Annette Insdorf: Reel Pieces Remote: Classic Films

Given the terrific response to both of the “Reel Pieces Remote: Classic Films with Annette Insdorf” series thus far, we are delighted to offer a third course.

Beginning July 5, Classic Films, 1959-1994 meets weekly on Sunday evenings at 8 pm for five sessions. The series will focus on masterpieces—from a variety of countries and spanning 35 years—that will be streamed via The Criterion Channel.

Participants can view the film any time before the Sunday evening class, and please watch beforehand Annette Insdorf’s prerecorded introduction of approximately 10 minutes. The 8 pm class will begin with a brief lecture before Professor Insdorf engages the group in live online discussion.

Tentative Syllabus for Classic Films, 1959-1994:

Jul 5: The 400 Blows (1959, France), directed by Francois Truffaut. In this prize-winning first feature that helped launch The French New Wave, Jean-Pierre Leaud stars as the director’s alter ego, a hardened boy on the streets of Paris.

Jul 12: The Spirit of the Beehive (1973, Spain), directed by Victor Erice. In this poetic evocation of rural Spain under Franco, 7-year-old Ana (Ana Torrent, the child star of Cria Cuervos), is a beekeeper’s daughter who is affected by the movie Frankenstein.

Jul 19: Loves of a Blonde (1965, Czechoslovakia), directed by Milos Forman. Before becoming the great American director of films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Forman helped create the Czechoslovak New Wave with ironic comedies—like this story of a randy piano player and a gullible young woman.

Jul 26: The Official Story (1985, Argentina), directed by Luis Puenzo from a script by Aida Bortnik. A prim high school teacher—brilliantly played by Norma Aleandro—suspects that her adopted daughter might be the child of “disappeared” subversives. Was she kidnapped by the military dictatorship and given to her complicit husband (Hector Alterio)?

Aug 2: Before the Rain (1994, Macedonia), directed by Milcho Manchevski. A stunning first feature set in Macedonia and London, intertwining three stories of ethnic tension among Macedonians (Orthodox Christian) and Albanians (Muslim). Starring Rade Serbedzija and Katrin Cartlidge, it won the Grand Prize at the 1994 Venice Film Festival.