Spain
IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA
(EN LA CIUDAD DE SYLVIA)
2007, José Luis Guerín, Spain, 84 min.
With Xavier Lafitte, Pilar López de Ayala
“Seemingly aimed at voyeurs, the film is built on sensuous interplays between people and objects, reality and representation, implying something profound is at risk here, and the simultaneous thrill and danger of every scene nearly stops the heart.”--Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA was a revelation at the 2007 Venice, Toronto, and New York festivals, confirming Guerín (EN CONSTRUCCIÓN) as a rising force among European filmmakers. In an unnamed city (Strasbourg), an artist spots a beautiful young woman whom he thinks he met six years ago, and he begins to follow her... Containing almost no dialogue and even less plot, SYLVIA is extraordinarily rich in every other respect, orchestrating ambient sounds and fleeting images into a spellbinding city symphony. VERTIGO, L’ECLISSE, and FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER are reference points for this enchanting film, which transforms wandering through the city into a magical maze of vision and memory. In French with English subtitles. 35mm print courtesy of Eddie Saeta, S.A. (MR)
Friday, March 28, 6:15 pm
Saturday, March 29, 3:15 pm
SOME PHOTOS IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA
(UNAS FOTOS EN LA CIUDAD DE SYLVIA)
2007, José Luis Guerín, Spain, 67 min.
Composed of hundreds of haunting b&w photographs, this companion piece to IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA expands that film’s autobiographical and historical dimensions, as it revisits the site of a young man’s obsession and takes side trips in the cities of Dante’s Beatrice and Petrarch’s Laura. Noted film scholar David Bordwell writes in his blog, “Rubbed together, the two films throw off sparks... SOME PHOTOS may not be factual--call it a lyrical documentary--but it illuminates IN THE CITY in striking ways and is intriguing in its own right. “ Silent with English intertitles. DigiBeta video courtesy of Núria Esquerra. (MR)
Reduced admission! Buy a ticket for either show of IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA and get a ticket SOME PHOTOS IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA at this discount rate (tickets must be purchased at the same time): General Admission and Students $5; Members $4.
Saturday, March 29, 5:00 pm
THE SKY TURNS
(EL CIELO GIRA)
2005, Mercedes Álvarez, Spain, 106 min.
Winner of the top award at both the Rotterdam and Buenos Aires Film Festivals, this sublime documentary evokes such great cinema pastorals as PATHER PANCHALI, THE TREE OF THE WOODEN CLOGS, and THE WIND WILL CARRY US. After 35 years, Álvarez returns to her native village in remote northwest Spain. She was the last child born there; now only 14 aged inhabitants remain. The passing years have made them natural philosophers, historians, and comedians--they muse on the transience of things, regard the folly of conquerors from Caesar to Bush, and lace it all with stoic, quintessentially Spanish humor. In Spanish with English subtitles. Preview courtesy of New Yorker Films. 35mm. (MR)
Sunday, March 16, 3:00 pm
Tuesday, March 18, 6:00 pm
TIMECRIMES
(LOS CRONOCRÍMENES)
2007, Nacho Vigalondo, Spain, 88 min.
With Karra Elejalde, Nacho Vigalondo
Generating much buzz at Sundance, Vigalondo’s auspicious debut (following his Academy Award-nominated short 7:35 IN THE MORNING) has already been slated for an American remake. The mind-bending, time-twisting storyline recalls THE PRESTIGE and THE SIXTH SENSE, but the film’s low budget places a premium on ingenuity rather than spectacle. Coming upon a naked, unconscious woman in the woods, a man is attacked by a figure whose face is wrapped in bandages. He flees to the isolated laboratory of an eccentric scientist (director Vigalondo), but the fun is just beginning... and beginning... and beginning... In Spanish with English subtitles. Preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. 35mm. (MR)
Saturday, March 22, 7:00 pm
Wednesday, March 26, 8:15 pm
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