Chicago Film Discussion Group

One of the standout films at the Cannes festival this year was "Nouvelle Vague" from Richard Linklater ("Boyhood", "Before Sunrise"), about the making of the groundbreaking 1960 French New Wave film, "Breathless" from Jean-Luc Godard. Now the Siskel Film Center is providing a golden cinematic experience by showing each film and preceding it by a lecture from Northwestern professor Nick Davis! Davis' lectures have been phenomenally illuminating on previous topics, from Romanian films to Asian-American romance to August Wilson adaptations, so it's certain he'll provide a wonderful examination of the similarities and distinctions of two remarkable films from two remarkable filmmakers!

Tickets go on sale for the films on Friday 9/26 (we'll send out a notification for when they're officially available). Tickets are $25 for each movie, while the lecture is FREE. You can register for the lecture and get tickets for each film via:

Nick Davis Lecture (10:30-11:30): https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/event/diggingdeeper-nouvellevague/

"Breathless" (12:00-1:45): https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/breatheless/

"Nouvelle Vague" (2:30-4:15): https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/nouellevague/

Afterwards we'll head to the Emerald Tap on 216 N. Wabash to talk about the films and Davis' insights about them. (If you want to join in the discussion without starting the event so early, you're welcome to catch "Breathless" on your own beforehand and catch the group at the "Nouvelle Vague" screening).

Jia Zhang-Ke makes epics. His films are both technically audacious and deal with human stories on a grand scale. His themes may be universal, but his subject is very specifically the history and cultural evolution of modern China. Works like "Platform", "Still Life", "A Touch of Sin" and others explore the lives of ordinary people navigating the tensions between tradition and modern world, between rural and urban life. Others like "The World" and "Caught by the Tides" are particularly interested in China’s place in the new millennium.

We’ve scheduled our November discussion of Jia Zhang-Ke further in advance to give us time to explore films that may be long and culturally specific but are that much more rewarding and among the most acclaimed in Chinese cinema. We'll be looking at 8 films, all of which are on the Criterion Channel and the first four will be 'made available' for people to view:

(Key: Z = Amazon, A = AppleTV, L = Library rental, K = Kanopy, F = Fandango at Home )

"Platform" 2002 ( L ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNqr030-65w
"Unknown Pleasures" 2002
"The World" 2004 ( L )
"Still Life" 2006 ( A L F ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kIWx0e_VKQ
"Touch of Sin" 2013 ( A K F )
"Mountains May Depart" 2015 ( Z A K F )
"Ash Is Purest White" 2018 ( Z A K F )
"Caught By The Tides" 2024 ( Z A F )

NOTE: "Caught By The Tides" is a unique work in that it's partly a 'remix' using scenes from several of his earlier movies. Whether you'd like to see the earlier movies before "Tides" or view them in light with how they appear in seeing "Tides" first is up to you.