CINE FAN KICKS OFF THE NEW YEAR WITH LUBITSCH AND A COMPLETE ANGELOPOULOS RETROSPECTIVE
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society will celebrate two legends who have forever transformed cinema: Theo ANGELOPOULOS and Ernst LUBITSCH, in the January/February/March edition of the repertory Cine Fan programme.
Theo Angelopoulos
Paying tribute to the Greek maestro on the 10th anniversary of his passing, An Eternal Odyssey: The Complete Theo Angelopoulos is a full retrospective comprising all 13 of ANGELOPOULOS's feature films and other works, many of them recently restored.The programme will feature three films that the audience can watch via the CINE FAN ONLINE platform.
An epic poet and stylist of the cinema, ANGELOPOULOS navigated distinctive aesthetics of myth and empathy, transposing the audience into a deep exploration and contemplation of exile, displacement, and homecoming.
His historical and political allegories, first introduced in his debut feature, Reconstruction (1970), were brought to the fullest in his epic masterpieces The Travelling Players (1975), Ulysses' Gaze (1995) and his final work, The Dust of Time (2008).
ANGELOPOULOS' international reputation reached the pinnacles with Journey to Cythera (1984), winner of Best Screenplay at Cannes; Landscape in the Mist (1988) with which he won Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice; and the Palme d'Or-winning Eternity and a Day (1998).
Besides these award-winning masterpieces, his rarely-seen TV documentary, Athens, Return to the Acropolis (1983), and his debut short film, The Broadcast (1968), are indispensable for a thorough understanding of the last modernist's distinctive vision.
Ernst Lubitsch
Commemorating the 130th anniversary of the birth of LUBITSCH, Cine Fan will showcase 11 of his features that cement his unsurpassed status for inventing the genre of sophisticated romantic comedies and pioneering film musicals. The Lubitsch Touch, a hallmark adhered to his witty and ironic cinematic style, is hard to define but can be vividly experienced through his works – the style-setting The Marriage Circle (1924), his most acclaimed Trouble in Paradise (1932), and the almost-perfect The Shop Around the Corner (1940).
Renowned for his creative reshaping of actors, the German-born American director brought out Gary COOPER's comedic instincts in Design for Living (1933) and Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938). He also transformed the on-screen personas of Greta GARBO and Marlene DIETRICH in Ninotchka (1939) and Angel (1937).
LUBITSCH's far-reaching influence is evident in the two films under The Golden Age section. Frank BORZAGE's Desire (1936) is a fruitful collaboration, combining his melodramatic sensibility with producer LUBITSCH's sophisticated comedy.
On the other hand, Love in the Afternoon (1957) sees Billy WILDER manifest himself as a successor to LUBITSCH, crafting his own touches of subtle, witty slapstick.
Inheriting the innovative spirit of the New Greek Cinema is COSTA-GAVRAS, who earned his reputation as a master of political thrillers with Z (1969) and Missing (1982), winning Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars and Palme d'Or at Cannes respectively.
Based on real-life events, these two strikingly realistic dramas continue to strike a nerve in a world embroiled in political activism and repression today.
The complete programme and screening schedule of Cine Fan's January/February/March edition are now available at https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/.
The public can purchase tickets to all in-cinema screenings from URBTIX outlets from 15 December.
Those interested in online viewing can book their CINE FAN ONLINE passes (https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/) from 21 January 2022.
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