At the end of 2018, I discontinued the monthly First Wednesday evening films I had been showing in order to help out with the 2 pm Saturday weekly showings which were short-handed. I showed additional ones on various days in the second half of 2019, and three in January 2020 before the pandemic forced general cancellation of many activities and programs throughout the country. The film blurbs have been gleaned from various reviews. I introduce and give some background to the films, and discuss them briefly afterwards.
January 5 – Summer Hours (2008) 1 hr 43 min. Hélène is about to turn 75, and her children are gathering at her home in the country for a party. With her health beginning to fail, they must come to terms with their mother’s mortality as they decide what to do with her valuable belongings in this warm family drama from filmmaker Olivier Assayas. It was named the ninth “Best Film of the 21st Century So Far” in 2017 by The New York Times. In French, with English subtitles.
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February 2 – Get Out (2017) 1 hr 44 min. Now that Chris and his girlfriend, Rose, have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. Funny, scary, and thought-provoking, ‘Get Out’ weaves social critiques into a brilliantly effective and entertaining horror/comedy thrill ride. Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor.
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March 2 – Roma (2018) 2 hr 15 min. Story of a maid in a middle-class neighborhood of Mexico City. Vivid portrait of domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst political turmoil of the 1970s. An artful love letter to the women who raised him from Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Y Tu Mama Tambien). Academy Award for Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Cinematography. In Spanish and a Mexican dialect, with English subtitles.
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April 6 – Le Silence de la Mer (The Silence of the Sea, 1949) 1 hr 27 min. A cultured, naively idealistic German officer is billeted in the home of a middle-aged man and his grown niece. Their response to his presence – their only form of resistance – is complete silence. Constructed with elegant minimalism and shot with hushed eloquence, the first feature film by Jean-Pierre Melville (“Le Samourai”, “Army of Shadows”) remains a singularly eerie masterwork in its own right. In French, with English subtitles.
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May 4 – Hell or High Water (2016) 1 hr 42 min. A solidly crafted, well-acted neo-Western heist thriller that eschews mindless gunplay in favor of confident pacing and full-bodied characters. Beautiful and harsh and elegiac and knowing, with a complex narrative and stunning cinematography. It received four Oscar nominations including Best Picture & Best Supporting Actor (Jeff Bridges). Directed by David Mackenzie.
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June 1 – Le Trou (The Hole, 1960) 1 hr 58 min. In a Paris prison cell, five inmates use every ounce of their tenacity and ingenuity in an elaborate attempt to tunnel to freedom. Jacques Becker balances lyrical humanism with a tense, unshakable air of imminent danger. Jean-Pierre Melville hailed it as “the greatest French film of all time.” In any case, American critics found it pleasingly and sufficiently American. In French, with English subtitles.
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June 15, 7:00 pm – Lumumba (2001) 1 hr 55 min. When the Congo declared its independence from Belgium in 1960, the 36-year-old, self-educated Patrice Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent state. His vision of a united Africa gained him powerful enemies in Belgium and the U.S. A gripping drama directed by Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro), strikingly photographed in Africa and Belgium. In French and Lingala, with English subtitles.
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July 6 – Red Army (2014) 1 hr 25 min. The story of the Soviet Union’s famed Red Army hockey team, its discipline, grace and brooding soul, through the eyes of its players. Fun and fascinating, even if you don’t give two hoots about ice hockey. “A stirring, crazy story – a Russian novel of Tolstoyan sweep and Gogolesque absurdity.” (NY Times) Swift and smart, “one of the best documentaries that I have ever seen” (Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter). Directed by Gabe Polsky. In English and Russian, with English subtitles.
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August 8, 7:00 pm – Tangerines (2013), 1 hr 26 min. Set in the Caucasus during a 1992 civil war, it’s the story of Ivo, an ethnic Estonian, and his friend Margus, a tangerine farmer. A Chechen fighter, Ahmed, is wounded nearby, as is a Georgian fighter, Niko. Ivo must nurse both men. Ivo’s farmhouse looks leftover from another century, which gives a timeless feeling, as does his regal bearing and the dry humor of the script. The situation has its heartening side, but the outcome is more complex, and stirring, than you might imagine. A deeply affecting, modestly magnificent humanist fable and remarkable piece of antiwar cinema, beautifully shot and cleanly edited. Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee for best foreign-language film. In Estonian, Russian and Georgian, with English subtitles.
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August 15, 7:00 pm – Forever Pure (2016) 1 hr 27 min. – Beitar Jerusalem F.C. is the most popular and controversial soccer team in Israel, and the only club in the Israeli Premier League never to sign an Arab player. Midway through the 2012-13 season, its Israeli-Russian oligarch owner brought over two Muslim players from Chechnya. A furor ensued. Winner of Best Director of a Documentary award for Maya Zinshtein at the Jerusalem Film Festival, and of an Emmy Award for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. “Eye-opening… high quality-piece of factual filmmaking” (Wendy Ide, Screen Daily). “One hell of a documentary” (The Hollywood Reporter). In Hebrew, with English subtitles.
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August 22, 7:00 pm – The Edukators (2005) 2 hr 7 min. Jan (Daniel Bruhl), an idealistic crusader against the injustices brought about by the maldistribution of wealth, and his best friend Peter have come up with a way of protesting the status quo. Peter’s girlfriend Julie works as a waitress at a posh restaurant and is still unable to pay her rent on time. A sweet, funny and gripping romantic adventure that mixes menace with charm and satire with seriousness. Smart, well acted and memorable, with an excellent twist ending. It is youth, in all its contrariness, folly and passion, that The Edukators ultimately celebrates. One of the best movies from Germany so far this century (British Film Institute, 2018). With English subtitles.
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August 29, 7:00 pm – American Factory (2019) 1 hr 55 min. In 2015 the Chinese glass manufacturing giant Fuyao re-opened a huge factory near Dayton, Ohio, which General Motors had shut down during the financial crisis in 2008. Fuyao hired many of the laid-off GM workers. When workers eventually attempt to unionize, management does everything possible to stop them. Can common ground be found in an uneven labor dispute? Barack and Michelle Obama’s 1st film project. Brief conversation at the end between the Obamas and the directors of the documentary, Steven Bognar and three-time Academy Award nominee Julia Reichert. A complex and beautifully shot story that earned the Directing Award for US Documentary at Sundance, and it’s already drumming up Oscar buzz. Rave reviews from The New York Times and Washington Post. In English, with some Mandarin Chinese.
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September 7 – Infernal Affairs (2002) 1 hr 41 min. A Hong Kong police officer infiltrates a triad while another officer secretly works for the same gang. Martin Scorsese translated the story into The Departed‘s Oscar gold, but Infernal Affairs is out-of-this-world brilliant. It gets on with it and sucks you in immediately. You won’t be able to stop thinking about it. Tony Leung and Andy Lau are on a different planet. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. Directed by Lau and Alan Mak.
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September 19, 7 pm – The Deep Blue Sea (2011) 1 hr 38 min – A woman’s attempt to live by the dictates of her heart rather than the expectations of society, in the years just after World War II when England seemed poised uneasily between the old and the new. For both Terence Rattigan, who wrote the 1952 play featuring one of the greatest roles for an actress in modern theater, and Terence Davies, who directed this movie starring Rachel Weisz in an outstanding performance, it is also about a gay man’s sympathetic identification with such a woman – a vicar’s daughter, a gentleman’s wife and a soldier’s lover who suffers like an operatic heroine. Visually stunning, wonderful period details.
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October 5 – 56 Up (2012) 2 hr 24 min In 1964, British TV produced a film titled “7 Up,” which focused on the lives, hopes and expectations of 14 children. Every seven years since then, the series has revisited them. They provide perspectives that are frequently surprising. “One of the most rewarding documentary projects of all time” (Film Society of Lincoln Center). Directed by Michael Apted.
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October 12 – Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) 1 hr 32 min. Tells the story of a Jewish man born on the same day as and next door to Jesus Christ, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah. The group’s sharpest and smartest satire of both religion and Hollywood’s epic films. Also pokes fun at 1970s British left-wing politics. Directed by Terry Jones.
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October 17, 7:00 pm – Floating Weeds (1959) 1 hr 59 min. An aging actor returns to a small seaside town with his troupe and reconnects with an old flame and their now-grown son. This does not go over well with his current mistress. Yasujiro Ozu weaves an atmosphere of peaceful tranquility, of music and processions and leisurely conversations, and then explodes emotional secrets. All done with hypnotic visual beauty. One of Roger Ebert’s ten greatest films of all time. In Japanese, with English subtitles.
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November 2 – 45 Years (2015) 1 hr 35 min. Geoff and Kate Mercer’s plans for a 45th anniversary party are upset by unexpected news: a body found in the Swiss Alps has been identified as Geoff’s long-ago love Katya, who perished in an accident 50 years earlier. A mesmerizing acting showcase for Tom Courtenay and Oscar-nominated Charlotte Rampling. Directed by Andrew Haigh.
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November 15 – Graduation (2016) 2 hr 8 min. An injury puts a young woman’s university scholarship at risk. Her father is faced with moral choices. Best Director prize at Cannes for Cristian Mungiu. In Romanian, with English subtitles.
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December 7 – The Company You Keep (2013) 2 hr 5 min. Jim Grant, a lawyer in Albany, N.Y., is forced to go on the run when a former fellow Weather Underground member is arrested. This reflective thriller-melodrama may conjure complicated feelings among an older audience. Starring Robert Redford, with Shia LaBeouf, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins, Julie Christie. Directed by Robert Redford.
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December 11 – Marriage Story (2019) 2 hr 16 min. A couple negotiate their divorce. Harrowing, hilarious, and deeply moving. “Funny and sad, sometimes within a single scene” (New York Times). With Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, and a couple of Stephen Sondheim song and dance numbers. Directed by Noah Baumbach.
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December 17 – The Report (2019) 1 hr 58 min. A riveting thriller based on actual events. Idealistic staffer Daniel Jones (Adam Driver) is tasked by his boss Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) to lead an investigation of the C.I.A.’s Detention and Interrogation Program. Jones’ relentless pursuit of the truth leads to explosive findings. Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe nomination for Annette Bening. Directed by Scott Z. Burns. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd gave a shout-out last Sunday to “the heroic saga of Daniel Jones.” Directed by Scott Z. Burns.
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December 22 – The Two Popes (2019) 2 hr 5 min. Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce are sheer bliss to watch in this engaging dramatization of Pope Benedict and the soon-to-be Pope Francis and their theological disputations. But it doesn’t shy away from the latter’s relating with the junta when he was the head of the Jesuits in Argentina in the 1970s. Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay. Directed by Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener) from a screenplay by Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody).
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January 5, 2020 – Where’s My Roy Cohn? (2019) 1 hr 37 min. Roy Cohn personified the dark arts of 20th-century American politics, turning empty vessels into dangerous demagogues – from Senator Joseph McCarthy to his final project, Donald J. Trump. The film unearths the origins of the seditious right wing’s ascent, revealing how a deeply troubled master manipulator shaped our current political world. It exposes Cohn’s malign influence, racing his rise to national prominence – first as prosecutor of the Rosenbergs, then as handmaiden to Joseph McCarthy. He re-emerges as a New York power broker, mafia consigliere, white-collar criminal, and, eventually, Trump’s mentor. A blistering spotlight on the horrifying story of the ultimate string-puller whose diabolical influence helped set the United States on its current course. (Excerpted from Sundance Film Festival program notes)
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January 20, 2020 – Honeyland (2019) 1 hr 27 min. A luminous neorealist fable about a Macedonian beekeeper that seems to transcend time altogether. Quiet, intimate and intense, but touched with a breath of epic grandeur. Rated by A.O. Scott, co-chief film critic of The New York Times, as the No. 1 movie of the year. “One of the most beautiful portraits of love, work, and life that you’ll see in nonfiction film this year” (Slate). It’s made Oscar history as the first film ever to be nominated for Academy Awards for International Feature (Best Foreign Language Film) and Documentary Feature in the same year. Directed by Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov. In Turkish, with English subtitles.
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January 26, 2020 – Peterloo (,2018) 2 hr 28 min. Sumptuously shot, convincingly acted drama depicting, four years after Waterloo, the social conditions and political debates leading to the great outdoor assembly in 1819 in St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, that was met with butchery by the British ruling class. Percy Shelley wrote on the occasion of the massacre: Rise, like lions after slumber / In unvanquishable number… Ye are many – they are few. One of the 10 best movies of the year (A.O. Scott, The New York Times). “A major representation of a major event in the history of class struggle.”- Peter Linebaugh. Directed by Mike Leigh (“Secrets & Lies”, “Vera Drake”, “Mr. Turner”). Closed captions.
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Film showings in Morningside Gardens 