FRENCH CINEMA Jean Grémillon and the Poetry of Realism at the National Gallery of Art JANUARY 19, 20 & 26

FRENCH CINEMA Jean Grémillon and the Poetry of Realism at the National Gallery of Art JANUARY 19, 20 & 26
	Dear Friends of La Maison Française, This month, the National Gallery of Art will screen five films by Jean Grémillon. (details below) 1) Gueule d’amour (1937) 2) Maldone (1927) -- Ciné-concert 3) Lumière d'été (1943) -- Restoration première 4) Le Ciel est à vous (1943) 5) Remorques (1941) One of the forgotten figures of mid-century French cinéma, Jean Grémillon (1901-1959) entered filmmaking as a musician for silent films. He developed into a director, making his mark in poetic realism. This series presents five of his most beautifully crafted works.
1) Saturday, January 19 (2pm) - Gueule d’amour at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Concourse Auditorium 4th Street at Pennsylvania Ave., NW In French with English subtitles Jean Gabin — blue-collar provincial army hero known as “lover lips” among the ladies — meets his match in Parisian femme fatale Mireille Balin. Completely besotted, he gives up his career for her, opting for a life of obsessive self-reproach. ADMISSION: Free MORE INFO: www.nga.gov/programs/film/gremillon.shtm 2) Saturday, January 19 (4pm) - Maldone -- Ciné-concert / Andrew Simpson, piano at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Concourse Auditorium 4th Street at Pennsylvania Ave., NW French intertitles translated live A rarely screened early feature, Maldone’s location shooting, bold camera, superimpositions, experimental angles and clever cutting mark it stylistically as one of the more sophisticated films of the late silent era. The narrative centers on Olivier Maldone (Charles Dullin, well-known man of the theater), a carefree field hand and vagabond, given a chance to enjoy the life of a landowner through marriage. Eventually, he finds real love in the carnal snare of a gypsy called Zita, and abandons the bourgeois life. ADMISSION: Free MORE INFO: www.nga.gov/programs/film/gremillon.shtm 3) Sunday, January 20 (4pm) - Lumière d'été / Summer Light -- American première of the restoration at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Concourse Auditorium 4th Street at Pennsylvania Ave., NW In French with English subtitles The characters in Lumière d'été (Summer Light), meeting for relaxation in a remote mountain chateau, begin a mad romantic roundelay that ends in a bizarre masked ball. The suggestion of class prejudices within the group—bourgeois characters seem undesirable while the working-classes shine—infuriated the Vichy censors who suppressed the film. "Lumière d'été is not only Grémillon's most overtly political film, it is arguably his finest technical achievement"—James Travers. ADMISSION: Free MORE INFO: www.nga.gov/programs/film/gremillon.shtm 4) Saturday, January 26 (2pm) - Le Ciel est à vous / The Sky is Yours at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Concourse Auditorium 4th Street at Pennsylvania Ave., NW In French with English subtitles Le Ciel est à vous’s (The Sky is Yours) unusual feminist perspective flew in the face of the Vichy government’s decree for women to stay home and raise children. Thérèse Gauthier (Madeleine Renaud) is a free spirit who rules her husband and ignores her children. Her main ambition is to break the solo flying record for women. ADMISSION: Free MORE INFO: www.nga.gov/programs/film/gremillon.shtm 5) Saturday, January 26 (4pm) - Remorques at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Concourse Auditorium 4th Street at Pennsylvania Ave., NW In French with English subtitles The primal power of l’amour fou is measured against that other out-of-control force of nature, the waters of the sea. Off the Britanny coast, Jean Gabin, captain of a salvage tugboat, meets Michèle Morgan whom he rescues, one ill-omened stormy night. They become lovers, trapped in a painful triangle with Gabin’s delicate and devoted wife (Madeleine Renaud). Grémillon, who uses the sea metaphor to full effect, also exploits the potential of music and sound, dramatically adding to the edgy mise-en-scène, especially in the final sequence. ADMISSION: Free MORE INFO: www.nga.gov/programs/film/gremillon.shtm We hope that you can make it to the National Gallery of Art for these special screenings! Please also take the time to scroll down and discover some of the upcoming cultural events happening at the Embassy of France! Warm regards, La Maison Française www.HouseofFranceDC.org P.S. Click HERE to take a survey on a proposed new French bookstore in New York City!