Bertrand Tavernier based this fascinating 2001 drama of the French Occupation on the memories of two of his friendsJean Aurenche, an apolitical screenwriter, and Jean Devaivre, an assistant director who served as a member of the Resistance. It’s the most textured portrait of the period I know, exploring the complex moral choices each man faced in working for a German film production company. In French with subtitles. 163 min. (JR) Read more
This program inaugurates a weekly film-and-lecture series by Jeffrey Skolar, associate professor at the School of the Art Institute, to last through mid-December. The first three works are classic 16-millimeter experimental shorts: Bruce Baillie’s All My Life (1966), Bruce Conner’s Valse Triste (1979), and Will Hindle’s Watersmith (1968). The fourth, La ricotta, is one of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s greatest films but also one of his least known. Shot in 35-millimeter for the anthology feature RoGoPaG (1963), it’s a hilarious, irreverent satire about a big-budget film shoot depicting the Crucifixion, with Orson Welles (dubbed into Italian) as the director. (JR) Read more