NEON NOIR
Darkness under the neon lights
FALLEN ANGELS 1995
Lost souls reach out for human connection amid a glimmering Hong Kong in Wong Kar Wai’s hallucinatory, neon-soaked nocturne. Originally conceived as a segment of Chungking Express only to spin off on its own woozy axis, Fallen Angels plays like the dark, moody flip side of its predecessor as it charts the subtly interlacing fates of a handful of urban loners, including a coolly detached hit man (Leon Lai Ming) looking to go straight; his business partner (Michelle Reis), who secretly yearns for him; and a mute delinquent (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who wreaks mischief by night. Swinging between hard-boiled noir and slapstick lunacy with giddy abandon, the film is both a dizzying, dazzling city symphony and a poignant meditation on love, loss, and longing in a metropolis that never sleeps. (Criterion)
Saturday, November 1
Sunday, November 2
Director: Wong Kar-wai
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Starring: Leon Lai Ming, Michelle Reis, Takeshi Kaneshiro
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Runtime: 99 min., USA
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Language: Cantonese w/ English subtitles
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THIEF 1981
The contemporary American auteur Michael Mann’s bold artistic sensibility was already fully formed when he burst out of the gate with Thief, his debut feature. James Caan stars, in one of his most riveting performances, as a no-nonsense ex-con professional thief planning to leave the criminal world behind after one last score—but he discovers that escape is not as simple as he’d hoped. Finding hypnotic beauty in neon and rain-slick streets, sparks and steel, Thief effortlessly established the moody stylishness, tactile approach, and drama that would also define such later iconic Mann films as Heat, The Insider, Ali, and The Last of the Mohicans.
Friday, November 14
Sunday, November 16
Director: Michael Mann
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Starring: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson
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Runtime: 123 min., USA
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Language: English
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THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE 1976
John Cassavetes engages with film noir in his own inimitable style with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Ben Gazzara brilliantly portrays a gentleman’s club owner, Cosmo Vitelli, desperately committed to maintaining a facade of suave gentility despite the seediness of his environment and his own unhealthy appetites. When he runs afoul of loan sharks, Cosmo must carry out a terrible crime or lose his way of life. Mesmerizing and idiosyncratic, the film is a provocative examination of masculine identity.
Tuesday, November 18
Director: John Cassavetes
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Starring: Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel
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Runtime: 108 min., USA
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Language: English
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