this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As

NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL MAIN SLATE: SON OF JOSEPH

Vincent (newcomer Victor Ezenfis) is desperate to put his family back together in Eugène Green’s SON OF JOSEPH

SON OF JOSEPH (LE FILS DE JOSEPH) (Eugène Green, 2016)
Film Society of Lincoln Center
West 65th St. between Eighth & Amsterdam Aves.
Sunday, October 9, Bruno Walter Auditorium, $20, 8:00
Monday, October 10, Walter Reade Theater, $20, 6:00
Festival runs September 30 – October 16
212-875-5050
www.filmlinc.org
www.kinolorber.com

Eugène Green returns to the New York Film Festival with the glorious French satire / black comedy / biblical parable Son of Joseph, a masterful blending of sound, image, and story that is as stunning to listen to as it is to watch. Newcomer Victor Ezenfis stars as Vincent, an intractable young teen who is desperate to discover who his father is, no matter how hard his single mother (Natacha Regnier), a nurse, tries to keep that information from him. “I don’t want to help people,” he says. “I love no one.” His sneaky ways finally reveal the man’s name, and Vincent tracks him down only to discover that the man, Oscar Pormenor (Mathieu Amalric), is a boorish, self-obsessed publisher who is cheating on his wife with his sexy secretary, Bernadette (Julia de Gasquet). At a party for his company’s latest book, The Predatory Mother, ever-so-chic critic Violette Tréfouille (Maria de Medeiros) mistakes Vincent for an up-and-coming novelist, with Oscar cluelessly declaring him the next Céline before finding out who the boy really is. Soon a disappointed Vincent is befriended by Oscar’s brother, Joseph (Fabrizio Rongione), but neither is aware of the connection. As Vincent is introduced to art and literature, he attempts to manipulate everyone around him in order to form the family he’s always wanted.

A single mother (Natacha Regnier) has her hands full with son Vincent (Victor Ezenfis) in extraordinary biblical parable

Green, an American expatriate living and working in France, divides Son of Joseph into five chapters named for major biblical events, including “The Sacrifice of Abraham,” “The Golden Calf,” and “The Flight to Egypt.” Vincent is mesmerized by a poster in his room of Caravaggio’s “The Sacrifice of Isaac”; at the Louvre, Joseph shows him religious paintings such as Philippe de Champaigne’s “The Dead Christ” and Georges de la Tour’s “Joseph the Carpenter.” Ever the absurdist, Green (Toutes les nuits, Le monde vivant) turns to the surreal for the finale, which features a revelation that elicited an audible gasp of wonder from the audience when I saw it, an exhalation in which I heartily participated. As in 2014’s architectural wonder La Sapienza, which also starred Rongione, each frame is composed like a work of art, courtesy of longtime Green cinematographer Raphaël O’Byrne, along with editor Valérie Loiseleux, set designer Paul Rouschop, and costume designer Agnès Noden. The entrancing color schemes and long two-shots in addition to spectacular sound by Benoît De Clerck immerse you in Green’s unique and unusual fantasy world.

The actors, who speak in Green’s trademark overly mannered and stiff style, occasionally look directly into the camera, speaking lines to the viewer, but Son of Joseph never gets preachy. It’s a bizarrely entertaining tale of family, of fathers and sons, and mothers and sons, where all the details matter. Inside a church, Vincent witnesses musical ensemble Le Poème Harmonique perform a work in Latin by Domenico Mazzocchi about a mother dealing with the death of her son. Earlier, when Vincent turns down a friend’s offer to join his sperm-selling operation, it’s not merely because he might find the job distasteful; deep down, he doesn’t want any other kid to go through life not knowing who his father is. He might say, “I don’t want to help people. I love no one.” But he proves himself wrong in this stunner. Coproduced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Son of Joseph is screening October 9 at 8:00 and October 10 at 6:00 at the New York Film Festival; both screenings will be followed by a Q&A with Green, who also appears in the film as the grizzled hotel concierge.

RSVP ALERT: OPEN HOUSE NEW YORK WEEKEND 2016

(photo courtesy of Perkins Eastman, S9 Architecture)

Behind-the-scenes hardhat tour of the construction site of the New York Wheel is one of Open House New York events that requires advance RSVP (photo courtesy of Perkins Eastman, S9 Architecture)

Multiple venues in all five boroughs
Saturday, October 15, and Sunday, October 16
Advance reservations required for some sites begin October 6 at 11:00 am, $5 per guest
OHNY Passport: $150 (sold out)
212-991-OHNY
www.ohny.org

Reservation lines for the fourteenth annual Open House New York Weekend go live this morning at 11:00, so get ready if you want to gain access to some of New York City’s most fascinating architectural constructions, because last year 7,000 of the 8,500 available reserved tours and dialogues were booked within one hour. Among those locations requiring advance RSVP ($5 per guest, up to two per reservation) for the October 15-16 event are 101 Bicycle Infrastructure: The Intersection of Architecture, Urban Planning & Design; 111 Eighth Avenue Infrastructure Tour (the Google building); the Broadway Malls; Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine Vertical Tours; Cornell Tech + Four Freedoms Park hardhat tour; DSNY Manhattan 1/2/5 Sanitation Garage & Salt Shed; Fulton Center open dialogue; Ghosts of Penn Station open dialogue; Hallett Nature Sanctuary; the High Bridge; High Line Landscape Tour open dialogue; Jazz at Lincoln Center Renovation Tour; Maple Grove Cemetery; Masonic Hall; the Met Breur open dialogue; the New School: Site Specific Artworks; New York Photo Safari in and around Judson Memorial Church; New York University: Edward Hopper Studio; Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant; NYC Manhole Covers; 125th Street East-West Connection panel discussion; Pier 17 Hard Hat Tour open dialogue; Pier 5 Uplands at Brooklyn Bridge Park hardhat tour open dialogue; Red Hook Walking Tour; Sacred Spaces of the East Village; St. Patrick’s Cathedral open dialogue; Stonewall National Monument; Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse; Times Square Nighttime Spectaculars; United Nations; Victorian Flatbush Walking Tour; Walk the Waterline open dialogue; the Woodlawn Cemetery; and the Woolworth Building. Don’t worry if you don’t get lucky and snag one of these highly coveted reservations, which cost five dollars per guest; there’s still plenty to do and see during Open House New York Weekend, as there are nearly three hundred participating buildings, parks, museums, studios, neighborhoods, and other architectural wonders that will not require an RSVP and are free to enter and enjoy.

THE FRIDAY PARTY AT BROOKLYN OUTPOST

housing-works-benefit

Who: Mutual Benefit, Shamir, Waxahatchee, Sadie Dupuis, Jazmine Hughes, Adam J. Kurtz, Dorothea Lasky, Mychal Denzel Smith, Doreen St. Felix, Brandon Stosuy
What: Housing Works Design on a Dime Benefit
Where: The Courtyard at Industry Park, Second Ave. between 36th & 37th Sts., Brooklyn
When: Friday, October 7, general admission $20, 6:00 – 11:00
Why: Housing Works Bookstore Cafe is holding its first-ever off-site event on October 7, teaming up with the Creative Independent for a benefit featuring live performances by musicians Shamir, Waxahatchee, and Mutual Benefit, book readings and signings by Sadie Dupuis, Dorothea Lasky, Mychal Denzel Smith, and Doreen St. Felix, a presentation by artist Adam J. Kurtz, and remarks from Brandon Stosuy; the event will be hosted by Jazmine Hughes. Complimentary refreshments include snacks from local Brooklyn vendors and potent potables courtesy of Greenport Brewing Company and Whispering Angel Wines; there is limited first-come, first-served seating. All proceeds will benefit Housing Works’ “health care, housing, job training, advocacy, and other services provided to homeless and at-risk New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS.” The benefit is part of a Design on a Dime weekend fair running October 6-9 at Industry City, with one-of-a-kind room vignettes by such interior designers as Akhira N. Ismail, Callidus Guild, CAVdesign, David Netto, House of Julien, LABLstudio, Leonora Mahle, Monica Hofstadter, Sheep + Stone, and others.

BAM NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL: BATTLEFIELD

Sean O’Callaghan, Carole Karemera, Ery Nzaramba, Jared McNeill, and Toshi Tsuchitori in BATTLEFIELD (photo by Richard Termine)

Sean O’Callaghan, Carole Karemera, Ery Nzaramba, Jared McNeill, and Toshi Tsuchitori appear in BATTLEFIELD at BAM (photo by Richard Termine)

Next Wave Festival
Brooklyn Academy of Music
BAM Harvey Theater
651 Fulton St.
Through October 9, $30-$110
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
www.bouffesdunord.com

“To hell with the state of humanity,” the blind king Dritarashtra (Sean O’Callaghan) says at the beginning of Battlefield, Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne’s return to their international triumph, The Mahabharata. It’s also a return home for the ancient Sanskrit epic to the BAM Harvey, previously an abandoned movie house that was renovated back in the late 1980s specifically for the nine-hour Mahabharata. In Battlefield, codirectors Brook and Estienne and their C.I.C.T. — Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord company explore a central section of The Mahabharata, focusing on the aftermath of the bloody battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, which left millions dead. The sparse stage is littered with bamboo sticks that represent the victims of the fierce war; there is also a small black rectangular block where various characters sit, mournfully understanding that there is little difference between victory and defeat. The new king, Yudhishthira (Jared McNeill), seeks advice from a soothsayer (Ery Nzaramba, who also plays several victims) and learns a devastating secret from his mother, Kunti (Carole Karemera), while Toshi Tsuchitori, who also performed in the original Mahabharata, sits in a chair off to the side, playing powerfully moving percussion on his African drum. The play evokes both Shakespeare and Brook and Estienne’s adaptation of The Suit, but it is too often flat and lackluster. There are some wonderful moments, particularly the use of colored scarves to identify the characters (the costumes are by Oria Puppo) in addition to sticks that represent various objects, but the stripped-down seventy-minute production feels like it’s all middle, with no beginning or end, existing in its own unclear time and space, even as it makes relevant connections to what is going on in the world today. Brook will participate in a discussion following the October 6 performance. The play runs through October 9, after which BAMcinématek will present the series “Peter Brook: Behind the Camera,” consisting of nine of the Paris-based English director’s films, beginning October 10 at 7:00 with his five-and-a-half-hour adaptation of The Mahabharata, which he will introduce, and continuing through October 20 with such works as The Beggar’s Opera, Lord of the Flies, Swann in Love, King Lear (starring Paul Scofield), and a week-long run of 1968’s Tell Me Lies (A Film About London).

BEYOND THE INGÉNUE: PAULINE AT THE BEACH

Pauline (Amanda Langlet), Pierre (Pascal Greggory), and Marion (Arielle Dombasle) get involved in a complicated love sextet in Éric Rohmer’s PAULINE AT THE BEACH

CINÉSALON: PAULINE AT THE BEACH (PAULINE À LA PLAGE) (Éric Rohmer, 1983)
French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Tuesday, October 4, $14, 4:00 & 7:30
Series continues Tuesdays through October 25
212-355-6100
www.fiaf.org

“Love’s a form of insanity,” Pauline (Amanda Langlet) says in Éric Rohmer’s modern French classic, 1983’s Pauline at the Beach. The fifteen-year-old virgin turns out to be the most intelligent and honest character in the film, which earned Rohmer the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival. Amanda Langlet stars as Pauline, a teenager who is spending the end of the summer on the Normandy coast with her older cousin, sexy fashion designer Marion (Arielle Dombasle). Windsurfing hottie Pierre (Pascal Greggory) wants to rekindle the romance that cooled off when Marion left to get married, but the now-divorced Marion lusts for Henri (Féodor Atkine), a balding, middle-aged father who is not nearly as serious about sex as Marion is. Meanwhile, Pauline and fellow teen Sylvain (Simon de La Brosse) start a cute flirtation that gets upended when Marion shows up at Henri’s beach house one afternoon to discover candy girl Louisette (Rosette) hiding in a bathroom with Sylvain. A series of lies, misunderstandings, and miscommunications — all the elements of a basic French sex farce — ensue as various characters reevaluate their relationships as well as their faith in love.

Photographed by the great Néstor Almendros, who worked extensively with Rohmer and François Truffaut, Pauline at the Beach is a sophisticated jigsaw puzzle of a romantic drama, as Marion, Pierre, Pauline, and Henri spend much of the film debating over just what love is, each justifying their own beliefs. While the grown-ups act like children, the two teens are more like adults when examining the future. The film is also a splendid time capsule of 1980s styles, from the cheesy music to the awesome hairstyles and bathing suits. Dombasle, who has had a long film career, is racy and seductive as the libidinous blonde, but Langlet, in her cinematic debut, steals the show with her fantastic bangs, skimpy bikini, and expressive puppy-dog eyes. The third in Rohmer’s 1980s “Comedies and Proverbs” cycle — which also includes The Aviator’s Wife, A Good Marriage, Full Moon in Paris, The Green Ray, and Boyfriends and Girlfriends — Pauline at the Beach is screening October 4 at 4:00 and 7:30 in the FIAF CinéSalon series “Beyond the Ingénue”; the later show will be introduced by author Min Jin Lee (Free Food for Millionaires). The series continues Tuesday nights through October 25 with Patricia Mazuy’s The King’s Daughters, Jacques Rozier’s Adieu Philippine, and a double feature of Antoine Desrosières’s Haramiste and Claire Denis’s US Go Home.

GrahamDeconstructed: CLYTEMNESTRA (ACT 2)

The Martha Graham Dance Company takes audiences behind the scenes of classic CLYTEMNESTRA this week (photo by Brigid Pierce)

GRAHAM STUDIO SERIES
Martha Graham Studio Theater
55 Bethune St., eleventh floor
Tuesday, October 4, and Wednesday, October 5, $25-$30, 7:00
marthagraham.org

The Martha Graham Dance Company has a special treat for dance fans this week when it opens the doors of its Bethune St. home for an open, ticketed rehearsal of its latest GrahamDeconstructed presentation, Clytemnestra Act 2. The 1958 masterpiece — and Graham’s only full-evening work — retells the Greek myth of the Trojan War from the point of view of the murderous title character. It features costumes by Graham and Helen McGehee, music by Halim El Dahm, and set design by Isamu Noguchi. The company will perform the second act, which takes place in Clytemnestra’s chambers; PeiJu Chien-Pott is Clytemnestra, with Ben Shultz as the ghost of Agamemnon, Xin Ying as Electra, Abdiel Jacobsen as Orestes, Lorenzo Pagano as Aegisthus, and Anne O’Donnell, Anne Souder, and Leslie Williams as the Furies; there will also be archival footage of Graham performing the title role. Part of the Graham Studio Series, GrahamDeconstructed offers inside looks at Graham classics, going behind the scenes of their history and creation, hosted by artistic director Janet Eilber.

NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARIES — SHORTS PROGRAM 5: BRILLO BOX (3¢ OFF)

Director Lisanne Skyler on the Brillo Box her family once owned

SHORTS PROGRAM 5: BRILLO BOX (3¢ OFF) (Lisanne Skyler, 2016)
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Bruno Walter Auditorium
West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Monday, October 3, $15, 6:30
Tuesday, October 4, $15, 9:15
Festival runs September 30 – October 16
212-875-5050
www.filmlinc.org
www.brilloboxmovie.com

Brillo Box (3¢ Off) is a charming and delightful look at art, family, and popular culture, as director Lisanne Skyler turns her camera on her mother and father to explore what became a major point of contention in their marriage. In 1969, young collectors Martin and Rita Skyler purchased a yellow “Brillo Box (3¢ Off)” by Andy Warhol for $1,000 from Ivan Karp at O.K. Harris in SoHo; five years earlier, in 1964, when the Skylers got engaged, the “Brillo Boxes” sold for $200 when they were first displayed. In 1971, Martin traded the box for a drawing by Abstract Expressionist dot painter Peter Young. In 2010, the Skylers’ “Brillo Box (3¢ Off)” sold at Christie’s for $3 million. In this intimate and lighthearted documentary, Skyler traces the history of Warhol’s Brillo Boxes — which were wood copies of the original boxes found in stores, designed by Abstract Expressionist James Harvey — the provenance of the specific box her family owned, and the birth, death, and rebirth of Pop art, via interviews with her parents as well as experts in the art world. “I started out not trying to be a connoisseur or anything like that but thinking that something I enjoyed doing could also just be another way of making money grow,” her father explains. Meanwhile, her mother felt a closer connection with the art, particularly with the Brillo Box, which she encased in Plexiglas and used as a coffee table. The Skylers also bought and sold works by Jake Berthot, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Chuck Close, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, and Richard Serra.

Documentary follows the provenance of one specific Andy Warhol “Brillo Box”

Skyler, who has previously made such documentaries as No Loans Today and Dreamland and such fiction films as Getting to Know You and Capture the Flag, combines family photographs and home movies with archival footage of Warhol and anecdotes from curators, artists, dealers, collectors, and critics, including Jessica Todd Smith, Irving Sandler, Christie’s Laura Paulson, Kenny Schachter, Andy Warhol Museum director Eric Shiner, and John Armaly, president and CEO of Brillo/Armaly Brands. The forty-minute film, which features a playful score by Tape Waves, maintains a sweetly innocent attitude throughout while taking a quick look at how the art world has changed from the 1960s to 2010, particularly in regard to Warhol. “The world is more Warholian today than it was when he died,” art collector and dealer Daniel Wolf notes. Skyler also provides a terrific surprise at the end. An HBO film scheduled to air in 2017, Brillo Box (3¢ Off) is screening October 3 and 4 at the New York Film Festival in “Shorts Program 5: Documentaries” with Lewie Kloster’s Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy, Esteban Arrangoiz’s El Buzo, Matt Tyrnauer’s Jean Nouvel: Reflections, Ian McClerin’s Rotatio, and Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko’s The Vote. Several of the filmmakers and crew members will be present for Q&As, including Skyler.