SIFF CLASSICS

Screening List：

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1928)

AN ANDALUSIAN DOG (1929)

PORT OF SHADOWS (1938)

SPRING IN A SMALL TOWN (1948)

ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS (1958)

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY(4K) (1968)

GREASE(4K) (1978)

SISSI (1955)

SISSI – THE YOUNG EMPRESS (1956) 

SISSI – FATEFUL YEARS OF AN EMPRESS (1957) 

Film Introduction

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER（1928）

Directed by: Jean Epstein

Screenplay: Luis Buñuel / Jean Epstein

Starring: Marguerite Gance / Jean Debucourt / Charles Lamy

A stranger called Allan goes to an inn and requests transportation to the House of Usher. The locals remain reluctant, but he gets a coach to transport him to the destination. He is the sole friend of Roderick Usher, who lives in the eerie house with his sick wife Madeleine Usher and her doctor. Madeleine is the beloved Muse and model and is being painted by Roderick, but every pose exhausts her. The portrait seems to be draining the life out of Madeleine, slowly leading to her death. When she dies, Roderick does not accept her death, and in a dark night, Madeleine returns.

AN ANDALUSIAN DOG（1929）

Directed by: Luis Buñuel

Written by: Salvador Dalí / Luis Buñuel

Starring: Simone Mareuil / Luis Buñuel / Salvador Dalí / Robert Hommet

Once upon a time, a man with a steady hand, one shave-ready straight razor, a woman compliant to the point of extreme submission, and her precious eyeball somehow mingles together. In the night sky above, the moon suffers a deep laceration from a slender cloud, and somewhere in a bourgeois living room, the festering bodies of two dead donkeys are dragged atop black grand pianos, while tireless ants scamper in a man's palm. Man's mouth is transformed into armpit hair - one of the most disquieting and hilarious images ever committed to celluloid. In the final scene, the romantic image of a happy couple cuts to an image of the same man and woman buried in the sand, the positions of their bodies and inclined heads produce reminiscent of Jean-François Millet's famous painting of 1859, The Angelus. Bizarre desires and perpetually appealing sexual frustrations define the setting.

PORT OF SHADOWS (1938)

Directed by: Marcel Carné

Written by: Jacques Prévert

Starring: Jean Gabin / Michel Simon / Michèle Morgan / Pierre Brasseur / Édouard Delmont

On a foggy night, Jean, an army deserter, catches a ride to the port city of Le Havre. Hoping to start over, Jean finds himself in a lonely bar where he meets Nelly, a 17-year-old girl who has run away from her godfather, Zabel, with whom she lives. Jean and Nelly spend time together over the following days, but they are often interrupted by Zabel, who is also in love with her, and by Lucien, a gangster who is looking for Nelly's ex-boyfriend, Maurice, who has recently gone missing. Jean gives Nelly courage to stand on her own feet. When Nelly finds out that her godfather killed Maurice out of jealousy, she uses the information to blackmail him and prevent him from telling the police that Jean is a deserter. Though the two are in love, Jean plans to leave on a ship for Venezuela. Can at least one of them be on it, or is that just a dream?

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY(4K) (1968)

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Written by: Stanley Kubrick / Arthur C. Clarke

Starring: Keir Dullea / Gary Lockwood / William Sylvester

Partially based on the short story The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY spans from the dawn of man to its title year. Director Stanley Kubrick redefined the limits of filmmaking in this classic science fiction masterpiece - a contemplation on the nature of humanity. Stone Age Earth: In the presence of a mysterious black obelisk, pre-humans discover the use of tools - and weapons - violently taking first steps toward intelligence. 1999: On Earth's moon, astronauts uncover another mysterious black obelisk. 2001: Between Earth and Jupiter, the spacecraft's intelligent computer makes a mistake that kills most of the human crew - then continues to kill to hide its error. Beyond Time: The sole survivor of the journey to Jupiter ascends to the next level of humanity.

GREASE(4K) (1978)

Directed by: Randal Kleiser

Written by: Bronte Woodard

Starring: John Travolta / Olivia Newton-John / Stockard Channing / Jeff Conaway / Barry Pearl

As teenagers Danny and Sandy frolic on the beach, Sandy laments that they may not see each other again when the summer holiday ends and she returns to Australia, but Danny insists that their romance is just beginning. Sometime later, on the first day back to class at Rydell High School, Danny brags about his beach lover to his friends in the “T-Bird” gang of boys, also known as “greasers”. Meanwhile, a group of tough girls called the “Pink Ladies” rejoice at their newfound authority as high school seniors. At lunch, Sandy’s friend, Frenchy, introduces Sandy to the Pink Ladies: Rizzo, Jan, and Marty. Sandy describes her virtuous summer romance to the girls and when she reveals the name of her lover, the girls giggle and Rizzo, who once dated Danny, declares that Sandy may discover her “Prince Charming” where she least expects him. What will happen to those two teenager groups? Will Danny and Sandy be able to rekindle their romance?

SISSI (1955)

Directed by: Ernst MARISCHKA

Starring: Romy SCHNEIDER/ Karlheinz BÖHM/ Magda SCHNEIDER/ Uta FRANZ/ Gustav KNUTH

Sissi, born in a Bavarian noble family, is a beautiful, carefree and impulsive girl. For the engagement ceremony between her older sister Helene and the young emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, she travels to Austria with her mother. The mischievous Sissi sneaks out for fishing, where by chance she meets Franz Joseph. Her smile touches Franz deeply. At the birthday celebration, Franz defies his mother's reservations and announces his betrothal to Sissi. Although the lovers are finally married, their relationship is soon to be tested.

SISSI – THE YOUNG EMPRESS (1956) 

Directed by: Ernst MARISCHKA

Starring: Romy SCHNEIDER/ Karlheinz BÖHM/ Magda SCHNEIDER/ Gustav KNUTH/ Vilma DEGISCHER

After the grand royal wedding in Vienna, Sissi slowly adapts to life as empress of Austria, but her mother-in-law is hard to live with. Archduchess Sophie requests his son to adhere to the long-established rules protocol and etiquette like herself. When Sissi's first child is born, Franz takes away the child from her to Sophie for raising, which is in line with the royal rules. The heartbroken Sissi returns to Bavaria alone. Franz feels guilty, following his wife back and convincing her to return to Austria. Sophie is then forced to consent to the reunion of mother and daughter. Later, Sissi accompanies Franz to visit a number of countries. They are warmly welcomed in Hungary, and crowned King and Queen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

SISSI – FATEFUL YEARS OF AN EMPRESS (1957) 

Directed by: Ernst MARISCHKA

Starring: Romy SCHNEIDER/ Karlheinz BÖHM/ Magda SCHNEIDER/ Gustav KNUTH/ Uta FRANZ

While dutiful Franz Josef remains at his desk, his strict, domineering mother Sophie interferes in the affairs of the state and even spreads the rumor about Sissi and Count Andrássy. When Sissi is diagnosed with severe tuberculosis, she has to be separated from her daughter again and sent to a remote island for convalescence. Helpless and lonely, she gradually recovers with her mother’s care, and later rejoins her husband on an official visit to northern Italy. The local people are hostile to the royal family. But when they witness the openly loving reunion between Sissi and her little daughter on St Mark's Square, the emotional Italians melt.