film descriptions
Chicago Premiere!
SEARCHING FOR THE WRONG-EYED JESUS
2005, Andrew Douglas, USA, 84 min.
With Jim White, Tom Dowd, Harry Crews, David Johansen
"Richly lyrical." -- Stephen Holden, The New York Times
"Delightfully demented." -- Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
With a rented 1970 Chevy, musician/folklorist Jim White takes off in search of the "real" South -- guiding us down a lost highway filled with weathered churches, jailhouses, junkyards, singers, sinners, snake-handlers, and storytellers. Andrew Douglas's spellbinding exercise in American Gothic unfolds like a fairytale rewritten by Flannery O'Connor and David Lynch: rusted cars and roadside crosses become revelations, and musical interludes conjure heaven and hellfire. The bluegrass, gospel, rockabilly, alt-country, juke-joint soundtrack is the tastiest since O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? DigiBeta video. (Jim Dempsey)
September 23 -- October 6
Fri. , Mon., and Wed.-Thu. at 6:15 pm and 8:00 pm;
Tue. at 6:15 pm only;
Sat. at 3:15 pm, 5:00 pm,* 7:00 pm, and 8:45 pm;
(*No 5:00 pm show on Sat., Sept. 24);
Sun. at 3:15 pm and 5:00 pm*
(*No 5:00 pm show on Sun., Oct. 2)
Chicago premiere!
BEFORE THE FALL
(NAPOLA)
2004, Dennis Gansel, Germany, 110 min.
With Max Riemelt, Tom Schilling
Like DOWNFALL, BEFORE THE FALL offers a newly complex, historically informed, and more convincingly condemnatory picture of Nazi Germany. The film's inspiration comes from a fascinating untold chapter of German history: the system of elite schools known as Napola (an acronym for National Political Learning Academy) designed to train the future leaders of the 1000-Year Reich -- or, as Hitler called them, "a young generation that will make the world tremble." The compelling story focuses on Friedrich, a lower-class boy recruited for his boxing ability. He throws himself avidly into the school's brutal regimen, until a series of shocking events shakes the foundations of his blind allegiance. This festival favorite won numerous awards, including Best Actor at Karlovy Vary, Best Director at the Bavaria Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the Hamptons Film Festival. In German with English subtitles. 35mm. (MR)
October 7 -- 13
Fri. and Mon.-Wed. at 6:00 pm and 8:15 pm;
Sat. at 3:15 pm and 7:45 pm;
Sun. at 3:15 pm only;
Thu. at 6:00 pm only
First Chicago run!
OSCAR BROWN, JR.: MUSIC IS MY LIFE, POLITICS MY MISTRESS
2005, donnie l. betts, USA, 110 min.
A definitive look at the life and times of Chicago's own Oscar Brown, Jr., the iconic jazz musician the L.A. Times named "a national treasure," this in-depth documentary puts the emphasis on Brown's social conscience and political activism. Director betts takes his cue from Brown's own intuitive approach to life, using film, music, dance, and poetry to detail the man's two-fold dedication to his art and to his mission to address injustice, poverty, and oppression. DigiBeta video. (BS)
October 14 -- 20
Fri. and Mon. and Wed-Thu. at 6:00 pm and 8:15 pm;
Sat. at 3:15 pm, 5:30 pm, and 7:45 pm;
Sun. at 3:15 pm only;
Tue. at 6:00 pm only
First Chicago run!
THE 3 ROOMS OF MELANCHOLIA
(MELANCHOLIA KOLME HUONETTA)
2004, Pirjo Honkasalo, Finland/Sweden, 106 min.
Narrated by Hadizhat Gataeva
"Walloping gut punch…one of those rare films that deserves to be called 'poetic'. . . rapturous." -- Leslie Felperin, Variety
A haunting triptych built largely on spellbinding sequences of the faces of children, THE 3 ROOMS OF MELANCHOLIA is a strange, and strangely powerful, meditation on the human toll of war and violence. Honkasalo's film portrays young victims of the Chechen conflict. Time stops in the faces of her subjects, who one and all look at the camera with the grave and knowing eyes of the adults they will too soon become. In "Nostalgia," young orphans and the sons of the poor endure the strict regimen of a Russian military academy. In "Breathing," three small siblings in bombed-out Grozny say goodbye to their dying mother. "Remembering" quietly delineates the lives of near-catatonic children in a motherly volunteer's homemade orphanage. In Russian, Chechen, Arabic, and Finnish with English subtitles. DigiBeta video. (BS)
October 21 -- 27
Fri. and Tue.-Wed. at 6:00 pm and 8:15 pm;
Saturday at 3:15 pm, 5:30 pm, and 7:45 pm;
Sunday at 3:15 pm only;
Mon. and Thu. at 6:00 pm only
Electric Edwardians: The Films of Mitchell & Kenyon
1900-1905, Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon, Great Britain, 71 min.
"It is the film equivalent of the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb."--The Guardian
"For the first time, through the fog of decades, we are able to see with astounding clarity what life was like at the turn of the 19th century."--ABC's Nightline
The recent discovery of three barrels of nitrate film negative in a Lancashire, England, basement uncovered a wealth of previously unknown footage of early 20th-century street life. Shot in the north of England between 1901 and 1905 by two showman-entrepreneurs, these mesmerizing short films have been restored by the British Film Institute from 28 hours of preserved footage. Eyes from the past gaze into our eyes for a mind-blowing connection to a bygone era as Edwardians of all classes strut in parades and promenades, and pour through the gates of factories and mines after work. The silent films are accompanied by a specially commissioned score written and performed by the ensemble The Nursery. DigiBeta video. (BS)
October 28 -- November 3
