The Tales of Eric Rohmer

September 12 - September 27

Eric Rohmer, editor-in-chief of Cahiers du cinema from 1956 to 1963, made his first feature in 1959 and, at age eighty-seven, has just completed his final film. Eschewing the genre influences beloved by his New Wave contemporaries, Rohmer's oeuvre deals exclusively with the drama of intimate relationships. His plots are in the classical mold-they have the precision and sly wit of a Molière comedy-and are driven by the endless misunderstandings that his cerebral characters, aided by meddlesome friends, allow to complicate their happiness. Like melodies and motifs recurring in different keys, each new entry in Rohmer's canon enriches the total experience.

Rohmer, who has written all his own scripts, defined his distinctive approach to film narrative when he stated in a 1972 interview: "In the Moral Tales I only ask questions; I do not give answers… I shoot from the point of view of one of the characters. What he knows, we will know. What he doesn't know, we will never know."    

This selection of eleven films drawn from Rohmer's fifty-year career presents a rare opportunity to experience in a theatrical venue the work of a master director. Included are: three of six Moral Tales, including La Collectionneuse, his first "vacation film," shot in Saint-Tropez by the brilliant cinematographer Nestor Almendros; four of six Comedies and Proverbs, including Pauline at the Beach, a clever farce that was a hit in America, and Summer (aka Le Rayon Vert), his only improvised film; two of four Tales of the Seasons, including Autumn Tale, in which a middle-aged widow in the Rhone Valley finds love during the wine harvest; and two of four historical films, including The Lady and the Duke, for which Rohmer commissioned virtual sets made digitally from historical paintings, so that his revolution-era characters could "walk through the streets and squares of a Paris that no longer exists." 

We are particularly grateful to Debra Shapiro, Genius Products, and Lise Zipci, Les Films du Losange: it was their time and considerable efforts to clarify screening rights and confirm prints that made it possible for the film department to present this series.

This series is presented with the support of the French Ministry of External Affairs and the Los Angeles Film and TV Office of the Consulate Generale de France.

Preview Screening: Happy-Go-Lucky

October 3

This effervescent comedy from British writer/director Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies) focuses on Poppy, an unmarried school teacher in London, who greets every situation she encounters, good and bad, with unsinkable optimism. Featuring a star-making performance by Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky is by turns hilarious, moving, and serious about that most mysterious and elusive of all human goals: happiness.

Check out the film's trailer here. Screening courtesy of Miramax Films.

In person: Mike Leigh & Sally Hawkins (Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actress)

Four Masterpieces by Edward Yang

October 4 - October 25

The film world lost writer/director Edward Yang far too soon. He passed away at the age of fifty-nine in 2007, seven years after receiving his first-ever full U.S. release for what has tragically become his final film: the roundly praised and awarded Yi Yi. A leading member of the Taiwanese New Wave alongside Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Yang set his seven features amid the bustle of Taipei's ever-changing landscapes, both physical and psychological. The doubt evident in Yang's statement that "Every citizen in Taiwan has to face a question: what are we going to do in the future-reunification or independence?" reverberates throughout his human-scale epics.

 

Presented with support from the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Los Angeles.

Preview Screening: Ashes of Time Redux

October 7

Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai has digitally restored and recut his all-star 1994 martial arts epic, long unavailable, adding a new score with cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma. A highlight of this year's Cannes, this dreamlike adventure of lone swordsmen and unrequited love is set in the Gobi desert. "Drenched in shocking color-the desert shifts from egg-yolk yellow to burnt orange under a cerulean sky-the film is Wong's most abstract endeavor, a bold excursion into the realm of pure cinema. It also now seems like one of his most important." -Manohla Dargis, The New York Times.

Check out the film's trailer here. Screening courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Spotlight on Miklós Jancsó

October 17 - October 24

The films of prolific Hungarian director Miklós Jancsó-by turns mythic, lyrical, and brutal-have been hailed as the product of a singular artistic sensibility. Drawing on incidents from Hungary's turbulent recent past and dramatized around the theme of power as a destructive force in human society, a Jancsó film is visually distinctive with its long shots, virtuoso CinemaScope pans, and striking black and white images. Jancsó stages his existential dramas in a horizontal landscape dotted with rough-hewn barns and silver birch forest, and peopled by warring horsemen, brutalized peasants, and handsome women stripped of their pride by arrogant men in uniform. Long out of distribution in America, the four seminal films included in this program  will be screened in new 35mm prints courtesy of Magyar Filmunió. Presented in association with the Hungarian Film Festival and the Consulate General of Hungary in Los Angeles.

Program Notes
Friday and Saturday screenings begin at 7:30 pm unless otherwise noted. There is a ten-minute intermission between features on a double bill. All programs are subject to change. Films are in 35mm unless otherwise indicated. Foreign-language films are subtitled in English. Many films are unrated and may not be appropriate for younger viewers. If a film is listed as "sold out," a standby line will form one hour before the screening. Any cancellations or seats that become available will go to people waiting in this line. Please note that there is no guarantee that everyone in the standby line will be accommodated.

The Leo S. Bing Theater is equipped with a DTS digital sound system courtesy of Universal Pictures, an SDDS digital sound system courtesy of Sony Cinema Products, and Dolby digital sound.

$5 second film only of a double-feature; no advance purchase.

$2 Tuesday matinees.
$1 Tuesday matinees, seniors (62+).

Where to Buy
Buy tickets at the museum box office (tel. 323 857-6010) or online. Many programs sell out so try to purchase in advance.

Included
Your film ticket covers both films in a double bill, except where noted, and includes entrance to the museum galleries as well.

Film Department
Tel. 323 857-6177
Ian Birnie, Director
Bernardo Rondeau, Program Coordinator
Lee Marcuse, Volunteer
Pauline Posner, Volunteer

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