film

BRATTLE THEATER

40 BRATTLE ST., (617) 876-6837

METROPOLIS. Director Rin Taro worked with Osamu Tezuka to adapt Tezuka’s 1949 manga, a riff on Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent sci-fi classic. This adaptation is an anime film that follows Kenichi (Kei Kobayashi) and his uncle, Shunsaku Ban (Kousei Tomita), in a futuristic city in which robots do most of the work, but must live underground. Shunsaku is a detective on the trail of a fugitive who is creating a robot named Tima (Yuka Imoto), but soon Kenichi and Tima are on the run together. Since Tima is unaware of her purpose, the plot becomes complicated. The animation is much more fluid than most anime coming out of Japan today. Metropolis screens Tuesday, August 5 at 5:15 and 9:30 p.m. (MCH)

HIGH NOON. Part of the Brattle’s “Films of the ’50s” series, High Noon (1952) is a classic Western justice film directed by Fred Zinnemann. Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) is ready to retire and leave town to spend the rest of his life with his wife Amy (Grace Kelly). But Kane’s intentions are delayed when he receives news that a deadly outlaw he sent to prison is due to arrive on the noon train. Everyone knows the outlaw has come to seek revenge on the sheriff, but all are too frightened to help him fight. Although John Wayne harshly criticized the film upon its release, it has since garnered acclaim and was remade in 2000. High Noon screens Monday, August 4 at 3:15 and 7:15 p.m. The 7:15 showing will be preceded with an introduction by Metrowest Daily critic Bob Tremblay. (MCH)

HIGH HOPES. The film, from the era of reemergent New British Cinema, was released in 1988 and directed by Bristish Independent filmmaker Mike Leigh. High Hopes follows the story of an English couple, Cyril (Philip Davis), a motorcycle messenger, and his wife Shriley (Ruth Sheen). The couple live with Cyril’s mother and become invoved in the sagas of his mother’s neighbors and his sister. Shirley yearns to be a mother, but Cyril, a Marxist, wants to live in a utopia and is reluctant to start a family. High Hopes screens Saturday, August 2 at 7:00 p.m. (MCH)

GHOST IN THE SHELL. The classic anime, directed by Mamoru Oshii (Patlabor, Beautiful Dreamer), tells the story of a super hacker—the Puppet Master—who is loose in cyberspace. The “ghost” is pursued through a futuristic metropolis by the cyborg cops of Section 9. Meanwhile, Major Motoko Kusanagi searches for her own humanity within her robotic body. Based on Masamune Shirow’s original manga, the anime is a must-see for Matrix fans—it served as direct inspiration for the Wachowski brothers. Ghost in the Shell screens Tuesday, August 5 at 3:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (HCO)

THE GOOD THIEF. The guardian of a young woman plans to steal rare paintings instead of cash. As an aging thief, the heist will be that last big crime he commits with his multicultural crew. Director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, The Butcher Boy) adds jazz undertones to this remake of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Bob Le Flambeur. The Good Thief screens Wednesday, August 6 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. (HCO)

RAISE THE RED LANTERN. Under an arranged marriage, Songlian (Gong Li) enters the residential compound of a wealthy Chinese man. She becomes caught amidst the scheming of his other wives, who live in separate houses and vie constantly for their husband’s attention. The exquisite film, directed by Zhang Yimou (Hero), offers a bleak view of upper-class family life in 1920s China. Raise the Red Lantern screens Thursday, August 7 at 7:15 p.m. (HCO)

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. The spaghetti western reached its pinnacle form in this classic directed by Sergio Leone.  Set in the war-torn American Midwest, the film follows three top notch gunslingers on their search for a lost treasure. The trouble is, they aren’t working together. Clint Eastwood, in a reprisal role from A Fistful of Dollars, plays the Good: a gruff silent type with at least a shred of principle. Eli Wallach plays the Bad, a cruel devil named Angel Eyes who’ll do anything to get his hands on the gold. Finally, Tuco is a wild-eyed bandito who’s Ugly any way you look at it.  With the trio—and the Civil War—the action approaches today’s Hollywood extravagance. Leone weaves a rich narrative tapestry together, combining gunfighting thrills, a witty script and a classic soundtrack. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly screens Friday, August 1 at 4:30 and 8 p.m. (EW)

HARVARD FILM ARCHIVE

24 QUINCY ST., (617) 495-4700

WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. Pedro Almodovar directs this comedy filled with all your favorite soap-opera twists. Pepa, who realizes that her lover Ivan is leaving her, goes on a gun rampage and drugs Ivan’s son’s fiancee with Valium-laced gazpacho. The plot complicates when her friend Candela falls in love with a Shiite terrorist and hides out at Pepa’s home. Then she meets Ivan’s son, Carlos (Antonio Banderas). The 1988 Spanish comedy, filmed in Madrid, is irresistible. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown screens Monday, August 4 at 9:30 p.m. and Tuesday, August 5 at 7 p.m. (HCO)

THE WOMEN. In George Cukor’s comedy on love and infidelity, a group kidnaps their friend Mary Haines to a ranch near Reno to convince her that revenge must be taken on Mary’s husband for having an affair with a shopgirl. The 1930s film, with its all-women’s cast, is rife with wicked humor, a sadistic person who loves to see a friend’s misfortune, and the female perspective on the war of the sexes. The Women screens Monday, August 4 at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, August 5 at 8:45 p.m. (HCO)

TRAILERS, TRAILERS, TRAILERS. The Harvard Film Archive has compiled a collection of 1,000 movie trailers from all time periods. Counter to prevailing opinion, reviews can be engaging, fun, artsy and sometimes even better than their representative movies. Obscure and outstanding alike are on show for a nostalgic treat.  Trailers, Trailers, Trailers screens Friday, August 1 at 7 p.m. (EW)

LOEWS HARVARD SQUARE