Cinecitta is celebrating and of course it has to be big!
Cinecitta is celebrating and it promises to be grand! Cinecitta reopened in 2014 after a huge renovation and reconstruction that lasted nearly two years. We want to celebrate this lustrum in August with many events focused on film, food, and experiences. One of the many specials is a retrospective of possibly the most interesting director of the moment: Yorgos Lanthimos.
Due to the festive month, tickets will be available for half price.
Yorgos Lanthimos retrospective
In the exact same year that Cinecitta reopened its doors, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos was working on his first English-language film, The Lobster. What no one could have imagined at the time was that the unconventional Lanthimos would later become one of the greatest directors of today. To celebrate the director’s oeuvre, six of his films will be shown at Cinecitta throughout the entire month of August. From his early work (when his films were still described as part of The Greek Weird Wave Cinema) to his latest film, Kinds of Kindness (which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival).
Kinds of Kindness – Twice a day, every day!
Yorgos Lanthimos is back after Poor Things with an absurd and darkly comic triptych, seemingly returning to his earlier work. Once again, Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe will take on the lead roles. Lanthimos didn’t keep us waiting long, as barely three weeks after Poor Things won four Oscars, the first trailer for his latest film, Kinds of Kindness, appeared.
Kinds of Kindness is a three-part myth about a man trying to gain control over his own life; a police officer who is alarmed that his missing wife has returned and seems to be a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific individual with a special gift, destined to become a miraculous spiritual leader.
Dogtooth – Wednesday, July 31 at 7:00 PM and Saturday, August 3 at 9:00 PM
Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning. Hence ’the sea’ refers to a large armchair and ‘zombies’ are little yellow flowers. Having invented a brother whom they claim to have ostracized for his disobedience, the uber-controlling parents terrorize their offspring into submission.
The black comedy Dogtooth was awarded the Prix Un Certain Regard at its premiere in Cannes in 2009.
The Lobster – Wednesday, August 7 at 7:00 PM and Saturday, August 10 at 9:00 PM
The story takes place in a dystopian future where single people are arrested and transferred to a creepy hotel. There, they are obliged to find a suitable partner within 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choice and released into the woods. The only good news is that they can at least choose which animal they will become. The protagonist, David, chooses the lobster because he loves the sea. Soon, it becomes clear that there is an underground movement led by Léa Seydoux opposing the dictatorship of pairing.
Lanthimos’ first English-language film won the Jury Prize at Cannes.
Killing of a Sacred Deer – Wednesday, August 14th at 7:00 PM and Saturday, August 17th at 9:00 PM.
Thanks to its distinctive disturbing humor and underlying tension, Lanthimos surprised everyone with this devastating revenge thriller during its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Steven (Colin Farrell) is a charismatic and brilliant surgeon who takes a young teenager under his wing. Initially, this young man integrates into Steven’s family life and slowly disrupts their daily routine. However, things become increasingly disturbing and menacing. There is only one possible outcome: an unthinkable sacrifice.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the second English-language film by Greek director Lanthimos and is a curious blend of absurdism, arthouse, and horror that never ceases to captivate.
The Favourite – Wednesday, August 21st at 7:00 PM and Saturday, August 23rd at 9:00 PM.
England, early eighteenth century. At the center is the relationship between Queen Anne and her confidante, advisor, and lover Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough. Their lives are forever changed with the arrival of Sarah’s younger cousin Abigail. Soon, dynamics between the women shift as they vie for influence over the queen and the palace.
Everything in this film is spot on. From the razor-sharp dialogues to the unusual camera angles and the extravagantly directed scenes by Greek master Lanthimos. Lanthimos stretches the traditional boundaries of costume drama in this film, creating a new genre. The film was nominated for a staggering ten Oscars.
Poor Things – Wednesday, August 28th at 7:00 PM and Saturday, August 31st at 9:00 PM.
This delightful, absurdly crafted fairy tale by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is reminiscent of the story of Frankenstein. In Poor Things, we follow scientist Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) who implants a baby’s brain into the head of a recently deceased woman (Emma Stone). The result is someone who is physically an adult but mentally a child. What happens when someone who is disarmingly honest, sees life through a childlike perspective, and has no inhibitions ventures out into the world?
Poor Things is based on the novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray. The brilliant Lanthimos adapted it into an unparalleled coming-of-age film. The movie was nominated for a staggering eleven Oscars and ultimately won four, including the Oscar for Best Actress for Emma Stone.
