Thursday, January 19, 2006

Mikio Naruse series at NWFF


Spencer, overdue as I have noted in the past for an account here, highlights a particularly interesting bit of global obscurantist cinema chez NWFF upcoming:


One of my duties as a volunteer projectionist at the Northwest Film Forum is to introduce the films. Which means sometimes I gotta (er, or at least should) bone up ahead of time. Starting there this week is a remarkable 10-film retrospective of works by the great (albeit under-recognized in the West) master Mikio Naruse, in honor of his centenary. (He died in 1969.) I confess I’ve never even heard of the man or his films, even though he was the first Japanese filmmaker to be reviewed in the New York Times (a full 14 years before Kurusawa’s Rashoman).



Please note that the Jan. 27 screening of the ultra-rare silent films Nightly Dreams (Yogoto no yume), and Flunky, Work Hard! (Koshiben gambare) will be accompanied live by the most capable Aono Jikken Ensemble (that’s pronounced, more or less, AH-no JEE-ken). Most of the films in the series play one night only, so get down on it, yo.


He kindly follows up with some linkies.


Holy shit! Japanese silents! I may have to be medicated!



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