This series of five films is the result of chance. Chance alone does nothing to change our lives but often affects others.
I had hosted an awkwardly arranged dinner at the Phnom Penh, casually walked across the street to show my friends the 221A space, touched the front door, which gave no resistance, and found myself watching the end of ”The Weeping Camel”. In the summary, a simple comment re the romantic depiction in the film, made me say out loud “What’s wrong with romance?” And, by chance, I was hooked.
Two decades ago I was asked to give a lecture on Romance, Passion and Magic. One of my definitions was: “Romance is the pursuit of the ideal that all locations are equi-valent”. This definition was a distillation of the stories my father had told me about his experiences during WWII, where he had witnessed the worst and the noblest actions by people whose choices and deeds had life and death consequences. Naively, he had faith in the courage of people to be altruistic and act publicly for their values and the meaning that made life worth living.
I grew up in the decades where the protagonist became the anti-hero, a tautology in which the western individual struggles to find their self in apposition to the norms of the post war paradox of victory and loss. The now hero is clever, cool and cynical. Values are established in avatar worlds or celebrated in spectacle.
These films however, are not about chance, cleverness or cynicism. They are about choices made by the characters in time of distress and doubt. Although fictional, they make real decisions based on their convictions that result in real consequences. We are compelled to witness and may even recognize the choices we too, will have to make. None of the films tell us that we live happily ever after. And we are better for that.
We realize that it is we who will make it so in our now, and, in faith that the future is greater because of our actions.
John Wertschek
Poster: Jason Edwards
Coordinated by: Jeff Werner
Feb 9th:
The Train (1964) trailer
In 1944, a German colonel loads a train with French art treasures to send to Germany. The Resistance must stop it without damaging the cargo.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Actors: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau
Feb 23rd:
Random Harvest (1942) a fan page
An amnesiac World War I vet falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer
an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-War life.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Actors: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson
Mar 9th:
The Third Man (1949) trailer
Arriving in Vienna, Holly Martins learns that his friend Harry Lime, who
has invited him, recently died in a car accident.
Director: Carol Reed
Actors: Joseph Cotten,Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard
Mar 23rd:
High Noon (1952) trailer
A marshall, personally compelled to face a returning deadly enemy, finds
that his own town refuses to help him.
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Actors: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly
Apr 6th:
The Enchanted Cottage (1945) trailer
A homely maid and a scarred ex-GI meet at the cottage where she works
and where he was to spend his honeymoon prior to his accident.
Director: John Cromwell
Actors: Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young