Film Appreciation
Benito Rakower, Ed.D., was educated at Queens College and Harvard University, where he received a doctorate in the teaching of English. Dr. Rakower taught writing at Harvard College, and has lectured on film at the French Library in Boston.
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A New Golden Age
Six 21st Century Films
Film-making has changed in two ways. Technique has
created a reality that goes far beyond the familiar world.
The portrayal of women has been radically enlarged to
challenge almost everything men have written about
them. The result has introduced a dramatic context of
unprecedented confrontation and individualism. This is
interesting because the actual society has become more
patterned and social discourse less intelligent. Films
now provide fresh thinking about the human condition.
Each film will be preceded by film-notes and a brief
lecture. A discussion session follows each film showing.
Film listing and schedule are subject to change.
Six Lectures
- “Ingrid Goes West” (2017, U.S.) - Serious, intelligent, raw and funny. A comedy that
depicts the deforming and character-destroying effects
of social media addictions. Excellent acting.
- “A Quiet Passion” (2016, U.K.) - This visually gorgeous film presents the life of Emily
Dickenson, one of America’s greatest poets. For
Dickenson and 19th century American literature, the
mind and the spirit were the true place of discovery
and greatness.
- “Before the devil knows You’re Dead” (2007, U.S.) - Any film with Seymour Hoffman is worth watching,
this one particularly. A taut heist-gone-wrong film that
probes the fragility of family in a nation governed by
money as the supreme standard.
- “Someone Like You” (2001, U.S.) - The actors are simply entertaining to look at. Ashley
Judd plays a T.V. producer dropped by her boyfriend.
She devises a ruse that makes her a media sensation
with new possibilities and romantic problems.
- “Away From Her” (2006, Canada) - Julie Christie, indomitably beautiful and wise, in a great
and glowing film about a retired, idyllically married
couple. One of them begins to fail. A film about what it
means to have been happy and loved.
- “Lady Bird” (2017, U.S.) - The superbly fierce independence of an adolescent girl
is presented in a context of flawless earnestness and
comedy. This film refracts the novel “Catcher in the
Rye” through a girl’s perception of the world’s idiocy.
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Course # S6F5 — Full 6 Weeks
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Place: | Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
Dates: | Fridays, March 22, 29; April 5, 12, 19, 26 2019 |
Time: | 1:45 - 4:15 PM |
Fee: | $60 / member; $85 / non-member |
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Register Now
A New Golden Age (First Four Weeks Only)
Six 21st Century Films
Film-making has changed in two ways. Technique has
created a reality that goes far beyond the familiar world.
The portrayal of women has been radically enlarged to
challenge almost everything men have written about
them. The result has introduced a dramatic context of
unprecedented confrontation and individualism. This is
interesting because the actual society has become more
patterned and social discourse less intelligent. Films
now provide fresh thinking about the human condition.
Each film will be preceded by film-notes and a brief
lecture. A discussion session follows each film showing.
Film listing and schedule are subject to change.
Four Lectures
- “Ingrid Goes West” (2017, U.S.) - Serious, intelligent, raw and funny. A comedy that
depicts the deforming and character-destroying effects
of social media addictions. Excellent acting.
- “A Quiet Passion” (2016, U.K.) - This visually gorgeous film presents the life of Emily
Dickenson, one of America’s greatest poets. For
Dickenson and 19th century American literature, the
mind and the spirit were the true place of discovery
and greatness.
- “Before the devil knows You’re Dead” (2007, U.S.) - Any film with Seymour Hoffman is worth watching,
this one particularly. A taut heist-gone-wrong film that
probes the fragility of family in a nation governed by
money as the supreme standard.
- “Someone Like You” (2001, U.S.) - The actors are simply entertaining to look at. Ashley
Judd plays a T.V. producer dropped by her boyfriend.
She devises a ruse that makes her a media sensation
with new possibilities and romantic problems.
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Course # S4F6 — First 4 Weeks
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Place: | Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
Dates: | Fridays, March 22, 29; April 5, 12 2019 |
Time: | 1:45 - 4:15 PM |
Fee: | $40 / member; $60 / non-member |
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Register Now
The Sense of the Ridiculous in Film
Six Excursions into Hilarity
Charlie Chaplain’s unsurpassed sense of the ridiculous
made film the universal art of the Modern Era. These six
films trace the progression from the seemingly ordinary
to the preposterous, the ridiculous and the hilarious.
Films of this sort are difficult to make because they
require a blend of childish naïveté and perfect timing.
When they succeed, the effect is uncontrollable laughter.
What these six films reveal is that comedy is truly the
sublime art because it bestows happiness, heals and
keeps us from the perils of egotism.
Film selection and order of presentation are subject to change.
Six Lectures
- “Kind Hearts and Coronets” (1949, U.K.) - A classic British film that surveys the ruthless snobbery
of the aristocracy penetrated and undone by an outsider.
- “The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe” (1972, France) - A musician returning to Paris by plane after
a concert is absent-mindedly wearing one brown and
one black shoe. The French secret service takes an
interest in this anomaly.
- “Sleeper” (1973, U.S.) - The owner of “The Happy Carrot” health food store
(Woody Allen) falls asleep for 200 years. When he
awakens, bafflement and idiocy rule.
- “Naked Gun” (1988, U.S.) - An incompetent detective (Leslie Nielsen) reveals
almost every aspect of American social reality to be one
step away from absurdity and chaos. A clear example
example of endemic stupidity.
- “That Man From Rio” (1964, France/U.S., English Subtitles) - An exorbitantly creative foray into the
intrigues end exoticism of South America. The source of
the “Indiana Jones” films and hidden treasure.
- “The Life of Brian” (1979, U.K.) - This incredibly funny, yet highly intelligent film, is a
brilliant satire on the Hollywood Bible Epic genre. It
describes the life and career of a man born in another
manger who is mistaken for the Messiah. The cleverness
of the film combines comedy with a penetrating insight
into religious zeal.
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Course # SUR1 — Full 6 Weeks
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Place: | Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
Dates: | Thursdays, May 16, 23, 30; June 6, 13, 20 2019 |
Time: | 1 - 3:30 PM |
Fee: | $60 / member; $85 / non-member |
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Register Now