DCist’s highly subjective and selective guide to some of the most interesting movies coming to town in the next week.
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Mikhail Nazvanov as Claudis in Grigori Kosintsev’s HAMLET. (United Artists/Photofest)Soviet Shakespeare
The National Gallery of Art highlights the work of film composer Dmitri Shostakovich with a pair of Russian adaptations of Shakespeare, in association with PostClassical Ensemble’s Interpreting Shostakovich festival. As all adaptors of Shakespeare do to some extent, director Grigori Kozintsev edited Hamlet. But in order to shape a visual language out of the Bard’s masterful text (in translation, of course), the director staged a number of key scenes without any dialogue at all. The result is what Lawrence Olivier called the finest of all Hamlet adaptations. Kozintsev wrote of Shostakovich, “I can hear a ferocious hatred of cruelty, the cult of power, and the oppression of justice . . . a fearless goodness which has a threatening quality.” Music historian Roy Guenther and film scholar Peter Rollberg will be on hand for discussion at each screening. The Gallery’s presentation of King Lear is preceded by a musical prelude with Georgetown University Chamber Singers.
View a clip from Hamlet.
King Lear screens Saturday, October 20 at 2:30. Hamlet screens Sunday, October 21 at 4:00 pm. At the National Gallery of Art. Free
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Twelve-year old Simon (Kacey Moette Klein) and his big sister Louise (Lea Seydoux) live in the shadows of a ski resort in the Swiss Alps. He supports their meager existence by stealing from wealthy vacationers, while she runs off with unreliable men. Director Ursula Meier’s second film, whose title can be translated as The Kid from Above, works in the naturalistic vein of the Dardenne Brothers — anyone moved by The Kid with a Bike will take kindly to this Swiss import. Cinematographer Agnès Godard, who was behind the lens for the gorgeous camerawork of Wings of Desire, worked with a digital camera for the first time in her career. Read about her struggles and acceptance of the new medium here.
View the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at West End Cinema and Angelika Mosaic.
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(Future You Pictures)The name may not be familiar, but you’ll recognize at least one item on artist Wayne White’s resume: he designed sets and puppets for Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. White is a cantankerous raconteur who curses like a sailor, but his work in painting, sculpture, and cartooning is more whimsical than biting. Beauty is Embarrasing takes its name from one of White’s word paintings, installed atop a structure that housed the 2009 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. Various talking heads make the point that humor is looked down upon in art, and while this may be true, I don’t find White’s word paintings (clearly inspired by Ed Ruscha, though White bristles at the comparison) particularly funny. A dancer with a sculpted head of LBJ finally crosses the line from whimsy to preciousness, but the film is well-made, and with talking heads like Paul Rubens and Matt Groening, there’s enough character to go around even if you’re skeptical about the film’s subject. And the struggle of an artist finding his way in the world may resonate beyond art and Chairy fans. White will appear at the West End CInema after the 7:40 show on Saturday, October 20 for a Q&A.
View the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at West End CInema.
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(Variance Films)A disfigured young boy is teased mercilessly by his classmates but grows to become a martial arts hero. The producers of this martial arts fantasy promise “steampunk-infused kung fu,” and point out that this entertainment is from the creators of Ip Man and Detective Dee. With the help of legendary action director Sammo Hung, Tai Chi Zero sounds like a sure thing, but according to Film School Rejects, the combination of martial arts and comic book elements does not quite fulfill the dream of a kung fu Scott Pilgrim. Still, how often do you get to see a Hong Kong martial arts movie in a commercial run?
View the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Regal Majestic 20 and AMC Hoffman 22
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A British schoolteacher is stranded in the outback with local degenerates (including an especially unpleasant Donald Pleasance) and harrowing results. This 1971 film is considered one of the seminal achievements of Australian cinema, but was difficult to see for years and is still unavailable on DVD in the US. The AFI showcases a new 35mm print of this lost classic in their Halloween on Screen series.
View the trailer.
Friday, October 19–Sunday, October 21 and Tuesday, October 23–Thursday, October 25 at the AFI.
