Thu., December 18
Il Posto Ermanno Olmi made his debut with this film, an
engrossing neorealist essay on how urban society and corporate
consciousness degrade and dehumanize workers. A young man attains what
is now known as an “entry-level” position at a huge, faceless
corporation, and it’s all downhill from there. The movie has charm,
humor, sympathy, and honesty. The neorealist style, which had almost
faded out of the Italian cinema by this time (1961), is sharp and
biting (93 min.). — D.D. (PFA, 6:30)
The Fiancés A story of working-class love directed in
1961 by Ermanno Olmi, concerning a laborer who leaves his home and
girlfriend in search of a better job (76 min.). (PFA, 8:30)
Fri., December 19
… All the Marbles Peter Falk, best remembered for his
sharply etched roles in the fine TV series Columbo, stars as the
down-and-out manager of two women wrestlers. Vicki Frederick, a
Broadway dancer, and Laurene Landon, a former athlete, co-star as the
wrestlers, along with Burt Yong in this comedy-drama directed by Robert
Aldrich (113 min., 1981). (PFA, 6:30)
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion Strong Costa
Gavras overtones in this poli-psychological Italian drama by director
Elio Petri, which details the disintegration of a police official who
murders his mistress while making love to her, then all but dares his
own officers to close in on him. Gian Maria Volonte, wearing his
coldest sardonic smirk, stars as the guilty party, with Florinda
Bolkan. First released in 1970, a full two years before Watergate (112
min.). — K.V. (PFA, 8:45)
Sat., December 20
Zabriskie Point Michelangelo Antonioni’s uncomfortable
after-the-fact attempt to portray American counterculture politics
alternates between the draggy and the overly dramatic (112 min., 1970).
(PFA, 6:30)
Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte Robert Aldrich followed up the
commercial success of his What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with
an even more outrageous exercise in Hollywood necrophilia. It was camp
before the word was invented, but it’s somewhat better than that, too.
Bette Davis is back, supported by Olivia da Havilland, Agnes Moorehead,
Mary Astor, and Joseph Cotton (134 min., 1964). — D.K. (PFA,
8:45)
Sun., December 21
La Dolce Vita Federico Fellini at his most coherent, tracking
Marcello Mastroianni through Roman high society in search of gossip and
salvation, encountering Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, and the
ghostly Nico (of the Velvet Underground) on the path of decadence.
Lavish, powerful, and chic, the film introduced a “new” Fellini, who
was turning his back on the bleak miseries of the poor to check out the
sophisticated miseries of the rich and famous (175 min., 1960). —
N.W. (PFA, 3:00)
