Film School · Essential Cinema

For our third year of Film School, we're stepping back from the national cinemas on which we've previously focused in order to present an overview of classic films that are vital to every well-rounded cinephile education—that is: "Essential Cinema." These films originate in multiple countries and decades, the key criteria being their unquestioned status as some of the most influential films ever made. They have maintained their popular and critical reputation throughout years of criticism, evolving taste, and countless innovations in the construction and consumption of filmic art. The opportunity to see them as originally intended—via crisp 35mm on the big screen—is one even serious home-theatre enthusiasts should know not to pass up.

Beyond the opportunity to screen some of cinema's greatest accomplishments, Film School is a unique and valuable chance to learn about what's going on behind the scenes—both technically and contextually. Each month, one film is screened twice: first on Thursday night, then again at Noon the following Saturday. The repeat screening is accompanied by a guest speaker who introduces the film (with an informative look at the director, the film's context, and its artistic merit) then hosts a discussion to explore ideas audience members may have developed during the screening. Talking with fellow cinephiles is certainly one of the most rewarding elements of theatrical movie-going, so the Cinematheque is proud to play host to such consideration of cinema as an art form.

Films in the Series
  • The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939) - CALGARY CINEMATHEQUE MOVIE POSTER
    Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game aka La règle du jeu (1939)

    At la Colinière, the deceptively idyllic country estate of a wealthy Parisian aristocrat, a selection of society's finest gather for a rural sojourn and shooting party; over the course of the weekend, all of their worst behaviors unmasked, this cream of the idle crop reveal themselves to be absurdly, almost primitively, cruel and vapid. It took decades for Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game …

  • The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939) - CALGARY CINEMATHEQUE MOVIE POSTER
    Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game aka La règle du jeu (1939)

    At la Colinière, the deceptively idyllic country estate of a wealthy Parisian aristocrat, a selection of society's finest gather for a rural sojourn and shooting party; over the course of the weekend, all of their worst behaviors unmasked, this cream of the idle crop reveal themselves to be absurdly, almost primitively, cruel and vapid. It took decades for Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game …

    w/ 'Film School' lecture & discussion
  • Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957) - CALGARY CINEMATHEQUE MOVIE POSTER
    Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries aka Smultronstället (1957)
    An archetypal Ingmar Bergman film, and one of his best.Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader, 2007

    One of Bergman's warmest, and therefore finest films, this concerns an elderly academic - grouchy, introverted, dried up emotionally - who makes a journey to collect a university award, and en route relives his past by means of dreams, imagination, and encounters with others. … It's filled with richly observed …

    w/ 'Film School' lecture & discussion
  • Belle de Jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967) - CALGARY CINEMATHEQUE MOVIE POSTER
    Luis Buñuel's Belle de Jour (1967)

    Catherine Deneuve's porcelain perfection hides a cracked interior in one of the actress's most iconic roles: Séverine, a Paris housewife who begins secretly spending her after­noon hours working in a bordello. This surreal and erotic late-sixties daydream from provocateur for the ages Luis Buñuel is an examination of desire and fetishistic pleasure (its characters' and its viewers'), …

    w/ 'Film School' lecture & discussion
  • Mamma Roma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962) - CALGARY CINEMATHEQUE MOVIE POSTER
    Pier Paolo Pasolini's Mamma Roma (1962)
    Anna Magnani stars as Mamma Roma, a rural Italian hooker trying to create a new life for herself. This proves impossible when the past keeps rearing its ugly head in the form of Mamma Rosa's previous "johns." She returns to her old profession, whereupon her son Ettore Garofalo becomes a thief and is killed by the police. Written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini (his second film), Mamma Roma is …
    w/ 'Film School' lecture & discussion
  • Lola (R.W. Fassbinder, 1981) - CALGARY CINEMATHEQUE MOVIE POSTER
    R.W. Fassbinder's Lola (1981)
    Part of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Entire History of the German Federal Republic trilogy, Lola stars Barbara Sukowa in the title role, a seductive cabaret singer and dancer in the 1950s who is romantically involved with Von Bohm (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a straight-as-an-arrow building inspector. Recently appointed Building Commissioner, Von Bohm is committed to eradicating corruption. Consequently, …
    w/ 'Film School' lecture & discussion
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