Northwest Film Forum Showtimes

Chac: The Rain God

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:01:22 -0800

In his first film, Chilean filmmaker Rolando Klein did something remarkable. Working with non-professional actors in the Mexican state of Chiapas, he created a mystical adventure about a drought-stricken village that seeks a diviner (or witch doctor) to conjure rain. Their faith in his abilities is increasingly tested as their journey takes them deeper into the mountains. With each step leading farther away from home, the villagers doubt that this bizarre diviner can truly summon Chac: The Rain God. Long thought lost since the 1970s, we’re pleased to unearth a beautifully restored print of this classic.

"Suspenseful. Hypnotic. The unselfconscious performances writer-director Rolando Klein has managed to elicit from his non-professional cast are as astonishing as this highly demanding film's lush, exotic beauty." —Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Showdate(s) Feb 03 - Feb 09

The Nine Muses

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 11:40:18 -0800

Twenty-five years after the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus still has not returned home. His son, Telemachus, sets off on a journey in search of his lost father. So begins Homer's revered epic poem, The Odyssey, the primary narrative reference point for The Nine Muses, John Akomfrah's remarkable meditation about chance, fate and redemption.

Structured as an allegorical fable set between 1949 and 1970, The Nine Muses is comprised of nine overlapping musical chapters that mix archival material with original scenes. Together they form a stylized, idiosyncratic retelling of the history of mass migration to post-war Britain through the suggestive lens of the Homeric epic.

"As a structuring device to the montage, the nine Greek muses—of dance, tragedy, music, history, etc.—chiefly allow director John Akomfrah to punctuate this very personal meditation on England's changing social fabric." —Seattle Weekly

"Akomfrah's The Nine Muses wraps the viewer in literature, music and archive footage, summoning up a mood rather than a story that reflects on the immigrant experience and the violence of displacement with a majestic grace." —Jason Solomons, The Observer

Showdate(s) Feb 03 - Feb 09

The Last Command

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:23:21 -0800

The Last Command is a silent film from1928. The film starts in 1928 Hollywood director Leo Andreyev (William Powell) looks through photographs for actors for his next movie. When he comes to the picture of an aged Sergius Alexander (Emil Jannings), he pauses, and then tells his assistant to cast the man. Sergius shows up at the Eureka Studio and is issued a general's uniform.

The film then flashes back ten years to Russia, which is in the midst of the Communist Revolution. Grand Duke Sergius Alexander, the Czar's cousin and commander of all his armies, is informed by his adjutant that two actors entertaining the troops have been identified as dangerous "revolutionists" during a routine passport check. When one of them, Leo Andreyev, becomes insolent, Sergius whips him across the face and has him jailed.

Leo's companion, the beautiful Natalie Dabrova (Evelyn Brent), is an entirely different matter. She intrigues Sergius. Despite the danger she poses, he takes her along with him. After a week, he gives her a pearl necklace as a token of his feelings for her. She comes to realize that he is at heart a man of great honor who loves Russia as deeply as she does. Despite their political differences, she has fallen in love with him.

Directed by Josef von Sternberg, and written by John F. Goodrich and Herman J. Mankiewicz. Star Emil Jannings won the very first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances in this film and The Way of All Flesh, the only year that multiple roles were considered.

In 2006, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Showdate(s) Feb 06