Rather than throw your money away on one of the American Hollywood blockbusters coming out in waves as the summer moves along, Ira Jaffe suggests an alternate route. Show up tomorrow to room 122 of Northrop Hall and see excerpts from some of the best films in the world for free.
Jaffe, the chair of the Media Arts department at UNM, said that he is very excited to have the opportunity to present the work of Arturo Ripstein and Paz Alicia Garciadiego, one of the best known filmmakers in the world, particularly Europe.
Jaffe calls Ripstein, "an intelligent man and a very fine screenwriter."
Some of the credit that Ripstein receives is due to the large mental inheritance he got from his mentor, Luis Bunuel, a film director in earlier eras and a pioneer of the surrealist style that Ripstein works in.
In fact, Alex Cox who directed "Repo Man" and "Sid & Nancy" wrote in Film Comment, "If there is any filmmaker in the world who can be said to have inherited Bunuel's mantle, Ripstein is a prime candidate. For my money, Ripstein is one of the best and most interesting directors working today."
Ripstein is only one half of the equation, though, when it comes to his works. His wife, Paz Alicia Garciadiego, also contributes. The pair resides in Mexico where most of their movies are set including the three that will be screened on Friday night.
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"Deep Crimson," the most recent movie they will discuss, is based on the legend of the honeymoon killers and was featured at the New York Film Festival. Jaffe said that the film is "typical of his works, in that Ripstein works strongly in the surrealistic style as well as adding many tragicomic touches."
"It seems grotesque," he said. "Then you get into its system and it becomes more and more credible and more and more powerful."
Another film that will be discussed is "The Realm of Fortune," the film that marked the beginning of the collaboration between Ripstein and Garciadiego. The movie centers on the concept of fate and destiny and involves gambling heavily.
Jaffe said this movie "inexorably moves toward doom, although it does so with much style and comedy on its way." The film was made in 1985 and maybe the most renowned of Ripstein's movies.
Finally, "Place Without Limits" is the third movie that Ripstein will screen and discuss. Jaffe says that the film is mainly concerned with life in and around a brothel. The main character is a father and a protector as well as a transvestite and a dancer.
Once again, surrealism figures in and is a huge part of the plot.
All three of the movies sound deeply intriguing. And, though the director lives in Mexico and makes his movies in Spanish, Jaffe says that the movies shouldn't be screened just in New Mexico either.
"I approach film as a great art form," he said. "I think that regardless of location or ethnic background, we should be eager to see interesting new films, no matter who has made them."
The shows begin at 7 p.m. and admission is free. It is a rare occasion to see the director in person and have him explain why the camera was held at the particular angle that it was or why a certain line of dialogue was favored over another.
If nothing else, it is an opportunity to see great films of the world that we in America may not have the chance to see otherwise.
