10/11/21 - 11/3/21 AUTEUR/VOYEUR: Through the Rear Window Starting on 11/2/21, all screenings in this series will require proof of vaccination for entry.
ABOUT THE SERIES For almost as long as there have been movies, there have been movies about voyeurs – perhaps because the very act of moviegoing itself, of peeking in on the dreams, desires, and experiences of others, is an act of voyeurism. It’s no surprise that many of the greatest filmmakers in the history of the medium have therefore sought to explicitly take on voyeurism as a subject in order to ask provocative questions about what it really means to watch and be watched, and how both voyeur and subject are altered by the act of watching. While filmmakers like Michelangelo Antonioni (BLOW-UP), Paul Schrader (AUTOFOCUS) and Brian DePalma (BLOW OUT, BODY DOUBLE) take on the act of moviemaking directly (following in the footsteps of the great Michael Powell, whose PEEPING TOM equates filmmaking with murder), other directors (Alfred Hitchcock with REAR WINDOW, David Lynch with LOST HIGHWAY and BLUE VELVET) examine the act of movie watching, exploring how we project our own anxieties onto the subjects of our gaze. Voyeurism can be a source of comedy (HI, MOM!, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH), social commentary (TAXI DRIVER, CACHÉ), or nerve-jangling horror (UNDER THE SKIN); it also allows for psychological suspense of unusual intensity thanks to the intimate relationship between filmmaker and audience that the subject encourages (THE VOYEURS, RED ROAD). To become fully immersed in the hypnotic power of voyeurism requires submitting to the power of the big screen, and the American Cinematheque is proud to present 80 years’ worth of classics at the Los Feliz 3, projected as they were meant to be seen. In addition to the aforementioned films, this series includes the 1949 film noir THE WINDOW, which laid the groundwork for many cinematic forays into voyeurism to come, as well as the films of international masters Krzysztof Kieślowski (RED) and Shinya Tsukamoto (A SNAKE OF JUNE). Program Notes by Jim Hemphill.