CFI Selects leaps into June with three more picks from our programmers designed to make you get up out of your seat and dance! These three films showcase the wonders of modern dance, ballet, and ballroom, as well as the language of the human body, when words are just not enough.
MVFF AND DOCLANDS PROGRAMMING MANAGER AND MVFF SHORTS PROGRAMMER STERLING HEDGPETH SELECTS
PINA
Director: Wim Wenders (Germany, 2011) 103 min.
“From Kings of the Road to Paris, Texas, Wim Wenders has always had a deft way of balancing the grandeur of landscape with emotional intimacy. So, it comes as no surprise that the fluid integration of the dances in this film with natural, real world surroundings is visually inventive while also seamless in its vivid, visceral explosion of movement and personal expression found in each choreographed set piece. Part documentary, part musical, part tribute to the legacy of Pina Bausch, this film also marked a personal touchstone for the new career I was embarking on here at CFI, beginning with MVFF34. Crank up the volume and enjoy!” – Sterling Hedgpeth
Available with subscription: Criterion Channel
Available to rent or purchase: YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Amazon
SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING RICHARD PETERSON SELECTS
THE RED SHOES
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (UK, 1948) 135 min.
“Perhaps the most celebrated work from the British filmmaking team of director Michael Powell and writer Emeric Pressburger (known as “The Archers”), this tale of a beautiful ballerina (Moira Shearer), torn between her love for a young composer and allegiance to a possessive impresario, unfolds like a beautifully expressive suite of music, design, and color. During the Michael Powell centennial in 2005, his widow Thelma Schoonmaker (the Oscar ® -winning editor of The Aviator and Raging Bull, as well as other films directed by Martin Scorsese) appeared at the Mill Valley Film Festival to launch California Film Institute’s Powell retrospective that continued at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center and finished with a memorable appearance by Jack Cardiff, the legendary British cinematographer of The Red Shoes.” – Richard Peterson
Available with subscription: Criterion Channel
Available to rent or purchase: YouTube, Google Play, Amazon
MVFF DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING ZOË ELTON SELECTS
STRICTLY BALLLROOM
Director: Baz Luhrmann (Australia/UK, 1992) 94 min.
“Strictly speaking, is it real ballroom dancing when you are a brilliantly talented young man whose moves are exciting, innovative, and glorious—but you go against all the norms? With oodles of glitter, gloriously bouffed bonces, and onstage twirls that light up the screen, Baz Luhrmann’s debut scores top marks as a wily satire on the world of competitive ballroom dancing in Australia, with an emphasis on talent (what it is, and who’s really got it), the oddballs in charge (and their hair) and rules (who gets to make them, who gets to break them). From high drama (“What the bloody hell is going on??”) to low blows (literally) to dancing that made our audiences want to rhumba all the way to the Outdoor Art Club after-party, this was the perfect Opening Night film in 1992. And honestly, maybe the best ever.” – Zoë Elton
Available with subscription: hoopla
Available to rent or purchase: YouTube, Google Play, iTunes
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