether by choice, or by default– as the possibility of leaving their hometown grows more distant. Be sure not to miss the new 4K restoration of this early Fellini feature starting Friday (5/5) at Film Forum.
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The Eight Mountains 2022
NYT Critic’s Pick THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS opens this weekend in NYC. Based on the celebrated novel of the same name, this intimate, decades-spanning epic uses the Italian Alps as its backdrop for the story of a friendship as deep as it is complicated. After the death of his father, Pietro– a young writer estranged from his family– endeavors to realize his father’s dream of building a mountain-side cabin, enlisting his childhood friend Bruno’s help. From their first summer together as…
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Drylongso 1998
A hidden gem of 1990s DIY-cinema, Cauleen Smith’s recently restored debut DRYLONGSO opens this weekend at NYC’s Film at Lincoln Center. A prescient tale of love, friendship, and community, DRYLONGSO follows UCLA photography student Pica as she endeavors to photograph Oakland’s black male population– who she claims are “going extinct.” Following its 1999 premiere at Sundance, Smith’s film remained tragically unseen and unavailable for nearly twenty five years.
Be sure to catch it now in theaters!
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The Innocent 2022
Louis Garrel’s wildly entertaining new feature THE INNOCENT opens this weekend in NYC. Garrel leads the cast as Abel: a young oceanographer still reeling from the death of his wife, and whose concern over his mother’s recent marriage to an ex-con unexpectedly pulls him into a criminal turn of his own. Hilarious and irresistibly tender, THE INNOCENT is an exciting addition to the filmography of one of France’s most compelling young directors.
Be sure to catch Garrel in person for Q&A’s at NYC’s IFC Center!