Double Feature: DREAMS (YUME), SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK January 27, 2013

Sunday, January 27 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature: DREAMS (YUME), 1990, Warner Bros., 119 min. One of maestro Akira Kurosawa’s last films is an anthology of eight fantasy episodes adapted from the director’s own dreams. The mysteries of childhood, nature and man’s seemingly eternal predilection for self-destruction are the main themes, depicted simply and with a sense of childlike wonder. Kurosawa drew on the fantasy-cinema expertise of a lifelong friend, director Ishiro Honda (GOJIRA), who was uncredited co-director on the episodes "The Tunnel" and "Mount Fuji in Red" as well as the prologue and epilogue of "The Weeping Demon." Another master filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, also participated, but as an actor, giving a very convincing portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh in "The Crows" segment. Another one of Kurosawa’s splendid visual achievements that really needs to be seen on the big screen. In Japanese, French, and English with English subtitles.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx_dpJmUPZY
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, 2008, Sony Pictures Classics, 124 min. After his wife leaves him, theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) decides to stage his most ambitious piece, a production that will encompass his entire life. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ADAPTATION), here directing for the first time, uses Caden and the world he creates (which consists of a replica of New York built in a warehouse) to explore the vastness of human experience in all its emotional and intellectual complexity. The result: what Roger Ebert called the best film of its decade. With a stellar supporting cast that includes Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Hope Davis and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIizh6nYnTU

Official Website: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/egyptian_theatre_events