AFS Essential: GIRL WITH GREEN EYES

Rated NR; 91min; Director:Desmond Davis (1964)

All tickets to AFS events available at the AFS Website

AFS ESSENTIAL CINEMA SERIES: Blokes ‘n’ Birds: British Realist Cinema
TUESDAYS IN SEPTEMBER AT THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE SOUTH LAMAR

By the mid-1950s Britain finally seemed to be on an economic rebound from over two decades of deprivation caused by the Great Depression, World War II, and the immediate postwar period of continued shortages. Despite this admirable recovery, young artists were dissatisfied with the state of British culture. Writers, actors, directors, and artists railed against materialism, the rigid class system, and social issues such as racism, abortion, and homosexuality. Social realism provided a style and look, distantly akin to Italian neo-realism of the late ‘40s, French poetic realism of the ‘30s, and American postwar documentary-style narratives set in New York City tenements. Disparagingly described as “kitchen sink realism,” some British paintings, plays, and novels had begun to examine the lives of working class “blokes and birds,” young men and women with dreams or full of rage at the inequities of society. John Osborne’s play, LOOK BACK IN ANGER (1956), set the stage for a powerful body of work in literature, in the theater, and finally on the screen. Some of the finest British film directors of the ‘60s and ‘70s started in the realist style – Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson, John Schlesinger, and Basil Dearden. The talented monsters of the British (and later American) stage and screen exploded out of these kitchen sink dramas – Richard Burton, Albert Finney, Dirk Bogarde, Peter Finch, and Michael Caine. Even though the classic “kitchen sink” cinema lasted only about seven years, the British realist torch was picked up and carried even farther by Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, both of whom continue to create powerful films unafraid of current social problems. This Austin Film Society series will present six of the great British Realist films of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. (Chale Nafus, Austin Film Society)

GIRL WITH GREEN EYES
Director Desmond Davis was a protege of Tony Richardson and like Richardson had an eye for unusual framing and visual experimentation. Fortunately he also had the sense to let actors act and give them the space they need. Peter Finch is as good as he’s ever been as a middle aged writer who finds inspiration and occasional frustration at the hands of shop girl roommates Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave (talk about opposites!). This is an acting tour de force from three of the best, and most varied, British film actors and Davis does a beautiful job of handling the subtleties of the characters’ interactions.

Location: Alamo South Lamar

Kid Policy: 18 and up; Children 6 and up will be allowed only with a parent or guardian. No children under the age of 6 will be allowed.

Screenings (click on a show time to buy tickets):

• Tuesday, September 11, 2007
  • 7:00p