Posted by Larry Gleeson
The long-awaited return of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s (SBIFF) Showcase Film Series is upon us. Here’s what leading outlets have to say about the opening film at the newly retrofitted Lynda and Bruce’s (named for recently named SBIFF Board President and founder of festival sponsor Lynda.com, Lynda Weinman and her husband, Bruce Heavin, co-founder of Lynda.com) Riviera Theater, LE TROU:
“THROBS WITH EXCITEMENT AND SUSPENSE!”
The New York Times
“TAUT, BONE-BARE, AGONIZINGLY SUSPENSEFUL AND FLAWLESSLY ACTED!”
TIME
The Lynda and Bruce’s Riviera Theater features new seating and state-of-the-art Dolby sound and projection. A newly designed concession stand will be offering designer-made candies, fresh popcorn and a variety of sundries. And if that isn’t already enough, here comes LE TROU, a 1960 classic film, where four men in La Santé Prison, staring down the barrel at hard time, decide to execute a prison break and are forced to bring on a fifth member, Claude Gaspard (Marc Michel), when he is assigned to their cell. The particulars of the escape, based on actual events, are rendered in painstaking detail as the five men dream of freedom.
*To note, today is the “soft opening” of Lynda and Bruce’s Riviera Theater. Nevertheless, what a “soft opening” film!
Get Tickets Here
Screening:
Friday, September 8 – 14
LE TROU
Directed by Jacques Becker
Written by Jacques Becker, José Giovanni, Jean Aurel
Starring Marc Michel, Raymond Meunier, Jean Keraudy, Michel Constantin, Philippe Leroy
Country of Origin: France/Italy
Language: French with English subtitles
Running Time: 132 minutes
See you there!
(Media materials provided by sbiff.org)
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) announced its 3rd Weekend featuring Festival highlights for FREE!
“R100” (The title is itself a play on the Japanese movie ratings R-15 and R-18) is an almost early-Woody Allen-esque comedy (think “Without Feathers” era or “What’s Up, Tigher Lilly?”) about Takafumi Katayama (Nao Ohmori, the star of “Ichi The Killer” fame) whose life has gone a bit pear-shaped. His department store job is mindless, his father-in-law is helping Katayama raise his young son while his wife is in a coma in the hospital and things are just looking kind of rough for the guy (the color palette for much of the film is all browns, tans and neutrals, washed out and quite 70’s looking in spots).