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Ambition is the Achilles Heel in The Red Shoes

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Noni Ford

Victoria Page seeing the red shoes for the first time in the ballet
A still from the ballet The Red Shoes

What is Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’sThe Red Shoes really about? A fairytale within a fairytale, the commitment of artistry, a story about the jealousies and passions that arise when you see a talent like no other… It’s hard to tie down the different threads in the movie, but the central theme from the opening scene to the final curtain is ambition. The ambition to rise to the top, to be a name everyone recognizes, and to receive all of the fame and the success that comes from being the star of a show. It’s no wonder so many filmmakers (Scorsese, Spielberg, Brian DePalma, and Francis Ford Coppola) love this film — it’s made for and about young artists with dreams. And even if you don’t identify as an artist you can’t help but exit a screening of this film craving that same ambition, love, and devotion towards a field or an art form as the characters you saw onscreen. You could say the characters’ desires are infectious; they bleed through the screen, and even though my current rewatching of this was at least my fifth, I feel just as affected as if it were my first. (more…)

Filed under: FeaturesTagged ballet, British cinema, City Lights Film Series, dance film, Powell and Pressburger, tragedy

How Dementia 13 (1963) Anticipated The Conversation (1974)

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Jesse Pasternack

Poster for Dementia 13 (1963)
Poster for Dementia 13 (1963), the first film that Francis Ford Coppola directed for mentor/producer Roger Corman
Poster for The Conversation (1974)
Poster for The Conversation (1974)

One of my favorite things to do as a cinema enthusiast is to watch how a director grows over time. I love seeing a director take situations they had mentioned or tentatively explored in earlier films and expand upon them in their later work. If you look closely, you can see them learning and taking another step closer on the path to becoming who they’re destined to be. That’s why I love watching the scene in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) where Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) tells Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane) all the reasons he won’t marry her before changing his mind, because it’s clearly a dry run for the famous scene where George Bailey (James Stewart) angrily tells Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) why he won’t marry her before tearfully embracing her in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). It’s also why I love the scene in The American Soldier (1970), an early film by polymath Rainer Werner Fassbinder, where a maid (Margarethe von Trotta) delivers a monologue that tells what would become the story of his later famous film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974). This is also why I love comparing two films directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the early stage of his career: Dementia 13 (1963) and The Conversation (1974). (more…)

Filed under: FeaturesTagged B-movies, Francis Ford Coppola, horror films, New Hollywood, Roger Corman, thriller

Monthly Movie Round-Up: May

Posted on May 2, 2022 by Establishing Shot

Historical figures gathered on stairs as they watch a surgery take place
A Matter of Life and Death
Brothers Quay moving figures in front of a camera
Brothers Quay
David Byrne singing in a giant suit
Stop Making Sense
Judy Garland and Fred Astaire dancing
Easter Parade
Three little boys listen to a record player on the floor while their sister sits and reads behind them
Moonrise Kingdom

Every month, A Place for Film brings you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series reflects the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema and demonstrates the eclectic tastes of the bloggers. Each contributor has picked one film that they saw this month that they couldn’t wait to share with others. Keep reading to find out what discoveries these cinephiles have made, as well as some of the old friends they’ve revisited.

To hear more about this month’s picks, be sure to join us for the live portion of this round-up, which will be presented as a virtual event tomorrow, May 3. Register now! (more…)

Filed under: FeaturesTagged animation, British cinema, Brothers Quay, Classic Hollywood, concert films, dance, documentary, Fred Astaire, IU Cinema 101, IU Cinema Virtual Screening Room, Jonathan Demme, Judy Garland, Monthly Movie Round-Up, music, musicals, Powell and Pressburger, short films, Technicolor, Wes Anderson

Physical Media Isn’t Dead, It Just Smells Funny: Imprint Films and Fun City Editions Blu-ray Reviews for April 2022

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Aja Essex

The Blu-ray and cover art for CHINA GATE
China Gate
Cover for Johnny Got His Gun
Johnny Got His Gun
The cover art for Born to Win
Born to Win

 

Full transparency: all Blu-rays reviewed were provided by Imprint Films and Fun City Editions.

Welcome to this month’s second installment of “Physical Media Isn’t Dead, It Just Smells Funny,” where we will be completing the balance of April’s frankly unique and welcomingly diverse crop of Blu-ray titles. For the remainder of the month we’ll take a look at two war titles from Imprint Films from two controversial Old Hollywood figures: Samuel Fuller’s muscular, misguided, albeit well-intentioned film China Gate and the unforgettable sole directorial effort from HUAC pariah Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun. Fun City Editions, meanwhile, delivers another fascinating gem of ’70s cynicism and sorrow in the form of Born to Win featuring excellent performances from Karen Black and George Segal.

It’s a tumultuous and torn-up month about broken people in broken situations but as we enter spring and glimmers of hope begin to bud like the flowers we pass everyday on the sidewalk, rain and tears are great cleansers for the sunnier days ahead. (more…)

Filed under: FeaturesTagged Blu-ray, Dalton Trumbo, Fun City Editions, Imprint Films, Samuel Fuller, war films, World War I

Five Reasons to See Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952)

Posted on April 27, 2022 by Michaela Owens

Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie kiss
Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie in Has Anybody Seen My Gal

An underrated gem in the filmography of Douglas Sirk, Has Anybody Seen My Gal is a 1920s-set comedy that proves the director was adept at more than just tearjerkers. Read on to see what makes this film so special and why it is absolutely worth seeking out.

It was Rock Hudson and Douglas Sirk’s first film together

Although you might not have heard of Has Anybody Seen My Gal before, it is actually rather important because it was the first time Sirk worked with perhaps his most significant collaborator, the man he would share a nine-film partnership with, Rock Hudson. (more…)

Filed under: RemarksTagged 1950s, 5X Douglas Sirk, Classic Hollywood, Comedy, Douglas Sirk, music, Technicolor

Naomi Uman: Intimacy and Handwork

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Laura Ivins

black and white abstract images of hands against black
Hand Eye Coordination (2002)

What does it mean when a film is “handmade”?

If we’re talking about experimental film, the term “handmade” usually refers to techniques like direct animation, processing film at home instead of sending it to a lab, or otherwise directly manipulating your negative or film print (bleaching, dying, etc.).

Naomi Uman engages in all these techniques. Her most well-known film is probably Removed (1999), which involves direct animation of found footage. Uman took pieces of a 1970s German porn film and bleached out the nude female figures, frame-by-frame, with nail polish remover. The women perform pleasure in ghosted images, frustrating the original intent of the pornography. (more…)

Filed under: RemarksTagged avant-garde, DirectedbyWomen, experimental, female filmmakers, Naomi Uman, Underground Film Series

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Founded by IU Cinema, Establishing Shot critically frames cinema with original articles by a roster of dedicated movie lovers and guest contributors which reflect the Cinema’s programming with writing that is sometimes silly, occasionally academic, often thought-provoking, and always rewarding.

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