CHELSEA CLASSICS 2024, Chelsea Theater
CHELSEA CLASSICS 2024
June - September 2024
Join us this summer for our repertory film series celebrating classic film anniversaries from 1944, 1954, 1964, 1974, 1984, and 1994, alongside other notable classics.
JULY
Seven Samurai - 70th Anniversary 4K Restoration
Full Run Starts Fri. 7/26
PLEASE NOTE:
- There will be no preshow/previews before the film. The film will begin at the posted showtime.
- There is a built-in 10 minute intermission approximately 1hr46min into the film. The 212min runtime includes the 10 minute intermission.
(Akira Kurosawa, 1954, 212 min) One of the most thrilling movie epics of all time, Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire the eponymous warriors to protect them from invading bandits. This three-hour ride from Akira Kurosawa—featuring legendary actors Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura—seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action, into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope.
Kwaidan
Fri. 7/26 @ 10PM
Sat. 7/27 @ 10PM
Sun. 7/28 @ 10AM
(Masaki Kobayashi, 1964, 203 min) After more than a decade of sober political dramas and socially minded period pieces, the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi shifted gears dramatically for this rapturously stylized quartet of ghost stories. Featuring colorfully surreal sets and luminous cinematography, these haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearn’s collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted.
Double Indemnity
Sun. 7/28 @ 4PM
Wed. 7/31 @ 7PM
(Billy Wilder, 1944, 107 min) Nominated for seven Academy Awards at the 17th Oscars, Double Indemnity is one of the most influential noir films ever made. It set the aesthetic standard with new techniques that became film noir staples like using venetian blinds to cast shadows on a scene and narration from the protagonist throughout the film. The script was a collaboration between Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson, this is a classic you can’t afford to miss.
Crooklyn
Mon. 7/29 @ 2PM, 7PM
(Spike Lee, 1994, 115 min) Written with his siblings, Joie and Cinqué, Crooklyn is a semi-autobiographical Spike Lee Joint. A familial effort that started specifically with a script by Spike Lee’s sister, Joie Lee, entitled Hot Peas and Butter, the name of a street game the kids used to play. “The film’s enduring power lies in Spike’s ability to capture the heart of what love and loss looks like for the Carmichael family, and by extension, any family. For me, putting a Black girl at the center of a story anyone in the world could relate to only solidifies the film’s legacy. But for Joie Lee, who was simply writing a story about herself and her family, race was never a question. ‘I don’t think of Crooklyn as cerebral, I think of it as celebratory,’ she said. ‘Crooklyn is a film about memory.’” - Danielle Cadet, Refinery29
AUGUST
Natural Born Killers
Fri. 8/2 @ 10PM
Sat. 8/3 @ 10PM
Sun. 8/4 @ 10AM
(Oliver Stone, 1994, 119 min) Oscar-nominees Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, and Academy Award-winners Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Downey, Jr. lead an all-star cast in director Oliver Stone's gripping and satirical look at violence, murder and the American media, from a story by Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino, as told through the eyes of two of the most terrifying, relentless, cold-blooded (and popular) mass murderers imaginable.
Blood Simple - 40th Anniversary 4K Restoration
Sun. 8/4 @ 4PM
Wed. 8/7 @ 7PM
(Joel & Ethan Coen, 1984, 99 min) Joel and Ethan Coen’s darkly comic journey through misfit America began with Blood Simple, a razor-sharp neo-noir set in Texas. The late, great M. Emmet Walsh stars as a morally bankrupt private eye, while Frances McDormand’s debut performance launched her career. The Coens' tight scripting and inventive style, combined with Barry Sonnenfeld's neon-infused cinematography and Carter Burwell's haunting score, reinvented film noir and transformed the American independent cinema scene.
Three Colors: Blue
Mon. 8/5 @ 2PM, 7PM
(Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1993, 94 min) Juliette Binoche gives a tour de force performance as Julie, a woman reeling from the tragic death of her husband and young daughter, in this first film from Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy. But Blue is more than just a blistering study of grief; it’s also a tale of liberation, as Julie attempts to free herself from the past while confronting truths about the life of her late husband, a composer. Shot in sapphire tones by Sławomir Idziak and set to an extraordinary operatic score by Zbigniew Preisner, Blue is an overwhelming sensory experience.
Alma’s Rainbow
Sun. 8/11 @ 4PM
Wed. 8/14 @ 7PM
(Ayoka Chenzira, 1994, 85 min) Alma’s Rainbow is a coming-of-age comedy-drama about three Black women in Brooklyn. Directed by Ayoka Chenzira, it follows teenager Rainbow Gold (Victoria Gabrielle Platt) as she navigates womanhood, beauty standards, and self-image while living with her straight-laced mother, Alma (Kim Weston-Moran), who runs a beauty parlor at home. The arrival of Alma's free-spirited sister Ruby (Mizan Kirby) from Paris sparks a clash over Rainbow's future. Ruby brings with her a vibrant world where Black women exercise their agency and embrace life and love.
Three Colors: White
Mon. 8/12 @ 2PM, 7PM
(Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994, 88 min) The most playful and gritty film of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy, White follows Polish immigrant Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski) in France. When his wife (Julie Delpy) sues for divorce and frames him for arson, he returns to Warsaw to plot an elaborate revenge. This dark comedy explores economic inequalities between Eastern and Western Europe and offers a sublime take on twisted love.
The Brother From Another Planet
Fri. 8/16 @ 10PM
Sat. 8/17 @ 10PM
Sun. 8/18 @ 10AM
(John Sayles, 1984, 108 min) “Writer-director John Sayles plays with gentle irony on conventions of the American slave narrative in chronicling the adventures of ‘The Brother,’ a mute alien who comes to Harlem by way of Ellis Island (and outer space). The Brother’s seriocomic encounters with barflies and junkies, racist cops and street preachers—as well as ordinary folks just trying to get by—offer a timeless tale of two cities, segregated as always by race and class yet pulsating with immigrant life.” - MoMA
Stranger Than Paradise
Sun. 8/18 @ 4PM
Wed. 8/21 @ 7PM
(Jim Jarmusch, 1984, 89 min) With this breakout film, Jim Jarmusch became a standout voice in the independent film scene, known for his offbeat Americana style. He follows rootless Hungarian émigré Willie (John Lurie), his pal Eddie (Richard Edson), and his visiting cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) as they drift from New York's Lower East Side to Lake Erie and Florida, making the least of every destination. Stranger Than Paradise is a deadpan comedy masterpiece, structured as master-shot vignettes in black and white by cinematographer Tom DiCillo.
Three Colors: Red
Mon. 8/19 @ 2PM, 7PM
(Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994, 99 min) An incandescent meditation on fate and chance, Red closes Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy in grand fashion. Irène Jacob stars as a sweet-souled yet somber runway model in Geneva whose life dramatically intersects with that of a bitter retired judge, played by Jean‑Louis Trintignant. Meanwhile, just down the street, a seemingly unrelated story of jealousy and betrayal unfolds. Red is an intimate look at forged connections and a splendid final statement from a remarkable filmmaker at the height of his powers.
Sabrina
Sun. 8/25 @ 4PM
Wed. 8/28 @ 7PM
(Billy Wilder, 1954, 113 min) Nominated for six Academy Awards at the 27th Oscars, Sabrina is charming, humorous, and aglow with some of Hollywood's greatest stars. Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn star in a Cinderella story directed by renowned filmmaker Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot). Bogie and Holden are the Larrabee brothers of Long Island. Bogie's all work, Holden's all play. But when Sabrina, daughter of the family's chauffeur, returns from Paris all grown up and glamorous, the brothers fall under the spell of Hepburn's delightful charms.
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation - 50th Anniversary 4K Restoration
Fri. 8/23 @ TBD
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1974, 113 min) Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, The Conversation has its 50th Anniversary this year, and with Francis Ford Coppola’s $120 million self-financed Megalopolis set to release later this year, it only seems right that we would look back at this masterpiece of surveillance, suspense, and voyeurism starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Robert Duvall, Cindy Williams, Teri Garr, and a young Harrison Ford.
LABOR DAY WEEKEND
On the Waterfront
Sun. 9/1 @ 4PM
Wed. 9/4 @ 7PM
(Elia Kazan, 1954, 108 min) Earning eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint), On the Waterfront features some of cinema’s great performances. Also nominated for Best Supporting Actor were Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger. If that weren’t enough, the film features a completely original (not from other source material) Oscar Nominated score by Leonard Bernstein. Unlike the lead protagonist, Terry Malloy, an ex-boxer whose career is cut short by the mob, On the Waterfront was a contender and even better, a winner.
The Natural
Mon. 9/2 @ 2PM, 7PM
(Barry Levinson, 1984, 138 min) Based on the 1952 novel by Bernard Malamud, The Natural is equal parts American epic, sports fantasy, and film noir with a touch of magical realism. It could be smooth sailing for Wonderboy Roy Hobbs, the young rising star trying out for the big leagues, but he’s sidetracked by a mysterious woman and her cruel intentions. In this career spanning tale imbued with wonder and mystery by Randy Newman’s iconic, Oscar Nominated, Coplandesque score, something’s always in the air. It’s hard to say just what it is. Starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger, and Wilford Brimley.
Paris, Texas - 40th Anniversary 4K Restoration
Dates & Times TBD
(Wim Wenders, 1984, 145 min) Winner of the 1984 Palme d’Or at Cannes, Paris, Texas is a star studded production. With sweeping, epic cinematography by Robby Müller and a haunted, rattling, slide guitar score by Ry Cooder, director Wim Wenders, along with co-writers Sam Shepard and L.M. Kit Carson, weaves a wandering road tale of rage, loss, and redemption set against the deserts of West Texas. Featuring iconic turns by Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, and Dean Stockwell, this is arguably one of the most influential films in modern cinema.
PAST FILMS IN THIS SERIES
Chungking Express
Wed. 6/12 @ 7PM
Sat. 6/15 @ 4PM
(Wong Kar-wai, 1994, 102 min) While waiting to start post-production on Ashes of Time, Wong Kar-wai, feeling exhausted, wrote two lighter-themed stories about seemingly fleeting human connections in big city life. The film features love-lorn Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung) dealing with breakups and meeting uniquely charming, yet very different, women (Brigitte Lin and Faye Wong). Chungking Express catapulted Wong to international acclaim, celebrated for its innovative cinematography, fragmented narrative, and emotional depth.
Purple Rain - 40th Anniversary
Fri. 6/14 @ 10PM
Sat. 6/15 @ 10PM
Sun. 6/16 @ 10AM
(Albert Magnoli, 1984, 111 min) Dig, if you will, the picture…
The 40th Anniversary of The Artist, The Symbol, The Icon, Prince’s Purple Rain. Showcasing Prince's electrifying performances and the transformative power of music amidst themes of love, rivalry, and redemption, follow the journey of "The Kid", a talented but troubled musician in Minneapolis, as he struggles to navigate his tumultuous personal life and rising career.
Field of Dreams (Father’s Day)
Sun. 6/16 @ 2PM
(Phil Alden Robinson, 1989, 107 min) “The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.” As time moves on, times change, generations and dreams rise and fall, through it all there remains a pastime. For Father’s Day, come see a film for the whole family, chosen or otherwise. One that attempts to remind us of the people and the dreams we have, those we’ve lost, and those we ought to cherish now.
Rear Window
Sun. 6/23 @ 4PM
Wed. 6/26 @ 7PM
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1954, 112 min) Starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, Rear Window is Hitchcock at the height of his visual powers. “The hero of Alfred Hitchcock's ‘Rear Window’ is trapped in a wheelchair, and we're trapped, too--trapped inside his point of view, inside his lack of freedom and his limited options. When he passes his long days and nights by shamelessly maintaining a secret watch on his neighbors, we share his obsession. It's wrong, we know, to spy on others, but after all, aren't we always voyeurs when we go to the movies? Here's a film about a man who does on the screen what we do in the audience--look through a lens at the private lives of strangers.” -Roger Ebert
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Mon. 6/24 @ 1PM, 7PM
(Chantal Akerman, 1975, 202 min) In 2022, For the first time in 70 years, the British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound poll, released every decade, was topped by Jeanne Dielman, a film directed by a woman, Chantal Akerman. “While it has brought [avant garde] tradition to the top of the list, Jeanne Dielman is inescapably a woman’s film, consciously feminist in its turn to the avant garde. On the side of content, the film charts the breakdown of a bourgeois Belgian housewife, mother and part-time prostitute over the course of three days; on the side of form, it rigorously records her domestic routine in extended time and from a fixed camera position. In a film that, agonisingly, depicts women’s oppression, Akerman transforms cinema, itself so often an instrument of women’s oppression, into a liberating force.” - Laura Mulvey, Sight and Sound
Woman in the Dunes
Fri. 6/28 @ 10PM
Sat. 6/29 @ 10PM
Sun. 6/30 @ 10AM
(Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1964, 147 min) Eiji Okada stars as an amateur entomologist who, while studying beetles in a desert, is stranded and spends the night with a young widow (Kyoko Kishida) in her hut at the bottom of a sand dune. This leads to a gripping and erotically charged battle of the sexes, as well as a nightmarish depiction of life as a Sisyphean struggle, earning Teshigahara an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
Howard Hawks’ To Have and Have Not
Sun. 6/30 @ 4PM
Wed. 7/3 @ 7PM
(Howard Hawks, 1944, 100 min) “You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow.” To Have and Have Not is one of the great intersections of American artists in film history. Bogey and Bacall met, fell in love, and had an affair on set of the film all while the director, Howard Hawks crushed on Lauren Bacall in the background. The film is a loose adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel penned for the screen by the one and only William Faulkner. The film also features an acting performance as well as musical performances from the legendary Hoagy Carmichael, songwriter of such hits as “Stardust” and “Georgia On My Mind”.
Kay Kyser Double Feature: Swing Fever & Carolina Blues
Sun. 7/7 @ 4PM
Wed. 7/10 @ 7PM
(Tim Whelan, 1943, 79 min/ Leigh Jason, 1944, 81 min) The Professor of Mirth, Melody, and Merriment, Kay Kyser, a local Chapel Hill legend, is on the band stand for two films filled with big band music! In Swing Fever, Kay Kyser plays an ambitious music composer, also gifted with a hypnotic "evil eye", who gets mixed up with promoting a boxer. In Carolina Blues (1944), Kyser has to replace his lead singer (Carroll) who has run off to get married. Caught in a jam, he reluctantly hires the daughter of a powerful defense plant owner, played by Ann Miller.
Edward Yang’s A Confucian Confusion
Mon. 7/8 @ 2PM, 7PM
(Edward Yang, 1994, 125 min) Set in the material world of 1990s Taipei, Yang's panoramic satire depicts a skyline choked by smog and the neon signs of global corporations. With sharp wit, Yang explores the self-absorption of twentysomething urbanites, including impresario Molly (Ni Shujun), her suspicious wealthy fiancé, her talk-show-host sister, and the sister’s estranged husband, a novelist imagining a horrified reincarnated Confucius in modern society. Although a shift from his earlier dramatic films, this ambitious and incisive piece shows Yang searching for the soul of a country he no longer recognizes.
Pulp Fiction
Fri. 7/12 @ 10PM
Sat. 7/13 @ 10PM
Sun. 7/16 @ 10AM
(Quentin Tarantino, 1994, 154 min) Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival as well as Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Academy Awards, Pulp Fiction cemented Quentin Tarantino’s place as a fresh new voice in filmmaking. As a film about time, running out of time, and the disorder of time turns 30, let’s remember the late Sally Menke, Tarantino’s brilliant editor, who sculpted time in his films with the precision of a Grand Seiko watchmaker. Tarantino’s films haven’t been quite the same without her.
Purple Noon
Sun. 7/14 @ 4PM
Wed. 7/17 @ 7PM
(René Clément, 1960, 118 min) The first of two depictions of Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley character in our series, Purple Noon adapts Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, and stars the legendary French actor, Alain Delon, in the role that made him an international icon.
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Red Desert
Mon. 7/15 @ 2PM, 7PM
(Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964, 117 min) This provocative film explores the spiritual desolation of the technological age, featuring Monica Vitti as a disaffected woman wandering a bleak industrial landscape and flirting with her husband's coworker, played by Richard Harris. Red Desert captivates viewers with its painterly compositions of abandoned cottages, electrical towers, and looming ships, creating an almost apocalyptic image of its era. It confirms Antonioni as cinema's foremost poet of the modern age.
Tsai Ming Liang’s Vive L’Amour
Mon. 7/22 @ 2PM, 7PM
(Tsai Ming-liang, 1994, 118 min) Featuring an intoxicating mix of longing and deadpan humor, VIVE L’AMOUR catapulted Tsai to the top of the international filmmaking world and earned him the prestigious Golden Lion at the 1994 Venice International Film Festival. VIVE L’AMOUR follows three characters unknowingly sharing an empty Taipei apartment. Realtor May Lin (Yang Kuei-mei) brings her lover Ah-jung (Chen Chao-jung) to a vacant unit, unaware that the suicidal Hsiao-kang (Lee Kang-sheng) secretly occupies it. Despite their physical proximity, their tragicomic encounters highlight their inability to form personal connections.
The American Friend
Sun. 7/21 @ 4PM
Wed. 7/24 @ 7PM
(Wim Wenders, 1977, 128 min) The second of two depictions of Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley character in our series, The American Friend is a loose adaptation of Highsmith’s novel Ripley’s Game as well as Wim Wenders’ homage to American film noir. Dennis Hopper exudes quirky menace as an amoral American art dealer who pulls a terminally ill German, played by Bruno Ganz, into a seedy criminal underworld for revenge. As they become entangled in a deepening murder plot, an unlikely bond forms between them.