January
6, 2004
Block Films Feature Taiwan, Hollywood, Kurosawa
EVANSTON ---
Block Cinema, a collaboration of Northwestern University’s
School of Communication and the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of
Art, will screen three new film series for Winter 2004 that focus
on modern-day Taiwan, classic Hollywood comedies and film noirs,
and films by legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.
This winter,
Block Cinema will screen 35 classic and contemporary films in
the James B. Pick and Rosalyn M. Laudati Auditorium, the
museum’s 150-seat facility at 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
campus. The films begin at 8 p.m. or as noted below.
• New Taiwanese Cinema Series. In
celebration of a gift of 16 mm prints from the Taiwanese Economic
and Cultural
Office in Chicago, Block Cinema has curated a series of New Taiwanese
Cinema that will be screened Wednesday evenings. With intricately
composed shots and focus on community through ensemble casts and
long shots, these new Taiwanese films have played a crucial role
in critiquing and understanding Taiwan’s history and culture.
This Block Cinema series will begin with Edward Yang’s “The
Terrorizer” (Jan. 7), an early and seminal example of New
Taiwanese Cinema. Other films in this series are Chang Yi’s “Kuei-mei,
A Woman” (Jan. 14); Hou Hsiao-hsian’s “Dust in
the Wind” (Jan. 21), “City of Sadness” (Jan.
28) and “Good Man, Good Woman” (Feb. 25); Ann Hui’s “Song
of the Exile” (Feb. 4); Ang Lee’s “Pushing Hands” (Feb.
10); Huang Shugin’s “Soul of a Painter (Feb. 18); Edward
Yang’s 2000 film “Yi Yi” (March 3); and Tsai
Ming Ling’s film “What Time Is It There?” (March
10). The series is sponsored by the Center for Global Culture and
Communication at Northwestern University.
• Class in Classic Hollywood Series. In
conjunction with the “American Expressionism: Art and Social
Change, 1920s-1950s” exhibition on view in the Mary and Leigh
Block Museum of Art’s Main Gallery from Jan. 30 to May 9,
Block Cinema will present a film series on “Class in Classic
Hollywood” on Thursday evenings. The series of class comedies
usually affirms the status quo while the film noirs draw attention
to the plight of the less fortunate. Among the comedies that Block
Cinema will present will be Frank Capra’s 1934 film “It
Happened One Night” (Jan. 8), George Cukor’s “Holiday” (Jan.
15) and “The Philadelphia Story” (Jan. 22); John Ford’s “The
Grapes of Wrath” (Jan. 29); Preston Sturges “Sullivan’s
Travels” (Feb. 5); Orson Welles’ “The Lady from
Shanghai” (Feb. 12); Abraham Polonsky’s “Forces
of Evil” (Feb. 19); Delmer Daves’ “Destination
Tokyo” (Feb. 26); Jules Dassin’s “Night and the
City”(March 4); and Herbert J. Biberman’s “Salt
of the Earth” (March 11).
• Akira Kurosawa Series. Friday
nights, the students of Northwestern’s Film and Projection Society
(FPS) have programmed a series of Akira Kurosawa’s movies.
One of Japan’s greatest filmmakers, Kurosawa‘s influence
on American and European film is difficult to over estimate. Especially
influencing the Western with his sense of spectacle and tragedy,
Kurosawa made movies of all genres. The scope and scale of his
talent make it impossible to recommend just one Kurosawa movie.
The Kurosawa series features “Rashomon” (Jan. 9); “Ikiru” (Jan.
16); “The Seven Samurai” (7 p.m. Jan. 23); “Throne
of Blood” (Jan. 30); ”Yojimbo” (Feb. 6); “Red
Beard” (7 p.m. Feb. 13); “Dersu Uzala” (Feb.
20); “Kagemusha” (Feb. 27); “Ran” (March
5); and “Dreams” (March 12).
Special screenings
include three free films -- Guy Maddin’s “Pages
From a Virgin’s Dairy” and “The Heart of the
World” -- and Joe Grazulis’ 20-minute short feature “Trailers” (Jan.
27).
There also
will be a Valentine’s Day showing of Cameron
Crowe’s “Say Anything,” starring John Cusack
(Feb. 14) and a Reeltime screening of two films -- Conrad Friberg’s
1932 documentary “Halsted Street” and David E. Simpson’s
1999 documentary “Halsted Street, U.S.A.” (7:30 p.m.
Feb. 11).
On Feb. 19
there will be a 6:15 p.m. pre-concert screening of D. A. Pennebaker
and Chris Hegedus’s 1980 film “Elliott
Carter at Buffalo” prior to the 7:30 p.m. New Music Northwestern “Elliott
Carter 95th Birthday Celebration” concert at Pick-Staiger
Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus, in honor of
the American composer.
In October
1979, Carter arrived in Buffalo to hear a group of first-rate
musicians rehearse and perform “Double Concerto,” his
complex modern work for piano and harpsichord. “This film
is a unique record not only of the making of a concert performance,
but an informative look at the collaboration between musicians
and a renowned conductor,” said Pennebaker. The free Block
Cinema screening will include a pre-concert talk by several of
the artists featured in both the film and the Celebration concert.
(Single concert ticket prices range from $3.50 to $6.50. For tickets
to the Pick-Staiger concert, call (847) 467-4000.)
Herbert Brenon’s 1928 film “Laugh, Clown, Laugh” (Feb.
21) will be presented with an original score and live musical accompaniment
by Pinetop Seven, a musical ensemble from Chicago that combines
film noir song with exotica style orchestrations. Tickets for this
special event are $10.
Block Cinema is generously supported by the Louis Family Foundation
and James B. Pick and Rosalyn M. Laudati.
General admission is $6 or $4 for students with identification.
Special events are $10. A season pass is $20. Free parking is available
in the lot directly south of the Block Museum. For more information
about all of the winter screenings, call the Block Cinema Hotline
at (847) 491-4000 or go to the Block Cinema Web site at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/blockcinema. |