Joe's Garage

Sunday September 13th 2015, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: White Dog (1982). Directed by Samuel Fuller, 90 minutes, in English. High-definition screening. Free admission. Door opens at 20:00, Film starts at 21:00.

Back in the 80s this was a piece of cinematic dynamite. Just the premise of it sent shock waves through the film industry. Whats it about? It centers on a young girl who injures a stray dog, and takes it home to bring it back to health. Although its a beautiful dog, it does act strange at times. Soon she finds out that it is a “white dog”- a dog which has been programmed into attacking black people by a previous racist owner. That is the premise and the movie then goes into how to deal with the situation.

Adapted from a book by Romain Gary (to whom the picture is dedicated) and it based on a real life event that happened to his wife Jean Seberg. Originally Roman Polanski was signed up to direct it, but then he was forced to escape America after he was charged with a sex crime. So finally, six years later, it fell into the hands of the maverick director Samuel Fuller.

Once it was finished the studio felt it was too volatile and it was shelved (basically banned) so it wasn’t allowed to be screened in America. Director Fuller was pissed off and moved to France and never made another movie in America. It splits audiences like crazy… is it a well-made film or not? Is it racist or anti-racist? Its a controversial film that stirs up a wild discussion in any event. The music score is by Ennio Morricone. […Lees verder]

Sunday May 10th 2015, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989). Directed by Bruce Robinson, 95 minutes. In English with English subtitles. Free admission. Door opens at 20:00, Film starts at 21:00.

Radical cult film by the wild British director Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I)…. a Kafkaesque black comedy which is a scathing attack on the commercialization and trivialization of our lives. This movie is an all-out assault on both the mind and senses (along with the advertising world), as it follows the story of pent-up advertising executive Dennis Bagley, whose life becomes so stressful that his body starts to react in a surreal way. This aspect makes it almost like a Cronenberg film, with Bagley’s repressed inner demon bursting to the surface. Director Bruce Robinson is a sort of cinematic equivalent to a rampaging Hunter S. Thompson, and in his gonzo rage he decries a world of cheap tricks, gimmicks, misrepresentation and hidden marketing agendas. And like Hunter, Robinson does so with scathing absurdism and humor.

Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I) stars in this mad, out-of-control Grand-Guignol that lampoons rampant capitalism and the modern business world. And although this film is certainly skeptical of that advertising industry, director Robinson said it was a mistake to think that was the main message… what this film is about for him is about selling fear, and using fear to promote everything. “The real fear I have is that our whole political system is evolving into an optical illusion whose currency is fear.” The expansion of both the commercialization of our lives, and the use of fear tactics to manipulate us, makes this film even more relevant than ever before. […Lees verder]

Sunday April 19th 2015, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Kes (1969). Directed by Ken Loach, 111 minutes. In English with English subtitles. Free admission. Door opens at 20:00, Film starts at 21:00.

This is an early film directed by Ken Loach, and it is a poetically beautiful portrait of a 14-year-old boy growing up in the northern working-class Yorkshire area of England. It is photographed in an austere, almost documentary style. The non-actor David Bradley is stunningly as the young boy Billy, whose dreary future seems to be pretty much destined for the local coal mines. One day his life suddenly resonates when he discovers a small kestrel falcon, which he trains daily. This is a film about being suffocated by your environment, and the deep longing for something else.

Whereas the Hollywood approach to life is to escape through entertainment, European cinema (and Kes is a wonderful example) instead zeros in on aspects of our lives and asks us to pause and think about them. In Kes, this is done through sublime acting and a profound ability to capture a mood. There is so much trash in the cinemas today, why not try out something that may pierce your heart and change your idea of cinema forever? This movie is still etched deeply in my memory after I saw it last 35 years ago.. it’s one of the most moving films of all time, and it achieves this without any cheap sentimentality.

For many people it is the best film ever made. And it was also voted by the British Film Institute as being one of the 10 best British films of the last century. This will be a high-definition screening. […Lees verder]

Sunday March 22nd 2015, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Nenette and Boni (1996). Directed by Claire Denis, 99 minutes. In French with English subtitles Free admission. Door opens at 20:00, Film starts at 21:00.

This is an early film by French film director Claire Denis (Beau Travail, 35 Rhum, White Material), but she already has her obscure and “difficult to pin down style” well defined. She is also already working with her long-time collaborator Agnes Godard who brings us the striking cinematography in this film, along with British band Tindersticks, who do the soundtrack.

As usual with her cinema, Claire Denis has the gift of taking us into uncharted territory, especially concerning the diverse and unusual connections between people. Although its about relationships, Nenette and Boni isn’t about sex or romance, however, but rather its about intimacy and bonding. It tells the story of a brother and sister who are the products of a broken home, who are torn apart. But when 15-year old Nenette escapes and turns up on her brothers doorstep, a journey begins which is the heart of this film.

In this movie director Denis’ penchant for elliptical story lines is more fluid and less fragmentary and jarring than in her later works. Set within a harsh urban decor, this film nevertheless is able to combine unsentimentality and lyricism. It also features a cameo role by the controversial Vincent Gallo. […Lees verder]

Sunday February 1st 2015, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema by Jeffrey Babcock: Touch of Evil (1958). Directed by Orson Welles, 111 minutes. In English with English subtitles. This will be a high-definition screening. Door opens at 8pm, film begins at 9pm. Free admission.

Many consider this movie to be the true masterpiece of Orson Welles’ career. Taken away from him and sliced to ribbons by the studios, the history of this movie has always been a sad tale. In recent years there has been an attempt to reconstruct this gem to its original vision, and the result of these efforts is the version we will be screening.

This is Welles’ riveting film noir, a crime thriller about a creepy and corrupt police chief named Hank Quinlan (played by Wells himself) working on the Mexican border. When a narcotics investigator (Charlton Heston) arrives to investigate a crime, instead of things becoming clearer they only become murkier. The 3 minute opening shot alone is legendary in film history, and after that the film continues to shoot off and plunge the viewer into a wild, mysterious, unknown world. Also starring Zsa Zsa Gabor, Marlene Dietrich and Janet Leigh. The black and white cinematography is piercing, complimented by a haunting musical score by Henry Mancini. […Lees verder]

Sunday January 11th 2015, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema by Jeffrey Babcock: Szerelem (Love). Directed by Károly Makk, 84 minutes. In Hungarian with English subtitles. Door opens at 8pm, film begins at 9pm.

Filmmakers in Hungary have made some real cinematic gems, but rarely are they ever screened. Winner of the Jury prize at Cannes in 1971, and recently voted the 12th best film in the history of Hungarian cinema, Szerelem is a captivating, wrenching, haunting depiction of East block existence in the 50s. When a man is arrested and imprisoned by the government for no apparent reason, his wife lies to her husband’s dying mother, telling her he is abroad shooting a film in New York. This beauty of a film deals with themes of commitment, faith, and even the ethics of telling lies… how far can someone go with lying?

Szerelem is the merging of two short stories by the famous Hungarian writer Tibor Déry. The real magic though is in it’s sublime cinematic mood. It’s visual style is sober with a chill of fear in the air, but at the same time poetically edited with flashes of memories and other realities. Riveting, poignant and told in a flow of stunning visuals, this will be a rare screening of one of cinema’s small, neglected masterpieces. […Lees verder]