Affairs to remember
History is Made at Night
The Melbourne Cinémathèque puckers up for the romantic world of Frank Borzage.
Film critic and professor Andrew Sarris once described Frank Borzage's History is Made at Night as "the most romantic title in the history of cinema".
Made in part without a script and on the fly, this intensely and unashamedly romantic film stars Jean Arthur as Irene, a divorcee who falls in love with Paul, a suave Frenchman (played by Charles Boyer - mais, bien sûr!). But the couple's new-found love is thwarted by Irene's psychotically jealous husband Bruce (Colin Clive), a shipping magnate who plots to keep them apart. It's an impassioned mix of melodrama, comedy and tragedy, and even has a stunning climax involving *spoiler alert* an iceberg (diCaprio and Winslet have nothing on this doomed pair).
History is Made at Night is one of the gems screening in the Melbourne Cinémathèque's The Romantic World of Frank Borzage, a boutique season celebrating one of Hollywood's most prolific and expressive filmmakers.
Other highlights include the lavishly-produced Street Angel in which Janet Gaynor puts in an Oscar-winning performance as a desperate woman driven to prostitution to save her ill mother; Moonrise, a film noir defined by an elaborate expressionist style that visually reflects its characters' moods; and Borzage's passionate anti-Nazi drama The Mortal Storm, that resulted in Germany banning subsequent films from MGM.
Josef Von Sternberg claimed that of all film directors, Borzage was the one "most worthy of my admiration". Don't miss this rare opportunity to fall in love with the art of Frank Borzage.
The Romantic World of Frank Borzage runs from Wednesday 11 November to Wednesday 25 November. For session times and bookings click here.
Published Tuesday, 10 November 2009
|
|
|
