this week in film and television

THE SEARCH FOR FREEDOM

THE SEARCH FOR FREEDOM (Jon Long, 2014)
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
Wednesday, June 10, $15, 7:00
212-330-8182
thesearchforfreedom.com
www.landmarktheatres.com

In 2000, Jon Long set out to follow up his forty-five-minute Extreme: An IMAX Experience with a feature film about the action sports revolution, but after beginning his interviews in 2004, he decided to focus on one concept that kept coming up: freedom. Ten years later, Long completed the project and has now released The Search for Freedom, a visually stunning examination of extreme action athletes and what drives them to risk their lives participating in dangerous sports involving the natural world and environment. “The basic instinct of a human being is his search for freedom, and still, the search for freedom is within all of us,” ski filmmaking trailblazer Warren Miller says early on. Long talks with an all-star cast of pioneers, legends, icons, visionaries, and champions, including skateboarders Tony Hawk, Danny Way, and Tom Schaar, surfers Kelly Slater, Meg Roh, and Steve Pezman, big mountain snowboarders Jeremy Jones and Annie Boulanger, free skiers Shane McConkey and Logan Laplante, mountain bike co-inventor Gary Fisher, street skater Nyjah Houston, windsurfer Robby Naish, mountain climber Ron Kauk, daredevil Robbie Maddison, Endless Summer director Bruce Brown, and others, combining interviews with mind-blowing archival and contemporary footage of men and women taking on extreme athletic challenges for the sheer rush and adventure, not for money and fame. “Whether you’re young or old, male or female, it’s the same thing. It’s that thrill of the first ride, and once it gets under your skin, you can never stop,” says surfer and Quicksilver founder Bob McKnight.

THE SEARCH FOR FREEDOM takes viewers on a thrilling journey through extreme action sports

The Search for Freedom is filled with amazing shots of these athletes base jumping off sheer rocks, snowboarding down impossibly steep mountains, mountain biking thousands of feet up, performing unbelievable skateboard tricks, and surfing through enormous waves, all with an infectious exhilaration. Perhaps most extraordinary is the story of Glenn Singleman, an Australian ER doctor who is also a wingsuit pilot and world record holder who flies through the air with his wife, Heather Swan, and discusses a genetic component to what makes extreme athletes do what they do. “You instantly feel like nothing else in the world exists, nothing else matters. You’re living in the moment,” explains stand-up paddle boarder Kai Lenny, revealing the so-called “zone” that paradoxically makes these sports meditation as much as action. The Search for Freedom soars over and across land, sea, and sky, revealing remarkable moment after remarkable moment. A film festival favorite, The Search for Freedom is having a special one-time-only screening in theaters across the country on June 10; here in New York City, it will be shown at 7:00 at the Landmark Sunshine on the Lower East Side.

THIS IS CELLULOID — 35MM: THE CRANES ARE FLYING

Sergey Urusevsky’s dazzling camera work is a character unto itself in THE CRANES ARE FLYING

THE CRANES ARE FLYING (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957)
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Ave. at Second St.
Sunday, June 7, 6:15
Series runs through June 21
212-505-5181
anthologyfilmarchives.org

Even at a mere ninety-seven minutes, Mikhail Kalatozov’s The Cranes Are Flying is a sweeping Russian antiwar epic, an intimate and moving black-and-white tale of romance and betrayal during WWII. Veronika (Tatyana Samojlova) and Boris (Aleksey Batalov) are madly in love, swirling dizzyingly through the streets and up and down a winding staircase. But when Russia enters the war, Boris signs up and heads to the front, while Veronika is pursued by Boris’s cousin, Mark (Aleksandr Shvorin). Pining for word from Boris, Veronika works as a nurse at a hospital run by Boris’s father, Fyodor Ivanovich (Vasili Merkuryev), as the family, including Boris’s sister, Irina (Svetlana Kharitonova), looks askance at her relationship with Mark. The personal and political intrigue comes to a harrowing conclusion in a grand finale that for all its scale and scope gets to the very heart and soul of how the war affected the Soviet people on an individual, human level, in the family lives of women and children, lovers and cousins, husbands and wives.

Unforeseen circumstances trap Veronika (Tatyana Samojlova) in wartime Russia in Mikhail Kalatozov’s masterful THE CRANES ARE FLYING

The only Russian film to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes by itself, The Cranes Are Flying is a masterful work of art, a searing portrait of the horrors of war as seen through the eyes of one desperate woman. Adapting his own play, Viktor Rozov’s story sets up Boris and his family as a microcosm of Soviet society under Stalin; it’s no coincidence that the film was made only after the leader’s death. It’s a whirlwind piece of filmmaking, a marvelous collaboration between director Kalatozov, editor Mariya Timofeyeva (Ballad of a Soldier), composer Moisey Vaynberg (the opera The Passenger), and cinematographer Sergey Urusevsky, who also worked with Kalatozov on I Am Cuba and The Unsent Letter; Urusevsky’s camera, often handheld, is simply dazzling, whether moving through and above crowd scenes, closing in on Samojlova’s face and Batalov’s eyes, or twirling up at the sky. Poetic and lyrical, heartbreaking and maddening, The Cranes Are Flying is an exquisite example of the power of cinema. You can see it June 7 at 6:15 as part of the Anthology Film Archives series “This Is Celluloid: 35MM,” a three-week celebration of the way films were made and shown before the digital age; as the festival website explains, “As the medium of celluloid (or more accurately but far less evocatively, polyester) is rapidly pushed towards obsolescence, and the new digital standard, DCP, continues to invade not only the world’s multiplexes but also those repertory theaters and museums devoted to screening movies from the art form’s first century, Anthology stands fast in its commitment to keeping 35mm and 16mm and 8mm alive!” The festival continues through June 21 with such other works as John Boorman’s Excalibur, Monte Hellman’s Two Lane Blacktop, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia, Joseph Losey’s M, and Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish.

FIRST SATURDAY: INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ PRIDE

Zanele Muholi (South African, b. 1972). Faces and Phases installed at dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany, 2012. (Photo: © Anders Sune Berg)

Zanele Muholi, “Faces and Phases,” installed at dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany, 2012 (photo © Anders Sune Berg)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, June 6, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The June installment of the Brooklyn Museum’s free First Saturday program celebrates LGBTQ Pride, with live performances by the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, Aye Nako, DJ Lynnee Denise, DJ Ilsa, and Junglepussy with DJ Joey Labeija; an exhibition talk by Jess Wilcox on “Zanele Muholi: Isibonelo/Evidence” and ten-minute pop-up gallery talks about “Diverse Works: Director’s Choice, 1997–2015”; a flag-making workshop; a poetry performance by Dark Matter (Alok Vaid-Menon and Janani Balasubramanian); a literary workshop with bklyn boihood, focusing on its upcoming publication, Outside the XY; screenings of Seyi Adebanjo’s 2013 documentary, Trans Lives Matter! Justice for Islan Nettles, followed by a talkback with the director, and Dan Sickles & Antonio Santini’s 2014 film, Mala Mala, followed by a talkback with the directors and cast memebers Paxx and Joyce Puty; and a tribute to retiring museum director Arnold Lehman, with reflections and performances by DapperQ, Visual Aids, Harriett’s Apothecary, Haiti Cultural Exchange, CaribBEING, Afrika 21/Harriet’s Alter Ego, and Balmir Latin Dance. In addition, you can check out such exhibitions as “Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks,” “Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic,” “Kara Walker: ‘African Boy Attendant Curio (Bananas),’” and “Chitra Ganesh: Eyes of Time.”

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET

Richard Widmark and Thelma Ritter talk over old times in Samuel Fuller Cold War noir

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (Samuel Fuller, 1953)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
May 29 – June 4
212-727-8110
filmforum.org

Three-time loser Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) gets more than he bargained for when he lifts femme fatale Candy’s (Jean Peters) wallet on the subway, landing him in trouble with mysterious Joey (Richard Kiley) and the Feds in Samuel Fuller’s fab Cold War noir set in New York City. “If you refuse to cooperate, you’ll be as guilty as the traitors that gave Stalin the A bomb,” the cops tell him, to which Skip classically replies, “Are you waving the flag at me?” Widmark is almost too good as Skip, a suave pickpocket who lives under the Brooklyn Bridge in an old bait and tackle shack. Sure, it gets a little melodramatic at the end, which comes too soon (the film is only eighty minutes long), but it’s worth every minute nonetheless. And yes, that is Brooklyn’s own Thelma Ritter as the curious little lady who sells ties for information, earning her fourth consecutive Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. One of Fuller’s best, Pickup on South Street is screening at Film Forum in a new 4K restoration May 29 to June 4.

UHF FILM FEAST

“Weird Al” Yankovic can’t believe special menu that is accompanying screening of cult classic at Nitehawk

UHF (Jay Levey, 1989)
Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.
Tuesday, June 2, $75, 7:15
718-384-3980
www.nitehawkcinema.com

“Aw, what’s wrong, Bobbo?” George Newman (“Weird Al” Yankovic) says to Bobbo the Clown (David Bowe) in UHF. “I bet I know! You’re hungry, aren’t you? Have I got just the thing for you!” While George offers Bobbo what he thinks are “the mouth-watering, lip-smacking taste” of Mrs. Hackenberger’s Butter Cookies but in actuality are Yappy’s Dog Treats, Brooklyn’s Nitehawk Cinema will be serving up something a little more palatable when it screens the 1989 cult classic on June 2 in its ongoing Film Feasts series. As you watch Weird Al spoof such flicks as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Conan the Barbarian, and Rambo and low-budget kids’ television shows with the help of Michael Richards, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Emo Philips, Dr. Demento, Gedde Watanabe, David Proval, Billy Barty, and Fran Drescher, you can enjoy a seven-course menu with special drinks that features “Waiters of the Lost Ark” (Big Edna burger and Twinkie Wiener sandwich), “Philo’s Chemistry Set” (Prickly Pear Limoncello shot), “Mr. Butterfingers’ Red Face” (finger sandwich), “What’s it gonna be, Weaver?” (Wheel of Fish ceviche), “Good Watermelon” (Avua Cachaça, fresh watermelon), “Cuz They’re Real Fishy” (Margherita pizza with white anchovies), and “Fifth Blood Part 1” (bahn mi). Channel 62 never tasted so good.

HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT

Arielle Holmes plays a fictionalized version of herself in the Safdie brothers’ HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT

HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT (Josh & Benny Safdie, 2014)
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
Opens Friday, May 29
212-330-8182
radiustwc.com
www.landmarktheatres.com

Josh and Benny Safdie’s Heaven Knows What is a harrowing tale about addiction and obsession, but it turns out that its back story is much more compelling than what shows up onscreen. Josh was researching a film about the Diamond District when he came upon Arielle Holmes, a nineteen-year-old temp assistant. He was determined to find out more about her and shortly discovered that she was a homeless junkie with a wild, unpredictable druggie boyfriend, Ilya. Josh and Benny, who had previous collaborated on such indie features as The Pleasure of Being Robbed and Daddy Longlegs and the documentary Lenny Cooke, commissioned Holmes to write her story, and she quickly delivered 150 pages that ultimately inspired the film, in which Holmes plays Harley, a young heroin addict living on the streets of New York City, spanging money (begging for spare change) for her next fix while in a combative relationship with Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones). Harley has done something to alienate Ilya, and she says she will kill herself to prove her love and devotion. He tells her to go ahead and do it, so she slits one of her wrists and is rushed to the hospital. That sets the stage for the rest of the lurid and sordid narrative, as Haley bounces between the cruel Ilya and her drug dealer, the far more easygoing and mellow Mike (real-life street legend Buddy Duress in his acting debut); she is also followed around by Skully (rapper Necro), who wants to save her from herself but is clearly in no position to do so.

Working with cowriter and coeditor Ronald Bronstein (Daddy Longlegs, Frownland) and cinematographer Sean Price Williams (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, Frownland), writer-director Josh and editor-director Benny immerse the viewer in this squalid subculture, as the characters, played by a mix of professional actors and real street kids, are trapped in their dirty little world, almost like a death sentence. Williams uses a tripod and long lenses that give the feel of a handheld camera while keeping a distance, which combine with Isao Tomita’s electronic versions of Debussy to create an operatic quality, but there’s no escaping a story that has been told before, and better. The Safdies were influenced by the HBO documentary Life of Crime, Andrzej Żuławski’s 1984 Possession, and Martin Wise’s 1984 Streetwise, but Heaven Knows What most closely resembles Jerry Schatzberg’s far superior 1971 classic, The Panic in Needle Park, even taking place in some of the same locations. In fact, Josh asked Schatzberg for his blessing in making Heaven Knows What, which doesn’t really cover any new ground in the genre. Holmes does an admirable job playing a version of herself, and a virtually unrecognizable Jones (X-Men: First Class, Queen and Country) throws himself into the part of Ilya with a frightening abandon, but it all ends up more like Heaven: So What. Heaven Knows What opens May 29 at the Landmark Sunshine; the Safdie brothers will participate in a Q&A with Cat Marnell following the 7:30 screening on Friday and a Q&A with Lena Dunham after the 7:30 show on Saturday, and Dunham will stick around to introduce Saturday’s 10:00 screening as well.

SAN ANDREAS

Emma (Carla Gugino) and Ray (Dwayne Johnson) search for their daughter in SAN ANDREAS

SAN ANDREAS (Brad Peyton, 2015)
Opens Thursday, May 28
www.sanandreasmovie.com

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,” Cassius says in Julius Caesar, and indeed, San Andreas is not the fault of its stars, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and Carla Gugino, who try their best in this disaster of a disaster movie. Johnson is Ray Gaines, a Los Angeles Fire Department search-and-rescue chopper pilot going through a divorce with his wife, Emma (Gugino), who is shacking up with her new beau, ridiculously wealthy architecture mogul Daniel Riddick (Ioan Gruffudd). Ray and Emma clearly still care for each other, but they have been torn apart by the tragic loss of one of their daughters; they are both very close with their remaining daughter, Blake (Alexandra Daddario), who is about to head off for college in Northern California. But an earthquake in Nevada that destroys the Hoover Dam triggers further destruction in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Ray is soon commandeering vehicle after vehicle to save his family. Meanwhile, Caltech seismologist Dr. Lawrence Hayes (Paul Giamatti) is tracking the quakes, putting his new theory to work to predict where and when the next rift will happen, and how devastating it will be, desperate to get his message to the public via an investigative journalist (Archie Panjabi) before it’s too late.

Oscar winner Paul Giamatti stars as a seismologist in disaster epic

Director Brad Peyton, who previously teamed up with producer Beau Flynn and Johnson on Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, borrows elements from such disaster flicks as Airport, Tidal Wave, Titanic, The Towering Inferno, The Day After Tomorrow, The Poseidon Adventure, and, of course, Earthquake, but not even Sensurround could have helped the absurd plot twists that threaten to set new records on the ludicrosity scale, at times evoking the Kentucky Fried Movie spoof That’s Armageddon. (The often mind-numbing screenplay is by Carlton Cuse, who cocreated Lost and is currently behind such other television series as The Strain and The Returned.) Destruction of all kinds runs rampant throughout San Andreas, but death is barely acknowledged, which does a disservice to some of the real-life tragedies the film evokes, including Hurricane Katrina, the Fukushima disaster, and 9/11. Perhaps we have become inured to such horrific events, as Peyton gets so caught up in special effects — buildings collapsing, fiery explosions, giant floods, in 3D! — that he discounts the human aspect, except for his protagonists (which also include Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson as British brothers helping Blake), who are apparently immune to most of what is going on around them. There are plenty of unintentional moments of laughter — although it is funny that Ray’s rival for Emma’s affections is named Riddick, the name of the character portrayed by Vin Diesel, Johnson’s fellow bald action star — but through it all, the eminently likable Johnson and Gugino are actually steadfast and strong, turning in solid performances among all the maddening mayhem. And Sia’s version of the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” over the closing credits is pretty cool, too. But I still miss Sensurround.