In addition to D.C.'s variety of traditional movie theaters, there are numerous alternative venues where one can tantalize the cinematic senses, and often for free. From the Library of Congress to the American City Diner in Cleveland Park, several atypical D.C. locales are extending the boundaries of the city's film scene.
The Library of Congress will screen director Karel Reisz's intricate relationship drama, "The French Lieutenant's Woman," which accounts the tumultuous 19th century love affair between an astute English biologist and a melancholy loner, played by Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep respectively. Reisz is regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers in post-war Britain and is often attributed to the late 1950s and early 1960s British New Wave, a movement noted for its fusion of traditional film narrative with cinéma vérité stylistic elements.
Along with such colleagues as Lindsay Anderson, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti, Reisz co-founded the British Free Cinema movement, in which the directors compiled a program of free screenings - free in both the artistic and monetary sense - of short films at the National Film Theatre in London. The screened films were groundbreaking for their time and challenged the British film industry with gusto, offering an avant-garde combination of social realism themes and gritty, naturalistic aesthetic measures. Along with the screenings, the aforementioned directors ran the short-lived yet influential film journal, Sequence, which operated under the manifesto that "no film can be too personal."
Over 50 years later, Reisz's "free film" tradition will surface once again at the Library of Congress, which has recently been showcasing classic films all summer long, including such recent screenings of Elia Kazan's "The Last Tycoon" and Howard Hawks' "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." The screening of "The French Lieutenant's Woman" will be held in the Pickford Theater on the third floor of the James Madison building. Although the events are free, reservations are strongly recommended, as most of the theaters hosting the screenings are typically limited to 60 seats. Reservations can be made via phone from one week before up until 10 minutes before the show, all of which begin at 7 p.m. sharp.
Other films screenings on the horizon include John Herzfeld's Los Angeles crime drama "2 Days in the Valley" on Sept. 23 and Richard Lester's scam artist comedy "Finders Keepers" on Sept. 19.
If mainstream classics are more to your liking, the American City Diner and Cinema Café hosts free screenings of more popular classics every day at 8:30 p.m. for free. With burgers, fries, milkshakes and a movie under one roof, the American City Diner and Cinema Café offers patrons a unique and convenient 1950s throwback dinner-and-a-movie outing. This week, the Diner will screen "The Bad Seed," "The Last Picture Show," "Bonnie and Clyde," "Deliverance" and "High Noon."
With weekend movie ticket prices hitting the $10 mark, catching a classic for free at the Library of Congress and the American City Diner and Cinema Café is a refreshing and thriftier alternative.
You can reach this staff writer at dsheldon@theeagleonline.com.
