Get out your smoking pipes and master the art of disguise: this term, the Dartmouth Film Society will draw upon the rich tradition of detective films in its series "Elementary, My Dear Watson." From the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in "A Shot in the Dark" (1964), kicking off the series Monday evening, to the rebellious title character in "Dirty Harry" (1972), showing tonight, "Elementary, My Dear Watson" will feature a century's worth of our favorite gumshoes and private eyes.
The Spring 2010 DFS series, proposed by Grace Dowd '11 and Grey Cusack '11, will feature detective films from countries all over the world, including Japan, Hong Kong, Romania, Sweden, France and Algeria. Films on the roster range from the aforementioned classics to several recent blockbusters, such as the action-packed "Sherlock Holmes," Martin Scorsese's tribute to film noir, "Shutter Island," and the Richard Gere and Don Cheadle police drama "Brooklyn's Finest," which will play in Spaulding Auditorium on April 2, April 25 and May 16, respectively.
The centerpiece of the series will be the "Red Riding Trilogy" (2009), a trio of English feature-length television episodes which were released stateside as films in February. The films, set during the late '70s and early '80s in the English town of Yorkshire, tell the story of a brutal serial killer who successfully eludes the police. Based on true events, the "Red Riding Trilogy" will be a modern tribute to the classic genre of film noir, according to a press release from the Hopkins Center.
DFS director A.J. Fox, who first saw the trilogy at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado last September, described the films as "one of the many highlights of this season's series."
Fox is a former member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.
"The great thing about this film series is that there is something for everyone, from the new Sherlock Holmes,' to Dirty Harry' and Shutter Island,'" Fox said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"Elementary, My Dear Watson" will be shown on the big screen in Spaulding every Wednesday and Sunday, with some crowd-pleasers airing Friday evenings.
According to the press release, DFS has also planned three Film Specials this term to give Upper Valley residents an opportunity to see Hollywood films that did not make it to local theaters in 2009 the post-apocalyptic drama "The Road," the vampire-infested "Daybreakers" and Heath Ledger's final film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," playing April 3, April 10 and April 23, respectively.
In addition to the Spaulding programming, two series are scheduled to take place in the Loew Auditorium. This term's Thursday night series, "Slow Burn: Jeff Bridges on Fire," will showcase the breadth of Bridge's illustrious career, starting with his breakthrough role in the 1971 semi-autobiographical drama "The Last Picture Show" and concluding with his Oscar-winning performance as washed-up country star Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart" (2009). The films in the series will show the variety of his roles, from his portrayal of The Dude in the cult comedy "The Big Lebowski" (1998) to the suicidal shock jock Jack Lucas in "The Fisher King" (1991).
The Loew will also host a Saturday movie series dedicated to more modern, critically acclaimed art house films, according to Fox. The series will feature recent Oscar-nominated films, including "The Messenger" (2009), an up-close look at the lives of two casualty notification officers that will play on April 24, and the 2009 German-language film "Das Weisse Band" ("The White Ribbon"), a dark drama about the eerie events surrounding a rural German town on the eve of World War I, which will play on April 17.
Movie junkies should also relish the opportunity to see a selection of new independent short films from the Black Maria Film Festival on May 14. The Hopkins Center will be one of only 70 institutions across the United States to host the winning short films from the festival. The event will show a cornucopia of short films from a wide assortment of genres, according to Fox.
"The short film selection runs the gamut from funny-quirky, to avant garde, to stuff you haven't seen before," Fox said.
Fox said he was particularly excited about the prospect of hosting Black Maria.
"Working with Black Maria to create a program has been a really exciting process," he said. "The great thing about the Black Maria Film Festival is that it's a rare opportunity, especially in this country, to see any kind of independent short films."
Those eager to learn the next Dartmouth Film Award recipient will have to wait, however. Although no awards ceremony has been scheduled so far this season, Fox dropped that DFS is "currently in talks with potential award recipients for the Spring, possibly Summer term," but did not yet know which term the award would be given.
Last term's Dartmouth Film Award winner was documentary film-maker Frederick Wiseman, author of such documentaries as "The Cool World" (1963) and "La Danse" (2009). Past recipients have included Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon and Laura Linney.
