Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh (1988)

Mon–(N)Tues, October 1–(N)2,7pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Reloj 50A
50 pesos

Photo Movie Van Gogh 

Vincent van Gogh’s paintings are some of the world’s best known and most expensive pieces. He sold almost nothing during his lifetime but his reputation grew rapidly after his death. His influence on Expressionism, Fauvism and early abstraction was enormous, and his devotion to art have made him a modern cultural hero, providing material for Irving Stone’s 1934 novel Lust for Life, released as a Hollywood film in 1956

The central figure in Van Gogh’s life was his brother Theo, who continually and selflessly provided financial support. Their correspondence is a rich source of information on van Gogh’s life and art.

He did not embark upon a career as an artist until 1880. The most famous picture from this early period is The Potato Eaters, a somber depiction of peasants eating by lamplight. In February 1886 he moved to Paris, where he met Degas, Gauguin, Pissarro, Seurat, and Toulouse-Lautrec. His style changed abruptly under the influence of Impressionism and Japanese prints. However, he used color more arbitrarily for forcible expression. Of his Night Café, he said: “I have tried to express with red and green the terrible passions of human nature.”

In February 1888 he settled at Arles, where he painted more than 200 canvases in 15 months. Most of his masterpieces were produced in an unparalleled creative outpouring in the last three years of his life. He suffered hallucinations and depression and in a crisis sparked by a quarrel with Gauguin, he cut his left ear, commemorated in Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. In May 1889 he entered an asylum at Saint Rémy, but continued a fervent output of 150 pictures such as Starry Night over the course of the year. Lodging with a patron (Portrait of Dr. Gachet) the next year, in another tremendous burst of activity he painted 70 canvases during the last 70 days of his life. 

His spiritual anguish became more acute and on July 27, 1890, he shot himself in the chest and died two days later. Theo, who died six months afterwards, is buried alongside him in Auvers.

Sources: Wikipedia and http://www.enotes.com/oxford-art-encyclopedia/gogh-vincent-van. 

Wheel of Time (2003)

Tues & Fri, October 2 & 5, 5 pm
Teatro Santa Ana 
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos

On February 13, 2003, the BBC interviewed Werner Herzog about his role as director of Wheel of Time. Part of the film is set in the pilgrimage site at Bodh Gaya, where Buddha attained supreme Enlightenment. About 250 years after the Enlightenment, the Buddhist emperor Ashoka founded the Mahabodhi Temple and, according to tradition, erected a diamond throne shrine at this spot.

BBC Four: What attracted you to making a film about Buddhism?

Werner Herzog: I was rather reluctant because I have very little knowledge of Buddhist philosophy. I find it a strange idea for Westerners to become Buddhists. Even the Dalai Lama [says] you should not leave the religion of your traditional culture. But then there were some signals by the Dalai Lama himself that he would welcome me to do that so there was no way out any more. I must say that once I arrived among half a million pilgrims in all their devotion in Bodh Gaya in India I did not regret for one minute that I did this film. It was fantastic work. 

BBC Four: That's especially true of the scenes at Mount Kailash. Did you feel a divine presence there?

WH: No, but I could tell that they felt a divine presence there and I had a deep affinity to that...not just a symbolic cosmography like the mandala, but a landscape felt to be sacred by Buddhists and the Hindus. It was a deep curiosity to show a truly sacred landscape. 

BBC Four: The music complements the images perfectly. How much of it is new?

WH: Some of it is from Nepal. There is one piece of music by Popol Vuh and Florian Fricke, who has done music for many of my films. 

Herzog filmed the Kalachakra initiation, a 12-day process for creating a large “wheel of time” out of sand. Such a mandala symbolically represents the cosmos. As a spiritual teaching tool, it helps establish a sacred space and aids in meditation and trance induction. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung saw the mandala as “a representation of the unconscious self,” and believed his paintings of mandalas helped him identify emotional disorders and work towards wholeness in personality.

Sources: Wikipedia and http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries
/storyville/werner-herzog.shtml

CINEMATECA

José Luis’s Pick and Tip

The Pick: Wheel of Time

Devotion is one of the ways to enlightenment, because it unwinds the etheric knots at the heart chakra. This documentary is dripping with devotion and touches one’s heart just by watching it and thus one’s consciousness is changed. Pilgrims prostrate themselves over hundreds of miles to ready themselves for the privilege of receiving the Kalachakra initiation from the Dalai Lama. The Buddha taught the Kalachakra Tantra to the king of Shambhala, where it is continuously practiced to this day. By receiving this initiation, one becomes a citizen of this heavenly abode of Shambhala. Together with all the pilgrims one can feel the sorrow and disappointment when this initiation ends up being canceled due to His Holiness sickness… This masterful film documents the power of pure spiritual devotion. 

Herzog follows the events around a key Buddhist ceremony and therein presents the Buddhist worldview. Beautiful and powerful; don’t miss it.

The Tip

Important: In order to provide the best viewing experience, the show times for some movies may be adjusted to accommodate their length. Be sure to check the schedule carefully. I also want to remind you of our new ticket price: 50 pesos and discount cards buy 12 shows for 450 pesos.

Starting Monday, after 11am, buy your tickets in advance for any movie or show of the week. If you have a discount card, collect your pass to assure you a seat; don’t take the risk of being locked out.… Nos vemos en el Cine.…

You want to receive this info by email? Write to José Luis at 

alephamour@hotmail.com Thank you.

Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh (1988)
Monday, October 1 at 7pm
Tuesday, October 2 at 7pm
Biographical Documentarys, 
English, 99 minutes.
Director: Paul Cox
Cast: John Hurt, Marika Rivera, Gabriella Trsek.

This revealing documentary by Paul Cox takes you on a shattering journey through the life of a tortured genius – Vincent van Gogh – who became one of the most influential artists of modern history.  Although he created 1,800 works during his decade-long career, van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime. The story of his turbulent, painful life is told through letters written to his brother Theo, which are eloquently read by John Hurt.

Expresión en corto festival award Winner
Lost and Found in Mexico
Monday, October 1 at 5pm 
Writer/Director/Producer: Caren Cross
Documentary, English, 53 minutes.
The illusion of the American dream is challenged in this portrait of ex-pats in San Miguel de Allende who discovered that some vital things were missing in their prior lives. While many Mexicans are leaving families behind and risking their lives to cross the border to a better life, this film focuses on the Americans who have decided to cross the border in the other direction - for a simpler life. In Caren Cross’s documentary we meet ex-pats of varying ages who have given up ‘the good life’ in the USA for a home in Mexico that provides more than money can buy. Happy to live with less, among a people they respect and admire, these ex-professionals and executives explain why they have left family and friends behind to live in a country where crowded malls and Blackberries have been replaced by books, art and casual conversations. Q & A with Caren Cross, following the film.

Wheel of Time (2003)
Tuesday, October 2 at 5 pm
Friday, October 5 at 5 pm
Tuesday, October 9 at 7:30 pm
Religion & Mythology, English, 81 minutes.
Director: Werner Herzog
Cast: Dalai Lama
German filmmaker Werner Herzog captures the faith of thousands on an annual pilgrimage to Bhod Gaya, the Indian village in which Buddha is thought to have attained enlightenment. Structuring his documentary around the Kalachakra initiation – a fascinating 12-day ordainment process for Buddhist monks involving the creation of a large “wheel of time” out of sand – Herzog traces the foundation of a lifelong spiritual journey.





World Music Discoveries: 
The Art of Attraction (2004)
Wednesday, October 3 at noon
Wednesday, October 3 at 5pm
World Asian Music, English, 60 minutes

The Hmong are a traditional people residing in the mountains of northern Vietnam. The music of the Hmong is an important part of their culture, which focuses on cultivating beauty and the art of attraction, whether that focus goes to a living person, an ancestor or a spirit.

Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor, 2005)
Friday, October 5 at 7pm
Monday, October 8 at 5pm
Thursday, October 11 at 7pm
Foreign Thriller, 
Russian with English subtitles, 114 minutes
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: Konstantin Khabensky, Valeri Zolotukhin, Vladimir Menshov, Mariya Poroshina, Galina Tyunina, Yuri Kutsenko.
This first installment based on the best-selling science fiction novels by Russian writer Sergei Lukyanenko plays upon the tension between light and dark, pitting the superhuman Night Watch patrollers (known as the “Others”) against the shadowed forces of the night. But the biggest fear of all stems from the lines of an ancient prophecy, which warns of a renegade other whose betrayal could bring chaos to the land.