Cinematheque Film Schedule

United States | 2017 | Kogonada

Columbus, Indiana, is known for its concentration of modernist buildings by Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Robert Venturi, César Pelli, and others. This architectural mecca is the setting for this tender, low-key indie drama, the first feature by celebrated video essayist Kogonada and one of the most acclaimed movies of the year. The film follows two people—a disenchanted Korean-American man (John Cho) who has come to Columbus to attend to his comatose father, and a young...

South Africa | 2017 | John Trengove

This acclaimed, inflammatory film, which some have hailed as the African Moonlight, breaks two taboos. First, it shows the traditional, heretofore secret, South African initiation rite of “ulwaluko,” during which Xhosa teen boys undergo circumcision as part of a journey to manhood. Secondly, it interjects homosexuality into this much revered rite of passage with a story about a reluctant gay initiate and two older, already circumcized closeted gays who accompany the boys as “caregivers” on...

France | 1967 | Jean-Luc Godard

Jean-Luc Godard anticipated the political upheaval of May ‘68 with this polemical comedy about a group of disenchanted French young people (Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Godard’s then-wife Anne Wiazemsky, et al.) who set up a Maoist cell in their apartment and try to put their revolutionary ideals into practice. A dazzling Pop Art collage of posters, slogans, and words, the film captures the era’s young radicals in all their earnestness and naiveté. “It may be...

United States | 2014 | Tim K. Smith

Case Western Reserve University’s college radio station, WRUW 91.1 FM, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. This independent, free-thinking broadcaster is to commercial radio stations what the Cinematheque is to multiplex movie theaters. So tonight we salute our fellow alternative programmers with a recent documentary about another of America’s longtime non-commercial, indie radio stations, WFMU in NJ. Listener-supported WFMU is the longest running freeform radio station in the U.S., but raising money remains a...

United States | 1982 | John Carpenter

A shape-shifting, extraterrestrial life form threatens the inhabitants of an Antarctic research station in John Carpenter’s elaborate, special effects-laden remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks/Christian Nyby classic The Thing from Another World. Largely panned when first released, this gripping sci-fi thriller is now regarded as one of the great modern horror movies. With Kurt Russell; music by Ennio Morricone. Adults only! Scope. 109 min.

United States | 1920 | John S. Robertson

A decade or so ago, one of Austin’s quirkiest and most popular bands, The Invincible Czars, branched out and started to accompany silent films. Playing for their first movie at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the four-person group soon had a regular silent movie series at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz. They also began touring the U.S. with their film scores, which incorporate guitar, bass, violin, keyboard, winds, percussion, and vocals. Tonight The Invincible Czars make...

Germany | 1922 | F.W. Murnau

Austin’s ace silent film accompanists The Invincible Czars (see 10/6 at 7:00 pm) accompany F.W. Murnau’s spectral classic—one of the earliest and creepiest of all vampire movies—in their second of tonight’s two shows. An unauthorized version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Nosferatu stars Max Schreck as the ghoulish Count Orlok, who trains his fangs, talons, and beady eyes on an unsuspecting real estate agent and his beautiful young wife. The Invincible Czars’ popular, oft-performed score will...

France | 1970 | Jean-Luc Godard

Jean-Pierre Léaud and Juliet Berto star in this pivotal Godard film in which JLG sought to reinvent political cinema. Begun before (and completed after) the events of May, 1968, the movie—nominally an adaptation of Rosseau’s 1762 treatise on education, Émile—focuses on two militants who converse about language, learning, and revolution between barrages of photos and newsreels, comic strips, advertising, voiceovers, and music. “Playful…Seductive…Shamelessly beautiful.” –J. Hoberman, NY Times. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 95 min.

United States | 1982 | John Carpenter

A shape-shifting, extraterrestrial life form threatens the inhabitants of an Antarctic research station in John Carpenter’s elaborate, special effects-laden remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks/Christian Nyby classic The Thing from Another World. Largely panned when first released, this gripping sci-fi thriller is now regarded as one of the great modern horror movies. With Kurt Russell; music by Ennio Morricone. Adults only! Scope. 109 min.

Italy | 1966 | Mario Bava

The murderous ghost of a child terrifies a Transylvanian village in one of the best of the stylish, atmospheric thrillers by Italian horror/fantasy maestro Mario Bava (Black Sunday, Black Sabbath). Presented here in a new restoration of its original Italian version, this creepy color classic directly inspired Fellini, Scorsese, and Lynch. “Four stars (highest rating)…Arguably Bava’s greatest achievement.” –Slant Magazine. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 83 min.

United States | 1991 | William E. Jones

The first movie by artist and filmmaker William E. Jones is an unconventional autobiography centered on Jones’ Ohio hometown. Beautiful, evocative images and Jones’ own eloquent narration—and no human actors—tell a story about growing up gay in a small, conservative Midwestern city. “A homo road movie in which gay icons are nowhere to be seen. Massillon uses the quiet landscapes of the American Midwest to look at a history disfigured by myths of the family,...

United States | 1998-2017 | William E. Jones

Internationally known artist and filmmaker William E. Jones presents and discusses a program of his wide-ranging short videos, including his latest work, Fall into Ruin. This new movie details Jones’ relationship with a longtime Greek art dealer whose collection of ancient and modern art disappeared after his death in 1987. Also showing: A Great Way of Life (2015), a mash-up of TV images from the Vietnam War era; Shoot Don’t Shoot (2012), an adaptation of...

United States | 1981 | John Carpenter

1997. The island of Manhattan has become America’s only maximum security prison. When Air Force One crash lands there and the President is taken hostage by a ruthless crime lord, one-eyed former bank robber Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is given 24 hours to rescue him. Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, and Isaac Hayes co-star in John Carpenter’s “futuristic” cult classic, one of the director’s best movies. DCP. 99 min.

United States | 1962/2007 | William E. Jones

One of the most famous and explosive works by William E. Jones (see 10/12) is a compilation of silent Mansfield (OH) Police Department surveillance footage that was shot clandestinely through a two-way mirror in a public men’s room during the summer of 1962. As part of this crackdown on public sex, 30 defendants captured on film were found guilty of sodomy and each was sentenced to at least one year in the state pen. Tearoom...

Mexico | 1966 | Arturo Ripstein

Latin American literary giants Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes co-wrote the first feature directed by Mexico’s master filmmaker Arturo Ripstein. Selected as a 2016 “Cannes classic” and only now being released in the U.S., this “chili Western” tells of an ex-con who served 18 years in prison for murder and now wants to lead a quiet life. But the sons of the man he killed have been waiting to take their own revenge. Cleveland...

United States | 2017 | Frederick Wiseman

Frederick Wiseman’s 42nd documentary continues the honorary Oscar winner’s lifelong interest in American institutions. This time his subject is the New York Public Library, one of the world’s great institutions of learning, with 92 branches, an engaged staff, and passionate patrons. The director’s unobtrusive, observant camera takes us behind the scenes. “Frederick Wiseman's next instant classic.” –Indiewire. DCP. 197 min.

United States | 2017 | Frederick Wiseman

Frederick Wiseman’s 42nd documentary continues the honorary Oscar winner’s lifelong interest in American institutions. This time his subject is the New York Public Library, one of the world’s great institutions of learning, with 92 branches, an engaged staff, and passionate patrons. The director’s unobtrusive, observant camera takes us behind the scenes. “Frederick Wiseman's next instant classic.” –Indiewire. DCP. 197 min.

Mexico | 1966 | Arturo Ripstein

Latin American literary giants Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes co-wrote the first feature directed by Mexico’s master filmmaker Arturo Ripstein. Selected as a 2016 “Cannes classic” and only now being released in the U.S., this “chili Western” tells of an ex-con who served 18 years in prison for murder and now wants to lead a quiet life. But the sons of the man he killed have been waiting to take their own revenge. Cleveland...

United States | 1981 | John Carpenter

1997. The island of Manhattan has become America’s only maximum security prison. When Air Force One crash lands there and the President is taken hostage by a ruthless crime lord, one-eyed former bank robber Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is given 24 hours to rescue him. Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, and Isaac Hayes co-star in John Carpenter’s “futuristic” cult classic, one of the director’s best movies. DCP. 99 min.

Mexico | 2016 | Amat Escalante

A Mexican wife and mother and her brutish husband live near a newly created meteor crater. They soon find themselves getting jiggy with a tentacled alien that probably arrived with the rock. (Talk about close encounters!) Amat Escalante’s first feature since he won best director at Cannes 2013 for his harrowing narco-thriller Heli is a wild horror/sci-fi fantasy that may be a parable about machismo, chauvinism, and homophobia. Andrzej ZuÅ‚awski (Possession) would be proud. Adults...

United States | 1986 | John Carpenter

Kurt Russell plays a tough (but mostly toothless) truck driver who tangles with Chinese gangsters, warriors, sorcerers, and spirits while trying to rescue and retrieve a kidnapped young woman from the bowels of San Francisco’s Chinatown. John Carpenter’s rowdy, entertaining “kung fu Western buddy Chinese ghost love story” (Entertainment Weekly) has become a major cult favorite. With Kim Cattrall. DCP. 99 min.

France | 2016 | Bertrand Bonello

A diverse group of young Parisian radicals plots a series of bomb attacks around the city before meeting up at their hideout, a luxury department store that, after hours, turns into a consumerist playground for them. This sensuously shot new film from the director of Saint Laurent and House of Pleasures shuns sociology and character motivation to focus on the abiding sense of angst and unease that has recently pervaded city life in the West....

Canada, United States | 1967 | Michael Snow

Michael Snow’s rigorous study of space and time is one of the most famous, revered, and influential experimental films ever made—a slow, 45-minute zoom through a room. Yet this single shot encompasses four human events (including a death) and is augmented by dialogue, music, and sound effects. With Hollis Frampton. Preceded at 5:00 by the rare sound version of Stan Brakhage’s Scenes from Under Childhood Part 1 (USA, 1967), which Brakhage called “a visualization of...

France | 2016 | Bertrand Bonello

A diverse group of young Parisian radicals plots a series of bomb attacks around the city before meeting up at their hideout, a luxury department store that, after hours, turns into a consumerist playground for them. This sensuously shot new film from the director of Saint Laurent and House of Pleasures shuns sociology and character motivation to focus on the abiding sense of angst and unease that has recently pervaded city life in the West....

United States | 1986 | John Carpenter

Kurt Russell plays a tough (but mostly toothless) truck driver who tangles with Chinese gangsters, warriors, sorcerers, and spirits while trying to rescue and retrieve a kidnapped young woman from the bowels of San Francisco’s Chinatown. John Carpenter’s rowdy, entertaining “kung fu Western buddy Chinese ghost love story” (Entertainment Weekly) has become a major cult favorite. With Kim Cattrall. DCP. 99 min.

Poland | 1957-82 | various directors

2017 marks the 70th anniversary of animated movies in Poland. To commemorate the occasion, we and the Polish Cultural Institute in New York co-present a program of ten mid-20th century prize winners and other classics by some of the country’s master animators. Program includes: Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk’s Once There Was (1957); Mirosław Kijowicz’s Banner (1965); Witold Giersz’s Red and Black (1964); Kazimierz Urbański’s Sweet Rhythms (1965); Ryszard Czekala’s The Son (1970); Daniel Szczechura’s...

Romania | 2016 | Cristi Puiu

The new film from the director of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is an intimate family epic in which a large Romanian clan gathers at an apartment for a ritual dinner and memorial service 40 days after the death of the patriarch. As siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins arrive and overflow into various rooms, the stage is set for a multiplicity of mini-dramas and arguments (about everything from 9/11 conspiracy theories to Romania’s Communist past)—especially...

United States | 1988 | John Carpenter

A special pair of sunglasses allows a construction worker to see American society as it really is: run by powerful aliens who control the general population with subliminal messages to buy, breed, submit, and conform. John Carpenter’s subversive sci-fi/horror movie has become a major cult classic. “One of the forgotten masterpieces of the Hollywood Left.” –Slavoj Žižek. Scope. 94 min.

United States | 1968 | George A. Romero

George Romero’s made-in-Pittsburgh masterpiece that launched the modern zombie movie craze has been seen for decades in prints and videos of diminished, degraded, or adulterated (via colorization and 3D) visual quality. This is because the un-copyrighted film went early into the public domain. But now The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, working with Romero and the movie’s producers, have returned to the original camera negative (and original audio) to assemble a pristine...

France | 1968 | Orson Welles

The late Jeanne Moreau co-stars with Orson Welles in this haunting, rarely shown late Welles film (his first feature in color) made for French television. Based (like Babette’s Feast and Out of Africa) on an Isak Dinesen story, this sumptuous production is set in 19th-century Macao, where a wealthy merchant (Welles) uses his money and influence to make a legendary tale come true: one about an old man who hires a lucky sailor to impregnate...

United States | 1932 | James Whale

Strangers stranded by a storm converge at a gloomy, sinister mansion inhabited by maniacs and murderers in this delightful mixture of gallows humor and gripping suspense. James (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) Whale’s eerie Pre-Code masterpiece stars Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart, and Ernest Thesiger. “The greatest of all horror films…Nothing better in this vein has ever been done, before or since.” –William K. Everson. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 72 min.

United States | 1968 | George A. Romero

George Romero’s made-in-Pittsburgh masterpiece that launched the modern zombie movie craze has been seen for decades in prints and videos of diminished, degraded, or adulterated (via colorization and 3D) visual quality. This is because the un-copyrighted film went early into the public domain. But now The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, working with Romero and the movie’s producers, have returned to the original camera negative (and original audio) to assemble a pristine...

France | 1968 | Orson Welles

The late Jeanne Moreau co-stars with Orson Welles in this haunting, rarely shown late Welles film (his first feature in color) made for French television. Based (like Babette’s Feast and Out of Africa) on an Isak Dinesen story, this sumptuous production is set in 19th-century Macao, where a wealthy merchant (Welles) uses his money and influence to make a legendary tale come true: one about an old man who hires a lucky sailor to impregnate...

United States | 1932 | James Whale

Strangers stranded by a storm converge at a gloomy, sinister mansion inhabited by maniacs and murderers in this delightful mixture of gallows humor and gripping suspense. James (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) Whale’s eerie Pre-Code masterpiece stars Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart, and Ernest Thesiger. “The greatest of all horror films…Nothing better in this vein has ever been done, before or since.” –William K. Everson. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 72 min.

Spain | 1971 | Pere Portabella

This experimental feature by the Catalan director of The Silence Before Bach (2007) blends footage from the set of Jess Franco’s 1970 Christopher Lee film Count Dracula with asynchronous sound and an electronic soundtrack. It’s a playful but serious work in which the “undead” refers to both General Franco, the bloodthirsty avatar of a fascism that won’t die, and the cinema itself, which reanimates the dead. “Cuadecuc” is a Catalan word meaning “worm’s tail” that...

United States | 1988 | John Carpenter

A special pair of sunglasses allows a construction worker to see American society as it really is: run by powerful aliens who control the general population with subliminal messages to buy, breed, submit, and conform. John Carpenter’s subversive sci-fi/horror movie has become a major cult classic. “One of the forgotten masterpieces of the Hollywood Left.” –Slavoj Žižek. Scope. 94 min.