Cornell Cinema’s final silent film/live music event of the semester is this Saturday night: the 1915 drama A Fool There Was! The film stars Theda Bara (pictured), one of the most prolific silent film actresses of the 1910s, whose work has been almost entirely lost to the sands of time, save for three extant films. This is one of them, and it's a doozy!
Dr Philip Carli and his chamber ensemble will accompany this tale of a vamp who psychically and financially preys upon men and exploits their emotional and sexual frailties. Good stuff. A+. We’re screening a 35mm print from The Museum of Modern Art, so this promises to be a very special evening unlikely to happen again any time soon. Plus, All-Access Pass holders get $2 off tickets! See you Saturday!
But first...
On Wednesday & Sunday, we screen Julie Dash’s excellent Daughters of the Dust, with Professor Samantha Sheppard (PMA) introducing the film on Wednesday night! The film is screening as part of our 50th Anniversary series as well as our Migration Stories: Past & Present.
If you want, you could make one sweaty double feature on Friday night: La Piscine (Thur & Fri), which means The Swimming Pool, is just the kind of erotic thriller one needs to stay warm as the weather turns crisp and cold. (Although the new restoration of this film was also this past summer's sleeper hit in NYC, where it screened for fifteen weeks at Film Forum!) Watch Alain Delon and Romy Schneider make love daily along the French Riviera, that is, until Jane Birkin shows up with her father, Maurice Ronet, Schneider's ex. “Four ravishing stars, an equally beautiful villa in St Tropez, expanses of lithe caramel flesh and enough pouting sexual tension to light up the Empire State Building." (The Times of London)
Afterwards, come back for Titane (Fri & Sun), a film about a woman who loves cars! Like, really loves them. Despite reports of walkouts and fainting, the Spike Lee-led jury at Cannes awarded the film its top prize, the Palme d’Or. It’s also France’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature and an instant conversation-starter. But don’t say we didn’t warn you: if you’re sensitive to violence, sexual or otherwise, this might not be the movie for you!
We’re also screening Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (Thur & Sat) as part of our Hitchcock Mania series. Though it redefined the psychological and suspense genres and features some impressive stylistic techniques, it’s fundamentally about a small business owner who leverages his lack of corporate oversight to stalk and murder his customers. This would never happen at a Marriot!! Hotelies, take note.
