Monday, June 6, 2011

Malick Films In Exclusive Screenings This Week

The Philadelphia Film Society and Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design presents a two-day retrospective of the films by Terrence Malick, in anticipation of the Philadelphia Premiere of Malick’s new feature, The Tree of Life on June 10.

This three film retrospective, made possible thanks to Fox Searchlight Pictures, takes a rare look at Malick’s past cinematic masterpieces, returning his most critically-acclaimed films to the big screen. The retrospective begins on Wednesday, June 8th with a double feature of Days of Heaven at 7pm followed by Badlands at 9pm. The Thin Red Line, the film that granted Malick Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Writing, will screen on Thursday, June 9th at 7pm.

All screenings will be held at the Mandell Theater at Drexel University, located at the corner of 33rd and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia. Admission is FREE with a suggested donation of $5 to the Philadelphia Film Society in support of the upcoming 20th Philadelphia Film Festival in October.

About the Films:

Days of Heaven is a 1978 American romantic drama. Set in the early 20th century, it tells the story of two poor lovers, Bill and Abby, as they travel to the Texas Panhandle to harvest crops for a wealthy farmer. Bill encourages Abby to claim the fortune of the dying farmer by tricking him into a false marriage. This results in an unstable love triangle and a series of unfortunate events. Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. (Wednesday, June 8; 7pm.)

Badlands is a dramatization of the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of the 1950's, in which a teenage girl and her twenty-something boyfriend slaughtered her entire family and several others in the Dakota badlands. Starring Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates and Ramon Bieri. (Wednesday, June 8; 9pm.)

The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American war film which tells a fictional story of United States forces during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II. It portrays men in C Company, and in particular, those soldiers played by Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, and Ben Chaplin. (Thursday, June 9; 7pm)

The Tree of Life is the impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, though the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tried to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Through Malick’s signature imagery, we see how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as individuals and families, but all life.. Also starring Jessica Chastain. (Premieres in Philadelphia on June 10th) The Philadelphia Film Society is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization that values film as a unique form of artistic expression and as a reflection of cultural, social, and economic diversity. It is the mission of the Philadelphia Film Society to promote film as a powerful means for strengthening community education, understanding, and engagement.

PFS achieves its mission through various year-round film events, including the annual Philadelphia Film Festival, scheduled for October 13-23, 2011, the Philadelphia Film Festival Spring Preview, and the three screening series, filmadelphiaCLASSICS, filmadelphiaDOCUMENTARY, and filmadelphiaINDEPENDENT, which serve to extend the Philadelphia Film Festival throughout the year.

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