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Remembering Richard
Friday, January 23, 2009

Richard Roud was one of the founders of the New York Film Festival and a major force in the creation of American film culture. His work at the festival for 25 years championed an extraordinary roster of filmmakers—Straub/Huillet, Bernardo Bertolucci, R.W. Fassbinder, Martin Scorsese, Milos Forman and Barbara Kopple, among them—who have shaped and defined the modern cinema. To mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of his passing, we offer rare looks at two of Richard’s favorite films, masterworks that effectively illustrate the range of his cinematic taste.

The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach: “Voluptuously minimalist! I was knocked out by the rigorous purity of the Straub-Huillet film (was this Bresson with music?).” - J. Hoberman in The Village Voice

La Ronde: “Ophüls's bittersweet sex carousel! [A] sophisticated whirligig!” - J. Hoberman in The Village Voice

Scene Photo SEE BOTH FILMS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!
Buy a ticket to a screening of one feature and receive a complimentary ticket at the Walter Reade Theater box office to the following screening of the other feature.

Read Celebrating a NYFF (and NY) tastemaker by J. Hoberman in The Village Voice.

Image The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach
Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach
Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, West Germany/Italy, 1968; 93m
“As the title suggests, this is a film about Bach as seen by his second wife, but its real subject is his music. Plot is reduced to a spare rendering of the basic facts of his life. The camera hardly moves at all: nothing is allowed to interfere with our experience of the music. But when the camera does move, it does so with tremendous effect—as in Dreyer’s Gertrud which this film most strongly resembles…The film seems to have been shot in an extremely simple manner—and indeed, any attempt to compete with Bach’s architectonics would be doomed to failure. Instead, Straub has intensified the dynamics of the music by positively limiting the visual effects, and this contrast throws into brilliant perspective the complexity of the music. Straub has pared and pared until he has reached the glowing heart of his subject.”—Richard Roud, Straub
Fri Jan 23: 1:20pm, 5:10pm and 9:00pm

Image La Ronde
Max Ophüls, France, 1950; 97m
Even those unfamiliar with Ophüls’s oeuvre know this much-imitated film, adapted from a Schnitzler play and initially banned in the United States due to its alleged immorality. This roundelay of brief affairs set in 19th-century Vienna begins when a young prostitute (the glorious Simone Signoret) momentarily loves a soldier (Serge Reggiani), who takes up with a maid (Simone Simon). The carnal carousel ride continues to spin under the narration of puppetmaster Anton Walbrook, as one partner from each coupling moves on to the next liaison. If Schnitzler meant to cast a mordant gaze on sexual shallowness, Ophüls recognizes both the power and evanescence of desire. The cast could not be improved upon: Danièlle Darrieux, Daniel Gélin, Odette Joyeux, Jean-Louis Barrault, Isa Miranda and Gérard Philipe. ARCHIVE PRINT
Fri Jan 23: 3:10pm and 7:00pm




 
Buy Tickets

THE CHRONICLE OF ANNA MAGDALENA BACH
Fri Jan 23: 1:20, 5:10 & 9

Scene Photo See both films for the price of one!
LA RONDE
Fri Jan 23: 3:10 & 7

Admission:
$11 public
$8 senior (62+)
$7 Film Society members & students (with ID)
Please note: You will receive your complimentary ticket when you redeem your online order at the Walter Reade Theater box office. Online service charge: $1.25 per ticket ordered. Cash only transactions at the box office. No passes accepted to this event.