Purple Rain: Terror Beyond Belief Friday January 27, 7:30 pm at Spectacle: $5 always
Ok, so I might be outing myself as a giant lame by admitting this but, until I came across this mind-blowing feature presentation, I had no idea that “détournement” is actually, like, its own thing. Basically, that’s just a fancy word for (re)appropriated movies that have been drastically altered and yet retain some of the original characteristics of their source films which tend to be instantly recognizable classics. The result is a chunky, weird-tasting at first, but then loveably gritty combination of parody/homage, familiar/totally alien, nostalgic/apocalyptic– or post-modern upchuck that could trick your grandma and scare the kids. In other words, it’s very punk.
We’re a lucky, lucky bunch to live in a city where we’re at the wellspring of new film and the source of cinematic reconsideration, where grind-house becomes art-house and a dum-dum boy can be made into a bandana-wearing teddy bear genius. See all that and more this week and beyond.
This Oscar-winning crime caper follows the trail of a top cop (Gian Maria Volonte) who kills his mistress (Florinda Bolkan), then tests whether he’ll be charged with the crime. The corruption-riddled and flashback-strewn satire is a suspenseful, angry examination of systematic misconduct and impunity for those in power. The screening is part of “The Italian Connection: Poliziotteschi and Other Crime Films of the 1960s and 70s,” a series focusing on Italy’s noir-ish urban cop flicks of that era.
