The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present
Western
When
Wed 13 Dec 2023
Writer-director Grisebach’s superb third feature, a German-Bulgarian-Austrian co-production, transposes western tropes onto a mountainous Bulgarian frontier where German construction workers are to build a hydroelectric plant. However, their EU-endorsed presence assumes colonialist dimensions and is inflected with a poisonous masculinity. Amongst their number is the enigmatic Meinhard (craggy non-actor Meinhard Neumann), who rides a white horse… Preceded by Cowboy Jimmy Dušan Vukotić (1957) 13 mins – Unclassified 15+. A cartoon western hero spills out of the silver screen only to have his mettle tested in the real world.
Digital print courtesy of Zagreb Film.
Also screening on Wed 13 December
Program
Ostern Powers: An introduction to the Eastern European Western
Aferim! (2015) – Wed 6 Dec, 7pm
The Wind Blows Under Your Feet (1976) – Wed 6 Dec, 9.30pm
Western (2017) – Wed 13 Dec, 7pm
The Sons of Great Bear (1966) – Wed 13 Dec, 9.35pm
Nobody Wanted to Die (1965) – Wed 20 Dec, 7pm
Lemonade Joe (1964) – Wed 20 Dec, 9pm
About the program
It may come as a surprise, but that most quintessentially American genre, the western, was enormously popular behind the Iron Curtain. Of course, it was seldom possible for Eastern Bloc audiences to see Hollywood films. No matter; even though socialist states deemed the Hollywood western decadent in propagating foundational frontier myths, they took to the production of westerns with great relish...
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About Melbourne Cinémathèque
Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.
Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven.
