In the San Francisco Bay Area, moviegoing is not just for the newest releases. In 2013 there were more theatrical opportunities to see films spanning the history of cinema than any one person could take advantage of. Therefore, I've asked a sampling of local moviegoers to select a few favorites seen in cinemas last year. An index of participants is found here.
The following list comes from Susan Hahn, a newly-minted (and job-hunting) film archivist who has run the Six Martinis and the Seventh Art blog since 2007.
The following list comes from Susan Hahn, a newly-minted (and job-hunting) film archivist who has run the Six Martinis and the Seventh Art blog since 2007.
I was finishing up my film studies at UC Berkeley last year
and that greatly affected my cinema attendance. Truth be told, I was burnt out
on watching films and I’m only just recovering now. Sadly I cannot include some
amazing private screenings I experienced during my tenure as a film archivist,
such as the time I watched a newly restored print of George Kuchar’s Wild Night
in El Reno with a few co-workers and Mike Kuchar (ha! Got that in!). Instead this
list, presented without rank, is made up of class assignments and a few that
motivated me to drag my tired self back into the theater.
Directors Merian C.
Cooper, Ernest Schoedsack (U.S., 1927)
Pacific Film Archive
What struck me most
about seeing this film in the theater (because that is the purpose of this
list) was the audience. I was in the final semester of university at this time
and most of my favorite professors were there. The collective film knowledge
sitting in front of the screen was astounding and inspiring enough that I wrote
a great paper about the film that was excerpted by my professor for the rest of
the class. Good times.
The Big Trail
Director Raoul Walsh
(U.S., 1930)
I knew about the
lovely snow scenes in this film which is why I made the effort to get to the
theater to watch a Western. I dislike that film genre immensely but this early
sound film avoided most of the silly tropes that drive me crazy. Oh and it was
shown in 70mm Fox Grandeur which is the only way that film should be viewed.
The cinematography was breath taking, John Wayne was handsome and I was
enthralled.
Director Susana de
Sousa Dias (Portugal, 2009)
The description of this film
makes it sound so dull but I was blown away. I had never heard about the brutal
fascist regime in Portugal and the presentation was effective in
humanizing the horrors while avoiding the “victim parade” that documentaries
dealing with depressing subjects often adopt. I saw this as an assignment for a
documentary film class featuring non-stop depictions of brutality and
genocides. It was a traumatic class and this film alone balanced the horrible
events with the hope of the survivors.
The Conformist
Director Bernardo
Bertolucci (Italy, 1970)
One of my favorite
films and so good on the big screen though I remember it was a poor print. And
studying Italian the past year helped me to understand some of the dialog.
Director Raoul Walsh
(U.S., 1915)
Pacific Film Archive
I had been watching lot of D W Griffith for class and this
film still wins hands down. I love it more each time I watch it.
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