Pandora’s Box, California Theatre, San Jose, Friday, 7:00. Nearly 70 years after her last film, cinephiles still debate whether Louise Brooks was a first-class talent or just a beautiful woman in the hands of a great director. Either way, her oddly innocent femme fatale wins our sympathy and our lust as she sends men to their destruction without, apparently, understanding what she’s doing. A great example of what the silent drama could do in the hands of a master; in this case, G.W. Pabst. Cinequest will present Pandora’s Box accompanied by Dennis James on the Wurlitzer organ.
White Heat, Stanford, Wednesday through next Friday. James Cagney became a star playing tough-but-likable gangsters in the 1930’s. But by the time he made White Heat in 1949, he insisted on playing a complex, oedipal, and totally despicable psychopath who neither asks for nor receives the audience’s sympathy. It’s an electrifying performance, the best of his career, making us easily forget Edmond O’Brien as the nominal hero. One of the best, and most unique, gangster movies ever made. On a double-bill with The Body Snatcher. Comments?
Forbidden Planet, Pacific Film Archive, Saturday, 3:00. Nothing dates faster than futuristic fiction, and with its corny dialog and spaceship crewed entirely by white males, Forbidden Planet is very dated. But MGM’s 1956 sci-fi extravaganza still holds considerable pleasures. The Cinemascope/Eastmancolor art direction is pleasing to the eye, Robby the Robot is adorable, and the story–”involving a long-dead mystery race of super-beings–”still packs some genuine thrills. It’s also an interesting precursor to Star Trek. Part of the Archive’s Movie Matinees For All Ages
The Rules of the Game, Castro, Friday through Wednesday. I know; everyone else considers this one of cinema’s great masterpieces–“an immensely important influence on many filmmakers (one can hardly imagine Robert Altman’s career without it). And yes, I’ve read all about its deep and important commentary on the class system and the institution of marriage. But all I see is a modest comedy of manners without much comedy and nothing exceptional to say about our manners. For me, Grand Illusion remains Renior’s masterpiece. Comments?
Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple, Red Vic, Wednesday through the
following Monday. Dangerous, tyrannical, and megalomaniac religious leaders don’t just exist on the political right. Stanley Nelson’s documentary takes us into the heart of the left-leaning, San Francisco-based Christian cult that ended in mass murder and suicide in 1978. Nelson shows us, and survivors tell us, why people followed Jim Jones, how the good things he did (including creating what was perhaps Indiana’s first integrated church) attracted so many, how he robbed his followers of their facility for critical thought, and finally, how he robbed them of their lives. Through archival footage, photos, and audio recordings, Nelson does more than tell you what happened; he makes you feel it, understand it, and shiver all the more for the reality of it. Comments?
8 1/2, Pacific Film Archive, Wednesday, 3:00. Funny, exhilarating, perplexing, and tragic, 8½ is not only the greatest film ever made about writer’s block and the ultimate cinematic statement on the male midlife crisis, it’s also a movie about making a movie, where the movie being made appears to be 8½. Filled with one memorable and unique scene after another, Fellini’s autobiographical surreal comedy lacks nothing except a coherent plot–“something it has no use for. Part of Marilyn Fabe’s open-to-the-public Film 50: History of Cinema class. Comments?
Venus, Lark, opens Friday. Yet another film about a
n old person befriending a young one, but it’s so much better than Mrs. Palfrey At the Claremont. Peter O’Toole stars as an aging actor (not much of a stretch) whose sexual desires have outlived both his ability to attract women and his talents at pleasing them. The object of his attentions is a young woman (newcomer Jodi Whittaker) who tries to discourage his flirtations while latching on to him as a friend and, perhaps as a father figure. The resulting relationship burns with conflict and occasional minor violence, but also concern and genuine love. Funny, sad, and real. Comments?
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