Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Film: The Square, Dir. Ruben Östlund, 2017 Sweden





A precisely observed, thoroughly modern comedy of manners, Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’0r–winner revolves around Christian (Claes Bang), a well-heeled contemporary art curator at a Stockholm museum. While preparing his new exhibit—a four-by-four-meter zone designated as a “sanctuary of trust and caring”—Christian falls prey to a pickpocketing scam, which triggers an overzealous response and then a crisis of conscience. Featuring several instant-classic scenes and a vivid supporting cast (Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, and noted motion-capture actor Terry Notary), The Square is the most ambitious film yet by one of contemporary cinema’s most incisive social satirists, the rare movie to have as many laughs as ideas.

https://www.filmlinc.org/films/the-square-2/

Theater: Jason Bishop: Believe in Magic, at the New Vic Theater, 2017





"A master when it comes to all things involving the art of illusion"
The Today Show

"There's real elegance and even wit in the precision of his gestures, the agility of each finger."
The New York Times

"With disappearing acts, bar-bending stunts, and card tricks, the show was captivating and entertaining for every age."
Northern Review

The creator of the first (and now second!) magic show to perform at The New Victory Theater, Jason Bishop became enamored with magic as a kid in long-term foster care. He credits local libraries for sparking his interest in magic and helping him become the successful illusionist he is today. Jason isn't returning alone. Both his assistant, Kim Hess, and his canine companion, Gizmo (or Dog #97), are eager to ring in the holiday season at The New Victory Theater!

Theater: Triumph of Love, Juilliard Drama Dept., 2017


Pierre de Marivaux’s Triumph of Love
Stephen Wadsworth, director

Setting: 1730s France, the gardens of the philosopher Hermocrate

Leontine: Brittany Bradford
Leonide: Manon Gage
Dimas: Scout James
Harlequin: Nicholas Podany
Corine: Hadley Robinson
Agis: Philip Stoddard
Hermocrate: Allen Tedder

Adapted by Stephen Wadsworth from the play by Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux.
Marivaux’s 1732 comedy refines the commedia dell'arte style with wit and substance and more than a little cross-dressing. Princess Leonide falls for Prince Agis and dresses as a male philosophy student to gain access to his household. While there, she manages to become engaged to marry much of the household. A hilarious and painful comedy about gender, love, and political machinations.

https://www.juilliard.edu/event/121216/juilliard-drama-presents-pierre-de-marivauxs-triumph-love

Film: Tabu, F. W. Murnau, 1931 USA



Tabu, based on a story conceived in collaboration with Robert Flaherty, was shot in Tahiti with a primarily local cast. The narrative is famously straightforward, concerning the ill-fated romance of a young couple who flee their homeland when their love is forbidden, and it possesses the enduring, elegant force of a fable. Unencumbered, at last, from the burdens of commercial moviemaking—and Western sexual mores—Murnau found tremendous poetic expression in the simplest images, like the breaking of a wave, or the slice of a blade.

https://www.filmlinc.org/films/tabu/

Film: The Other Side of Hope, dir. Aki Kaurismäki 2017, Finland


Having escaped bombed-out Aleppo, Syrian refugee Khlaed (Sherwan Haji) seeks asylum in Finland, only to get lost in a maze of functionaries and bureaucracies. Meanwhile, shirt salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) leaves his wife, wins big in a poker game, and takes over a restaurant whose deadpan staff he also inherits. These parallel stories dovetail to gently comic and enormously moving effect in Kaurismäki’s politically urgent fable, an object lesson on the value of compassion and hope that remains grounded in a tangible social reality. [https://www.filmlinc.org/films/the-other-side-of-hope/]