Charming Monsters

Despite the weather, January 2010 is shaping up to be an excellent month for Toronto cinephiles, at least those of us with a taste for art house and old school action.

First up is the return of Silent Sundays at the Revue Cinema, the west-end indie theater on Roncesvalles. This year’s program launches with The Lost World, a 1925 adventure flick that combines dinosaurs with then-modern London. William O’Meara, the city’s finest (er, and only?) silent film accompanist, will be providing a live soundtrack. Should be awesome, if I can fit it into an already-overstuffed day!

Next week is four glorious days of Guy Maddin, compliments of the film program at University of Toronto’s Innis College. Maddin is one of my favorite contemporary filmmakers, and I’m super excited at the opportunity to hear him talk in-depth about his work and artistic process. The event schedule includes:

Tuesday 12 January 2010, 7:00 p.m., Innis Town Hall
May I Blow My Bugle Now? My Life in Clips – Illustrated lecture by Guy Maddin on his major influences and favourite films

Wednesday 13 January 2010, 7:00 p.m., Innis Town Hall
Machine Gun Lullabies and Short Sleep – Guy Maddin illuminates the short film as an artistic form

Thursday 14 January 2010, 7:00 p.m. Innis Town Hall
My Winnipeg – Film with live narration by Guy Maddin

Friday 15 January 2010, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. JHB Room 100
I’m Going to Pull Down my Pants: Confession & the Cinema of Uninhibition – Roundtable discussion of Guy Maddin’s films

Friday 15 January 2010, 7:00 p.m., Innis Town Hall
Brand Upon the Brain! (With Guy Maddin in person) on a 35mm print!!

All events take place at Innis College and are FREE to attend – first come, first served. In addition to be a brilliant filmmaker, Maddin is a charming, erudite and highly amusing speaker – I recommend checking out the first two lectures even if you’re not a fan of his films.

As much as I adore my adopted hometown of Toronto, there are times when I wish I lived elsewhere. Usually New York, and usually because of some film-related event. Like right now, when I’m staring at the schedule for the upcoming MOMA To Save and Project film festival. Newly restored versions of NANOOK OF THE NORTH and Frank Capra’s FORBIDDEN on the big screen? A showing of HAXAN: WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES, a 1922 silent Swedish film that’s been on my want-to-see list since I missed out on the last Toronto screening years ago due to schedule conflicts*? And – gem of gems – a restored print of Lotte Reiniger’s THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED? What a feast of old-timey cinematic glee!

I’ve seen a few of Lotte Reiniger’s shorts, and outtakes from an unrestored version of ACHMED, but never the full film; hopefully, this new restoration will merit a DVD release (there’s one currently available, but I’ve been a bit hesitant about the transfer quality). Her life story is pretty interesting, and her influence resonates clearly among modern directors such as the Brothers Quay and Guy Maddin (in particular, the silhouette sequences in ARCHANGEL).

“I love working for children, because they are a very critical and very thankful public.” – Lotte Reiniger

(links via the Dangerous Minds blog)

* – oh, and it turns out HAXAN is public domain and thus available online; the quality won’t be as nice as a print, of course, but I’ll have to give it a try this weekend, just to see.