| Two
by Marker
February
6 – 8, 2004
Born
Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve on July
29, 1921 in Neuilly-sur-Seine,
France,
Chris Marker has been called a documentary filmmaker, but in
fact he is
the
cinema's great personal essayist. Traveling around the world
with his camera, he has made discreet, labyrinthine, emotionally
overwhelming films characterized
no
less by their elegant spoken commentaries than by their crystalline,
taut, enigmatic images. Film @ International House is pleased
to present two of Marker’s masterworks in newly restored 35mm
prints.
Sans
Soleil
dir.
Chris Marker, France, 1982, 35mm, 100 mins, color
Friday,
February 6 at 8:00
PM
Sunday,
February 8 at 1:00
PM
 An
unseen woman reads the letters of a globetrotting film cameraman,
who ponders the enigma of memory through footage gathered in
Japan, Africa, Iceland, France and the U.S. Arguably Marker’s
masterpiece, Sans Soleil is a text of digression that
weaves together poetic reveries and political insights in a
breathtaking meditation on history, memory and “the dreams of
the human race.”
A
Grin Without a Cat
dir.
Chris Marker, France,
1993, 35mm, 180 mins, color
Saturday,
February 7 at 8:00
PM
Years
in the making, A Grin Without a Cat is a two part
exploration of the changing fortunes of the international revolutionary
Left from 1967 to 1977. Made up of archival footage encompassing
France in May of 1968, global anti-war protests during the Vietnam
era, the Czech uprising and its encounter with the Soviet military
(and much more), this monumental analysis positions film representation
as the substance of recent Left history, and deploys montage
and the contrast of images and commentary as methods of incisive
historical inquiry. The film begins with an intriguing analysis
of the Odessa steps sequence
from Eisenstein’s Potemkin, which leads us to consider
the mythology of image-making and the role it has played in
history.
Tickets
are $6.00 general admission, $5.00 I House members, students
and seniors. Available one hour in advance at the International
House box office.
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