Capital Celluloid 2014 - Day 165: Sun Jun 15

No1: P3ND3jO5 (Perrone, 2013): Rio Cinema, 2.30pm



This screens as part of the East End Film Festival.

Argentinian writer and film scholar Fernando Sdrigotti has written a detailed piece on the film here.

Here is the Rio Cinema introduction: Veteran indie filmmaker Raul Parrone is one of Argentina's most inventive, innovative directors. Making films full of improvisation, non-professional actors and a feel for the underground, with P3nd3jo5 (pendejos is slang for dumbass, and potentially much worse) he's returned with a film that's destined to become a kind of cult classic. A silent film based in Buenos Aires, shot in black and white and featuring a soundtrack of Puccini, punk and modern electronics, his stylish, gritty and utterly unique take on the city's skater scene takes in to tales of love, and one of violence and organised crime. A genuinely fresh, exciting take on urban youth.


Here (and above) is the trailer.   

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No2: His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940): Riverside Studios Cinema, 6pm


Chicago Reader review:
Most of what Robert Altman has done with overlapping dialogue was done first by Howard Hawks in this 1940 comedy, without the benefit of Dolby stereo. (The film, in fact, often circulates in extremely poor public-domain prints that smother the glories of Hawks's sound track.) It isn't a matter of speed but of placement—the dialogue almost seems to have levels in space. Hawks's great insight—taking the Hecht-MacArthur Front Page and making the Hildy Johnson character a woman—has been justly celebrated; it deepens the comedy in remarkable ways. Cary Grant's performance is truly virtuoso—stunning technique applied to the most challenging material. With Rosalind Russell and Ralph Bellamy, a genius in his way too.
Dave Kehr

Here is the trailer.

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