The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, October 31 (7:30 p.m.)
Get Out (Universal, 2017 – rated R*)
When a young African-American man visits his white girlfriend’s posh suburban family estate, he becomes ensnared in a more sinister reason for the invitation. Actor, comedian and filmmaker Jordan Peele wrote the screenplay and made his directorial debut with this provocative hit horror mystery film, dubbed a “cultural phenomenon” by the Los Angeles Times. Get Out stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, and Catherine Keener. The film was chosen by the National Board of Review, the American Film Institute and Time as one of the top 10 films of the year. At the 90th Academy Awards, it was nominated for four awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Original Screenplay. 35mm archival film print. 104 min. * No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.
Friday, November 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Wings of Desire (Orion Classics, 1987)
Wings of Desire is one of cinema’s loveliest city symphonies. Bruno Ganz is Damiel, an angel perched atop buildings high over Berlin who can hear the thoughts –fears, hopes, dreams–of all the people living below. But when he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, is he willing to give up his immortality and come back to earth to be with her? Made not long before the fall of the Berlin Wall, this stunning tapestry of sounds and images, shot in black and white and color by the legendary Henri Alekan, is movie poetry. And it forever made the name Wim Wenders synonymous with film art. The Wall itself was reconstructed in a studio, but Wenders made extensive use of the city’s landmarks–including an extended tour of the modernist Berlin State Library, designed by Hans Scharoun. The film competed for the Palme d’Or and won for Best Director at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Rated PG-13. New 4K digital restoration, courtesy of Janus Films, 128 min.
Saturday, November 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Bridge of Spies (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2015)
Tom Hanks stars as American attorney James B. Donovan, who is entrusted with negotiating the release of Francis Gary Powers–a U.S. Air Force pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War–in exchange for Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), a convicted Soviet KGB spy held under the custody of the United States. The name of the film refers to the Glienicke Bridge, which connects Potsdam with Berlin, where the prisoner exchange took place. British data-journalist David McCandless wrote that while taking creative license into account, the film is 88.8% accurate when compared to real-life events, summarizing it as “pretty damn truthful, reflecting a general trend in Hollywood towards more historically accurate tales.” Directed by Steven Spielberg, this historical drama received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, and won Best Supporting Actor for Rylance. Rated PG-13. 35mm archival film print. 142 min.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: //www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/