Cabaret Cinema: "The Proverbial Pictureshow"
Fridays at 9:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) Free with a $7 bar minimum
As a part of our museum-wide celebration of Bhutanese arts and culture the Proverbial Pictureshow series presents classic films that illustrate Bhutanese proverbs.
For more Bhutan related programs, click here.
To learn more about The Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan, click here.
September ｜ October ｜ November ｜ December ｜ January ｜ February
September 5 - Andrew Weir introduces Whiskey Galore!
Alexander MacKendrick, U.K., 1949 (82 min)
Basil Radford, Catherine Lacey, Joan Greenwood. Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
Proverb: Those who drink alcohol lack learning; those who do not lack luck.
September 12 - Bruce Jay Friedman introduces Stir Crazy
Sidney Poitier, U.S., 1980 (107 min)
Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder. Two down-and-out New Yorkers are incarcerated for a robbery they didn't commit.
Proverb: An elephant has physical strength; a flea has the ability to leap.
September 19 - Tharchin, the Liberated
Rinchen Namgay, Bhutan, 2007 (98 min)
An example of the burgeoning Bhutanese cinema that sees Buddhism through the eyes of a young monk.
Proverb: Let not the pursuit of spiritual life be hastened; let not the pursuit of temporal life be delayed.
September 26 - Jehangir Mehta introduces Big Night
Campbell Scott & Stanley Tucci, U.S., 1996 (109 min)
Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Isabella Rossellini, Minnie Driver. On the brink of bankruptcy, two Italian brothers risk everything on a feast that will make or break their restaurant.
Proverb: Better milk and cheese many times than beef just once.
October 3 - Nicole Ansari-Coxintroduces Breathless (À bout de souffle)
Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1960 (90 min)
Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg. A young French gangster hides in his American girlfriend's apartment after shooting a policeman. Godard's iconic film launched the French New Wave.
Proverb: The arrow of divine beings with absolute wisdom: it cannot be seen when shot, but can be seen when it hits.
October 10 - Ben Karlin introduces The Leopard
Luchino Visconti, Italy/France, 1963 (187 min)
Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, and Claudia Cardinale. Social transformation against a harsh Sicilian landscape, as a dying aristocracy struggles to maintain itself.
Proverb: The tiger may die, but his paw never withers.
October 17 - The Story of Qiu Ju
Presented with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop
Zhang Yimou, China, 1992 (100 min)
Gong Li. A peasant woman fights many levels of Chinese bureaucracy when her husband is humiliated by the village chief. Winner of Best Picture and Best Actress at the 1992 Venice Film Festival.
Proverb: A woman's plans are like the summit of a mountain of ashes.
November 7 - Francine Prose introduces The Battle of Algiers
Gillo Pontecorvo, France & Algeria, 1966 (121 min)
Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin. Children shoot soldiers, women plant bombs in cafes, and French soldiers resort to torture during Algeria's struggle for independence in the 1950s. A case study in modern warfare and one of the most influential films in history.
Proverb: Better the judgment of three ordinary men than the bright idea of a superior one.
November 14 - Annie Choi introduces Nobody Knows
Presented with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop
Kore-eda Hirokazu, Japan, 2004 (139 min)
Yagira Yuya and Kitaura Ayu. A mother abandons her four illegitimate children in a Tokyo apartment, leaving the eldest son to feed, clothe, protect, and sustain his siblings. Based on true events. The 12-year old Yagira Yuya won the Best Actor prize at the 2004 Cannes International Film Festival for his heartbreaking performance.
Proverb: A child who is shown love and affection through an excess of joy and peace will not be able to learn much.
November 21 – Pia Frankenberg introduces Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Germany, 1974 (93 min)
Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem. A lonely German widow and an Arab guestworker unexpectedly fall in love.
Proverb: If there’s no jealousy in the neighbors, there’s no growth in the community.
November 28 - The Bow (Hwal)
Presented with The Korea Society
Kim Ki-duk, South Korea, 2005 (90 min)
Jeon Sung-Hwan, Han Yeo-Reum, Seo Ji-Seok. With a bow and arrow, a sixty-year old man protects the young girl he plans to marry when she turns seventeen. She's content with their life on a fishing boat until a young man arrives and changes everything.
Proverb: The arrow of divine beings with absolute wisdom: it cannot be seen when shot, but can be seen when it hits.
December 5 – Tyne Daly introduces Mr. Klein
Joseph Losey, France, 1976 (122 min)
Alain Delon, Jeanne Moreau. An unscrupulous art dealer exploits Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied France until he finds that he shares a name with a member of the anti-Nazi resistance.
Proverb: The death of an ordinary person passes unnoticed, while even the illness of an affluent one is known by all.
December 12 - Dennis Lim introduces In the Mood for Love.
Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong, 2002 (98 min)
Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Two Hong Kong neighbors form an unusual bond when they both suspect their philandering spouses.
Proverb: If fiddled, the penis will erect; if interfered, the fire will die out.
December 19 - Alexandra Munroe introduces Dolls
Takeshi Kitano, Japan, 2002 (114 min)
Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima. Bound by a long red cord, a young couple wanders in search of something they have tragically lost. Costumes by Yohji Yamamoto.
Proverb: He who is trusted steals one's heart secrets .
December 26 – Nancy Steffen-Fluhr introduces Some Like It Hot
Billy Wilder, U.S., 1959 (120 min)
Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon. To hide from the mob, two musicians pretend to be women join an all-girl band, but complications arise when they both fall for the band's singer and ukulele player, Sugar Kane.
Proverb: Those who drink alcohol lack learning; those who do not lack luck
January 9 - Andrew Sean Greer introduces Duck Soup
Leo McCarey?, U.S., 1933 (97 min)
Groucho, Harpo, Chico & Zeppo Marx. The Marx Brothers’ satirical masterpiece portrays Rufus T. Firefly, dictator of an imaginary country called Freedonia, waging war against neighboring Sylvania.
Proverb: Better the judgment of three ordinary men than the bright idea of a superior one.
January 23 – Terry Winters introduces The Wages of Fear
Henri-Georges Clouzot, France, 1953 (147 min)
Martina Gedeck, Maxime Foerste. Yves Montand, Charles Vanel. South American men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment to make the treacherous journey safe.
Proverb: One should be able to cross the bridge one has built.
January 30 - Amanda Hesser introduces Mostly Martha
Sandra Nettelbeck, Germany, 2002 (106 min)
Martina Gedeck, Maxime Foerste. When an exacting German chef becomes the caretaker for her young niece, the restaurant hires a carefree Italian to take up the slack.
Proverb: Hit the butter on the stone, hit the stone on the butter: it is the butter that loses.
More dates and films are being added. Always check rmanyc.org/calendar for details
All programs subject to change
