Sunday Corner With Lee Liberman: MANK writes Citizen Kane

 This post is written by our monthly correspondent, Lee Liberman

To report on director David Fincher’s MANK, a star turn for actor Gary Oldman and streaming now on Netflix, one needs throw bouquets at Mank’s opus, Citizen Kane, directed and starring Orson Welles, for which the witty, erudite Herman Mankiewicz, Mank, is hired to produce a script. Mank is the anecdotal tale of its writing, set against the machinations of the moguls that harnessed Hollywood in the 1930’s and rode it like outlaws. Although who wrote what is still disputed, it is thought that Mank laid out structure and detail while Welles infused the magic that has led to Citizen Kane’s reputation as one of the best films ever made. Both men (below) got Oscars for best original screenplay, its only win. Citizen Kane’s repute has grown since. 

We find our anti-hero laid up at a secluded desert ranch with a broken leg, waited on by a nurse and a secretary, the latter played by Lily Collins (below, l). Mank was in the middle of the movie food chain —a Hollywood transplant, jaded New York critic and playwright who wrote to his NY writer cohorts: “Come at once. There are millions to be made and your only competition are idiots”. 

What Mank lacks in a story arc is filled to the brim with an insider’s view of Hollywood’s studio renowned and other notables, particularly William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) and Hearst’s Betty Boop (Amanda Seyfried) — who is getting awards buzz for her Marion Davies, played with warm intelligence. (Below, from l, Seyfried, Oldman, and Dance).

Citizen Kane is a 1941 vision in black and white that excoriates news mogul Hearst and the American Dream as Hearst exploited it — Rupert Murdoch’s tabloidy mantle now. (Citizen Kane streams on HBO Max thru 12/31, but is available for rent/sale on Prime, elsewhere.) The two films are intertwined — ‘Kane’ is worth a watch/re-watch, there’s not much about it in Mank, yet the texture of it infuses the entirety. Mank is a 2020 vision in black and white of Citizen Kane (below). 

Mank’s essence is the rich vs poor story of the flamboyant, depression era heyday of MGM’s Louis B Mayer and notables like Irving Thalberg, David O Selznick, S.J. Perelman and Joe Mankiewicz, all of whom and more appear here. Mank is the outsider, the joker who stumbles around drunk with writing skills and bon mots that have kept him in demand in the writers' room and in social company. 

Mank himself, a garrulous, overweight idealist, produces the original draft of the rise and fall of news magnate Charles Foster Kane for director Welles; it disparages the living Hearst and his castle of excess San Simeon — “Our little hillside home”. Mank “shimmers with knowing artificiality”, says A.O.Scott in The New York Times, as “the low motives and compromised ideals are articles of faith...in the annals of Hollywood self-obsession”. 

Mank himself is between a rock and a hard place: his own liberalism vs the oligarchic industry that employs him. Sympathetic to the exploitation of the have nots, he manages both to pal around with Hearst and use his words to throw Hearst under the bus. Citizen Kane becomes Mank’s mea culpa for having been a Hearst hanger on and court jester, damning both Hearst and tinseltown as oligarch. Says younger brother, Joe Mankiewicz (Tom Pelphrey): “I hear you’re hunting dangerous game; word...is...golden boy [Welles] wants to go toe-to-toe with Willie Hearst, and you’re helping in the kitchen” (below, brother Joe). 

David Fincher’s detailed script for Mank was written by his own father Jack, who uses flashbacks in the manner of Citizen Kane but here replaces the abuses of Charles Foster Kane with the abuses of the filmmaking industry and local politics. (Below, Fincher directs Oldman). 

Mank, however, suffers from the absence of the foreboding narrative that distinguished Citizen Kane. In one vignette, Mank is disgusted with Mayer (‘If I ever go to the electric chair, I'd like him to be sitting in my lap’) who drips sincerity pandering to his employees while cutting their pay in half. Actor Arliss Howard chews Mayer’s part with relish but no drama (below, c). 

Even the annihilating despair of a colleague who produced ads for a city mayoral race smearing the Democrat as a ‘lousy Bolshevik’ is affect-starved. That political campaign of self-interested lying to the public fueled Mank’s anger, propelling his revenge. (Here, the casting of Bill Nye, The Science Guy, as Upton Sinclair, the Democrat who gets beaten, is a clever poke at 2020 repression of science.) However the vignettes don’t build momentum. They are snapshots unmoored to a strong story arc. The power of Mank is in its imagery resembling Citizen Kane and as a singular character study that rakes over a man’s soul. It is lovely for all that, with Oscar buzz aplenty. 

Director of photography, Erik Messerschmidt, made a mesmerizing contribution here, creating the atmosphere of ‘Kane,’ perhaps to such an extent it leaves the viewer even more in want of old cars and old film — rich in moody blacks and whites, continuous long shots, immaculate lighting. Below, Marion glows. 

In short, cinephiles, watch and luxuriate. For those who feel no passion for the old film industry, the look, feel, and Mank’s bon mots will please, but no meal of a story is offered. Fincher has given us, writes David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter, a “high-style piece of cinematic nostalgia that's a constant pleasure to look at but only intermittently finds a heartbeat.” Mank himself died of alcoholism at 55. 

From Arrow Video on Blu-ray, two by Luigi Bazzoni: THE POSSESSED and THE FIFTH CORD

One of the great pleasures of Arrow Video resides in the opportunity to view films transferred to Blu-ray so spectacularly well that even second- or third-rate movies take on a sheen that -- for awhile, at least -- renders them extremely watchable. The company catalog also seems to lean toward the much lesser-known films that can enrich the viewing of folk whose taste runs to genre movies (giallo in particular) and/or the work of filmmakers whose reputations have taken some time to build and/or blossom.

Giallo is front and (maybe-slightly-off) center in the two movies under consideration here that made their home video debut this earlier this week, both directed by a filmmaker new to TrustMovies: Luigi Bazzoni (shown left), an Italian whose half dozen full-length features moved from western to thriller to documentary.

His first, however -- THE POSSESSED (La donna del lago), co-directed by Franco Rossellini -- comes close to an art film/character study via the manner in which it tells a true-life mystery tale from the annals of modern Italian crime history.

Featuring some lip-smackingly good black-and-white cinematography by Leonida Barboni, and a close-to-the-vest, highly interior performance from its leading man (Peter Baldwin, above, right), interestingly set against some nearly over-the-top ones by the excellent supporting cast, which includes Valentina Cortese (below, right), Philippe Leroy, Pia Lindström and Virna Lisi, the movie may not be all that great, but it is consistently interesting and a pleasure to view in its ace transfer from Arrow.

A writer who clearly has a problem committing/connecting to emotional relationships beats a hasty retreat from his current one and takes off for a lakeside hotel at which he evidently spent some previous time, during which he grew smitten with a particular hotel employee (Ms Lisi, below, a beautiful actress who made quite a stir internationally back in the 60's and 70s).

The movie unfolds quietly and rather methodically, and if the plotting does not approach "thriller" status, the movie, along with its cast of oddball characters and some very nice art direction from Luigi Scaccianoce and his assistant (a certain Dante Ferretti) should prove enough to hold your interest.

As usual with Arrow Video, the bonus features, together, comprise a full-length experience in themselves. If you're a fan of black-and-white movies, all this should be enough to easily corral you. The movie, distributed in the USA by MVD Entertainment Group, hit the street this past Tuesday, February 5 -- for purchase and (I would hope) rental.

The original Italian title of THE FIFTH CORD, Giornata nera per l'ariete, translates to "Black Day for the Ram," which would probably have not set the U.S. box-office on fire. However, TrustMovies does not at all understand what "The Fifth Cord" actually signifies. The Fifth Glove would have made a hell of a lot more sense here as the title of this relatively average giallo, in which we hear, via tape recording at the beginning, a killer explaining that he intends to murder five people in pretty quick succession. The movie's 93 minutes are then devoted to those would-be murders -- in which two of the victims actually survive.

The main reason to see this film, too, is its crack cinematography -- by the great Vittorio Storaro -- (in a decent transfer to Blu-ray), whose exteriors and interiors (above and below) are indeed something to see. Other big names associated with the movie are its composer, Ennio Morricone (offering here only a so-so score),

along with a few of its actors: the sexy -- and back then (1971) in his prime--  Franco Nero (shown below) in the leading role,

and the always interesting Rossella Falk (below, and so memorable in Modesty Blaise) playing the killer's second victim, and finally a couple of actors we older Americans remember from their early Hollywood days but might not be so aware of their later Italian careers: Pamela Tiffin and Edmond Purdom.

As so often happened during the giallo craze, repetition did not guarantee worth or success, so The Fifth Cord falls short of anything memorable. The plotting and dialog are mostly standard, if that, and the killings, too, are by-the-book obvious.

Characterization is minimal, with most of the cast playing either victim or suspect. The final unmasking may be a surprise, and that might be a reason for sticking out the film. Only the fun cast and Storaro's fine work rise above the usual.

Still, the Bonus Features on the disc are great fun for fans of Italian mainstream cinema, including a new interview with Franco Nero, a previously unseen deleted sequence, and other interviews and visual essays. From Arrow Video via MVD Entertainment Group, the movie made its Blu-ray debut this past week and is now available for purchase and/or (I hope, somewhere) rental.

Pat Collins' SONG OF GRANITE gives us -- very elliptically -- the story of Joe Heaney and traditional Irish singing

Filmed with the kind of breathtaking black-and-white cinematography that will have aficionados drooling, this year's Irish entry into the Best Foreign Language Film sweepstakes is a movie entitled SONG OF GRANITE, directed and co-written by Pat Collins, a documentary filmmaker who in 2012 gave us his first narrative movie, Silence, and has now come up with this new one, which traces the life, parental history and career of a man named Joe Heaney, of whom TrustMovies had never heard but who was evidently known as a great singer of traditional Irish songs.

Mr. Collins, pictured at right, possesses a highly poetic sensibility, and he and his cinematographer (Richard Kendrick) have contrived a movie so steeped in gorgeous images -- there's one, of a father and son sitting in front of a stone wall and doorway, that I could look at, I think, maybe forever -- that you don't want to look away from the screen for even a moment.

The poetry goes beyond mere images, as Collins also tells his tale by moving back and forth in time and and also by interspersing archival images with those he and Kendrick has more recently created. At film's end he even joins the older Heaney man with his younger self across both time and a lovely outdoor landscape.

If only Song of Granite's aural qualities were anywhere near its visual ones.

Granted, I am not the best person to judge this, since I knew next to nothing about traditional Irish singing going into the movie (if I've ever hear much of it previously, I most likely and immediately tuned it out).

Coming out of this film, I am most definitely not a fan. I find this particular musical genre consistently dour, repetitive and an absolute drudge to hear.

I would estimate that there is at least as much song here as there is dialog (maybe twice as much, unless I am letting my distaste for the genre get the better of me). At times I felt like turning off the sound completely, but then I'd have missed some of the English dialog (much of the film's is spoken in Irish/Gaelic, I am guessing, with accompanying English subtitles).

Eventually I had to content myself with those visuals and with the interesting performances of the cast Collins has assembled, beginning with that of Colm Seoighe, above, as the youngest of the Joes, and especially that of Michael O'Chonfhlaola (three photos up, at microphone) as the adult-to-middle-aged Joe, who has a beautifully sculpted face that seems designed to please the camera.

Because Collins jumps around so much, but does so poetically, while we don't always get the details, we can follow both the story and the emotions it and its characters convey. If you've a taste for traditional Irish singing, by all means see this film. If you're a novice to the genre, Song of Granite is certainly one place to start learning. And if you're not a fan, well then, you know what you're in for.

From Oscilloscope Laboratories and running 104 minutes, the movie opens in New York City at Film Forum this Wednesday, November 15; in Los Angeles on December 8 at Laemmle's Monica Film Center; and in Santa Fe on December 29 at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

Godard's A MARRIED WOMAN hits Blu-ray & DVD -- and holds up pretty damned well

Anyone who follows this blog probably knows that TrustMovies is no fan of Jean-Luc Godard. I find the guy intellectually callow, pretentious to a fault and with a battery of films that range from so cutesy you could barf (Breathless and especially Pierrot Le Fou) to deliberately inscrutable enough to bore you to distraction (Film Socialisme and Goodbye to Language). I have not seen all of his work (what kind of a masochist do you think I am?), but along the way, I've viewed a few good films, the best of which I find to be Le Petit Soldat, followed by Weekend and the movie that arrives in a spanking new high-def edition this week, A MARRIED WOMAN (an exact translation from its French title, Une femme mariée).

First off, for his star, Godard (shown above, on set for the film) managed to get -- instead of Stefania Sandrelli, whom he wanted but who was pregnant at the time -- the absolutely lovely, diffident, quite entitled (before we even knew what that word meant) young actress, Macha Méril, who, beside being drop-dead gorgeous, also defines the word "pert." (You'll learn this "casting" fact and so much more from the very interesting interview with Miss Méril, done in 2010, which appears on the disc's "extras," in which she spills beans about nearly everything. This actress is as much of a Godard fan as I am not.)

The stunning black-and white cinematography that makes up the film is by the great Raoul Coutard, Godard's cinematographer of choice for many years, and it is just about as good as it gets: pristine, elegant, can't-take-your-eyes-away amazing. The compositions here are phenomenal and exactly right -- all on a budget that could hardly be believed, even back in the day when movie budgets were much smaller. (To save more money, Ms Méril tells us, Godard did some of the costuming himself.)

Plotwise, Godard, who also wrote the film, has his leading lady involved in a heavy-duty affair with a somewhat noted actor (Bernard Noël, above), while living with her husband and taking care of his young son. In the course of the movie we learn that the hubby -- the very hot but only somewhat jealous Philippe Leroy (below and two photos above), knew about her "flirtation" (he had her followed) but remains in the dark about just how far that flirtation has evolved.

Ms Méril is on screen for nearly the entire movie and in almost every frame -- or at least some part of her is. In that interview the actress explains that she never knew whether Godard was filming all of her or only a part of her (or which part). She commands this movie in an even a stronger manner than did another Godard star, Anna Karina, in her several films.

As played by the actress, Charlotte is shallow and almost completely incurious intellectually or even socially. She thinks the German use of Auschwitz has to do with Thalidomide rather than with the Holocaust (the movie takes place and was made in 1964, remember, when many of the facts about the Holocaust were still kept somewhat under wraps). Yet, as privileged and uncaring as Charlotte is, Méril makes her real and just important enough as a French woman of her time that we come to care about and appreciate her.

Sure, Godard makes certain we notice all the consumer advertising and media nonsense by which Charlotte is surrounded and to which she gives herself rather gladly. And there's the usual social critique, too: bourgeois life and its discontents. But thanks to Méril, there's greater depth of character here, while Godard's dialog is better than in many of the "master's" movies, making full use of the French penchant for philosophy but more charmingly so than usual -- without toppling over into cutesiness.

Too often this filmmaker gets bogged down in appearing to make an exercise in intellectual one-upmanship, rather than a full-fledged, intelligent and emotionally engaging movie. The guy can't resist showing us how smart he is -- which can only go so far in terms of real filmmaking. Deconstruction is fine, but construction is better. But if you, too, want to try feeling superior, by all means give Godard's oeuvre a good going over.

Meanwhile, take a gander at the excellent Blu-ray transfer that the Cohen Film Collection has given this near-classic release. Part of Cohen's Classics of French Cinema collection, A Married Woman makes its Blu-ray and DVD debit this Tuesday, May 24 -- for purchase or rental.

FIAF's CinéSalon presents LHOMME BEHIND THE CAMERA -- featuring the work of pioneering cinematographer, Pierre Lhomme

The French Institute/Alliance Francaise's (FIAF's) popular and increasingly indispensable Tuesday CinéSalon is on a roll. After its November/December series on Mathieu Amalric, here comes a new seven-week/eight-film series devoted to that fine French cinematographer whose work ought to be better known on this side of the Atlantic, Pierre Lhomme. Lhomme Behind the Camera is the clever title of the two-month run of films of this pioneering cinematographer who worked with some of the most special French (and international) filmmakers, from Jean-Pierre Melville to Chris Marker, James Ivory to Dusan Makavejev, Bertrand Blier to Claude Berri and Jean-Paul Rappenau.

What TrustMovies finds most impressive about Lhomme's work is his versatility: how he could become completely comfortable and creative in any kind of movie -- documentary or narrative, black-and-white or color -- and in just about any genre you can name. And throughout, his work remained beautiful, varied, and, well, just what the doctor -- whoops, filmmaker -- ordered. As the FIAF press release reminds us, Lhomme’s films are marked by a mastery of low light, and a gift for psychological realism in any genre.

A selection of Lhomme’s work -- many of the films newly restored -- will be presented from January 12 – February 23 at CinéSalon in Florence Gould Hall on East 59th Street in Manhattan every Tuesday at 4 and 7:30 PM. The complete eight-film schedule is below, with FIAF's description appearing in the first paragraph and TrustMovies "take" on each movie in the second.  As an added bonus, each 7:30pm screening will be introduced by a guest speaker, and after the movie, wine will be served and a lively discussion had in the lovely FIAF Gallery. All in all, CinéSalon is just about the perfect venue in which to see and then discuss the movie post-viewing.

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 Lhomme Behind the Camera 

Tuesday afternoons and evening

from January 12 through February 23

Le Sauvage
Tuesday, January 12 at 4 & 7:30pm 
DCP. Restored. Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. 1975. Color. 107 min. 
With Yves Montand, Catherine Deneuve, Luigi Vannucchi, Tony Roberts 
In French with English subtitles 
 A young bride (Catherine Deneuve) escapes her impending nuptials with a priceless painting hidden in her luggage. Pursued across Venezuela by her jilted lover, she maroons herself on an island with a sullen but handsome stranger (Yves Montand) who is also on the run from his past. Pierre Lhomme captures the emotional depth of tropical landscapes in this adventuresome rom-com. "Frantic and exotic"—L’Express

This little nearly-screwball comedy holds up rather delightfully, as Deneuve and Montand meet cute and stay that way for nearly all of the 107 minutes. The chemistry between the two is quite wonderful (watching this film, the younger generation might discover why Americans took so firmly to sexy European men back in the 60s and 70s, as well as why Ms Deneuve has remained such a film icon for so many decades). What fun to see Tony Roberts in a French movie, and to re-discover one of the great screen beauties, Dana Wynter. The ending's a bit of a letdown, but up to that point, there's beaucoup fun to be had.

 Free wine & beer following each screening. Special guest speaker to be announced.

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The Army of Shadows (L’Armée des ombres)
Tuesday, January 19 at 4pm DCP. Restored. 
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, 1969. Color. 145 min. 
With Lino Ventura, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Meurisse, Simone Signoret 
In French, German, and English with English subtitles. 
Equal parts beautiful and brutal, this psychological drama follows the clandestine movements of a cell of determined Resistance fighters who risk everything for a seemingly hopeless cause. Cold, spare, and visually arresting cinematography captures the pervasive atmosphere of fear and mistrust in France during World War II. Based on the novel by Joseph Kessel and director Jean-Pierre Melville’s own experiences as a young man, this wartime masterpiece won a New York Film Critics Circle’s award upon its US release in 2006, 37 years after its creation. “Thrilling…a masterpiece."— The New York Times

A film that TM found not quite up to its illustrious reputation, still, any Melville is worth the watch (and then some) and the cast here is top grade, too. I do recall being greatly impressed with Lhomme's cinematography (this is one of those films that, though the movie's in color, so drained is it of any cheer or brightness, that you may remember it being in black-and-white). It is also drained of any melodrama and thrills, so that from time to time it does seem rather one-note. Overall, through the subject matter and atmosphere (via Melville and Lhomme), the film proves persuasive.

Free wine & beer following each screening.

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The Mother and the Whore (La maman et la putain)
Tuesday, January 19 at 7:30pm 35mm 
Directed by Jean Eustache, 1973. B&W. 220 min. 
With Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun 
In French with English subtitles
Jean Eustache’s intimate portrait of youth after May 1968 is one of the most influential films in the history of French cinema. In this wayward epic, Lhomme’s long shots mirror Alexandre’s (Jean-Pierre Léaud) meandering days spent in cafés, unable to choose between the bourgeois girlfriend (Bernadette Lafont) who supports him and the promiscuous mistress (Françoise Lebrun) who falls for him in spite of her better judgment. Don’t miss a rare chance to see this unforgettable classic, not available online or on DVD. “Emotionally shattering, historically earthshaking” – The New Yorker

More a film one can appreciate rather than love, this three-hour-and-forty-minute "masterpiece" is full of the fraught and arty but is also genuinely strange and moving from time to time. TrustMovies hasn't seen it in probably well over 15 years, so maybe he's grown a bit in that time and might be able to better appreciate it now. If he were still living in NYC, he might just show up at FIAF and take another gander at these alternately grim and goofy goings-on. He does remember muttering, "Enough already!" at several points along the way, and yet he stayed through the entire film, politely accepting his badge-of-endurance as he departed.

Free wine & beer following each screening. Special guest speaker to be announced.

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The Flesh of the Orchid (La Chair de l’orchidée)
Tuesday, January 26 at 4 & 7:30pm 35mm. Restored. 
Directed by Patrice Chéreau, 1975. Color. 110 min. 
With Charlotte Rampling, Bruno Cremer, Edwige Feuillère, Simone Signoret 
In French with English subtitles. 

Stage director Patrice Chéreau’s first film follows a fugitive heiress (Charlotte Rampling) on the run from her wicked aunt and a pair of murderous gangsters. In this foreboding, rain-soaked thriller, it seems just about everyone is after her fortune. “Murky psychological thriller”– The Guardian

Reeking with 1970s artsy-fartsy sex and violence, this has got to be the silliest but also perhaps the most fun film in the series. Not to mention the chance to see the gorgeous young Charlotte Rampling (above) -- currently making cultural headlines via 45 Years and her mini-retrospective at the IFC Center in NYC -- and Simone Signoret (in second photo from top) in a juicy supporting role! By the bloody, bizarre end of this mystery/thriller/chase movie involving the past, the circus, an old movie palace, a falling-into-ruins estate, and a railway station filled only with women, you may suspect that what you've seen is some kind of odd fairy tale about the wonders of unfeeling capitalism. Yeah, it's that weird. And not to be missed for Rampling completists.

Wine & beer following each screening. Special guest speaker to be announced.

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Maurice 
Tuesday, February 2 at 4 & 7:30pm 35mm 
Directed by James Ivory, 1987. Color. 140 min. 
With James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves, Denholm Elliott 
In English 
Adapted from E.M. Forster’s posthumously published tale of forbidden love, this stunning period piece follows a love triangle between Cambridge students Maurice (James Wilby), Clive (Hugh Grant), and Clive’s gameskeeper Scudder (Rupert Graves) as they navigate their sexuality in stifling, pre-WWI England. “Sprawling and spectacular”— The Washington Post

James Ivory may not be known as a ground-breaking director, but his film of Forster's novel certainly was. Deeply felt and full of passion, shame and beauty (of body and landscape), how the filmmaker brings to light and life this tale of homosexual love taking place a full century ago produces one of Ivory's (and Lhomme's) richest works. The cinematography here is as deep, dark (and often subtle) as the passions and events unleashed.

Free wine & beer following each screening. 7:30 screening followed by a special Q&A with director James Ivory -- and the cinematographer, Pierre Lhomme in person!

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Le Combat dans l’île
Tuesday, February 9 at 4 & 7:30pm 35mm 
Directed by Alain Cavalier, 1962. B&W. 104 min. 
With Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Henri Serre, Diane Lepvrier 
In French with English subtitles

A love triangle—between an angry young fascist, his battered wife, and the friend who takes them in—is ground for an exploration of the political tensions in France in the early 1960s in this elegant thriller. Lhomme’s beautifully framed shots are the foundation for director Alain Cavalier’s first film. “Silvery and smoky cinematography”– The New York Times

Such a surprising movie -- and way ahead of its time in terms of its themes and its refusal to over-explain --  The Battle on the Island (I think that would be the English translation) is a film that sticks with you in odd ways, seeming to grow better over time. Just to see the young Romy Schneider and Jean-Louis Trintignant (above) should be enough to attract the senior set, but the story itself seems even more timely now than when TM first saw the film a decade or two ago.

Free wine & beer following each screening. Special guest speaker to be announced.

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Le Joli Mai 
Tuesday, February 16 at 4 & 8pm DCP. Restored. 
Directed by Chris Marker & Pierre Lhomme, 1963. B&W. 165 min. 
In French with English subtitles 
Students, stockbrokers, poets, and construction workers discuss their lives during a moment of peace between war and cultural revolution. Told in impromptu interviews shot on the streets of Paris, this legendary collaboration between Lhomme and Chris Marker captures the attitude of the city in May 1962. Pierre Lhomme is credited as co-director on this groundbreaking documentary, one of the first of its kind to use emerging technology to capture daily life. “One of the key works of French cinema vérité” – Criterion

A must for Marker fans and a fine place to begin if you've never seen a Chris Marker movie. The documentary is long, sure, but it is non-stop lively, too. It gives cinema vérité its good name, as Marker and Lhomme show us people and a city in ways we had never before seen (and seldom have afterward -- at least not like they are captured here).

Free wine & beer following each screening. Special guest speaker to be announced. 

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Cyrano de Bergerac
Tuesday, February 23 at 4 & 7:30pm 
Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 1990. Color. 137 min. 
With Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, Vincent Pérez 
In French with English subtitles. 
The tragic tale of a selfless romantic with a larger-than-life personality—and a longer than average nose—is perfectly told in this adaptation set in the royal court. This lavish and beloved period piece won a record-breaking 10 César awards, including best cinematography and best actor for a virtuoso performance by Gérard Depardieu. “A physically elaborate period spectacle"— The New York Times

This may not be a great Cyrano, but it is a very, very good one, with Depardieu in fine fettle, and Lhomme showing us what both gorgeous spectacle and delicate intimacy ought to look like. Cyrano de Bergerac is a difficult piece to wreck, and when it is done well, as here, its beauty and timelessness simply shine.

Free wine & beer following each screening. Special guest speaker to be announced.

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About FIAF
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is New York’s premiere French cultural and language center. FIAF's mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. www.fiaf.org

Merci! Special thanks to Renée and Pierre Lhomme, James Ivory, Charles Cohen, Tim Langa (Cohen Media Group) Melissa Chung, Eric Le Roy & Jean-Baptiste Garnero (CNC), Daniel Bish (Georges Eastman Museum Archives), Anne-Catherine Louvet (Institut Français), LiviaBloom (Icarus Films), Philippe Leconte (Pyramide), Amélie Rayroles (Tamasa Distribution), Jacob Perlin (The Film Desk), and Eric di Bernardo (Rialto Pictures)

CinéSalon is made possible by the NY State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NY State Legislature, the Institut français, & the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.   CinéSalon is sponsored by Air France and Delta Air Lines, BNP Paribas, Nespresso, and Renault Nissan. The wine comes courtesy of Xavier Wine Company, the exclusive wine sponsor of CinéSalon, and the beer is provided courtesy of Kronenbourg 1664, the exclusive beer sponsor of CinéSalon. FIAF Winter 2016 Season Sponsors: Air France and Delta Air Lines, the official airlines of FIAF; Altour; BNP Paribas; Cultural Services of the French Embassy; The American Society of French Legion of Honor; Office Tourisme de Boulogne-Billancourt; Enoch Foundation; Florence Gould Foundation; FACE (French American Cultural Exchange); Institut français; New York State Council on the Arts; and New York State Regional Economic Development Council.