At FRiend Lee's invitation (thanks, Lee!), I come here to copy and paste an earlier post I made today on my blog:
I just wanted to share some exciting (to me, anyway) news regarding the area of film and film appreciation. I have learned that a new restored print of Jean Renoir's 1939 classic La Regle du jeu (The Rules of the Game) will enjoy an American release soon, and as a result will be shown in Austin's Dobie Theatre in the near future. I have seen this masterpiece so far only via DVD projection, and am looking forward to the opportunity to experience it as it was meant to be seen and heard. This is a truly great film, fully deserving of its high reputation, though, oddly, it is not one of those great works of art that inspires love in me (such as Brokeback Mountain). I am curious to see if the theatrical experience may induce a somewhat more emotionally engaged response in me.
Some more news: This coming Sunday, January 7th, at 11:00 p.m. (Central Time), Turner Classic Movies will air the rare 1921 French silent feature La Terre, directed by Andre Antoine after Emile Zola's eponymous novel. This happens to be one of film curator and director Kevin Brownlow's favorite films, one he said he would have been proud to have made himself, and I have long been curious to see it. The film is reputedly precious for the wonderful documentation of a rural France that has all but disappeared today, and was quickly on the wane even during its production. The Beauce region (around Chartres) has been preserved as if in a time capsule by the miracle of cinema and cinematic preservation--this is, at least, some of this production's attested importance. I will definitely be making time for this one.