Foreign Film Friday: “Blow-up” by Antonioni
(1966, 1h 51m, United Kingdom, Thriller/Mystery by Michelangelo Antonioni)
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
A successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. But in the course of a single day he unknowingly captures a death on film.
In 1966, Michelangelo Antonioni transplanted his existentialist ennui to the streets of swinging London for this international sensation, the Italian filmmaker’s first English-language feature. A countercultural masterpiece about the act of seeing and the art of image making, Blow-Up takes the form of a psychological mystery, starring David Hemmings as a fashion photographer who unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park. Antonioni’s meticulous aesthetic control and intoxicating color palette breathe life into every frame, and the jazzy sounds of Herbie Hancock, a beautifully evasive performance by Vanessa Redgrave, and a cameo by the Yardbirds make the film a transporting time capsule from a bygone era. Blow-Up is a seductive immersion into creative passion, and a brilliant film by one of cinema’s greatest artists.
Cannes Film Festival: won the Palme d’Or
Academy Awards: nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
The film was also nominated for three BAFTA Awards, including Outstanding British Film.
Foreign Film Friday: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Oplev
(2009, 2h 33m, Sweden, Thriller/Crime by Niels Arden Oplev)
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Swedish thriller based on Stieg Larsson’s novel about disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and genius hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) who investigate the 40-year-old disappearance of Harriet Vanger from her wealthy, dysfunctional family. They uncover a dark history of serial murders, neo-Nazism, and sexual violence, ultimately solving the cold case while Salander seeks vengeance against her own abusive guardian.
BAFTA Awards: Won Best Film Not in the English Language.
Empire Awards: Won Best Actress (Noomi Rapace) and Best Thriller.
Satellite Awards: Won Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language Film.
Foreign Film Friday: “Life is Beautiful” (La vita è bella) by Benigni
(“La vita è bella”) (1997, 1h 58m, Italy, War/Comedy by Roberto Benigni)
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
A gentle Jewish-Italian waiter, Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), a pretty schoolteacher, and wins her over with his charm and humor. Eventually they marry and have a son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). Their happiness is abruptly halted, however, when Guido and Giosue are separated from Dora and taken to a concentration camp. Determined to shelter his son from the horrors of his surroundings, Guido convinces Giosue that their time in the camp is merely a game.
Academy Awards (Oscars) – 1999
The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won three:
Best Actor: Roberto Benigni
Best Foreign Language Film: Italy
Best Original Dramatic Score: Nicola Piovani
Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Roberto Benigni), Best Original Screenplay (Vincenzo Cerami, Roberto Benigni), and Film Editing.
Cannes Film Festival – 1998
Grand Prix (Grand Jury Prize): Roberto Benigni
David di Donatello Awards (Italy) – 1998
Best Film
Best Director: Roberto Benigni
Best Actor: Roberto Benigni
Best Script: Roberto Benigni, Vincenzo Cerami
Best Producer: Elda Ferri, Gianluigi Braschi
Best Production Design: Danilo Donati
Best Costumes: Danilo Donati
Best Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Best Editing: Simona Paggi
Other Major Awards
BAFTA Awards (1999): Best Actor (Roberto Benigni)
European Film Awards (1998): Best Film, Best Actor (Roberto Benigni)
Nastro d’Argento (Italy – 1999): Best Director, Best Actor, Best Script
César Awards (France – 1999): Best Foreign Film
Golden Ciak Awards (1998): Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress (Nicoletta Braschi)
Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (1999): Best Foreign Language Film
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Foreign Film Friday: “Quest for Fire” (La Guerre du feu) by Annaud
(1981, 1h 40m, Canada/France, Adventure/Fantasy by Jean-Jacques Annaud)
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
The Canadian-French co-production is a film adaptation of the 1911 Belgian novel “The Quest for Fire” by J.-H. Rosny. The story is set “80,000 years ago”, with a plot concerning the struggle for control of fire by early humans and their encounters with different hominid species.
In the prehistoric world, a Cro-Magnon tribe depends on an ever-burning source of fire, which eventually extinguishes. Lacking the knowledge to start a new fire, the tribe sends three warriors (Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nameer El-Kadi) on a quest for more. With the tribe’s future at stake, the warriors make their way across a treacherous landscape full of hostile tribes and monstrous beasts. On their journey, they encounter Ika (Rae Dawn Chong), a woman who has the knowledge they seek.
Academy Awards (1983): Won Best Makeup (Sarah Monzani, Michèle Burke).
César Awards (1982): Won Best Film and Best Director (Jean-Jacques Annaud); Nominated for Best Cinematography, Music, and Production Design.
Genie Awards (1983): Won 5 awards: Best Actress (Rae Dawn Chong), Costume Design, Editing, Sound, and Sound Editing.
BAFTA Awards (1983): Won Best Makeup/Hair.
Golden Globes (1983): Nominated for Best Foreign Film.
Saturn Awards (1981): Won Best International Film.
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Foreign Film Friday: “Paris, je t’aime”
R 2006 ‧ Romance/Comedy ‧ 2 hours
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Foreign Film Friday: “A Pact with the Devil” by Jozef Zachar
(1967, 1h 27m, Czech Republic, Comedy by Jozef Zachar)
Five high-school senior girls, who because of a prank, are falsely accused of signing a pact with the devil to lose their virginity before they graduate.
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Foreign Film Friday: “Like Water for Chocolate” by Alfonso Arau
(Year, 1h 45m, Mexico, Romantic Drama by Alfonso Arau)
Based on the novel by Laura Esquivel, this magical realist film portrays the youngest daughter in her family, the beautiful Tita (Lumi Cavazos), who is forbidden to marry her true love, Pedro (Marco Leonardi). Since tradition dictates that Tita must care for her mother, Pedro weds her older sister, Rosaura (Yareli Arizmendi), though he still loves Tita. The situation creates much tension in the family, and Tita’s powerful emotions begin to surface in fantastical ways.
27 awards and 14 nominations
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Foreign Film Friday: “The White Ribbon” by Michael Haneke
(2009, 2h 24m, Germany, Mystery/Thriller by Michael Haneke)
Set in a village in Protestant northern Germany on the eve of World War I, THE WHITE RIBBON delineates a microcosm of society: the schoolteacher, the pastor, the local aristocracy, the steward, the doctor, the midwife, the tenant farmers, and their extended families. Increasingly frequent bizarre incidents gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. Who is responsible? Haneke’s apocalyptic vision takes on classic dimensions in this elegant, black and white drama, likened to the most mesmerizing films of Carl Dreyer.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes and nominated for two Academy Awards
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
