Dedicated to screening rare & significant films in their original format.
Dedicated to screening rare & significant films in their original format.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run film society.
We hold screenings at The Australian Centre for the Moving image every Wednesday night for most of the year.
Admission is by membership, which can be obtained on a monthly or yearly basis.
7:00PM AURORA
Cristi Puiu (2010) 181 mins
Unclassified 15+ (unless accompanied by an adult)
“Clocking in at an engrossing, immersive three hours, the movie is a mystery about the human soul” (Manohla Dargis) and a chillingly elliptical depiction of a day-and-a-half in the life of a middle-aged urban psychopath, played by the director with calm and measured threat. Puiu uses the full arsenal of European art cinema style to maximise ambiguity and unease. The bleakest streets of Bucharest act as an apt backdrop for the cold narrative of imminent violence.
Conceived as a grim and bracing counterpoint to F. W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, the film further develops Puiu’s profound and critical examination of human relationships in contemporary Romania. Dedicated to mentor and key influence Eric Rohmer, Puiu’s opus is “a masterly film that draws us into a world controlled by unseen forces” (Philip French).
CTEQ Annotation:
Opaque Atrocity: ‘Aurora’ by Adam Powell.
Trailer:
The Melbourne Cinémathèque started out as the Melbourne University Film Society (MUFS) in 1948 and changed its name to Cinémathèque in 1984.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque aims to present films in the medium they were created and as closely as possible to screen films the way they would have originally screened (i.e. big screen, celluloid prints, not video or DVD).
Programmes include a diverse selection of classic and contemporary films showcasing director retrospectives, special guest appearances and thematic series including archival material and new or restored prints.
We have on occasion hosted numerous seminars featuring renowned film scholars such as David Bordwell, Adrian Martin and Ian Christie. We are also dedicated to providing new annotations on the films we screen via the CTEQ annotations, hosted as a part of the quarterly online film journal Senses of Cinema.
The Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered and membership-driven relying on support from individuals, foundations, corporations and government funding to maintain its high standard of excellence. If you would like to be involved, or to offer donations or sponsorship, please contact us.
Presented by The Melbourne Cinémathèque and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.
Curated by the Melbourne Cinémathèque.
Curatorial Committee: Michael Koller, Michelle Carey, Adrian Danks and Eloise Ross with assistance from Cerise Howard.
Supported by Screen Australia and Film Victoria.
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© The Melbourne Cinémathèque
ABN 59 987 473 440
Supported by Screen Australia & Film Victoria
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