This weekend, you could celebrate the 70th anniversary of Seven Samurai — “one of the most thrilling movie epics of all time,” according to esteemed film critic, Roger Ebert. Next week, it could be a quiet but powerful drama starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn (Daddio). And next month, it’s two of the greatest movies ever made, one of which is celebrating its 50th anniversary (The Godfather: Part II).
Frankly, it doesn’t matter what day or week it is when you read this: CU’s International Film Series is back in session, and there’s always something good to watch.
Locally programmed since 1941, IFS is a cinematic staple of new, old and underground programming. The semester kicked off Sept. 5 with a 35 mm screening of Alex Cox’s Repo Man — one of the titles projecting on reel-to-reel 35 mm this semester: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Oct. 3), Tokyo Story (Oct. 10), Kung Fu Hustle (Oct. 16), Evil Dead II (Oct. 30), My Uncle (Nov. 2) and Léon: The Professional (Dec. 9).
All are worth your time, but for this critic, the movie that begs to be seen again and again is Yasujirō Ozu’s masterpiece, Tokyo Story. The plot is simple: two aging parents travel to the city to visit their children. But the children are now adults and too busy with their own lives and families to pay their elders any mind. So the pair return home, and on the trip, the mother grows ill and dies. Now, the children return home to pay their respects and voice their regrets for all the things left unsaid. Where did all the time go, they wonder. They always thought there would be more.
It might be impossible to leave Tokyo Story the same person you were before. The Japanese have a saying for it: “mono no aware” or “a bittersweet passing of things.” That’s a sentiment you could apply to Daddio, Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams (Sept. 30) or The Double Life of Véronique (Dec. 7). Each is a powerhouse. Hell, the whole lineup is a powerhouse: Wicked Little Letters (Oct. 5), Possession (Oct. 28), About Dry Grasses (Nov. 3), The Shawshank Redemption (Dec. 8), the list goes on and on.
ON SCREEN: CU’s International Film Series, Sept. 5 through Dec. 12, CU Boulder, 1905 Colorado Ave. Pricing and full schedule here.