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For 50 years, Janus Films has been the preeminent U.S. distributor of foreign and classic films that have collectively shaped the art of contemporary cinema. This fall, the Palm Springs International Film Society mines this superb collection for films that have paved the way for some of the world's greatest directors. Each screening will be accompanied by a discussion led by an expert in the field. Truffaut, Polanski, Weir, von Trier and Van Sant. Discover the films that launched these impressive careers.
Each event is free to PSIFS members, with a suggested $5 donation from the public at the door. No reservations necessary. Events will be held at the Palm Canyon Theatre (538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs).
The following Wednesday screenings begin at 7 p.m.
 | October 14 :: The 400 BlowsFrançois TruffautSelected Filmography: Jules and Jim, Shoot the Piano Player, Fahrenheit 451, Stolen Kisses, Day for Night, The Last Metro |
Speaker: David Ansen, Newsweek film critic
Truffaut's most personal film is told through the eyes of his life-long cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud). It sensitively recreates the trials of Truffaut's own difficult childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, petty crime and a friendship that would last a lifetime. The film marks Truffaut's passage from leading film critic of the French New Wave to his emergence as one of Europe's most brilliant auteurs.
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October 21 :: Knife in the WaterRoman PolanskiSelected Filmography: The Pianist, Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, Frantic, Death and the Maiden, The Ninth Gate |  |
Speaker: James Morrison, Claremont McKenna College
A brilliant psychological thriller that many critics still consider among Polanski's greatest work. The story is simple, yet the implications of its characters' emotions and actions are profound. When a young hitchhiker joins a couple on a weekend yacht trip, psychological warfare breaks out as the two men compete for the woman's attention. With stinging dialogue and a mercilessly probing camera, Polanski creates a disturbing study of fear, humiliation, sexuality and aggression.
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 | October 28 :: The Cars that Ate ParisPeter WeirSelected Filmography: The Truman Show, Dead Poets Society, Master and Commander, Witness, Picnic at Hanging Rock |
Speaker: Tim Grierson, film critic
In the secluded rural town of Paris, Australia, the chief source of income is provided by the orchestration of automobile accidents which frequently claim the lives of passing tourists. Those who survive are usually subjected to bizarre brain experiments by a loony local surgeon. One such unfortunate survivor is young Arthur, who remains in Paris after his recovery to work in the hospital, unaware of the circumstances which brought him there.
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November 11 :: The Element of CrimeLars von Trier Selected Filmography: Dancer in the Dark, Breaking the Waves, Dogville, Manderlay, The Idiots, Europa |  |
Speaker: Peter Debruge, Associate Editor of Features at Variety
Fisher is an exiled ex-cop who returns to his old beat to catch a serial killer with a taste for young girls. Influenced equally by Hitchcock and science fiction, von Trier boldly reinvents expressionist style for his own cinematic vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Shot in shades of sepia with occasional, startling flashes of bright blue, the film combines dark mystery and operatic sweep to yield a pure celluloid nightmare.
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 | November 18 :: Mala NocheGus Van Sant Selected Filmography: Milk, Good Will Hunting, Elephant, To Die For, My Own Private Idaho, Drugstore Cowboy |
Speaker: David Ehrenstein, film critic
With its low budget and lush black-and-white imagery, the film heralded an idiosyncratic, provocative new voice in American independent film and an important prelude to the New Queer Cinema of the '90s. The film evokes a world of transient workers, dead-end day-shifters, and bars and seedy apartments bathed in a profound nighttime, as it follows a romantic deadbeat with a wayward crush on a handsome Mexican immigrant.
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