CLASSICS & ANTHOLOGIES
The Golden Eighties
by Andrew Bujalski
To mark the release of the Golden Eighties single and the screening of the film’s newly restored version (17.06), we invited American filmmaker Andrew Bujalski, former student of Chantal Akerman and director of the iconic Computer Chess, to curate a carte blanche program inspired by Golden Eighties.
Andrew Bujalski was one of Chantal Akerman’s students in 1997, when she began a year of teaching at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard. The filmmaker has frequently recalled the director's influence on his life: "Nobody else makes films like Akerman. She just has this extraordinary force of vision. Having been able to observe that and be close to it at the age of 20 made me understand how profound and dedicated an artist could be to their work."
Though perhaps too little known in Europe, Bujalski established himself as a major figure in American independent cinema with his very first feature in 2002 (Funny Ha Ha). Shot on low budgets, his films (including Mutual Appreciation and Beeswax) stand in stark contrast to mainstream cinema and simplistic Hollywood comedies.
Bujalski agreed to design a carte blanche inspired by Golden Eighties, even including a few titles he suspected Akerman might not have liked, and writing the synopses himself. We pay tribute to him by screening Computer Chess, arguably his most well-known film on this side of the Atlantic.
Saturday 18.07 21:15 LEDOUX Cart
Wednesday 22.07 18:30 LEDOUX Cart
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Torrents d’amour
Love Streams
- John Cassavetes, USA 1984 ⁄ John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel ⁄ color ⁄ 141' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
Love Streams is unique in Cassavetes’ oeuvre – it is loosely adapted from a play by another writer, it features wild musical sequences and dream imagery, but none of the handheld camerawork associated with his style – and it was produced by notoriously trashy Cannon Films. Yet it is as deeply, searingly personal as anything he or anyone ever made. — Andrew Bujalski
Friday 24.07 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Thursday 30.07 15:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Pauline à la plage
- Éric Rohmer, France 1983 ⁄ Fédor Atkine, Amanda Langlet ⁄ color ⁄ 93' ⁄ ST - OND: NL
Rohmer would seem to have been immune to the excesses of the 1980s, but its breezy culture served his storytelling well. His characters were often at leisure or on vacation, and while you may not want to befriend them all, it’s hard not to walk out of this movie without daydreaming of the world they inhabit. Even if you’re not a beach person. — Andrew Bujalski
Wednesday 17.06 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Golden Eighties : Restored
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
J’ai faim, j’ai froid
- Chantal Akerman, Belgium, France 1984 ⁄ Maria de Medeiros, Pascale Salkin ⁄ B&W ⁄ 12' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
Golden Eighties
- Chantal Akerman, Belgium, France, Switzerland 1986 ⁄ Myriam Boyer, John Berry, Delphine Seyrig ⁄ color ⁄ 97' ⁄ ST - OND: NL
In the presence of Pascale Salkin.
+ GUEST
Friday 19.06 21:15 LEDOUX Cart
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Les Années 80
- Chantal Akerman, Belgium, France 1983 ⁄ Aurore Clément, Magali Noël, Roger Lion ⁄ color ⁄ 79' ⁄ V: FR ⁄ ST - OND: —
An essential companion piece to Golden Eighties, consisting of rehearsals, sketches, and run-throughs for that film while Akerman still sought its financing. Would any other filmmaker have had the confidence to risk the larger project with this “unfinished” one, or to know that each film would stand so ably on its own? – Andrew Bujalski
Saturday 20.06 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Computer Chess
- Andrew Bujalski, USA 2013 ⁄ Patrick Riester, Wiley Wiggins, Myles Paige ⁄ B&W + color ⁄ 92' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
Tuesday 23.06 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Friday 26.06 18:00 PLATEAU Cart
Wednesday 01.07 18:00 PLATEAU Cart
Saturday 04.07 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Veuve mais pas trop
Married to the Mob
- Jonathan Demme, USA 1988 ⁄ Paul Lazar, Alec Baldwin, Michelle Pfeiffer ⁄ color ⁄ 103' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
An utterly unlikely shotgun blast of cinematic joy from Jonathan Demme. Perhaps it has roots in old screwball capers, but here they seem reinvented on pure adrenaline, each frame crammed overflowing with maximal color and music. Liberated performances throughout from a monster cast, especially Mercedes Ruehl destroying everything in her path. — Andrew Bujalski
Wednesday 24.06 18:00 PLATEAU Cart
Saturday 27.06 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Thursday 02.07 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Sunday 05.07 18:00 PLATEAU Cart
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Recherche Susan désespérément
Desperately Seeking Susan
- Susan Seidelman, USA 1985 ⁄ Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn ⁄ color ⁄ 103' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
Madonna cemented her superstardom with her first lead role in this electric and surprising New York classic. The “blond ambition” she peddled would soon conquer the planet, but her Susan onscreen remains all scrap and hustle, a downtown It Girl for Rosanna Arquette’s Roberta — and everyone watching — to wish to become. Desperately. — Andrew Bujalski
Tuesday 07.07 21:15 LEDOUX Cart
Saturday 11.07 19:15 LEDOUX Cart
Thursday 16.07 15:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Femmes au bord de la crise de nerfs
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
- Pedro Almodóvar, Spain 1988 ⁄ Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Rossy de Palma ⁄ color ⁄ 89' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
Almodóvar’s international breakthrough movie still sizzles. A candy-flavored concoction to be sure, but it wouldn’t be Almodóvar without some bite and some sadness as these women – sometimes teetering on the verge, sometimes tumbling right past it – intersect in a farce where the manic proceedings seem entirely rooted in character. — Andrew Bujalski
Wednesday 08.07 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
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Friday 17.07 20:15 PLATEAU Cart
The Golden Eighties : by Andrew Bujalski
Xanadu
- Robert Greenwald, USA 1980 ⁄ Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, Michael Beck ⁄ color ⁄ 96' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
Not the only attempt to transmute Hollywood musical magic into the disco age, but surely the most successful. The songs (by ELO and Olivia Newton-John) are devilishly catchy, the set pieces are clever, and somehow a childlike sweetness rings true even amidst the ambient cocaine sleaziness of the era. — Andrew Bujalski