Film series: Location – Paris 29 September – 28 October 2012
Still from Cleo from 5 to 7 1962, photo: courtesy of Institut Francais
Welcome to Paris.
In the 1920s, the actual streets of the 'City of Light' provided the setting for groundbreaking experimental film and documentary. With the introduction of the ‘talkies’ during the 1930s and 1940s, the technical constraints of recording sound forced directors to retreat within studio boundaries, making location shooting a rarity. During this era an intractable ‘tradition of quality’ evolved, producing high minded, literary films with a tightly controlled, studio aesthetic. In the 1950s those rigid filmmaking formulas began to be broken down as a new cinema emerged under the auspices of directors such as Robert Bresson, Jules Dassin, Jean-Pierre Melville and Agnés Varda. Using small budgets and little-known actors, filmmakers began to celebrate again the reality of location filmmaking. This was Paris blackened by soot, unencumbered by tourism and still recovering from the bleakness of World War II. In 1958 the explosion of the New Wave, centred around Paris, emphasised free-wheeling, documentary-style location filming using portable equipment and requiring little or no set up time. With its youthful zest and an improvised cinema-vérité-style, it made world film history.
The Location: Paris film series screened in conjunction with Eugéne Atget: Old Paris (24 August – 4 November 2012). This was the first comprehensive exhibition in Australia of the work of photographer Eugéne Atget (1857 – 1927) showcasing over 200 photographs which present a portrait of the city of Paris and its outskirts.
Films
26, 30 September – Rififi (director Jules Dassin, France, 1955, 35mm)
29 September – Paris la belle (director Pierre Prévert, France, 1959, 35mm)
29 September – Paris qui dort/ Paris sleeps/ The crazy ray (director René Clair, France, 1925, 35mm)
29 September – La premiére nuit (director Georges Franji, France, 1958, 35mm)
29 September – La Zone: au pays chiffonniers (director Georges Lacombe, France, 1928, 35mm)
3, 7 October – Pickpocket (director Robert Bresson, France, 1959, 35mm)
10, 14 October – Cleo from 5 to 7 (director Agnés Varda, France, 1962, 35mm)
17, 21 October – Bob le flambeur (director Jean-Pierre Melville, France, 1956, 16mm)
20 October – Vivre sa vie (director Jean Luc-Godard, France, 1962, 16mm)
24, 28 October – Le Samourai (director Jean-Pierre Melville, France, 1967, 35mm)
Still from Bob le flambeur 1956, photo: courtesy of ACMI
Still from Cleo from 5 to 7 1962, photo: courtesy of Institut Francais
Still from La premiére nuit 1958, photo: courtesy of Institut Francais
Still from Pickpocket 1959, photo: courtesy of MK2
Still from Rififi 1955, photo: courtesy of Potential Films
Still from Vivre sa vie 1962, photo: courtesy of ACMI