Each year, the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress announces 25 films for formal preservation, selected, in the foundation’s words, “due to their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance.” Last year’s batch was characteristically eclectic, ranging from “No Country for Old Men” to Andy Warhol’s “Chelsea Girls” to “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” Even among this varied lineup, however, one title stands out: Zeinabu irene Davis’ “Compensation” (1999), which screens in a new restoration Friday through Tuesday at The Brattle Theatre. “Compensation” contrasts the stories of Black Deaf women at opposite ends of the 20th century: 1910s dressmaker Malindy and 1990s graphic artist Malaika (both played by Deaf actress Michelle A. Banks). The women navigate life as a minority within a minority, as well as the joys and hardships of maintaining a relationship with a hearing man. Davis’ film, which screened at festivals in 1999, struggled to find distribution and remained virtually unseen until it showed up on the Criterion Channel in 2021. During that time, its reputation grew among film critics and academics as a truly groundbreaking work of Black independent cinema; Richard Brody of The New Yorker hailed it as “one of the greatest American independent films ever made.” It screens this weekend in a double bill with Charles Burnett’s “Killer of Sheep” (1978), which similarly took more than 20 years to find proper distribution – and which was itself inducted into the National Film Registry in 1990.
The Harvard Film Archive’s 35 mm salute to the master Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray concludes this week, and, with it, the HFA’s 2024-2025 season. Most of the films screening in this homestretch are encore presentations, but Saturday marks your only opportunity to see Ray’s 1958 classic “The Music Room.” Conceived as a box-office-friendly big-screen musical, “The Music Room” ultimately developed into one of Ray’s darkest and most haunting films. Chhabi Biswas plays Roy, a venal lord driven to madness and financial ruin by his obsessive drive to compete with his decadent neighbor’s ostentatious estate and lavish personal concerts. Biswas is intense and haunting as the central character, his dilapidated estate as moody and claustrophobic as any haunted house. But as much as “The Music Room” may not be the mainstream musical Ray initially envisioned, its musical performances – particularly the stunning climactic dance by Roshan Kumari – are nothing short of mesmerizing. It’s a fitting sendoff to the HFA until its return, and a rare opportunity to catch this masterpiece on the HFA’s own treasured 35 mm print.
On Sunday, the Somerville Theatre continues its puckishly timely repertory series “F**k the Nazis” with perhaps its most unexpected entry: the 1971 live-action Disney adventure “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” starring Angela Lansbury as aspiring witch Miss Eglantine Price, who takes in three London orphans and teaches them the ways of magic. “Bedknobs” is a spiritual sequel of sorts to “Mary Poppins”; in addition to the similar premise and period London soundstages, the films share a director (Robert Stevenson) and songwriting team (Richard and Robert Sherman), as well as memorable animated interludes devised by Disney great Milt Kahl. If you haven’t seen the film since childhood, however, you may be taken aback by the film’s overtly political nature. The children, you see, were orphaned during the London Blitz, and Miss Price is honing her sorcery specifically to cast spells against Hitler’s forces. It all builds to a fantastical battle, as Miss Price and an army of magically animated suits of armor fend off a U-boat full of Nazi invaders. There was a time, not too long ago, when opposition to Nazis was so uncontroversial that it could be the basis for a children’s movie; pray we return to this status quo as soon as possible.
Next week, the Landmark Kendall Square Cinema presents two of the most jubilant modern pop musicals. On Sunday, you can catch the new 4K restoration of “The Wiz” (1978), producer Quincy Jones’ funkier-than-funky reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz” starring such Motown luminaries as Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. On Tuesday, the theater’s monthlong salute to Meryl Streep comes to “Mamma Mia!” (2008), the infectiously joyful jukebox musical set to the strains of Swedish pop powerhouse Abba. Both films are gleeful tributes to the power of 20th century pop and best experienced on the big screen with a packed house of revelers.
One of the Brattle Theatre’s most cherished annual traditions returns Wednesday: “Reunion Week,” a program of films celebrating its 25th, 50th, or 75th anniversaries. The series kicks off with a silver-anniversary screening of Mary Harron’s “American Psycho” (2000), one of the first – and most controversial – horror classics of the 21st century. Christian Bale is iconic and hilarious as Patrick Bateman, a quintessential ’80s power-yuppie who happens to be a homicidal maniac in his spare time. (Bale would step into the role of Batman a few years later, a role more similar to Bateman than some might care to admit.) “Psycho” was plagued by controversies and studio-mandated cuts before it even finished filming and remains as divisive today as it was a quarter century ago. But for all its outré violence, it is also a genuinely funny satire of Reagan-era excess – as well as one of the most revered horror films ever made by a female filmmaker, a fact its most thickheaded contemporary fans tend to overlook. It’ll make you want to dig out your old Walkman, spill-proof your couch and fire up the consummately professional sounds of Huey Lewis and the News.
Oscar Goff is a writer and film critic based in Somerville. He is film editor and senior critic for the Boston Hassle and his work has appeared in the monthly Boston Compass newspaper and publications such as WBUR’s The ARTery and iHeartNoise. He is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, and the Online Film Critics Society.
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