When you watch the Oscars you might get interested in documentaries, animations, shorts, or foreign films. You want to watch them, but sometimes they’re too obscure and you have to pay big money to order them on the web, wait for the video/DVD release, or ask your friend living in another country to mail it. Well, not any more. You can watch them right here in Boston.
The Brattle Theatre picks up films from all over the world; from the beginning of movie history to the current films of today. Recently, the theatre has shown Notre Musique (directed by Jean-Luc Godard), In the Realms of the Unreal (directed by Jessica Yu) and Dolls (directed by Takeshi Kitano). If you have an appreciation for films, you must have oh’ed by simply hearing these names.
The Brattle Theatre has been Boston’s unofficial film school since 1953, and it’s sponsored by the Brattle Film Foundation, a new non-profit organization formed to take over programming and operation of the theatre. So, the theatre is very small. It has only screening room, and the floor is flat. If you sit at the back of the room, the heads of the people in front will probably be in your way. And, because it’s a small theatre it can’t run the same film for weeks. One film runs for a week occasionally, but most of them are played for a couple of days, or for one day only.
So, what is so good about the theatre, huh? The film repertoire is, first of all, wonderful. Starting Friday, March 11, Martin Scorsese’s legendary 1980 masterpiece Raging Bull staring Robert De Niro, will be played for six days. Then Wilby Wonderful (2004) will be up for the following two days, with an appearance by director Daniel Macivor on the opening night.
If we take a look at the coming months, The Animation Show 2005 will start April 1. Two years ago, cult animators, Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge, of Beavis and Butthead fame, collaborated on a new road show featuring some of the best independent animation being made today. Their second traveling program, the show includes Bill Plympton’s Oscar nominated new short film, Guard Dog, a 3D animation about deranged army officers, Fallen Art (Poland), Hello (Australia) about an analog boy trying to find love in a digital world, a short film, Bunnies (Germany), and more.
It’s unfortunate that those films can run only for a week or less, but on the bright side we can see different, great films almost every day. For instance, during a week named Dark Side of the Sun: L. A. Noir, the theatre plays the best and most interesting crime films made in Los Angeles, and each day plays one or two different films. It’s guaranteed that you will be a regular at the theatre. Dark Side of the Sun will start at March 27. These films are usually not for sale or out of stock, and even if you could purchase them it would cost a lot, for they are often not sold for the individual consumer but groups. The Brattle Theatre costs only $9, or $7.50 with a student ID. Plus, all tickets admit you to a consecutive double bill on nights when the theatre plays two films. So, during the week of Dark Side of the Sun when they play two different films on the same day, you can watch them both with one ticket. Here, you don’t have to feel guilty about “sticking around” for the next picture. You can stay in the room, sit on a chair, relax, and wait for a different show. And, if you are certain you’ll watch more than six films here within a year (which is very possible), you can buy Brattle Discount Cards, which cost $42 and are good for six admissions.
The Brattle Theatre is located at 40 Brattle Street in Harvard Square and very close to a T stop. If you are going by a car, they offer a discounted parking ticket for University Place Garage and Charles Square Garage, and a wheelchair is fully accessible. You can buy snacks and drinks at the theatre. For more info, visit www.brattlefilm.org.