Diabolique, The Fits comes back to Madison, and a new season of “Micro-Wave Cinema”
Wednesday
Diabolique (7:00p — Bos Meadery)
Paul Meurisse’s headmaster is not a well-liked man. Both his wife (Véra Clouzot) and the woman he’s having an affair with (Simone Signoret) decide to drown him in the bathtub and throw the body in the pool. There’s just one problem with their murder plot: Corpses don’t swim away on their own. Overlooked by most, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s macabre mystery outdoes the films it would later inspire with suspense and notorious twists, forcing the few who have experienced it to only whisper its praises with hushed reverence. (FREE admission.)
Thursday
The Fits (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
Back when Grant Phipps interviewed Anna Rose Holmer about The Fits for the Wisconsin Film Festival, he described her directorial debut as a “spirited and yet pensive film about biological rhythms and social conformity.” The Fits traverses the awkward and overwhelming chasm of adolescence through the eyes of the tomboyish Toni (a remarkable Royalty Hightower) who joins up with a Cincinnati drill team in this knock-out of a coming-of-age story. (FREE admission.)
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (7:00p — Barrymore Theatre)
If this insane electoral climate has managed to clarify one thing it’s that we still don’t know the full effects of Citizens United on the American political system. Well, Greg Palast doesn’t want to wait around for the answer. In the case of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, the investigative reporter (and his co-director David Ambrose) peels back the layers of so-called “dark money” and its place in politics. Palast rose to prominence after investigating the twists and turns of the 2000 Presidential Election and he’s updating his populist focus for the forthcoming race this fall. Hopefully the net product is less a collection of like-minded interview subjects and more of the snappy, well-produced production hinted at in its trailer. Palast will introduce his film in person at the Barrymore. The venue itself is a prelude to Fighting Bob Fest this weekend, and if one documentary isn’t enough to get you steamed, a host of clips from other similarly focused projects will follow on Fri. ($10 in advance. $12 day of show.)
Friday
Obsession + Body Double (7:00p + 8:45p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
(FREE admission.)
Saturday
Ghost in the Shell (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Although Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell is only 20 years old, its enduring influence in both animation and the cyberpunk subgenre feel legendary. Maybe it can partly be accredited to the mid-2000s revival, which included a sequel and 52-episode television series. Moreso, the taut, original film’s prescient glimpse into a 2029 future, now only distant by a mere 13 years, can be traced to manga author Masamune Shirow; he saw the permeation of cybernetic technology and AI as pathways to humanity’s spiritual evolution. Condensed, the film’s labyrinthine psychological plotline follows Motoko Kusanagi, a federal agent and cyborg, who tracks a mysterious neurohacker known as “The Puppet Master.” In observing the reality of the hacker’s transferable identity through protocol, her journey slowly turns inward in the questioning of the nature of the true self. The best speculative fiction of the late twentieth century articulates something at once poetically beautiful and dire about mankind. As for many, Ghost in the Shell once proved to be a transfixing and perplexing dystopian thriller that instilled a sense of awe in my developing intellect. When Roger Ebert claimed the film was “unusually intelligent and challenging” (the pull-quote at the top of my VHS box), he wasn’t kidding. The frequent nudity may initially prompt one to question its inclusion in the “Heroines of Anime” series; but Kusanagi remains a historically complex and singular character. (FREE admission.) — Grant Phipps
Sunday
Hold Back the Dawn (2:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
(FREE admission.)
Slackjaw (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
“Micro-Wave Cinema” has a history with Zach Weintraub. The Washington-based director and Simple Machine founder decorated the micro-budget series’ very first screening with a double-feature and would later pop up in Ian Clark’s opaque A Morning Light. Things go full-circle with this week’s entry and the start of the series’ third season, where Robert Malone finds his existence overturned by bizarre hallucinations and a bicycle-riding sheet ghost after signing up for a bizarre research group. Weintraub will join via Skype for a Q&A. (FREE admission.)
Monday
Scarface (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
Those who heard it from Brian De Palma himself two weeks ago know the lasting power of his neon refashioning of the Paul Muni gangster film. Just look at pop culture. Anywhere. Scarface‘s foul-mouthed, synthesized, ersatz ultraviolence has oozed its way into cinema, hip-hop, even video games; in the most delicious example of the snake eating its own tail, Scarface earned its very own, very solid game back in 2006. Love him or loathe him, Tony Montana is here to stay. (FREE admission.)