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Jean Eustache: Film As Life, Life As Film

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Jean Eustache: Film As Life, Life As Film film National Gallery of Art, Washington Art, of Gallery National Spring 2008 Spring Program Film National Gallery of Art 4th Street and Constitution Avenue nw Washington, dc Mailing address 2000b South Club Drive Landover, md 20785 www.nga.gov Films are shown in the East Building Auditorium Cover image from Jolly Fellows (Seagull) Film Program Spring 2008 Film Program Spring 2008 National Gallery of Art, Washington Spring Series film Jean Eustache: Film as Life, Life as Film From the Archives: 16 at 12 Max Ophuls in Hollywood Retour à May 1968 Envisioning Russia: Mosfilm Studio Gabriel Figueroa: Master of Light and Shade Art Films and Events The New Moscow (Seagull) 26 Sat 7 Sat I’ll Show You the Town 4:00 Film Event: I’ll Show You the Town 2:00 Gabriel Figueroa: Master of Light and Ciné-Concert Shade: Enamorada Ciné-Concert 4:00 Gabriel Figueroa: Master of Light and 27 Sun Shade: La Perla 4:30 Max Ophuls in Hollywood: Caught Charly (Isild Le Besco in 8 Sun 29 Tues 4:30 Envisioning Russia: The Thirteen person) 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Happiness of Still Life 10 Tues In Praise of Independents: 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: Glassmakers of Herat The Flaherty May 14 Sat 2:00 Gabriel Figueroa: Master of Light and I Am a Cat (Tatsuya Nakadai 4 Sun Shade: Nazarín 4:00 Envisioning Russia: The New Moscow in person) 4:30 Retour à May 1968: May Fools 6 Tues 15 Sun 4:00 Gabriel Figueroa: Master of Light and 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Incised Julius Caesar Shade: Another Dawn Image 10 Sat 17 Tues 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: Glassmakers 2:00 Film Event: In Praise of Independents: of Herat April The Flaherty 11 Sun 21 Sat 2:00 Envisioning Russia: The Russian Question 1 Tues 5:00 Film Event: Charly (Isild Le Besco in 4:00 Envisioning Russia: Carnival Night 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Happiness person) of Still Life 13 Tues 22 Sun 5:00 Film Event: I Am a Cat (Tatsuya Nakadai 5 Sat 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Incised in person) 2:00 Jean Eustache: Le Jardin des délices de Image Jérôme Bosch; Le Cochon 24 Tues 4:00 Jean Eustache: Le Jardin des délices de 17 Sat 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: Glassmakers Jérôme Bosch; Le Cochon 3:00 Retour à May 1968: Tout va bien of Herat 6 Sun 18 Sun 26 Thurs 4:30 Jean Eustache: Les Photos d’Alix; Le pere 4:00 Retour à May 1968: Regular Lovers 12:30 Film Event: Julius Caesar Noël a les yeux bleus; Une sale histoire 20 Tues 27 Fri 8 Tues 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Incised 12:30 Film Event: Julius Caesar 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Happiness Image of Still Life 24 Sat 28 Sat 12:30 Film Event: Julius Caesar 12 Sat 2:00 Retour à May 1968: To Die at Thirty 3:00 Gabriel Figueroa: Master of Light and 2:00 Jean Eustache: The Mother and the Whore 4:30 Envisioning Russia: Bed and Sofa Shade: Marcario; Days of Autumn 13 Sun 25 Sun 29 Sun 4:30 Jean Eustache: La peine perdue de Jean 5:45 Envisioning Russia: Battleship Potemkin 2:00 Envisioning Russia: The Cranes Are Flying Eustache; Numéro zéro 27 Tues 4:30 Envisioning Russia: The Letter Never Sent 15 Tues 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Incised 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Happiness Image of Still Life Films are shown in original format in the 31 Sat auditorium of the National Gallery’s East 4:00 Envisioning Russia: Jolly Fellows 19 Sat Building at 4th Street and Constitution 2:00 Max Ophuls in Hollywood: The Exile Avenue NW. Seating is on a first-come basis. 4:30 Max Ophuls in Hollywood: The Reckless To ensure a seat, please plan to arrive at Moment June least ten minutes before showtime. 20 Sun Programs are subject to change. 4:30 Max Ophuls in Hollywood: Letter from 1 Sun For current information, visit our Web site: an Unknown Woman 4:30 Envisioning Russia: Tractor Drivers www.nga.gov/programs/film.htm or call (202) 842-6799. 22 Tues 3 Tues 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: The Happiness 12:00 From the Archives: 16 at 12: Glassmakers of Still Life of Herat Julius Caesar June 26, 27, 28 at 12:30 One of the finest Hollywood studio renditions of Shakespeare, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Julius Caesar features not only a stellar cast — James Mason as Brutus, Marlon Brando as Mark Antony, and John Gielgud as Cassius to men- tion only three — but also a respectful and sensitive reading of the text that preserves the play’s dramatic rhythms. (Joseph L. Mankie- wicz, 1953, 35 mm, 120 minutes) Presented in association with the Shakespeare Theater Company’s stage production of Julius Caesar at the Harman Center for the Arts. Jean Eustache: Film as Life, Life as Film Jean Eustache with Alix Clio-Roubaud, Les Photos d’Alix (Tamasa) Untrained as a filmmaker but bold and origi- nal in approach, Jean Eustache (1938 – 1981) Art Films and Events Elephant Boy, the classic film based on frequently called himself an archivist or “Toomai of the Elephants” from Kipling’s ethnographer, not a filmmaker, even when The Jungle Book, features Sabu himself at the I’ll Show You the Town Ciné-Concert talking about his dramatic work. “I simply age of thirteen. Although seemingly about Premiere of new organ score want to show that the cinema has a direct Sabu’s rite of passage to adulthood, the film by Dennis James influence on life, just as literature does.” He touches on questions of myth and colonialism. April 26 at 4:00 directed many films with an anthropological (Robert Flaherty and Zoltan Korda, 1937, slant (some of them for French television) in English comedic actor Reginald Denny 35 mm, 80 minutes) which language and image shrewdly engage resettled in Hollywood when he was twenty- and challenge the viewer’s ideas about life. eight and immediately became a beloved star The series is presented in association with the of many now-forgotten American comedies. Charly Washington premiere Embassy of France and La Maison Française, In I’ll Show You the Town a poor young profes- where other Eustache films are shown in April. sor (Denny) is interrupted from his work on a Director Isild Le Besco in person book and becomes caught in a web of scandal May 11 at 5:00 and disgrace. Extricating himself with some Fourteen-year-old Nicholas, a foster child Le Cochon (The Pig) fast-talking and high-stepping, in the end he uncomfortable with elderly guardians, steals preceded by Hieronymous Bosch’s finds his true love. Declared one reviewer in a book and a postcard showing the sea at Garden of Delights 1925, “There are situations here that defy any- Belle-Ile-en-Mer. He runs away, meets a April 5 at 2:00 and 4:00 one to keep a straight face.” (Harry A. Pollard, young village prostitute called Charly, and Eustache’s famous yet rarely seen documentary 1925, 35 mm, 102 minutes) Dennis James live experiences a rough coming-of-age. A fresh Le Cochon records a domestic hog-slaughtering on theater organ. Print from the Stanford Theatre talent from France, Isild Le Besco (b. 1982) and sausage-making event on a small farm Foundation Collection at ucla Film Archive. has directed four films and appeared in over in the Massif Central. The two co-directors thirty. Hailing from a long line of actors and (Eustache and Barjol) eschewed any voiceover filmmakers, she cast brother Kolia as young In Praise of Independents: The Flaherty and used only the local (sometimes indeci- Nicholas and used brother Jowan as her cinema- Washington premiere of Santiago pherable) patois of the farmers — a suitably tographer. (Isild Le Besco, 2007, French with May 10 at 2:00 authentic soundtrack to accompany a van- subtitles, 35 mm, 95 minutes) Isild Le Besco ishing practice once a vital part of life. (Jean Each year the National Gallery salutes the will discuss the film after the screening. Eustache with Jean-Michel Barjol, 1970, natural annual film showcase known as “The Flaherty sounds, French regional dialect, 16 mm, Seminar,” a unique week-long forum named I Am a Cat 50 minutes) for American pioneering filmmaker Robert In Hieronymous Bosch’s Garden of Delights, Flaherty. Now in its fifty-fourth year, the Tatsuya Nakadai in person June 22 at 5:00 Eustache’s friend Jean Frapat reflects on the Flaherty brings together artists, filmmakers, meanings in Bosch’s triptych The Garden of writers, students, and scholars. Screenings Natsume S¯oseki’s satirical Japanese novel I Am Earthly Delights. The film is one of several are conceived around a specific theme, and a Cat spurred Kon Ichikawa to make a film ver- extraordinary French television programs critical discussions are always an important sion casting Tatsuya Nakadai in the starring created by Eustache in the 1970s. (1979, part of the blend. The Gallery’s program role as a Tokyo teacher during the Meiji period. French with subtitles, 33 minutes) consists of four works from the 2007 seminar By turns madcap, meditative, and moving, the held on the Vassar College campus. The over- film follows not only the teacher’s comings all theme was “South of the Other.” and goings, but also the divergent affairs of Une sale histoire (A Nasty Tale) Borom Sarret, a poetic day in the life of a the local cat population.
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