Film/VIdeo FREE THURSDAY FILMS ARCHITECTS AND THEORETICIANS THURSDAYS, JANUARY 11, 18 AND 25, 2001, 7 PM FREE AUDITORIUM

In conjunction with the exhibition Herzog & de Meuron: In Process, this free series presents three films that approach the subject of architecture in intriguing and humorous ways.

Concert of Wills: Making the Getty Center directed by Susan Froemke Click above to view clip.

JANUARY 11
CONCERT OF WILLS: MAKING THE GETTY CENTER
DIRECTED BY SUSAN FROEMKE, BOB EISENHARDT, AND ALBERT MAYSLES
Following the 14-year development and construction of the new Getty Center in Los Angeles, the making of the documentary Concert of Wills: Making the Getty Center, was "a monumental task," according to film editor Bob Eisenhardt. "It was a puzzle that came together the same way the buildings come together." More than 200 hours of footage was shot by Albert Maysles and four other cinematographers, whose original intent had been simply to document the process for the Getty Archives. Noted architect Richard Meier was commissioned to design the building, but conflict ensued as his plans collided with the wishes of artist-garden designer Robert Irwin, Getty Museum Director John Walsh, other Getty principals, and finally with the community of Brentwood itself, which was opposed to any disruption of its rustic splendor. "In this film, the human story is as integral as the construction," says filmmaker Susan Froemke. "Concert of Wills gives you a rare look at a creative process in action, where different aesthetic philosophies meet head on, and are passionately defended." 1997, U.S., 100 minutes.

JANUARY 18
LOST HIGHWAY
DIRECTED BY DAVID LYNCH
David Lynch creates a surreal world in which the environment (the interiors, the architecture, and the design) contributes to the alienation and schizophrenic mood of the film. At the same time, he sets up an intriguing maze with the narrative and time. Lost Highway is another complex dream play, a dive into the bizarre and unexplainable mechanism of the subconscious. 1996, U.S., 135 minutes.

JANUARY 25
PLAYTIME
DIRECTED BY JACQUES TATI
Tati's third film as Mr. Hulot finds him and a group of American women tourists in the new, shiny Paris of the 1960s. The film set itself, a massive construction on the outskirts of the city, was so large that it became a tourist attraction for the period it stood, even earning the name "Tati-ville." For Playtime, Tati worked for the first time in 70mm, with full stereophonic sound. Ironically, the theme of the movie is the encroachment of new technologies and architecture and, of course, the many ways to hilariously blunder through them. "In dealing with the overwhelming contemporary world, Tati is able to find comedy and adventure within the most mundane activities. . . . Like the comedy heroes who dealt with perils of an earlier age, Hulot deals heroically with those perils peculiar to this overcomplicated modern age," writes Brent Maddock. Playtime is a suitably offbeat conclusion to the Walker's three-part series of films about the buildings we live in and the people who design them. 1967, France, in French with English subtitles, 108 minutes.

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