Nov 2005
Brooklyn Center Cinema
Brooklyn College Film Department
and the Wolf Institute for the Humanities
present a major
CinEvent
Three by Holland
Twice Nominated Academy Award director Agnieszka Holland has recently been named the Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence at Brooklyn College.
The distinguished director will be at the Brooklyn campus teaching a master class in directing, an acting workshop, and participating in numerous discussions and classroom sessions about filmmaking, writing for the screen, women in film, anti-Semitism, and the treatment of the Holocaust in film. As a filmmaker whose films have been banned in her native country and who chose self-imposed exile as martial law was declared there in 1981, Ms. Holland’s caustic and cynical take on the current state of the motion picture industry will be surprising to some. She recently observed that the cinema is showing signs of dementia, and has theorized that the decline of quality in Hollywood films since the 1980s is due to the effects of globalization, which has resulted in a loss of authentic American identity in films from major American studios. (More)
Tuesday, Nov 8th
1:30p
Walt Whitman Theatre
Free Admission
A Fine Line Features Release
Starring
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney and Romain Bohringer
with Maggie Smith and Ben ChaplinOriginal Music by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek and Ronald Mutchnik
From the Novel by Henry James
Screenplay by Carol DoyleDirected by
Agnieszka Holland
For Love to survive, it requires a kind of faith almost akin to that found in many pious religious. The lovers, be they a passionate couple or a pious soul, must both accept many aspects of their beliefs on faith and trust, otherwise the relationship cannot be sustained. Without this faith, the religious person is bombarded with temptation and contradictory doctrines, while the heart-locked lovers are torn apart by doubts about their partner's intentions and sincerity. In WASHINGTON SQUARE, Holland gives us a window into the emotional quandary that is engendered by a loss of faith as it is drawn by the Henry James novel.
At first glance it would seem that Catherine Sloper has found the man of her dreams in Morris Townsend, but there is strong opposition to her marriage by her very dominant father who believes Townsend is only interested in his daughter's money. But Catherine is determined to follow her heart, even if it means her father cuts off her inheritance. Ah, but the faith on must have in a partner's motivations begins to unravel when Townsend's intentions come into question. Is he a true lover or a gold-digger? Or a little of both?
This is a Dolby Stereo Picture
and will be presented in
and in
Wednesday, Nov 9th
6:00p
Walt Whitman Theatre
Free Admission
A Sony Classics ReleaseStarring
Marco Hofschneider
Salomon Perel
René Hofschneider
Piotr KozlowskiOriginal Music by Zbigniew Preisner
Cinematography by Jacek Petrycki
Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Written by Paul Hengge
Agnieszka Holland and
Salomon Perel
In German with English Subtitles
This is the true story of a boy in Nazi Germany who, as a means of self-preservation, devised methods to hide the fact that he was a Jew. A powerful film that is at once poignant and suspenseful but still maintaining a wistful sense of humor; a combination that underscores the absurdity as well as the nobility of the human condition.
The score by Zbigniew Preisner is one of the film's many notable qualities -- hauntingly beautiful, it imparts emotional texture to each scene.Academy Award: N. Best Writing (Holland)
Golden Globe: Best Foreign Language
LA Film Critics: Best Music
National Board of Review / NY Film Critics: Best Foreign Language Film
Monday, Nov 14th
6:00p
Walt Whitman Theatre
Free Admission
A Fine Line Features Release of a
An Agnieszka Holland Film
Starring
Leonardo DiCaprio and David Thewlis
and also starring Romane Bohringer, Dominique BlancOriginal Music by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Cinematography by Yorgos Arvanitis
Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Agnieszka Holland
strong sexuality and nudity, language, and some violence.
Meet the Director
Agnieszka Holland
Q&A with Ms. Holland after the screening. Professor, author and noted film scholar
Foster Hersch
will host the discussion.
Where does genius leave off and insanity begin? The story is of the great French poet Arthur Rimbaud, who's lyric poetry is one of France's national treasures, and the lesser but no less passionate poet Paul Veraine. The two became obsessed with each other's writings as well as with each other while Rimbaud was just a teenager. Their passion informed and enlightened their artistry and Holland probes how these lives, lived on the edge, burned and consumed their souls.
The director treats the homosexual component of the relationship with detached awe as these two defy convention and are compelled forward in a tumultuous, cascading affair with the drama compounded by alcoholism.DiCaprio is as beautiful as any woman as the androgynous Rimbaud and is amazingly believable as his passion for the older man goes wildly out of control. Thewils proves to be a fine actor, although his character is depicted as so unlikable as to make one wonder how Rimbaud could possibly have loved him. On the other hand, this is Holland's focus -- the lack of any rhyme or reason when looking to understand why people love or the why of the passion that both consumes and enlightens them.
This is a Dolby Stereo Picture
and will be presented in
and in
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