SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our PASSPORT TO NOIR Series, Thursday, November 17, 2022
LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021
*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the building. Make a right on Wilson Street, then a right behind the building. We’re the first set of black steps after the big gate.
7:30pm MANILA IN THE CLAWS OF LIGHT (1975, dir. Lino Brocka, Janus, Philippines, 125mns, DCP)
9:30pm CYCLO (1995, dir. Trần Anh Hùng, Vietnam, 123mns, *35mm being sought with DCP backup if necessary)
Our Passport to Noir series examines several world cinema classics that embrace the tropes, devices, atmosphere of noir to communicate the struggles, dilemmas, trials, and tribulations of countries, oppressed groups of peoples.
Tonight we’re proud to screen a stunning double bill from the Philippines and Vietnam respectively.
The Noir genre often expresses the frustrations of people struggling to assert their free will amidst much larger forces that threaten to derail their dreams, ambitions, hopes. This is powerfully communicated tonight.
First up is one of Filipino master filmmaker Lino Brocka’s masterpieces Manila in the Claws of Light. It tells the story of young Julio who comes from the country to the big city of Manila to find out what has happened to his girlfriend and lover Ligaya. As Julio roams the city on his search, he soon finds that Ligaya’s story is more heart breaking and painful than could be imagined. When they are finally reunited, the truth of the city, what people do to other people, and the destructive forces that run through destructive people all come to light.
Brocka, more than almost any other Filipino filmmaker, was able to smuggle in truth and pain about life under the Marcos dictatorship, by cloaking his movies in melodrama. Thus his commentary and incisive observation at first appears to be soap opera but very quickly reveals itself to be social critique just like Douglas Sirk and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Manila is one of the Crown Jewels of 1970’s world cinema.
We follow it with one of the powerhouse movies of the 1990’s, Tran Anh Hung’s 1995 Cyclo. A noirish and ultra-stylish variation of Bicycle Thieves, Cyclo finds a young man forced to work as a Cyclo (a driver who transports people in a carriage powered by a bicycle) because of poverty and external forces.
Meanwhile his older sister gets involved with a gangster/poet (played by Wong Kar Wai favorite Tony Leung!) who only further complicates the fate of the family.
Mostly taking place during the electric, neon drenched, phantasmagoric Ho Chi Minh City nights, Cyclo is a cinematically stunning and punk rock look at a society trying to move past forty years of unrelieved war and violence.
These are two incredible movies that use noir in stunning and expressive ways. Join us and be inspired!
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REFUNDS:
We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.
However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:
We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.
There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.
HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?
You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm
You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at community@secretmovieclub.com and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.
HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.