* * * The Melbourne Cinémathèque - Dedicated to screening rare & significant films from the history of international cinema

WELCOME!

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.

CURRENT NEWS & EVENTS

January 27 - Website Launch
Welcome to our new website for 2010. We have made several changes to our format based on feedback from our survey of members at the end of last year.

January 27 - 2010 Calendar
The 2010 Calendar is now available from the regular pick-up spots. A PDF of the calendar can be downloaded from the screenings page.

NEXT SCREENING

February 10 - Opening Night: Max Ophuls

7:00 - LOLA MONTÈS
Max Ophuls (1955) 114 mins

Ophuls’ legendary virtuosic last work, his first in colour, is one of the greatest & most visionary of widescreen films. Montes (Martine Carol), a courtesan & great lover who is ultimately forced to sell kisses in a New Orleans circus, is the epitome of the director’s fatally & materially romantic oeuvre. A key influence on such directors as Baz Luhrmann, Jacques Demy (who dedicated Lola to Ophuls) & Martin Scorsese, & critic Andrew Sarris’ favourite film.

9:10 - LA RONDE
Max Ophuls (1950) 97 mins

Ophuls’ urbane, sophisticated & supremely witty chronicle of a circle of characters chained together by a series of dalliances & affairs is one of the defining works of post-war European cinema, & a triumphant return from exile for this most romantic, bittersweet & continental of directors. Overseen by Anton Walbrook’s master of ceremonies, who at one stage even cuts the film we are “watching”, this highly influential & frank dissection of sexual mores features a who’s who of European cinema.

Backdrop:
ASHES OF TIME REDUX
Screening:
7pm - September 29