From January 9th through 20th, with repeat screenings through January 31st, Casa del Cinema will present the film series titled “Il cinema in una stanza” – Cinema in a Room – a series of twelve films in which the space of the film, often limited to a single space, becomes the star of the story, at times an intimate and friendly space, at others anguishing and claustrophobic, but always capable of influencing the psyche and behaviour of the main characters.
The cycle of screenings will be inaugurated on Thursday January 9th at 6 pm, by The Big Chill by Lawrence Kasdan, the film-symbol of an entire generation, about a group of college friends who gather in an isolated home in Michigan to commemorate the death of one of their friends. On the same day at 8 pm, the screening will feature The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari by Robert Wiene, a milestone in silent film and expressionism, one of the most influential films in the history of cinema.
On Friday January 10th at 6 pm, audiences are invited to see Gruppo di famiglia in un interno (Conversation Piece), the penultimate film by Luchino Visconti, which started with considerations about the fragility of bonds and the conflict between generations to become a lucid analysis of the decadence of society and culture. It will be followed at 8 pm by Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, the debut film that showcased the talent of one of the most important directors of the past thirty years.
On Sunday January 12th at 11 am, the screening will feature Lifeboat by Alfred Hitchcock which masterfully exploits a restricted isolated set to create growing tension. On Monday January 13th at 8 pm, there will be screening of Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece in which the real protagonist is the hotel, its labyrinth, its hallways, its sudden and shifting presences.
The next day, at 8 pm, the featured film will be The Dreamers by Bernardo Bertolucci, a heart-rending reflection on the evanescent boundaries between Eros, Art and Politics, while on Wednesday January 15th at 8 pm, the programme presents Panic Room by David Fincher, who showed great clarity in anticipating the fears and sense of vulnerability of the digital civilisation.
On Thursday January 16th at 6 pm, the screening will feature Carnage by Roman Polanski, inspired by the play “God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza to build a masterful psychological duel that unmasks the fragility of social conventions.
On Saturday January 18th at 6 pm, there will be a screening of Russian Ark, the masterpiece by Aleksandr Sokurov filmed in a one-take single sequence shot, a journey through centuries of history to convey the profound soul of Russian culture.
The series will conclude with the screenings of Gravity by Alfonso Cuarón (Sunday January 19th at 6 pm), which is based on a brilliant paradox, creating an increasingly claustrophobic atmosphere inside an infinite cosmic space, and Taxi Teheran by Jafar Panahi: the director, at the wheel of a taxi, films the secrets that the passengers confide to him, which portray the inequalities and contradictions of Iranian societies.