CRUCIAL VIEWING

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's DISTANT (Contemporary Foreign)
Block Cinema – Friday, 8pm
Following the recent run of Ceylan’s CLIMATES at the Music Box, Block Cinema continues its series of recent Turkish cinema with the director’s Cannes award-winning DISTANT (UZAK). Though the film was released in the US only three years ago, any opportunity to see Ceylan’s images on a big screen is not to be missed (he is also an accomplished photographer). This simple story of an Istanbul photographer and his country cousin is layered with autobiographical meaning and subtle jokes, rewarding close and repeated viewings. Though Ceylan's films tend to sound banal or conservative in print, their nuanced depictions of weather, architecture and faces are at the service of a vibrant portrayal of contemporary life; he is particularly astute at chronicling Information Age passive-aggression (2002, 110 min, 35mm). Striking examples of Ceylan's still photography can be found here. Screening details at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu.
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Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING (Revival w/ Lecture)
Gene Siskel Film Center – Friday & Tuesday, 6pm
In the past months, the Film Center's excellent African American Auteurs lecture/screening series has presented a slew of rare and fantastic works by under-appreciated filmmakers Oscar Micheaux, Spencer Williams, and Charles Burnett. Though the series' final subject, Spike Lee, is in a different category altogether--famous, commercially successful, often revived--the polemical iconoclast's crucial body of work has never found a better forum. Lee's best-known, most controversial, frequently misinterpreted, career-defining DO THE RIGHT THING is a chronicle of overheating racial tensions on a hot summer day in Brooklyn. The film presents new paradigms for representing black characters in mainstream cinema and radically reframes modern race relations (on the corporate dollar, no less). Whether one views its political message as upsetting, inspiring, perceptive, or pompous, the film's weight, complexity, and relevance are self-evident. As always, film scholar Jacqueline Stewart's thorough introduction and discussion (Tuesday only) will give this work the special treatment it so righteously demands. More info at www.siskelfilmcenter.org.
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Yevgeny Yevstushenko presents I AM CUBA (Classic Revival)
Doc Films (University of Chicago) – Wednesday, 4pm
A major figure in the Khrushchev-era Soviet Union, poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko was also a cultural icon in the West, where his romantic, politically motivated poetry and overt social commentary represented the more liberal post-Stalin years. His peers in Russia, however, considered his views antiquated and many, including Joseph Brodsky, thought him a puppet of the Communist Party. Like the poet himself, Mikhail Kalatzov's documentary I AM CUBA (SOY CUBA), co-written by Yevtushenko, is better regarded in the West that in the Eastern Bloc, where audiences see the film as disconnected from the hypocritical "thaw" era it denotes. Shot in stunning black-and-white with long, moving takes and compositions that turn even familiar objects into abstract lines and shapes, the film creates an imaginary travelogue for a mostly mythical Cuba, advertising an exotic, distant land to Soviet audiences of the time. Yevtushenko will attend the screening, and present a new 35mm print. More info at www.docfilms.uchicago.edu.
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CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
With several dozen new films left to screen in the final three days of the festival, it would be shortsighted to single out only a few for recommendation. There is an embarrassment of riches on display -- from political exposes to unique character portraits, and a mini-festival of films from Cuba. Readers are encouraged to consult the Doc Fest website (www.chicagodocfestival.org), and peruse the Chicago Reader's guide to the festival here.
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ALSO RECOMMENDED

Chicago's Own: INTERLUDES AND MAGIC LIGHT (Student / Experimental)
Chicago Filmmakers – Saturday, 8pm
An exciting program of work by MFA students from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Two girls find themselves in a pre-apocalyptic village; an episode of Full House becomes a hypnotic nightmare of a culture lost at sea; a shadow attempts to fly; and more. The program includes BEDOUINS (2007, Basma Al-Sharif); THE MAGIC LIE (2006, Irena Knezevic); STRIP (2007, Marie Martino); THE PHONOLOGICAL LOOP AND THE VISUOSPATIAL SKETCHPAD (2007, Brandon Alvendia); CORONACH (2007, Irena Knezevic); INTERLUDE (2004, Kirsten Leenaars); MOTH (2006, Shannon Benine); SUPERVILLAIN (2006, Dennis Hodges); LIGHT IS WAITING (2007, Michael Robinson); plus additional work by Isak Berbic, Kenyatta Forbes, Trevor Gainer, and Selina Trepp. Text from Chi Filmmakers program. (100 min, various formats). More info at www.chicagofilmmakers.org.
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Sam Fuller's HELL AND HIGH WATER (Classic Revival)
LaSalle Bank Cinema – Saturday, 8pm
Fuller's first color film (as well as his first with stereo sound), a rarely 1954 CinemaScope submarine thriller HELL AND HIGH WATER, briefly abandons the pulpy reality of earlier and later films to enter the realm of the speculative. With its comic book plot and bubblegum wrapper vision of the Cold War, it has a vague resemblance to Josef von Sternberg's JET PILOT; but whereas the Sternberg film reinforced that director's preference for the visual, the simplicity herein brings Fuller's storytelling abilities to the forefront. (1954, 99 min, 35mm).Venue Information.
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INFERNAL AFFAIRS (Contemporary Foreign)
Music Box – Friday & Saturday, midnight
Along with Scorcese's American remake, Hong Kong blockbuster INFERNAL AFFAIRS stands out as a stylish, inspired crime film that meets all of our expectations, occasionally exceeding them to great effect. Drug deals on the waterfront, clandestine meetings on rooftops, restaurants with private back rooms: these are the stunningly photographed backdrops for taut suspense; spaces wherein the film's dual protagonists--an undercover policeman and a triad mole--grapple with questions of honor, allegiance, and persona. The film may or may not answer these questions, but in staging a pas de deux between a cop and a criminal who have allowed their respective identities to dissolve almost indecipherably into their disguises, the distinctions become confusing and meaningless. And of course the male leads are both knockouts. (2002, 101 min). More info at www.musicboxtheatre.com.
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I DRINK YOUR BLOOD (Cult Revival)
Music Box – Friday & Saturday, midnight
The second installment in Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford's Sleazoid Express series is a quintessential piece of low budget 70s horror trash, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD. Directed by David Durston (who also helmed the 1972 film STIGMA, as well as two lost gay porns), the film involves a group of hippies whose meat pies are spiked with rabies and subsequently go on a bloody rampage in a New England town. Notable for being the first film to receive an X Rating for violence alone, almost all releases were censored by at least three minutes in order to remove the most graphic scenes. The print being screened is the only complete print in existence. Also featuring the first performance by cult film icon Lynn Lowery, the star of Gerorge Romero's THE CRAZIES and Radley Metzger's SCORE. The film will be preceded by exploitation trailers and an introduction from Bill Landis. (1970, 83 min). More info at www.musicboxtheatre.com.
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Howard Hawks' BALL OF FIRE (Classic Revival)
Music Box – Saturday & Sunday, 11:30am
In typical Wilder/Brackett fashion, this comedy’s premise is simple and elastic (if charmingly obsolete in the age of Wikipedia): stuffy encyclopedia author Gary Cooper hits the streets to update his tome with the people’s language. Who better to teach him schoolyard slang than Barbara Stanwyck, barely breaking character from the same year’s LADY EVE? This collision of academia and kink is clearly Wilder’s material, and Hawks, for once, seems almost caught off-guard, pacing the dialogue a couple notches below his usual subliminal clip. Wilder made his directing debut the next year with THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR; one wonders if his smirking sensibility might’ve elevated this from great to legendary. (1941, 111 min). More info at www.musicboxtheatre.com.
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NOTES ON THE DEATH OF KODACHROME (Experimental)
Conversations at the Edge / Gene Siskel Film Center – Thursday, 6pm
The recent discontinuation of Kodachrome film stock has already led filmmakers to lament the demise of their beloved format. Last year, artist Tacita Dean shot KODAK (2006) with the last rolls of Kodachrome she could buy, making the film a witness to its own death; Jennifer Montgomery's NOTES ON THE DEATH OF KODACHROME follows in a similar nostalgic vein, and becomes something more in the process. From the CATE program: "Director Montgomery tracks down three old friends--writer Joe Westmoreland and directors Lisa Cholodenko and Todd Haynes--who borrowed but never returned her Super-8 equipment. As each encounter unfolds, the film reveals its true subjects: the political character of filmmaking, the nature of friendship, and personal reckoning." Also showing is Montgomery's 1990 Super-8 film, AGE 12: LOVE WITH A LITTLE L. (80 min, various formats). Screening details at www.siskelfilmcenter.org.
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THIS WEEK AT DOC FILMS (Classic Revivals)
On Thursday, the nation’s finest student film society presents a characteristically eccentric double bill of an early (1932) adaptation of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by the underrated Rouben Mamoulian (APPLAUSE, LOVE ME TONIGHT), a Broadway transplant who was one of the most formally experimental directors of the early sound era; following is Nicolas Roeg’s WALKABOUT (1971)--an outback adventure, considered by some the director's best. Additional Highlights: a program of Chaplin shorts, part two of Masaki Kobayashi’s monumental war epic THE HUMAN CONDITION (1959), Raoul Walsh’s World War II adventure OBJECTIVE, BURMA! (1942), and for Douglas Sirk completists, THE FIRST LEGION (1951), the director’s only independent production, starring Charles Boyer as a mysterious Jesuit priest. Schedule and details at www.docfilms.uchicago.edu.
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ALSO PLAYING AT BLOCK CINEMA (Classic Revival)
In addition to its fantastic series of contemporary Turkish films (see UZAK, above), Block's spring program boasts a strong selection of classic revivals. Their focus on Fritz Lang continues with SCARLET STREET (1945; screening Wednesday, 8pm), one of Lang's greatest American features, starring Edward G. Robinson in an unusually moving turn as a timid store clerk / amateur painter who gets involved in devious affairs. Remaking Jean Renoir's LA CHIENNE (1931) but replacing the subtle humor of the original with his own trademark foreboding, Lang creates a world marked by the banality of evil, observing and condemning his sympathetic protagonist with cruel, evocative irony. Also showing is Roberto Rossellini's GERMANY, YEAR ZERO (1948; screening Thursday, 7:30pm), the great director's take on the devastated spirit of post-war Germany; significantly, the film's title implies a sense of post-apocalypse, rather than new beginning. Following the screening is Rene Clement's FORBIDDEN GAMES (1952; 9pm) which sets out, like Rossellini's film, to show World War II through the eyes of children. But whereas Rossellini's film shows us how much children are exposed to, Clement focuses on how little they understand of the horrible world of adults. Synopses and more info at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu.
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ART WORLD ETIQUETTE (Contemporary Video)
THREE WALLS – Public exhibition; open daily
The first installment of a three part exhibition called PLACING (moving explorations in search of bearings), which will run throughout this month at West Loop gallery space Threewalls, opens tonight with ART WORLD ETIQUETTE, curated by Ruba Katrib and featuring work by Alex Bag, Anetta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkacova, Jakup Ferri, Nancy Holt & Robert Smithson, and Kalup Linzy. According to the Threewalls website, these artists "utilize home video aesthetics to form satires and parodies of and about the art world." A reception will be held Friday night from 6pm to 9pm, and the exhibition will be on view for one week during regular gallery hours. Information at www.three-walls.org.
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THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (New Release)
Music Box – Screening Daily, check Reader Movies for showtimes
A muckraker in the tradition of the moral Christian Socialists of the late 19th and early 20th century, Ken Loach has always been committed to exploring the realities of the oppressed and disadvantaged through cinema. His work focuses on people who might be incidental characters or even extras for other directors—BREAD AND ROSES, a recent, stellar example, told the story of striking Latino cleaning workers. Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2006, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY is Loach's leftist take on the struggle for Irish independence at the beginning of the 20th century--an oppositional melodrama seeking to debunk British myths surrounding the conflict. Unfortunately, it's also one of his most mainstream works, middle-brow both aesthetically and politically. Nonetheless, it's interesting to see the usually modest and always combative Loach working on such a large scale. More info at www.musicboxtheatre.com.
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CATS OF MIRIKITANI (New Foreign)
Facets Cinematheque – Screening Daily, check Reader Movies for showtimes
Reviving a feature that premiered last week at the Film Center's Asian American Showcase, Facets presents a week run of Linda Hattendorf's CATS OF MIRIKITANI. We defer to Jonathan Rosenbaum, and his impassioned endorsement in this week's Reader: “Hattendorf, a longtime documentary editor, met a homeless, 80-year-old Japanese-American artist a block from her Soho apartment in early 2001, and after the World Trade Center attacks made living on the street impossible for him, she put him up, helped him find work and housing, and made him the subject of this impressive 2006 feature, her directorial debut. The fascinating narrative covers the artist's long stretch in a U.S. internment camp during World War II (ironically, he'd fled Japan to escape the rising tide of militarism) and his ensuing tangles with the government while simultaneously charting his reconciliation with his checkered past. The storytelling is so masterful that Hattendorf doesn't have to spell out the striking parallels between the persecution of Japanese after Pearl Harbor and the harassment of Muslims after 9/11.” (2006, 74 min). More info at www.facets.org.
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ASIAN AMERICAN SHOWCASE (Contemporary)
Gene Siskel Film Center – Check Reader Movies for showtimes
The Asian American Showcase not only exposes Chicago audiences to an increasingly vibrant part of the American independent film scene, but also demonstrates how themes and ideas key to the Asian American experience manifest themselves cinematically across multiple genres; the sense of community the festival seeks to foster is bolstered by the fact that nearly every filmmaker will be present to answer questions. The highlights of the festival's second week include DARK MATTER (Saturday, 8pm / Wednesday 6pm), an academic drama revolving around a Chinese astrophysics student, and HOMETOWN HEROES (Monday, 8pm), a 90-minute program of shorts by Chicago-based Asian American filmmakers. More info at www.siskelfilmcenter.org.
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ALSO PLAYING

*Recommended by the Chicago Reader.
**Previously written up in CINE-FILE. Click title to view capsule.

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Contributors this week: Erika Balsom, Kalvin Henely, Nathan Holmes, Mike King, Joe Rubin, Ben Sachs, Ignatius Vishnevetsky, Ethan White, Darnell Witt

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