New York’s leading movie house for independent premieres and repertory programming
A nonprofit cinema since 1970
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New York’s leading movie house for independent premieres and repertory programming
A nonprofit cinema since 1970
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"His ferocious, cold-blooded, intricate and hilarious pictures also turn out to be unexpectedly gorgeous." |
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NOVEMBER 2/3/4 FRI/SAT/SUN SEDUCED AND ABANDONED
2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30 "A LUSTY, VITAL SATIRE OF SICILIAN MORES—AND A GLORY OF ITALIAN MOVIE COMEDY! The movie is a masterpiece of mock verismo; everything accelerates into high-octane opera buffa. Pietro Germi directs with such deftness that he gets mileage from small laughs and can afford to tread lightly on big ones." NOVEMBER 5 MON THE WAY OF HOPE
3:10, 7:00 “Above all a fantastic adventure, NOVEMBER 5 MON (SEPARATE ADMISSION)
Il Brigante di Tacca del Lupo (1952) Amid the turmoil of the post-Risorgimento in the South, bersaglieri captain Amedeo Nazzari (the film star in Nights of Cabiria) gets his assignment from Naples HQ: capture notorious brigand Raffa Raffa. But en route to a bullet-riddled final showdown, there are encounters with limp corpses strung up from baroque arches, a woman kidnapped and dishonored by the bandit leader, and whose-side-ishe- on-policeman Saro Urzì. Co-written by Fellini, his last script for somebody else. 1:20, 5:10, 9:00 “Germi demonstrates a clear-eyed understanding of the complex socio-political forces that feed into the battle for control of the mountainous South, as well as his love of John Ford's masterful Western compositions and stylistic expressions of strong men at war in a beautiful but dangerous landscape. The director's 'maniacal attention to detail' (Mario Sesti) included nightly coating the undersides of the leaves on trees with white paint, so that they would give off an intermittent shimmer when quivering in the breeze; and whitewashing all the houses on one side of a street in order to heighten the contrast with the buildings opposite.” NOVEMBER 6 TUE
Il ferroviere (1956) Railroad engineer Germi (acting again after nearly 20 years, although with voice dubbed), after being relieved from driving after a man commits suicide in front of his engine, goes to pieces, powerdiving into the bottle as his family falls apart around him. But when death looms, things start to change. An enormous hit, but not with intellectual critics and big cities (less than 10% of its box office came from downtown), reportedly reducing even theater ushers (?!) to tears. 1:00, 5:25, 9:50 “Delightful... full of that quiet dignity which takes genuine humanity as well as considerable talent to achieve.” NOVEMBER 6 TUE (SEPARATE ADMISSION) THE STRAW MAN
3:10, 7:35 “Like a gust of hot wind, sensuality blows through this film... [It has] unusual credibility of character and situation” NOVEMBER 7 WED
Un Maledetto imbroglio (1959) As police inspector Germi investigates first a robbery, and then a succeeding murder at the same Roman apartment building, just about everyone starts to look guilty, including a very young Claudia Cardinale (“She acts even with the corners of her eyes” – Pasolini). Unique combination of brooding mystery, rich character comedy, and an amazingly faithful adaptation of Carlo Emilio Gadda’s complex, Joycean novel (so complex, Germi had to provide the solution that Gedda never did). 3:00, 7:10 “Strange and appealing... A weaving of his comedic view into a tightly-constructed crime yarn.” NOVEMBER 7 WED (SEPARATE ADMISSION)
(1972) Shy, timid bank clerk Dustin Hoffman should be so lucky, ending up married to knockout Stefania Sandrelli — only problems are: her possessiveness, her frustration at not getting pregnant, and then there’s those embarrassing blood-curdling screams during sex. Even dubbed, Hoffman’s performance is nerdiness supreme, as the crusade for divorce legalization and towering Carla Gravina start to look good — but will either solve anything? 1:00, 5:10, 9:20 NOVEMBER 8 THU IN THE NAME OF THE LAW
1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 "Makes Sicily look like John Ford's Monument Valley." – Stuart Klawans, The New York Times NOVEMBER 9-22 TWO WEEKS! (LATE SHOWS ONLY NOVEMBER 16-22)
Click here for more information NOVEMBER 9-15: 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00 |
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Il Cammino della speranza (1950) When even an
underground sitdown strike can’t keep those Sicilian
sulfur mines open, the ex-workers, led by Raf Vallone,
are willing to listen to people smuggler Saro Urzì,
who offers them a job-packed Promised
Land — France! And so begins a trek, by
train, bus, and foot, broken by a shootout
in a Rome station, a labor confrontation in
Lombardy, and climaxing in a knife fight in
Alpine snows.
THE BRIGAND OF TACCA DEL LUPO
THE RAILROAD MAN 
L’uomo di paglia (1958) Braced for loneliness, timid
middle-aged factory worker/summer bachelor Germi
sees his wife and son off to the seaside — but then
he meets younger Franca Bettoja, and... A classic
triangle, with tragic consequences —
but not what one might suppose — and
then, there’s still two more acts.
THE FACTS 
ALFREDO, ALFREDO
In nome della legge (1949) Nobody — including the
barone and Mafia kingpin Charles Vanel (Diabolique, The
Wages of Fear) — wants to know about the latest
robbery and murder in a sun-baked Sicilian town — but
then lone magistrate Massimo Girotti (Ossessione) gets
off the train. Ford and Eisenstein-influenced Sicilian
Western, with the Mafia, as though they were Apaches,
both depicted as savages and monumentalized visually.
Critical controversy ensued from unusual melding of neo-realism
and genre, with acting awards to Girotti and Saro
Urzì as local cop. “Apart from 
DIVORCE—