Veronika Voss - Tuesday February 26th

Veronika Voss
R.W. Fassbinder. Germany 1982. B&W. 104mins.

Usually overlooked in the noir genre (unlike Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, one of Fassbinder's influences for this film), it is nonetheless a masterpiece of new German cinema with all the hallmarks of classic noir - only better. If you know Fassbinder you know this, if not then what a great place to start.

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud

Tuesday February 19th screening.

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Lift to the Scaffold). Louis Malle, 1958. Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet.

Malle's one and only Série noire experiment turned out to be one of the most elegant examples of the genre. The plot twists around the familiar tale of murder commited by an adulturous lover in order to dispose of an inconvenient husband. Watch out for the intriguing desktop timepiece and later in the film, look for the fabulous gull-wing Mercedes showing off state of the art 1950's fuel injection. Out-classes anything either Godard or Antonioni managed to sneak into the properties budget, even Clarkson would have been impressed.

Samuel Fuller - The Naked Kiss

Tuesday February 12th at 5.30 p.m. Room 222

Links for Alphaville and Film Noir

Local artspace Fieldgate Gallery currently showing Godard inspired pieces by Sheena Macrae.

King's College is showing a season of European crime films and also presenting a talk on film noir sound.

Stereo Alphaville - Sheena Macrae at Fieldgate Gallery Jan 19 - Feb 10 2008

King's College Film Studies Talks and Cinematheque

New Season Starts Tuesday February 5th

Wow! Look how 'on the ball' we are this semester (that won't last long) nonetheless here is the first announcement for the new season of screenings.

FILM NOIR

That's the theme for this season. 12 films chosen by the team, to illustrate some of the lessser known aspects of this genre.

We start with ALPHAVILLE Une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution. JEAN LUC GODARD 1965 B&W

Eddie Constantine plays secret agent Lemmy Caution, a role created from the novels of British crime fiction author Peter Cheyney that had established Constantine/Caution as a French Noir icon during the 50's and early 60's. The film opens with Caution's arrival in Alphaville, the Capital city of a distant planet, he has apparently travelled through time and space in his white Ford Galaxy motor car. Of course Alphaville is Paris, 1965 as seen through Godard's dystopian lens, all monochrome harsh modernism, a long way from the Paris seen by the auteurs of the nouvelle vague.
As a genre piece, Alphaville is a blurred mix of science fiction and film noir with an obvious nouvelle vague aesthetic.
If you haven't seen this film yet be sure not to miss this opportunity.

October 16 Screening

My apologies for the confusion surrounding last week's screening, but we got there in the end. This week's film will be 'Fata Morgana', the 1971 film by Werner Herzog.

For an essay that gives a background to the original theme for this semester, Paul Schrader and transcendental style, this link 'Film and Phenomenology' will be of interest, as also will this link 'Phenomenology and Film'. Use carefully!

Change to this week's screening

Because of unforseen circumstances (all library copies overdue!) this week's screening will be 'Through a Glass Darkly' not 'The Silence' as previously stated.

Tuesday October 9th First Screening

This semesters film club season starts with Ingmar Bergman's 'The Silence'. Programmed by David Howells.
Introduction at 5.30 Room 222