twi-ny recommended events

TO SAVE AND PROJECT: A MAN AND A WOMAN

Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant play characters trying to escape their pasts in Claude Lelouch’s A MAN AND A WOMAN

THE TENTH MoMA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FILM PRESERVATION/MONDAY NIGHTS WITH OSCAR: A MAN AND A WOMAN (UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME) (Claude Lelouch, 1966)
Academy Theater at Lighthouse International
111 East 59th St. between Lexington & Park Aves.
Monday, October 15, $5, 7:00
212-821-9251
www.oscars.org
www.moma.org

Winner of both the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Claude Lelouch’s A Man and a Woman is one of the most popular, and most unusual, romantic love stories ever put on film. Oscar-nominated Anouk Aimée stars as Anne Gauthier and Jean-Louis Trintignant as Jean-Louis Duroc, two people who each has a child in a boarding school in Deauville. Anne, a former actress, and Jean-Louis, a successful racecar driver, seem to hit it off immediately, but they both have pasts that haunt them and threaten any kind of relationship. Shot in three weeks with a handheld camera by Lelouch, who earned nods for Best Director and Best Screenplay (with Pierre Uytterhoeven), A Man and a Woman is a tour-de-force of filmmaking, going from the modern day to the past via a series of flashbacks that at first alternate between color and black-and-white, then shift hues in curious, indeterminate ways. Much of the film takes place in cars, either as Jean-Louis races around a track or the protagonists sit in his red Mustang convertible and talk about their lives, their hopes, their fears. The heat they generate is palpable, making their reluctance to just fall madly, deeply in love that much more heart-wrenching, all set to a memorable soundtrack by Francis Lai. Lelouch, Trintignant, and Aimée revisited the story in 1986 with A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later, without the same impact and success. A new print of the original will be shown on October 15 at the Academy Theater as part of MoMA’s annual “To Serve and Project” film preservation festival, in conjunction with the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences’ monthly “Monday Nights with Oscar” programming and will be introduced by Aimée, who has appeared in several recent films following a seven-year hiatus. The MoMA series, cocurated by J. Hoberman, continues through November 12 with such films as Jacques Demy’s Lola, Andy Warhol’s San Diego Surf, Raoul Walsh’s Wild Girl, and the director’s cut of Roberto Rossellini’s General della Rovere.

GRACE

Craig Wright’s Broadway debut features an all-star cast examining faith and belief (photo by Joan Marcus)

Cort Theatre
138 West 48th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Through January 6, $32 – $132
www.graceonbroadway.com

Nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote that “life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” That statement is one of the central points of playwright Craig Wright’s award-winning Broadway debut, Grace. Born-again couple Steve (Paul Rudd) and Sara (Kate Arrington) have moved from Minnesota to Florida in order to open the first of what Steve hopes to be a major chain of evangelical gospel hotels. They are living next door to the reclusive Sam (Michael Shannon, Arrington’s real-life partner), a NASA scientist with a severely disfigured face as a result of a horrific accident in which he lost his wife. Steve and Sara are in love with life and all the possibilities offered by Jesus, while Sam is on a downward spiral; a computer genius, he seems to have lost all of his digital photos of his last vacation with his wife, battling over the phone with a customer service representative in a final, desperate attempt to recover his fading visual memories. As Sara tries to become friends with Sam despite his loud, nasty protestations to be left alone, Steve’s deal is not as solid as he originally thought, leading to a violent conclusion — which is actually repeated from the first scene of the play, as everything that happens is a flashback explaining the horrific beginning. Built around four strong performances — Oscar nominee Shannon is particularly mesmerizing as Sam, a deeply troubled soul who has lost his faith, and multiple Emmy winner Ed Asner offers strong, if brief, support as talkative exterminator Karl, who shares a dark secret from his days growing up in Germany during the Holocaust — Grace is an intriguing exploration of belief, in both love and religion, as well as humanity’s endless search for something bigger than themselves.

Steve (Paul Rudd) and Sara (Kate Arrington) are wide-eyed dreamers following Jesus’ guidance in GRACE (photo by Joan Marcus)

By beginning with the end, Wright (Mistakes Were Made, The Pavilion) and director Dexter Bullard (Mistakes Were Made, Bug) cast an immense shadow over the story, as the audience knows how terribly things are going to turn out, yet getting there is still compelling if at times confusing, with several scenes being told both forward and in reverse, raising questions of free will and preordained destiny. Meanwhile, Beowulf Boritt’s set, a single apartment that doubles as Sam’s as well as Steve and Sara’s, with everyone occupying the same space at the same time, occasionally rotates, perhaps hinting at the endless spinning of the planet, perhaps just an inexplicable special effect. In the background is a trompe l’oeil painting of a cloudy but bright blue sky, which means something very different to the extremely religious Sam and Steve (who also is dedicated to the capitalist green god, money) and to nonbelievers Sam and Karl; the latter regularly refers to the earnest couple as “Jesus freaks.” Although it doesn’t quite reach all of its lofty expectations, Grace is still an engaging production that will have audience members carefully examining their own belief system long after they’ve left the theater.

TOMAS SARACENO ON THE ROOF: CLOUD CITY

Met visitors are invited to walk through Tomás Saraceno’s engaging environment of the future, “Cloud City” (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Tuesday – Sunday through November 4 (weather permitting)
Recommended admission: $20 adults, children under twelve free
212-535-7710
www.metmuseum.org
cloud city slideshow

Two years ago, Met visitors were invited to walk inside Doug and Mike Starn’s environmentally friendly rooftop installation, “Big Bambú,” a junglelike pathway made of bamboo. This year people can enter a much more futuristic construction, Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno’s space-age “Cloud City.” Sitting atop the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, “Cloud City” is a geometric environment of walk-in modules made of mirrors, transparent acrylic, steel, and cords that give visitors a warped, fascinating view of the world around them, playing with their perception of reality and physical space. Like a house of mirrors, sometimes what should be in front of you is behind you, or what should be beneath you is above you. Where you should see east is west, or north becomes south. Part spaceship, part mechanical creature, and part airborne apartment complex of the future, “Cloud City” changes with the seasons; in the summer, it was filled with light and the green of the trees, but as the cold fall weather takes over, it is far more colorless. In order to enter the biosphere, visitors, who must be at least ten years old and four feet tall and weigh less than four hundred pounds, need to pick up a timed ticket on the fourth floor and store their bags and cameras in a locker. Each person gets about twenty minutes to navigate the stairs, platforms, and cool obstructions; women might want to avoid wearing loose skirts or dresses, as people below can watch you wander through the different modules (and photos are allowed outside of the structure). In honor of the installation, which is part of Saraceno’s continuing “Air-Port-City” project, the Met has even created a special Cloud City cocktail, made with dry ice, that you can order from the rooftop bar.

MOONRISE KINGDOM

Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) are on the run in Wes Anderson’s delightful MOONRISE KINGDOM

MOONRISE KINGDOM (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St.
212-255-2243
www.quadcinema.com
www.moonrisekingdom.com

In such unique films as Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Darjeeling Limited, black-comedy master Wes Anderson has created a bizarre collection of characters who seem to live in their own alternate realities. In his latest, Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson has once again assembled an oddball assortment of men, women, and children in a terrifically clever and entertaining fairy tale all its own. Tired of being abused by his fellow Khaki Scouts and dismissed by his foster parents, twelve-year-old orphan Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) runs away from Camp Ivanhoe on the island of New Penzance, much to the chagrin of dedicated scout master Randy Ward (Edward Norton). Meanwhile, twelve-year-old loner Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) is fed up with her life as well, which she mostly spends listening to Benjamin Britten, reading fairy tales (fictitious stories made up by Anderson), watching the world through a pair of ever-present binoculars, and despising her parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). Afraid of what might have happened to the children, the local police officer, Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis), gets involved, as does a stern woman from social services (Tilda Swinton) and, eventually, a very different kind of scout, Cousin Ben (Jason Schwartzman). The proceedings are overseen by a narrator (Bob Balaban) who ends up being more than just an omniscient presence. Moonrise Kingdom is an absolute gem of a film, an exciting, original tale about growing up told in a fabulously funny deadpan manner that combines slapstick humor with wildly ironic elements, filled with the endless wonders of childhood, although it is most definitely not for children. Newcomers Gilman and Hayward appear wise beyond their years in the lead roles, with outstanding support from an all-star cast, most prominently Norton as the by-the-book scout master on a mission. Written by Anderson with Roman Coppola and featuring a lovely score by Alexandre Desplat, Moonrise Kingdom is one of the best films of the year, by a director whose imagination never ceases to amaze.

LAST MAN CLUB

Poverty, destitution, and an overriding strangeness rule the day in Axis Company production of LAST MAN CLUB (photo by Dixie Sheridan)

Axis Company
One Sheridan Sq. between West Fourth & Washington Sts.
Thursday – Sunday through October 28, $18
866-811-4111
www.axiscompany.org

The Grapes of Wrath meets The Road Warrior in the excellent Axis Company production of artistic director Randy Sharp’s Last Man Club. In a depression-era middle America Dust Bowl that could double as a barren postapocalyptic landscape, a small family of ragged men and women tries to survive as sandstorms swirl around their deteriorating farm. Friends and kin took off with all the money, leaving the overly practical and far-too-trusting Major (David Crabb) in charge of the mumbling, OCD-riddled Pogord (Spencer Aste), who is waiting for the tank truck to show so that his dried-out sheets can be wetted down; the quirky, ultra-strange Wishful Hi (Lynn Mancinelli), who wears crazy goggles and sees ghosts; and would-be singer Saromybride (Britt Genelin), who wonders whether they should have all headed out to California with the others. As the worst dust storm in modern history approaches, two drifters arrive one at a time: first Middle Pints (George Demas), who has an idea he wants to present to the town’s local Last Man Club, then Henry Taper (Brian Barnhart), who says he’s a scientist on his way to the city to help figure out how to stop the terrible drought. “I can’t take it no more. I really can’t,” Pogord says. “It’s the end of the world,” Wishful Hi proclaims.

Writer-director Sharp’s (Hospital) unpredictable dialogue and subtle plot shifts bring a compelling elegance to the proceedings while also making the play relevant to such twenty-first-century concerns as poverty, unemployment, climate change, the housing crisis, war, and a lack of faith in government. Karl Ruckdeschel’s costumes and the simple but effective set cast the production in browns and grays that emphasize the growing destitution, while solid acting all around gives the play an honesty despite the surreal craziness going on. Last Man Club might be set in the past and hint at the future, but it is, sadly, also firmly rooted in the here and now.

THE PUBLIC THEATER’S BLOCK PARTY AND OPEN HOUSE

Lafayette St. between Astor Pl. & East Fourth St.
Saturday, October 13, free, 12 noon – 5:00
www.publictheater.org

The Public Theater will show off its $40 million renovated home, which includes a restored facade, new terraced steps and glass canopy, an expanded lobby and balcony with a lounge (the Library at the Public), and more, on Saturday with a free block party. Outside there will be live performances by Jessy Carolina & the Hot Mess, Sasha Allen, banjo legend Tony Trischka, and Colombian band M.A.K.U. SoundSystem, while inside the Public will offer sneak peaks at several upcoming productions: the New York premiere of Giant, a musical by Sybille Pearson and Michael John LaChiusa based on the Edna Ferber novel; the world premiere of Fun Home, a musical by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron adapted from Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel; the world premiere of Here Lies Love, which features music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim and choreography by Annie B-Parsons; and Stew and Heidi Rodewald’s The Total Bent. Inside, food will be available from their new menu designed by Andrew Carmellini, including pizza popcorn and kielbasa sandwiches on a soft pretzel roll, while seven food trucks will be outside, including Gorilla Cheese, Korilla BBQ, the Treats Truck, Solber Pupusas, Valducci’s Pizza, Rickshaw Dumplings, and Go Burger.

SIMON & THE OAKS

Karin (Helen Sjöholm) worries about her son (Jonatan S. Wächter) finding his place in a changing world in SIMON & THE OAKS

SIMON & THE OAKS (Lisa Ohlin, 2012)
The Paris Theatre
4 West 58th St. at Fifth Ave.
Opens Friday, October 12
212-688-3800
www.theparistheatre.com

Nominated for thirteen Swedish Academy Awards, Simon & the Oaks is a soapy, sweeping Scandinavian epic about the search for identity. The first film based on a novel by celebrated Swedish author Marianne Frederiksson, Simon & the Oaks follows the confused, troubled Simon as he grows from a timid boy (Jonatan S. Wächter) into a strapping young man (Bill Skargård, son of Stellan) during the WWII era. Simon loves music and books, but his working-class father, Erik (Stefan Gödicke), wants him to forget about education and instead learn a physical trade. Simon becomes friends with a Jewish boy, Isak (Karl Martin Eriksson, then Karl Linnertorp), whose father, Ruben (Jan Josef Liefers), has moved the family from Germany to escape the Nazis. As Simon starts spending more time with Ruben, Erik becomes angry and resentful, while Simon’s mother, Karin (Helen Sjöholm), develops a dangerous closeness with Ruben, a wealthy businessman whose wife (Lena Nylén) is confined to a sanitarium. Simon is a dreamer, looking out at the horizon believing that anything is possible, talking to the whispering oak by the lake behind his house. But he lives in a changing world where everyone around him has to face startling realities centered around bigotry and genocide while protecting him from a powerful secret. Director Lisa Ohlin (Sex, Hope and Love, Waiting for the Tenor), who experienced some of the same things that Simon does, gives the film a lush, grand feel that often overwhelms its more personal story while including numerous clichéd scenes, particularly between fathers and sons, that detract from the already straightforward narrative. The film works best when Liefers is on-screen, playing a complex character who is fascinating to watch as he calmly moves forward despite the maelstrom that surrounds him. Simon & the Oaks opens October 12 at the Paris Theatre, with Ohlin appearing for a Q&A following the 7:00 screening.