Discussions of new wave cinema – the independent but ideologically simpatico movements that revolutionized the film industries in various parts of the world between the 1950s and 1970s – center frequently on boys’ clubs of transgressive male auteurs. But while it’s true the loudest voices in these scenes were frequently men, female filmmakers were present in nearly every notable new wave movement, creating work just as vital and revolutionary as their male counterparts. To celebrate these directors’ achievements, The Brattle Theatre kicks off on Thursday a series titled “Women in the Waves,” focusing each week on work from a different part of the world. The series begins, naturally, with a double feature of the most revered directors of the French New Wave, female or otherwise. Indeed, Agnès Varda is widely credited with firing the first shots of the nouvelle vague and remained one of its most unique voices. Varda is represented by arguably her most famous work, the wistful yet exuberant “Cléo from 5 to 7” (1962), as well as her follow-up, “Le Bonheur” (1965, presented as a free screening in the Brattle’s ongoing Elements of Cinema series). It’s a perfect chance to catch up on some old favorites and possibly fill in some gaps missed frequently in traditional film studies courses.
Ask any gearhead to name the greatest car chase picture made, and you’re likely to get the same answer: Richard Sarafian’s “Vanishing Point” (1971), which screens as this week’s Midnight Special Saturday at the Somerville Theatre. Where other films might include a showstopping vehicular pursuit as a memorable action sequence, Sarafian makes it an entire meal. The setup is simple: A driver named Kowalski (Barry Newman) makes a bet with his speed dealer that he can deliver his current car – a white 1970 Dodge Challenger – from Denver to San Francisco in less than half the allotted time, speed limits and traffic cops be damned. What follows is one long, metaphysical car chase, narrated and elevated to operatic proportions by a blind radio DJ named Super Soul (Cleavon Little from “Blazing Saddles”). “Vanishing Point” is renowned for its simplicity and for the style with which Sarafian shoots its vehicles. It’s also got its share of admirers: Stuntwoman Zoe Bell insists on driving an identical car for the climactic chase in Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” (2007), and Steven Spielberg has cited it as one of his favorite films. Of course, if you find yourself similarly inspired, you may have difficulty picking up similar speeds in the wending streets of Davis Square.
The Somerville continues its Great Remakes series Monday with a fascinating case of a common story used toward very different ends. The original 1956 version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is a classic of Cold War sci-fi paranoia, though critics have long debated whether the unfeeling human duplicates emerging from its alien seed pods are meant to represent Communist infiltrators or McCarthyite persecutors. For his 1978 remake of the same name, director Philip Kaufman maintains most of the same beats, but by transferring the action from a fictional ’50s suburb to late ’70s San Francisco, he turns the metaphor on its head again. Here, the protagonists (wonderfully played by Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright) are aging ’60s counterculturalists and the aliens (led by a typically stoic Leonard Nimoy) represent the square conformity of the Me Decade. That this same fable can be applied to so many different readings speaks to the universality of its central fear: that those around us could, at any moment, be converted into sinister Pod People.
Though director Robert Altman worked with plenty of actors repeatedly over the course of his career, few are as synonymous with his work as the late, great Shelley Duvall, whom Altman discovered at a party and cast in seven films. On Tuesday, as part of the ongoing “Altmania” centennial celebration of the director’s work, the Brattle presents a double feature of two of Altman and Duvall’s greatest collaborations. First up is “3 Women” (1977), Altman’s dreamy riff on Bergman’s “Persona” (1966) starring Duvall as a confident, free-spirited young woman whose identity is co-opted by a timid coworker played by Sissy Spacek. It is paired with Altman’s 1980 live-action adaptation of “Popeye,” in which Duvall is immaculately cast as the sailor-man’s true love, Olive Oyl. These two films could scarcely be more different, but they encapsulate perfectly one of the richest and most adventurous creative partnerships in movie history.
The Somerville Cine-Club returns Tuesday with another free cult movie screening at the Somerville Library Central Branch. This time, the club celebrates the summer with one of the beachiest kaiju movies ever made: Jun Fukuda’s “Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster” (1966), also known by its Japanese title “Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.” While the good people at the Criterion Collection have made the Godzilla canon readily available in their original, uncut forms, monster kids of a certain vintage retain a certain fondness for the Americanized edits, goofy dubbing and all. As a bonus, the Cine-Club has compiled a selection of trailers, shorts and cartoons with a similarly summery vibe, lovingly projected on 16 mm film. Is it really summer until you’ve watched a man in a rubber dinosaur costume do battle with a giant lobster?
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.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.