What is cinema? Why is cinema? Where is cinema? The turn of the millennium brought with it a hailstorm of such lofty state-of-the-art questions and, a decade into the 21st century, those queries have congealed into an epistemological echo chamber. It’s nice then to find the major touchpoints succinctly condensed for the casual spectator in Brattle’s upcoming special engagement “WHAT IS CINEMA?” aptly titled after the industry-approved, auteur-studded Chuck Workman 2013 documentary screening from 6/6 – 6/12. Even more enticing, however, is the string of game-changing classics the Brattle has wrangled up to accompany Workman’s populist history lesson. VERTIGO (1958), MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001), and MEEK’S CUTOFF (2010) all make welcome 35mm appearances, plus, cross your fingers for last-minute celluloid announcements on RASHOMON (1950) and PICKPOCKET (1959). And for anyone kept up at night still pondering Workman’s titular question, contemplate Chantal Akerman’s brave and brilliant structuralist gem JEANNE DIELMAN (1975), screening in all its three-plus-hour glory on 6/8.
– Carson Lund
Carson is one of the creative forces behind the Boston Viewfinder, featured monthly in the Compass and running an online calendar that compiles screenings of the lesser-known and avant-garde in Boston
WHAT IS CINEMA?
(6/6 & 6/9) MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001) DIR. DAVID LYNCH
(6/6 – 6/12) WHAT IS CINEMA? (2013) DIR. CHUCK WORKMAN
(6/7) VERTIGO (1958) DIR. ALFRED HITCHCOCK
(6/8) JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (1975) DIR. CHANTAL AKERMAN
(6/9) MEEK’S CUTOFF (2010) DIR. KELLY REICHARDT
(6/11) PICKPOCKET (1959) DIR. ROBERT BRESSON
(6/12) RASHOMON (1950) DIR. AKIRA KUROSAWA
Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
