New York City may get all the new releases first, but there’s a lot more to the film culture here than just what’s in the mainstream theaters! Every week we bring you the top 5 cinematic events to check out.
1.) The Films of Dan Sallitt (Anthology Film Archives)
Full Disclosure: I’ve known Dan Sallitt for about a year, as we often find ourselves at the same repertory screenings in NYC. But that doesn’t give you an excuse not to see the work of an essential American filmmaker, including his new, masterful feature, The Unspeakable Act. A dedicated auteurist cinephile, Sallitt’s three films reflect his intelligent workings of cinema, as he brings taboo stories of marriage, faith, and incest and makes them relatable to the human experience through his bold color palettes, rhythmic editing, and densely packed images. Additionally, you can hear my two hour interview with Sallitt on The Cinephiliacs. (Begins February 28th)
2.) Boudu Saved from Drowning (IFC Center)
Call Monsieur Boudu the antithesis to Chaplin’s Tramp—a home-wrecker, both literally and metaphorically. Jean Renoir’s early comedy might be one of his most cynical works on the human spirit, as Boudu becomes the pet project of a family instead tears them apart. All of Renoir’s films have comic moments, but Boudu Saved from Drowning is probably his most overt, and in many ways his most human about how everyone has their flaws, but few are willing to admit to them. (Saturday, March 2nd at 1pm)
3.) Two from the World Cinema Foundation (BAMcinematek)
Founded my Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones, the World Cinema Foundation has revived essential foundational texts of cinema like Kim Ki-Young’s The Housemaid, Metin Erksan’s Dry Summer, Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day, and Shabdi Abdel Salam’s The Night of Counting the Years. And now they bring us two more: the rare independent Indian film Kalpana from Uday Shankar, and the politically charged work After the Curfew from Indonesian filmmaker Usmar Ismail. Both have been pristinely restored for discovery by a new generation of cinephiles. (Wednesday and Thursday, Feburary 27th-28th)
4.) Park Chan-Wook (Museum of the Moving Image)
Perhaps the most recognized name in South Korean cinema today, Park Chan-Wook’s features are dazzlingly expressive, filled with tonal shifts, and overflowing with blood. But behind the fireworks of this action director is a serious filmmaker exploring questions of guilt, violence, and humanity in a society that often forgets of one. Influsing Korean styles of filmmaking with a Western Catholicism, Park’s films are unforgettable, and should make a good treat for those seeing his English-language debut, Stoker, also out in theaters this weekend. (February 28th-March 1st)
5.) Leviathan (IFC Center)
Welcome to hell. To call Leviathan a documentary would almost be a disservice. This radical work of cinema takes place on a fishing boat in the North Atlantic, but it feels like an alien world where nature and technology clash against in pure chaos. Shot entirely on a dozen Pogo cameras by Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, Leviathan turns our human world upside down (sometimes literally), plunging us into an abyss that’s nothing like you’ve ever seen or heard, as the ghost of Stan Brakhage smiles down happily. (Begins March 1st)
