Wander Into a Cinematic Dream (or Nightmare)
The movie magic of editing and visual effects allows filmmakers to conjure images unlike reality. For some, this is a means of introducing impossible fantasy; for others, it is a means of blurring the boundary between the conscious and unconscious, the waking world and the dreaming world. This month, the library will be highlighting movies about the psychological power of dreams, the horror of becoming untethered from consensus reality, and the surreal art of the subconscious made visible.
We will be screening two such dream movies. On February 4, we will be screening Christopher Nolan’s Inception, a sci-fi actioner in which Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a master of corporate espionage hired to convince a businessman to dissolve his company by infiltrating his dreams. We’ll be screening the anime Paprika on February 18, also a sci-fi corporate espionage movie about dreams. This time, an experimental device used by psychiatrists to enters patients’ dreams is stolen, requiring the project’s leader to employ her dream world alter ego, the titular Paprika, to investigate. Both films will begin at 6:30 PM in Room 406 of the Chester Fritz Library.
Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) has stalled. The filmmaker has lost interest in the movie he is currently developing, which is supposed to be his hotly anticipated 9th picture. As he argues with his wife (Anouk Aimée), struggles with his production team, and tries to hide his mistress (Sandra Milo), he has visions of an Ideal Woman (Claudia Cardinale) who will save him from his artistic and personal difficulties. (1963, dir. Federico Fellini, 138 minutes)
Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) dances for the New York City Ballet. When the company’s prima ballerina (Winona Ryder) is forced into retirement, Nina covets the starring role in an upcoming performance of Swan Lake. Her rendition of the innocent White Swan impresses, but chauvinistic artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) is less convinced by her sensual Black Swan. Her position insecure, Nina worries newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis) is no friend but a saboteur out to steal her spotlight. As opening night approaches, Nina feels herself transforming into someone else. (2010, dir. Darren Aronofsky, 108 minutes)
Meek governmental clerk Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) has been undone by a bug in the system. No, not a computer bug– an insect gets smooshed in a printer and causes a typographical error that unjustly arrests Mr. Buttle instead of suspected terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro). As the bureaucratic error is investigated, Sam becomes an enemy of state and pursues Jill Layton (Kim Griest), who resembles a woman he rescues in a fantastical recurring dream. (1985, dir. Terry Gilliam, 142 minutes)
The German village of Holstenwall prepares for the town fair. Among the visitors is Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss), who plans to present the somnambulist Cesare (Conrad Veidt) as part of the spectacle. When villagers are found stabbed to death in their sleep, Franzis (Friedrich Feher) investigates whether the mysterious strangers are connected. (1920, dir. Robert Wiene, 74 minutes)
Seduced by the challenge of an impossible case, Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) takes the “hysterical” yet intelligent Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightly) as his patient at the Burghölzli psychiatric hospital in Zürich. Their clinical relationship deepens, and Jung is enticed by Spielrein’s masochistic fantasies. When Jung’s mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) becomes aware of this, it accelerates the rift between the two men as they disagree about the fundamental nature of the unconscious. Based on the eponymous book by John Kerr, as well as The Talking Cure by Christopher Hampton. (2011, dir. David Cronenberg, 99 minutes)
An anthology film of eight stories inspired by director Akira Kurosawa’s recurring dreams and Japanese folklore. Among the tales: a young boy intrudes on a fox wedding during a sunshower; an art student meets Vincent van Gogh in a field and follows him through his paintings; a power-plant by Mt. Fuji enters meltdown and smothers a seaside landscape in radioactive fumes. (1990, dir. Akira Kurosawa, 119 minutes)
Vietnam War vet Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) has returned home to New York City. Now a postal worker, he lives with a girlfriend (Elizabeth Peña), mourns the loss of his pre-war family life, and suffers from dissociation and disturbing visions. Upon learning that other members of his platoon experience hallucinations, Jacob seeks to untangle his past and the true nature of his condition. (1990, dir. Adrian Lyne, 113 minutes)
A glamorous woman (Laura Harring) escapes an assassination attempt by her chauffeur when their limo hits another car on Mulholland Drive. Struck with amnesia, the woman flees to an apartment belonging to Betty (Naomi Watts), who has recently arrived in Hollywood from small-town Ontario. Meanwhile, filmmaker Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) is pressured by producers to cast an unknown actress named Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) in his new movie. As Adam’s life falls apart due to his refusal to cast Camilla, Betty and her amnesic companion investigate a mysterious blue key from the assassination attempt, which may unravel everyone’s identities. (2001, dir. David Lynch, 147 minutes)
César (Eduardo Noriega) has it all. The handsome, wealthy playboy falls in love with Sofia (Penélope Cruz) at his birthday party, but his obsessive ex-girlfriend (Najwa Nimri) nearly kills him in a car crash. Disfigured, César now lives alone with a prosthetic mask. He begins to dissociate, and passes out drunk one night in the street. When he wakes, he finds solutions to all his problems. Has he awoken from a nightmare, or is he living a dream? (1997, dir. Alejandro Amenábar, 117 minutes)
The year: 2084 A.D. Construction worker Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has recurring dreams of being on Mars with a mysterious woman (Rachel Ticotin). He visits an agency that implants vivid false memories in customers in order to “experience” an exciting vacation on Mars. However, during the procedure, doctors realize Quaid’s memory has already been tampered with, and he is attacked by assassins after his appointment. When his wife (Sharon Stone) also becomes hostile, Quaid travels to Mars for answers. Can he trust his mind at all in a game of high tech espionage? (1990, dir. Paul Verhoeven, 113 minutes)
A young man (Wiley Wiggins) dreams a rotoscoped world, encountering various people who share their thoughts on the meaning of life, metaphysics, and the nature of dreams. The people within the dream are played by a mix of professional actors (Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg) and nonprofessionals (Steven Soderbergh, Alex Jones, Robert C. Solomon), including faculty from the University of Texas. (2001, dir. Richard Linklater, 101 minutes)
Isak Borg (Victor Sjöström) is an aging bacteriologist en route from Stockholm to Lund University to receive an honorary degree. As he travels with his estranged daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin), Isak has daydreams and nightmares drawn from his troubled life. A hitchhiker reminds him of his sweetheart Sara (Bibi Andersson), and a meeting with his son Evald (Gunnar Björnstrand) reminds him of how cold he has become. A confrontation with his fundamental problems becomes inevitable. (1957, dir. Ingmar Bergman, 91 minutes)
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