Fear and Desire August 4, 2007

USA, 1953, Stanley Kubrick
Tonight, after years of wishing and hoping and working to make it happen, we will screen Stanley Kubrick’s long-suppressed, almost-impossible-to-see first feature /Fear and Desire. /And we will show it in a fully restored 35mm archive print from the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. Rumor has it that Kubrick tried to destroy all copies of /Fear and Desire, /which he called “inept and pretentious.” Fortunately he failed. Frank Silvera and Paul Mazursky star in this independent, low-budget war drama that Kubrick photographed and co-wrote with Howard Sackler (/The Great White Hope/). It chronicles the exploits of a military patrol behind enemy lines during an unnamed, abstract war. It may not be /2001, /but it contains the seeds of much of the director’s later work. 68 min. /Special admission $12, Cinematheque members $10; no passes, radio winners, or twofers; special thanks to Pat Loughney and Caroline Yeager of the George Eastman House./