nwFilmCenter

Nov/Dec 2006

Fri, Nov 10, 2006 - Sat, Dec 30, 2006

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The film center and 40 Frames (www.40frames.org)welcome legendary experimental filmmaker Bruce Baillie to Portland for two programs of his classic works. One of the seminal forces of the 1960s experimental film community in San Francisco and "New American Cinema" movement, Baillie's early films integrated a spiritual, lyrical sensibility with a sensitive regard for the qualities inherent in the film form. Co-sponsored by Portland State University English Department, Film Studies Minor.

"The career of Bruce Baillie has two central aspects which are also features of the whole American avant-garde film movement. First, his films are generally intensely poetic, lyrical evocations of person and places in which the subject matter is transformed by the subjective methods used to photograph it. Second, many of his films display a strong social awareness, describing attitudes critical towards, and alienated from, mainstream American society. In many cases, Baillie fuses these concerns within single films. Stylistically, Baillie's films are characterized by moments of haunting, evanescent beauty. An object will appear with spectacular clarity, only to dissolve away an instant later. Light itself often becomes the subject, shining across the frame or reflected from objects, suggesting a level of poetry in the subject matter that lies beyond easy interpretation. Baillie combines images with other images, and images with sound, in dense, collage-like structures. Thus, many of his films cut frequently between scenes, or superimpose objects on each other. One is constantly aware of a restlessness, an instability, which seems to result from his images' appearance and flow. It is significant, too, that many of Baillie's films contain, or are structured as, journeys." –Fred Camper

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Béla Tarr

Although little known to American audiences outside of the art/film festival realm, Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr is one of the most innovative and accomplished auteurs working in cinema today. Tarr's films, set in contemporary Hungary, move toward metaphysical explorations of human conditions and states of mind that transcend any particular environment. Specificity leads to ambiguity, chaos to order, and order to disaster—but all are held together by an accomplished cinematic style marked by long takes, minimal dialogue, intricate camera movements, haunting black and white images and the occasional discordant, yet strangely beautiful, music of Mihály Vig. In his films, the various structural elements, including location and time, are harmonized according to principles of music and dance, invoking the drama and passion of life from Tarr's singular, mordant perspective. Without discernable dreams, Tarr's characters struggle to find their way in the grim world and as they do demand much from an adventurous viewer. Yet along with the bleak view and formalist aesthetic lies a gallows humor and sense of exhilaration that is transcendant. We are please to present imported prints of DAMNATION and SATANTANGO, not in distribution in the US, and thank Adam Sekuler of Northwest Film Forum and Katalin Vadja of Magyar Filmunio, Budapest, for arranging their availability for these rare screenings.

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Special Screenings

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Janet Gaynor

In the decade from 1927-1937 Janet Gaynor (1906-1984) emerged as one of Hollywood's great stars, immensely popular with the public for her portrayals as the sincere but spunky waif in a series of popular musicals, melodramas, and romantic comedies conceived especially for her at 20th Century Fox. Gaynor started out as an extra in silent pictures—Hal Roach comedy shorts as well as features—before earning her break with a small but crucial part in THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD (1926). A long-term contract with Fox led to starring roles in several more studio movies that brought her to the attention of directors F.W. Murnau and Frank Borzage. Gaynor made two films for Murnau, including the masterpiece SUNRISE (1927), and three with Borzage, who first paired with leading man Charles Farrell in 7HT HEAVEN (1927). Her combined work in those films (along with Borzage's STREET ANGEL (1928)), famously won her the first even Academy Award for Best Actress. Gaynor and Farrell made twelve films together and crossed over successfully from silent pictures to the sound era. Gaynor remained a top box-office draw into the 1930s, peaking with an Oscar-nominated performance in A STAR IS BORN (1937). She retired from show business shortly thereafter. This series of archival gems and sparkling new prints reveal Gaynor's unique charm and a body of films that reflected the popular imagination of the era.

We thank the UCLA Film and Television Archive for organizing this touring exhibition, the Louis B. Mayer Foundation for supporting their effort, and the film archives mentioned in the series program notes whose preservation efforts have made possible the restored 35mm prints we are able to screen. Accompanying this series is a brochure published by the archive that offers appreciation and insight into Gaynor's remarkable career.

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