Week of July 1
Aria [n/a Davis Sq.]
Ten great directors, one unforgettable film. Imagine that ten of the world's most well-known, highly regarded filmmakers were given a free hand to make real any vision. ARIA is that history-making film. Sexy, violent, thought-provoking and funny, here is the movie critics raved about, audiences flocked to see, and no one could stop talking about. Includes Bridget Fonda's electrifyingly erotic film debut and a revealing, breathtaking performance by supermodel Elizabeth Hurley. Segments directed by Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, Bill Bryden, Jean-Luc Godard, Derek Jarman, Franc Roddam, Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Charles Sturridge, Julien Temple.
Heaven
Pull up a cloud and take a ride through HEAVEN. Created and directed by the multi-talented Diane Keaton, HEAVEN takes a wonderfully lighthearted look a the Great Beyond. Keaton intersperses outrageous interviews with extraordinary film footage from such European and American film classics as METROPOLIS, GREEN PASTURES and STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. It is truly the ultimate coming attraction!
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (Criterion)
Paul Schrader's visually stunning, collagelike portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted an impossible harmony between self, art, and society. Taking place on Mishima's last day, when he famously committed public seppuku, the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer's life as well as by gloriously stylized evocations of his fictional works. With its rich cinematography by John Bailey, exquisite sets and costumes by Eiko Ishioka, and unforgettable, highly influential score by Philip Glass, MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS is a tribute to its subject and a bold, investigative work of art in its own right.
Patriotism (Criterion)
Playwright and novelist Yukio Mishima foreshadowed his own violent suicide with this ravishing short feature, his only foray into filmmaking, yet made with the expressiveness and confidence of a true cinema artist. All prints of PATRIOTISM (Yűkoku), which depicts the seppuku of a army officer, were destroyed after Mishima's death in 1970, though the negative was saved, and the film resurfaced thirty-five years later. New viewers will be stunned at the depth and clarity of Mishima's vision, as well as his graphic depictions of sex and death. The film is presented here with a choice of Japanese or English intertitles.