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Susan Sontag, who died in 2004, attracted attention wherever she
went. A literary lioness famous for her intellectual daring, as
well as her glamorous appearance ó heads turned as she strode into
public places, tossing her mane of dark hair grazed with that signature
white streak, eyes ablaze with enthusiasm. In addition to all her
accomplishments, she was a passionate cinéaste and a proud advocate
of the avant-garde. Already a well-known author in the late 60s,
she wrote extensively about all the arts, especially film and dance.
However, she had one unfulfilled ambition for many years. She wanted
to direct. “I would have taken any offer to just show I could do
it,” she says. “I would have gone to Afghanistan.” As
it turned out, she only had to go to Sweden for her first feature.
For seven years, from 1969 to 1976, she served as a member of the
New York Film Festival Selection Committee. As a prelude to the
43rd New York Film Festival, the Walter Reade Theater will show
two films she wrote and directed: Duet for Cannibals and Brother
Carl. Grateful thanks to Jon Wengstrom of the Swedish Filminstitut
in Stockholm and Eivor Zimmerman of Sandrew Metronome International
for their cooperation. Thanks to BAM’s Jake Perlman, Richard Corliss,
and David Denby.
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An intriguing and madcap tale of two
couples involved in academia and politics. Artur Bauer (Gosta
Ekman) is a professor living in exile in Sweden with his
enigmatic wife Francesca (Adriana Asti of Bertolucci fame).
He hires young Tomas (Lars Ekborg), ostensibly to help prepare
a compendium of his works. Tomas moves in with the Bauers,
leaving his vexed girlfriend (Agneta Ekmanner) behind, but
he soon begins to suspect that there is an erotic side to
his new assignment. The late New York Times critic Vincent
Canby described Duet as “intriguing, surprising, witty and
sinister to the end,” predicting it would be one of the
“controversial movies of the season.” Thirty-six years
later, that could still prove to be the case.
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THU Sept 22: 6:15 (intro)
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Here is a strange quartet of characters whose efforts to communicate are
thwarted by blatantly self-destructive impulses. Two women, Karen and Lena,
visit a Swedish island resort where Lena’s ex-husband Martin lives in comparative
seclusion with a mentally disturbed dancer named Carl who has turned his
back on his art and sealed himself off from life. Martin has become Carlís
caretaker as well as his nemesis, since Carl seems to blame him for his crackup.
Lena is a vibrant young woman who selflessly offers her life first to the
brooding Karen (the great Gunnel Lindlom of Ingmar Bergman films), then Martin,
and finally, in a wasteful gesture, to Carl. The film, which she wrote, directed,
edited and subtitled, shows Sontag’s willingness to take imaginative and
emotional risks with her material. |
THU Sept 22: 8:45 (intro) |
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