| Writer + Director: A
Retrospective Tribute to Philip Kaufman
Since his debut in 1965 with the counter-culture comedy GOLDSTEIN,
Chicago-born writer/director Philip Kaufman has forged an impressive career as "the
thinking person’s filmmaker" with such films as HENRY & JUNE, THE RIGHT
STUFF, THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, QUILLS and his latest, the psychological
thriller TWISTED. Initially inspired to follow his filmmaking dreams via encouraging
conversations with writers/mentors Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin, Kaufman is known widely as
a writer and director for his masterful film adaptations of seemingly difficult-to-adapt
literary works like Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, Milan Kundera’s The
Unbearable Lightness of Being and the autobiographical writings of Anaïs Nin, as well
as for his smart, compelling script for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and other box-office hits.
As a director, Kaufman has managed to consistently balance sensitivity and intelligence
with style and pure cinematic pleasure, while working in (and re-working) an
ever-increasing variety of genres – including sci-fi, western, action-adventure,
romance, drama, and more.
We are enormously pleased to welcome writer and
director Philip Kaufman to the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian for an in-person
Retrospective Tribute to his work as a director!
Friday, April 16 – 7:15 PM
HENRY & JUNE, 1990,
Universal, 136 min. Director Philip Kaufman’s beautifully evocative and erotically
charged film is told from the point of view of writer Anaïs Nin (Maria de Medeiros),
about her relationships with literary provocateur Henry Miller (Fred Ward) and his wife,
June (an astonishingly good Uma Thurman), as well as her own longsuffering husband, Hugo
(Richard Grant), in 1930’s Paris. Meticulously detailed production design and a feel
for witty dialogue are just two of the virtues of this frank, groundbreaking saga –
the film that prodded the MPAA to develop the NC-17 rating.
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS
OF BEING, 1988, Saul Zaentz Co., 171 min. Director Philip Kaufman’s sublime
adaptation of Milan Kundera’s almost un-filmable novel, with Daniel Day-Lewis in one
of his finest roles as Tomas, a free spirit Czech doctor torn between the love of
vulnerable Tereza (Juliette Binoche), whom he marries, and worldly Sabina (Lena Olin), as
all three are caught in the turmoil of the 1968 Soviet invasion. Jean-Claude Carriere
collaborated with Kaufman on the masterfully balanced screenplay. "What is
remarkable about THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING … is not the sexual content
itself, but the way Kaufman has been able to use it as an avenue for a complex story, one
of nostalgia, loss, idealism and romance." – Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun
Times Discussion between films with director Philip
Kaufman. [American Cinematheque members will be admitted free to this
screening upon presentation of a current membership card.]
Saturday, April 17 – 5:00 PM
THE RIGHT STUFF, 1983, Warners, 193
min. Dir. Philip Kaufman. Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Barbara Hershey, Dennis
Quaid, Fred Ward, and Jeff Goldblum head the stellar ensemble cast of THE RIGHT STUFF,
which is based on Tom Wolfe’s best-selling book chronicling the exciting early years
of the United States’ race to conquer the final frontier, and the daredevil test
pilots who ultimately became the first Americans in space. Kaufman also wrote the
screenplay for the film, which Pauline Kael of The New Yorker called
"astonishingly entertaining and great fun." Actress
Veronica Cartwright will appear for discussion after the film.
Saturday, April 17 – 9:00 PM
Double Feature:
INVASION OF THE BODY
SNATCHERS, 1978, MGM/UA, 115 min. Dir. Philip Kaufman. A deftly handled, scary
re-imagining of both Jack Finney’s source novel and Don Siegel’s original 1956
movie, with Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, and Leonard Nimoy trying to deal with
the sudden influx of body-snatching alien seed pods in the San Francisco Bay area. With
Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright. Actress
Veronica Cartwright will appear for discussion after the film.
THE GREAT NORTHFIELD MINNESOTA
RAID, 1972, Universal, 91 min. Director Philip Kaufman’s gritty re-examination of
the story of the Jesse James/Cole Younger gang and their disastrous assault on the town of
Northfield, MN, with Cliff Robertson and Robert Duvall heading an
astonishing ensemble cast that also includes Luke Askew, R.G. Armstrong, Matt Clark, and
Elisha Cook. A down-and-dirty western refreshingly stripped of the usual reality-obscuring
gloss.
Sunday, April 18 – 2:00 PM
New 35mm Print: THE WANDERERS, 1979, Warner Bros., 117 min. Director Philip Kaufman
does a remarkable job of transferring Richard Price’s novel to the big screen,
spotlighting the antics of an Italian-American teen gang in the Bronx, 1963. THE WANDERERS
has evolved into a cult favorite over the years since its original release, with warm and
funny performances from a fine ensemble cast including Ken Wahl, Karen Allen, John
Friedrich, and Linda Manz. A delight from beginning to end.
THE WHITE DAWN, 1974, Paramount, 110
min. Dir. Philip Kaufman. Three whalers (Timothy Bottoms, Warren Oates and Lou
Gossett) are stranded in the remote Arctic in the 1890’s, and an Inuit Eskimo tribe
generously takes them in. All goes smoothly at first, but inevitably the corrupting ways
of civilization play havoc with the delicate balance between man and nature in this rarely
seen, emotional drama. Beautifully photographed by Michael Chapman, with a fine score by
Henry Mancini. Discussion following with cinematographer
Michael Chapman.
Sunday, April 18 – 6:30 PM
Double Feature:
QUILLS, 2000, 20th Century Fox,
124 min. Dir. Philip Kaufman. Deliciously wicked tale of an asylum-committed Marquis de
Sade (the excellent Geoffrey Rush) smuggling out his subversive manuscripts through a
young washerwoman (Kate Winslet). When the published material causes a scandal, a
ruthlessly repressive doctor (Michael Caine) is assigned to turn the screws on the
imprisoned nobleman. A conflicted, humane young chaplain (Joaquin Phoenix) is not only
horrified at the resulting tortures and his own impotent ability to stop them, but also
his growing love for Winslet.
RISING SUN, 1993, 20th
Century Fox, 125 min. Director Philip Kaufman adapts the Michael Crichton
bestseller, focusing on Japanese affairs expert Sean Connery and cop Wesley Snipes,
as they investigate the behind-the-scenes collusion between a powerful Japanese
conglomerate and an American senator that may have resulted in a young woman’s
murder. With Harvey Keitel, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Ray Wise, Kevin Anderson. |
