A reel obsession with film

The annual Another Look – the Restored European Film Project is back with a new program.

By HANNAH BROWN
GERALDINE CHAPLIN in Carlos Saura’s 1977 film ‘Elisa, My Life.’ (photo credit: COURTESY PR)
GERALDINE CHAPLIN in Carlos Saura’s 1977 film ‘Elisa, My Life.’
(photo credit: COURTESY PR)
Another Look – The Restored European Film Project is an annual film program that presents a selection of classic films, one from each of its participating nations, in restored versions and high-quality formats.
This year’s program includes eight European feature films and two documentaries, which will be shown at the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Holon and Herzliya cinematheques from today through February 22 (check with the cinemateques for individual schedules). As in previous years, the feature films share a common theme. The 2017 theme is Magnificent Obsession, and the movies are concerned with such questions as: when does passion become madness, and when are sacrifices justified in the pursuit of dreams.
Among this year’s films is Louis Malle’s debut film, Elevator to the Gallows (1958). This suspenseful noir film stars Jeanne Moreau as an unfaithful wife, who plots with her lover (Maurice Ronet) to murder her husband. This French New Wave classic is rarely shown in theaters.
Geraldine Chaplin stars in Carlos Saura’s 1977 film, Elisa, My Life, about a woman who goes home to care for her estranged father, who is played by the extraordinary Spanish actor Fernando Rey.
Gorgeous European screen icons Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress star in Elio Petri’s The 10th Victim, a sci-fi thriller about people who hunt human beings for fun.
Frantisek Vlácil’s 1970 film, Adelheid, tells the story of a man in then-Czechoslovakia who takes over a manor that once belonged to a German family and gets drawn into the secrets of the former residents.
The 1929 film Little Veronika is about a young woman who goes to Vienna and finds herself drawn to the decadent lifestyle of her aunt.
The Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira (who passed away in 2015 at the age of 106) made 1993’s Visit, or Memories and Confessions, a docu-drama about his life during the years when Portugal was ruled by a dictator.
Everything for Sale is Andrzej Wajda’s story of a movie set where the leading actor disappears.
Arunas Zebriunas’ The Beauty is a 1969 Lithuanian film about cruelty among children.
There will also be several documentaries in the festival.
French director Chris Marker (La Jetee) came to Israel in 1959 at the invitation of Jerusalem Cinematheque founder Lia van Leer and her husband, Wim van Leer, and made the documentary Description of a Struggle, a non-linear look at what he found.
The Dybbuk of Andrzej Wajda is a documentary by Ami Drozd about how the renowned director came to Israel to stage a production of The Dybbuk.
The festival also includes a tour of the Israel Film Archive at the Jerusalem Cinematheque.
For more info on screenings visit www.anotherlook.co.il.