THE PHANTOM OF THE MONASTERY 1934
Lost in the forest, a trio of hikers enmeshed in an adulterous love triangle take refuge in a strange monastery that seems frozen in time. As bizarre portents—a bat-shaped shadow without a source, a door sealed by a crucifix, a cellar full of coffins—accumulate, they begin to fear that the place is haunted. With chiaroscuro camera work, expressionistic set design, and gothic atmosphere to burn, THE PHANTOM OF THE MONASTERY is one of the most influential Mexican horror films of all time, as well as a key triumph for director Fernando de Fuentes, considered by many to be the country’s most notable director of the 1930s.
Sunday, October 25
Director: Fernando de Fuentes
Starring: Enrique del Campo, Marta Roel, Carlos Villatoro
Runtime: 85 min., Mexico
Language: Spanish w/ English subtitles
TAMPOPO 1985
The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle-shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe, this rapturous “ramen western” by Japanese director Juzo Itami is an entertaining, genre-bending adventure underpinned by a deft satire of the way social conventions distort the most natural of human urges—our appetites. Interspersing the efforts of Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) and friends to make her café a success with the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster and glimpses of food culture both high and low, the sweet, sexy, and surreal Tampopo is a lavishly inclusive paean to the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.
Friday, November 6
Sunday, November 8
Director: Juzo Itami
Starring: Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Ken Watanabe
Runtime: 115 min., Japan
Language: Japanese w/ English subtitles