Seventeen was banned from television for its brutally candid portrayal of a girl’s turbulent last year in high school. This incredible documentary explores the dark underside of small town life–young lives struggling at school and at home: tumultuous classroom scenes, boozing parties, pot smoking, preparing for a neighborhood race war, an unexpected pregnancy, a fatal car accident and a hysterical romance are all shown in stark honesty. Directed by Joel DeMott and Jeff Kreines. In Color. 16mm. 120 mins. 1987. MON and TUE at 7:00 and 9:30.

"Worth Seeing. DEMON LOVER DIARY is a self reflexive masterpiece!"
-- Wesley Morris, S.F. Chronicle

Wednesday & Thursday, July 11 & 12

Godard Warm-up!

Keep Up Your Right

Keep Up Your Right (Soigne ta droite) is a little known work of Jean-Luc Godard’s from the mid-1980s and is must-viewing for fans of the avant-garde filmmaker. Godard himself plays a film director from outer space who is given a mission to deliver his new film, "A Place on the Earth," from one European locale to another. One woman admires its shiny cans, and Godard comments that "The toughest thing in movies is carrying the cans." Given that it has taken fifteen years for Keep Up Your Right to arrive in the U.S., this may be less a joke than a prophecy. Like his other films from this period, it contains satire and physical slapstick as well as deep insight into the human condition. It also features the music of Rita Mitsouko. Also starring Jacques Villeret, Philippe Rouleau, Francois Perier, and Jane Birken. Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. In Color. 35mm. 82 mins. 1986. FRANCE. In French, with English subtitles. WEST COAST PREMIERE! WED at 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00 and 10:00; THURS at 6:00, 8:00 and 10:00.

Friday, July 13 — Thursday, July 19

Jean-Luc Godard’s Classic
Weekend
Premiere Revival! Brand New Print!

When the revolutionary and controversial Jean Luc Godard directly faces contemporary reality, the result is Weekend, his fever pitch 1965 classic. Here, the supreme creations of the modern era are consistently portrayed in ruin, in flames, overturned or rendered immobile by marathon, bloody traffic jams. Yet Godard complicates his vision of bourgeoise society by alternating scenes of horror with passages of tender poetry, metaphor and endlessly exciting cinema imagery. The film abounds in Godardian themes: growing violence in "civilized" society; the supremacy of nature over society and a forced choice between revolution and materialism. There are, of course, his devilish tactics of allusiveness, his tendency to draw puns from titles and his flights into paradox and pastiche. A truly remarkable film, Weekend is brilliant, extraordinary cinema. "A great original work–Weekend is Godard’s version of hell and it ranks with the visions of the greatest."–Pauline Kael. "The film must be seen for its power, ambition, humor and scenes of really astonishing beauty. One of the most important films Godard has ever made; there’s nothing like it at all!"–Renata Adler, New York Times.Starring Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Jean-Pierre Leaud. Written and directed by Jean Luc Godard. In Color. 35mm. 103 mins. 1967. FRANCE. In French, with English subtitles. BRAND NEW PRINT! NIGHTLY at 7:00 and 9:15; SAT, SUN and WED matinees at 2:00 and 4:30.

Friday, July 20

Ian Brennan presents

Ladies and Gentlemen—
Mr. Leonard Cohen

This rare and almost never-before-seen documentary follows Leonard Cohen during his homecoming in the winter of 1964 when he returned as a successful poet to conduct a series of readings and tv appearances in Montreal. It serves not only as a window into the awkward historical transition from the Beatnik to the Hippie era, but also as a portrait of a nascent counter-cultural figure still grappling with the elements of a new identity–his first record would not be released for another four years. In Color. 44 mins. 1965.

Speed Racer: Welcome to the World of Vic Chesnutt

Permanently confined to a wheelchair by an auto accident at age 18, Vic Chesnutt was discovered by REM’s Michael Stipe in Athens, GA and is beloved as one of America’s most literate songwriters, with songs rich in Southern gothic tradition. His list of admirers reads like a Who’s Who of popular music: Madonna, Bob Mould, Pearl Jam, Nancy Griffith, and Fugazi–just to name a few. Color & B/W. 30 mins. 1993. Both films show together FRI at 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00.

Saturday, July 21

Noir Internationale!

The
Third Man

Graham Greene’s classic suspense novel was turned into one of the 40’s great noir films. In it, a pulp writer tries in vain to track down a shadowy, mysterious figure in post war Vienna. The film establishes an uncanny atmosphere (cinematographer Robert Krasker won an Oscar, and Anton Karas’ zither music score is top notch) which, once experienced, is not easily forgotten. Starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard. Directed by Carol Reed. B&W. 35mm. 104 mins. 1949. Great Britain. SAT at 2:00, 6:00 and 10:10

Riffifi

Four French criminals embark on a breathlessly dangerous jewel heist only to find out there is little honor among thieves. Considered by many to be the ultimate caper film, it boasts one of the most truly memorable suspense sequences in all of modern cinema. Starring Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Magali Noel. Written and directed by Jules Dassin. Black & White. 35mm. 115 mins. 1954. In French, with English subtitles. SAT at 3:55 and 8:00