Literature Through The Lens

Literature Through
The Lens
featuring

Les Enfants Terribles	La Traviata	House of Mirth
Fahrenheit 451	High Fidelity	Time Regained
Mansfield Park	Miss Julie	Titus

Friday 9th February 1.15pm (Theatre by the Lake)

LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES (The Strange Ones)
(12) France 1950 1hr 47mins (subtitles).

Dir: Jean-Pierre Melville. Starring: Nicole Stephane, Edouard Dhermitte, Jacques Bernard.

The Melville/Cocteau collaboration creates a magical film which captures the visual and textual elements of Cocteau's work with stunning accuracy. Music by Bach and Vivaldi, a mesmerise narration and vivid monochrome photography add subtle, menacing beauty to the inexorable tale of defiance, which unfolds like Greek tragedy and portrays youth in its most decadent and macabre form.

"Melville's lucid interpretation of Cocteau's poetic vision achieved a lightness of touch much admired by the writer." Chris Petit, Time Out

Friday 9th February 6.00pm (Theatre by the Lake)

LA TRAVIATA (U) Italy 1982 1hr 49mins.

Dir: Franco Zeffrelli. Starring: Teresa Stratus, Placido Domingo, Cornell McNeil.

Dumas's story, transformed into Verid's hauntingly beautiful opera, gains yet another dimension as cinema by Zeffirelli. The overture begins and we are drawn into the tragedy - Violetta is alone and dying, while bailiffs empty her once magnificent salon. Brilliant depictions of that loss world through flashbacks further intensify the poignancy of the love story as it winds to its moving end.

BAFTA Awards 1984, 'Best Production Design/Art Direction' and 'Best Costume Design'

Friday 9th February 8.30pm (Theatre by the Lake)

THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (PG) UK 2000 2hrs 20 mins.

Dir: Terence Davies. Cast: Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz, Dan Ackroyd, Elizabeth McGovern.

The ravishing but penniless socialite Lily Bart (Anderson) learns that only
marriage will bring her acceptance in the brutal, brittle climate of turn-of- the-
century Manhattan society where appearances are all. Her heart-breaking
situation (jealousy and malice threaten) infuses a period drama that provides an
astute commentary on our own society.

‘A consummate adaptation of the classic Edith Wharton novel’ Derek Malcolm.

Your Views

The House of Mirth packed the biggest emotional punch and Gillian Anderson was excellent and, I think, on the screen more than any other character all weekend. But the issue was the treatment of women "in society" not the literary adaptation. In fact "women" would have been an equally appropriate theme - see also Miss Julie, Mansfield Park, La Traviata, Once upon a time in the West - and of course Kadosh. The decline and fall of Lily Bart was quite chilling.

Mike Rose-Troup

Saturday 10th February 10.30am (Theatre by the Lake)

FAHRENHEIT 451(12) UK 1966 1hr 52mins.

Dir: Francois Truffaut. Starring Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, Cyril Cusack, Anton Diffring

Truffaut's remarkable adaptation of Ray Bradbury's sci-fi novel about an alarming future where books are banned: they make people unhappy and burn at the temperature of the title. We witness the fireman, Montag (Werner), torn between his wife and a dissident teacher (both played by Christie) and his choices in the eternal search for happiness.

Saturday 10th February 3.30pm (Theatre by the Lake)

HIGH FIDELITY (15) US/UK 2000 1hr 53mins.

Dir: Stephen Frears. Starring: John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Jack Black.

Nick Hornby's best-selling tale of a man, his music and his problems with commitment is transposed from London to Chicago with surprisingly good results. Frears, Cusack and the Grosse Point Blank team have produced a film which some believe is even better than the book.

"Touching, intelligent and very funny" Alexander Walker, Evening Standard.

Saturday 10th February 8.30pm (Theatre by the Lake)

TIME REGAINED (Le temps retrouvé)
(18) France/Italy 1999 2hrs 42mins (Subtitles).

Dir: Raul Ruiz. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart, Vincent Perez, John Malkovich.

Based on the last volume of Marcel Proust’s monumental novel A la recherche du
temps perdu, this sumptuous adaptation demands all of Ruiz’s visual
inventiveness and technical virtuosity. Proust looks back on his life, loves and
memories shaped by the decadent French aristocracy amongst whom he
wandered, capturing their monstrosity with his brilliant novelist’s eye.

"A great work... a cine-literary miracle. For Heaven's sake. GO!" Alexander Walker, Evening Standard.

Your Views

Is there something about foreign language films which forces you to pay attention in a different way? I found Time Regained created a real atmosphere. The way the Proust character moved through the scenes did give an impression of being in the recollection rather than just telling the story. There was something not quite normal about the extended scenes - including the moving rows in the recital - but the audience revolving around the supper table had a greater effect I thought.

Mike Rose-Troup

Sunday 11th February 1.00pm (Theatre by the Lake)

MANSFIELD PARK (15) UK/USA 1999 1hr 52mins.

Dir: Patricia Rozema. Cast: Frances O’Connor, Johnny Lee Miller, Harold Pinter.

Combining elements of Jane Austen’s novel with material from her journal
Patricia Rozema has crafted a most successful screen adaptation. Witty,
passionate and believable, the protagonists prove once again that the course of
true love seldom runs smooth, but this Fanny Price, poor relation oppressed by
wealthy relatives, is a feisty lass...

‘One of the most accomplished, audacious literary adaptations in recent memory’ Time Out.

Sunday 11th February 6.00pm (Theatre by the Lake)

MISS JULIE (15) USA 1999 1hr 40mins.

Dir: Mike Figgis. Starring: Saffron Burrows, Peter Mullan, Maria Doyle Kennedy.

Brilliant acting illuminates this masterpiece of love and humiliation across class
boundaries. In a battle of wills between the count’s beautiful daughter (Burrows)
and his footman (Mullan), love and tenderness, but also anger, hate and feelings
of inadequacy alternate in a superbly effective and faithful interpretation of
Strindberg’s drama.

"A superb translation of the play, bitingly relevant, mesmerising, sexy." Alan Morrison, Total Film.

Sunday 11th February 8.30pm (Theatre By The Lake)

TITUS (18) USA 2000 2hrs 42mins.

Dir: Julie Taymor. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Alan
Cumming.

Against an authentic backdrop of ancient Rome, in this seldom-performed story
of bloody double revenge, Hopkins is magnificent as Titus Andronicus, the
Roman general returning home from his defeat of the northern Goths, whose
Queen (Lange) remains a formidable adversary. Horror, pathos and the blackest
of humour are blended in a most intelligent and audacious interpretation.

‘Boldly imagined and brimming with passion, a striking addition to Shakespeare’s filmography’
Time Out.

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