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 Australia 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 – BOY
Nagisa Ōshima (1969) 97 mins
A young boy is exploited by his father and stepmother as bait in an extortion scheme, conning motorists into paying compensation for faked road injuries. Ōshima forgoes his favoured mode of analytical detachment to present the boy’s confused perspective of his deranged family through visceral montage and fantasy sequences.
Starring first timer Tetsuo Abe and Fumio Watanabe (from Ōshima’s Cruel Story of Youth and Death by Hanging) as his war veteran father. With Akiko Koyama.
35mm print courtesy of the Japan Foundation
Trailer:
Preceded by
Yunbogi’s Diary
Nagisa Ōshima (1965) 30 mins
A haunting photographic essay on the plight of Seoul’s street children.
35mm print courtesy of the National Film & Sound Archive, Australia.
9.15PM – DIARY OF A SHINJUKU THIEF
Nagisa Ōshima (1969) 96 mins
Shot in the midst of political upheaval, Ōshima’s film viscerally captures, in handheld black-and-white, the unrest of the ’60s student movement in Tokyo’s vibrant Shinjuku district. Co-written with infamous militant Masao Adachi, the story concerns a young man caught stealing a book from famed bookstore Kinokuniya. Together with the female bookstore clerk, he is propelled into the city’s streets in search of sexual ecstasy and political freedom, encountering a plethora of real-life characters from Japan’s literati along the way.
“An explosive agitprop movie equating sexual liberation with revolution, whose impact has cooled only marginally” (The Guardian).
35mm print courtesy of the Japan Foundation.
Trailer:
The Cinémathèque team is taking a break for a few weeks because our equivalent of Christmas starts on the 1st of August this year. We resume screenings on the 27th of August so until then, you’ll be able to find us at The Melbourne International Film Festival. So, while we’re busy frantically planning our schedules, we thought we’d share our top picks.
Although there are some recurring names in our lists – Rivette, Breillat, Godard, Wiseman – we resisted collating our lists because of the variety of tastes and sensibilities. This motley bunch of cinephiles, film scholars and filmmakers tried to keep it to a top 5 but occasionally our excitement got the better of us. Apart from Michelle, none of us have seen the films in the lists below. Our anticipation is based on the love for the director, reputation and/or gut feelings. See you there.
MICHELLE CAREY – Curator
One of our senior programmers, Michelle Carey, is also MIFF’s Artistic Director so is particularly qualified to pass on recommendations. Her picks, with a few links to some great writing on her favourites:
Absolutely yes to:
HARD TO BE A GOD
OUT 1
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE
JAUJA
JEALOUSY
Wild card under the radar titles:
SOFT IN THE HEAD
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/film/soft_in_the_head_silver
BUZZARD
http://filmcomment.com/entry/interview-joel-potrykus-buzzard
http://cinema-scope.com/features/declarations-independence-conversation-alex-ross-perry-joel-potrykus-film-production-distribution-reception/
Ennui Ennui + L FOR LEISURE
http://cinema-scope.com/spotlight/rotterdam-m-mellow/
http://indielisboa.pt/indie/en/movie/ennui-ennui/
THE UNITY OF ALL THINGS
http://www.filmcomment.com/entry/review-unity-of-all-things-alexander-carver-and-daniel-schmidt
LIL QUINQUIN
Probably one of my favourites of the whole festival. It’s right up the back of the program but don’t forget it. http://criticsroundup.com/film/lil-quinquin/
MICHAEL KOLLER – Executive Director
ABUSE OF WEAKNESS
AT BERKELEY
JOURNEY TO THE WEST
LE DEPART
BLACK COAL, THIN ICE.
LOUISE SHEEDY – President, Program Manager
Apart from the big names (Rivette, Breillat, Moodysson and Ferrara in the same fest: wow), I’m most looking forward to…
PRINCESS OF FRANCE (Piñeiro) CONCERNING VIOLENCE (Olsson)
APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR (Akhavan)
LOCKE (Knight)
FOCUS ON INFINITY (Burger)
MY NAME IS SALT (Pacha)
ADRIAN DANKS – Programmer
AT BERKELEY (Wiseman)
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE (Godard)
LE DEPART (Skoliwowski)
SONG (Dorsky)
QUEEN & COUNTRY (Boorman)
ELOISE ROSS – Secretary, Publicity Coordinator
PHASE IV (Saul Bass!!!)
MANAKAMANA (Harvard Sensory Laboratory)
HARD TO BE A GOD (German)
OUR SUNHI (Hong Sang-Soo)
THE VANQUISHING OF THE WITCH BABA YAGA (Oreck)
AT BERKELEY (Wiseman)
MY MISTRESS – because Harrison Gilbertson is a really interesting actor and I can’t wait to see him here with Emmanuelle Béart
TIL MADNESS DO US PART — loved ALONE last year, this will be a Wang Bing endurance test!
PAUL JEFFERY – Committee Member
WELCOME TO NEW YORK (Ferrara) OUT ONE, NOLI ME TANGERE (Rivette) OUR SUNHI (Hong Sang-soo) WE ARE THE BEST (Moodysson) ABUSE OF WEAKNESS (Breillat)
CHRIS MILDREN – Committee Member
THE DISTANCE (Caballero)
WHITE GOD (Mundruczó)
AMONG THE LIVING (Bustillo)
STATIONS OF THE CROSS (Brüggemann)
THE HOPE FACTORY (Meschaninova)
BEATA LUKASIAK – Committee Member
HARD TO BE A GOD (Mundruczó)
THE GRANDMASTER (Wong Kar-Wai)
STRAY DOGS (Tsai)
THE DISTANCE (Caballero)
OUR SUNHI (Hong Sang-soo)
KIM MUNRO – Committee Member
ABUSE OF WEAKNESS (Breillat)
A SPELL TO WARD OFF THE DARKNESS (Rivers)
APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR (Akhavan)
MANAKAMANA (Spray (Harvard Sensory Ethnography Laboratory))
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE 3D (Godard)
CHRIS LUSCRI – Committee Member
STRAY DOGS / JOURNEY TO THE WEST (Tsai)
HARD TO BE A GOD (German)
WHAT NOW? REMIND ME (Pinto)
NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY (Diaz)
‘TIL MADNESS DO US PART (Wang)
Or, for those who prefer their films shorter:
JAUJA (Alonso)
JEALOUSY (Garrel)
OUR SUNHI (Hong)
AMOUR FOU (Hausner)
A SPELL TO WARD OFF THE DARKNESS (Rivers / Russell)
MADELEINE D’ESTE – Committee Member
LOCKE (Knight)
PULP – A FILM ABOUT LIFE
DEATH & SUPERMARKETS (Habicht)
WHITE GOD (Mundruczó)
THE UNKNOWN KNOWN (Morris)
The chance to see MR VAMPIRE on the big screen.
JACK RUSSO
STILL THE WATER (Kawase)
STRAY DOGS (Tsai)
THE STORY OF MY DEATH (Serra)
NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY (Diaz)
WHAT NOW? REMIND ME (Pinto)
ANDREA GIANNOPOULOS
New:
HARD TO BE A GOD (German)
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE (Godard) WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL? (Sono)
WE’RE THE BEST! (Moodysson)
LIFE ITSELF (James)
Old:
OUT 1 – NOIL ME TANGERE (Godard)
THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE (Eustache)
TOUKI BOUKI (Mambéty)
THE EASY LIFE (Risi)
SORCERER (Friedkin)