nwFilmCenter

September/October 2008

Sat, Sep 6, 2008 - Thu, Nov 6, 2008

While cinema can provide entertainment and escape, for many committed filmmakers and viewers it is a vital medium of information and a powerful tool for social change. Tackling wide-ranging, thought-provoking issues, activist filmmakers help deepen our awareness of the values of dignity, equality, and justice, as they tell universal stories of human struggle and triumph. We hope that the works presented in Global Concern will broaden understanding and stimulate involvement as they reveal the hardship, courage, and commitment of those whose hearts and minds are focused on the many challenges confronting humanity. Special thanks to Andrea Holley, Human Rights Watch Film Festival and media sponsor KBOO radio.

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David Lean

Critical and popular evaluations of the career of British director David Lean (1908-1991) generally focus on three of his most famous films: THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and DR. ZHIVAGO. While these films achieved popular success and legendary status, they also earned Lean the reputation of only being capable of staging stunning, but impersonal, commercial stories on an epic scale. This centenary retrospective of Lean's earlier films from the 1940s and 50s, restorations drawn from the Archives of the British Film Institute, offers a more balanced appreciation of his talents. Ranging from adventure narratives (IN WHICH WE SERVE), through literary and stage adaptations (GREAT EXPECTATIONS, OLIVER TWIST, THIS HAPPY BREED, BLITHE SPIRIT), to “women's” melodramas (BRIEF ENCOUNTER, MADELEINE, PASSIONATE FRIENDS), these diverse films offer a full picture of Lean's artistic brilliance and personal vision. A common character in Lean's work is the visionary protagonist who seeks to remake the world according to his or her dreams. From a man who rose from clapperboard assistant to master filmmaker through the tenacity of his vision, this recurring figure may be David Lean's most personal touch of all. For critic David Thomson, the films of this period constitute Lean's greatest achievements: “They are lively, stirring, and an inspiration—they make you want to go out and make movies, they are so in love with the screen's power.”

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Japanese Currents

Like Japanese fashion and pop culture, Japanese film is in the international vanguard with a new generation of auteurs making their stamp with their off-kilter takes on period genre films, super-kitsch imagery, digital wizardry and eye-popping animé. This sampling of heralded recent films shows a wealth of creative invention and a fresh take on Japanese culture today. Presented by the Northwest Film Center and the Japan-America Society of Oregon. Special thanks to Northwest Airlines and Alterman Law Office for their sponsorship.

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TBA on the Screen

This year's TBA ON THE SCREEN programs feature intriguing new work by artists who come to film from backgrounds in the visual and performing arts. Co-presented by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art and the Film Center. Find the TBA program online at pica.org.

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Special Screenings

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The Human Condition

This sweeping trilogy by Masaki Kobayashi (1916-1996) about one man's struggle to remain true to his ideals during the horrors of war offers a searing, incredibly moving appraisal of humanity in all its ugliness and beauty. The nine-hour drama follows the trials of Kaji, a Japanese factory owner in Manchuria who is victimized for coming to the aid of poor Chinese laborers conscripted during Japan's occupation during the Second World War. While Kobayashi suggests the impossibility of an individual altering the ethical standards of a social system, he finds heroism in Kaji's exacting refusal to abandon homeland or humanity. Hailed by many critics as one of the greatest social epics in cinematic history, THE HUMAN CONDITION was the movie that made actor Tatsuya Nakadai a star; it's not difficult to understand why. He gives a beautifully restrained performance. "One of the most physically and emotionally grueling roles any actor has ever had to endure."– Terrence Rafferty, New York Times.

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