Detroit Film Theatre
THE MIRROR HAS THREE FACES & MENILMONTANT
Sunday, October 19, 2008
In conjunction with the DIA special exhibit Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art, the DFT will present five programs of films by directors who were contemporaries of the 20th century artists represented in this collection. These experimental films showcase European filmmakers that transcended the limitations of silent and early sound films to create an art of cinema. Jean Epstein’s The Mirror Has Three Faces (France/1927) has one of the most complicated narrative structures of its era, a story of a man and his affairs which overlap and connect to one another, each told through the eyes of his mistresses. Ménilmontant (France/1927) is the story of two sisters whose lives are torn apart by the murder of their parents. They drift apart, and then intersect again and fall in love with the same man. Relying on the cinematography and editing rather than intertitles to construct a narrative, director Dimitri Kirsanoff captures their horror, sadness and eventual redemption in a style that is completely original. Both films will be accompanied by a live piano score performed by David Drazin. (60 min.)
Admission to all films presented in conjunction with the Monet to Dalí exhibition is free of charge.
