Cabaret Cinema: "The Proverbial Pictureshow"
Feature films that illustrate Bhutanese proverbs
Fridays, 9:30
Free with a $7 bar minimum
What Price Paradise?
Films that explore our notions of paradise, reflecting the theme of the exhibition Buddha in Paradise that runs through August 18th on the fifth-floor.
Lost Horizon
June 6
Introduction by Adam Gopnik
Frank Capra, U.S., 1937, 118 minutes
Plane crash survivors find Shangri-La in the Himalayas. With Ronald Coleman, Jane Wyatt, and Edward Everett Horton.
Sonatine
June 13
Takeshi Kitano, Japan, 1993, 94 minutes
A yakuza boss and his men retreat to an isolated Okinawa beach house, but they soon realize they've been set up.
Chappaqua
June 20
Introduction by Alexander Rooks, son of the director
Conrad Rooks, U.S./France, 1966, 82 minutes
With Conrad Rooks, Jean-Louis Barrault, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Ravi Shankar, Ornette Coleman, Swami Satchidananda, Moondog, and The Fugs.
Brigadoon
Friday, June 27
Introduced by Liza Lerner
Vincente Minnelli, U.S., 1954 (108 min)
Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Van Johnson
Two Americans lost in the Scottish Highlands find a mysterious and magical village, which appears only one day every hundred years. Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse star in this 1954 Cinemascope masterpiece, directed by Vincente Minnelli. The film Brigadoon was adapted from the popular Alan Jay Lerner production, which originally played on Broadway for 581 performances.
Liza Lerner co-produced the revival of Camelot in 2007. The daughter of Alan Jay Lerner, she is currently reviving her father's Brigadoon which will return to Broadway in the spring of 2009 with a revised book by Tony Award winner John Guare and new choreography by director Rob Ashford.
The Great Ziegfeld
Friday, July 4
Robert Z. Leonard, U.S., 1936 (176 min)
William Powell, Fanny Brice, Luise Rainer
Introduced by Guy Lesser
Producer Florenz Ziegfeld creates a paradise on Earth with his spectacular stage extravaganzas. A legendary MGM production, The Great Ziegfeld included such iconic Ziegfeld performers as Fanny Brice and Ray Bolger and original music by Irving Berlin. The film received Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress (Luise Rainer), and Best Dance Direction for the astounding set piece "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody."
Guy Lesser was a founding editor of Madison and is currently a contributing writer for Harper's Magazine. He worked as dramaturg on Laurie Anderson's Songs & Stories from Moby Dick and with the artist Jenny Holzer on several installations. A graduate of Columbia College, he holds a JD from Yale Law School.
Swept Away
Friday, July 11
Lina Wertmueller, Italy, 1974 (116 min)
Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato
Introduced by Lina Wertmueller's biographer Grace Russo Bullaro
A wealthy industralist's wife enjoys verbally abusing a lowly crewmember on an Italian yacht. When an unusual event at sea casts the two on a deserted island, class distinctions are overturned. Can a rich woman and a poor man find bliss? Lina Wertmuller's controversial Swept Away questions gender, politics, and civilization itself.
Grace Russo Bullaro is the author of Man in Disorder: The Cinema of Lina Wertmuller in the 1970s and editor of Beyond Life Is Beautiful, a collection of essays on the films of Roberto Benigni. Her forthcoming book is From Terrone to Extra-Comunitario: The Evolution of Racism in Italian Cinema. Professor Bullaro is director of graduate studies in English at City University of New York, Lehman College.
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Friday, July 18
Woody Allen, U.S., 1985 (82 min)
Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello, Dianne Wiest
A film buff goes to the movies to escape her bleak Depression-era life. When an onscreen character breaks free from the screen for adventures in the real world, the lines between fiction and reality blur. Jeff Daniels, Mia Farrow, Danny Aiello, and Dianne Wiest star in the ultimate tale of escapism. Exacting director Woody Allen called The Purple Rose of Cairo one of his few films that met his expectations. It was recognized as one of the "All-Time 100 Best Films" by Time Magazine.
Heaven Can Wait
Friday, July 25
Ernst Lubitsch, U.S., 1943 (112 min)
Gene Tierney and Don Ameche
A man petitions to be admitted into hell, but there are doubts as to his qualifications. Fully aware of the dissolute life he led, he recounts his life story. Can love ultimately redeem? Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, and Charles Coburn star in Heaven Can Wait, produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
Stroszek
Friday, August 1
Werner Herzog, West Germany, 1976 (107 min)
A Berlin street musician moves to America, where everyone is rich. Bruno S., Eva Mattes, Clemens Scheitz.
Stranger Than Paradise
Friday, August 8
Jim Jarmusch, U.S., 1984 (89 min)
John Lurie, Eszter Balint
A self-styled New York hipster and his sixteen-year-old Hungarian cousin try to escape their drab existence. Starring jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer Richard Edson, and Hungarian-born actress Eszter Balint, Stranger Than Paradise abounds with dark humor and dramatic nonchalance. Jim Jarmusch's minimalist masterpiece deeply influenced later American independent cinema.
Gandahar
Friday, August 15
Rene Laloux, France, 1988 (83 min) In French, with English subtitles
The Utopian planet of Gandahar is threatened by a force 1,000 years from the future. The cause of this terror is the giant brain Metamorphis, who is puzzled about how he could be to blame. The animated fantasy film was directed by Rene Laloux and based on the Jean-Pierre Andrevon novel Les Hommes-machines contre Gandahar.
Baraka
Friday, August 22
Ron Fricke, USA, 1992 (96 mins)
Baraka is a cinematic "guided meditation" filmed in twenty-four countries on six continents. Uniting religious ritual, natural phenomena, and humankind's destructive powers, Baraka weaves a web of evocative moving images. The journey begins in the Himalayas.
Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef
Friday, August 29
Eric Valli, Belgium, 1999 (108 min)
Rival caravans race from the high plateau across the Dolpo range to the plains, where they trade salt for grain. The first Nepalese film to be nominated in the Best Foreign Film category at the 72nd Academy Awards, Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef is an epic adventure story set in the extreme environment of the Himalayas.
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 2 – Brian Cox introduces The Furies
Anthony Mann, U.S., 1950 (109 min)
Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Walter Huston. A ranch owner butts heads with his daughter over her dowry, choice of husband, and ownership of their land.
Proverb: The tiger may die, but his paw never withers
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.
February 6 – Valley of the Dolls
Mark Robson, U.S., 1967 (123 min)
Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, Paul Burke, Sharon Tate. Three glamorous women will do whatever it takes to get to the top. Based on the Jacqueline Susann bestseller.
Proverb: Medicine, if taken with knowledge; poison, if abused
More dates and films are being added. Always check rmanyc.org/calendar for details
All programs subject to change
