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“The Phantom Carriage,” a rarely seen, 1921 silent film, will open the Buffalo Film Seminars on Jan. 17.

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  The Public Enemy, 1931

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  King Kong, 1933

By SUE WUETCHER

Published: January 12, 2012

“King Kong” and “12 Angry Men” are among the classic films that will be screened during the spring 2012 edition of the Buffalo Film Seminars, the popular, semester-long series of film screenings and discussions hosted by UB faculty members Diane Christian and Bruce Jackson.

Each screening will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 17, in the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. in downtown Buffalo.

There is no screening on March 13 during spring break.

Christian, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of English, and Jackson, SUNY Distinguished Professor and James Agee Professor of American Culture in the Department of English, will introduce each film. Following a short break at the end of each film, they will lead a discussion of the film.

The screenings are part of “Film Directors” (Eng 438), an undergraduate course being taught by the pair. Students enrolled in the course are admitted free; others may attend at the Market Arcade’s regular admission prices of $9 for adults, $7 for students and $6.50 for seniors. Season tickets are available any time at a 15-percent reduction for the cost of the remaining films.

Free parking is available in the M&T fenced lot opposite the theater's Washington Street entrance. The ticket clerk in the theater will reimburse patrons the $3 parking fee.

“Goldenrod handouts”—four- to eight-page notes on each film—will be posted on the seminars’ website the day before each screening, and will be available in the theater lobby by 6:15 p.m. the day of the screening.

For more information, visit Buffalo Film Seminars’ website.

Jackson explains that films are chosen for the series, now in its 12th year, because they are “very good films in their own right, but also superb in at least one of the components of film—often more than one: writing, directing, cinematography, acting, editing, scoring, design, etc.”

He and Christian do not specifically tell participants which component they are focusing on for any particular film, “but we talk about those things in our intros and include articles about them in the course book and notes on them in the goldenrod handouts,” he says.

“So by the end of the semester, the students in the class—and the members of the public audience who’ve attended regularly—will have seen fine examples of, read notes on and heard discussion of each of the components of a film, usually more than once.

“They, we hope, will then go on to look at films on their own with a greater awareness of what’s going on before their eyes,” Jackson says.

“The Phantom Carriage,” a rarely seen, 1921 silent film, will open the series on Jan. 17. Jackson points out that legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman credits the film with sparking his own interest in filmmaking.

Directed by Swedish filmmaker Victor Sjörstöm, “The Phantom Carriage” is a Dickensian tale of a drunk who realizes the error of his misspent life after he is visited by a servant of death.

The remainder of the schedule for the series, with descriptions culled from the IMDb online movie database:

• Jan. 24: “The Public Enemy,” 1931, directed by William A. Wellman. A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster’s accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war. Features the famous scene in which star James Cagney, as Tom Powers, shoves a grapefruit into the face of Kitty, played by Mae Clarke.
• Jan. 31: “King Kong,” 1933, directed by Merian C. Cooper. A film crew goes to mysterious Skull Island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a giant gorilla, who takes a fancy to the leading lady, played by Fay Wray.
• Feb. 7: “To Be or Not to Be,” 1942, directed by Ernst Lubitsch. During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes involved in a Polish soldier’s efforts to track down a German spy. Stars Carole Lombard, Jack Benny and Robert Stack.
• Feb. 14: “Senso,” 1954, directed by Luchino Visconti. A troubled and neurotic Italian countess betrays her country for a self-destructive love affair with an Austrian lieutenant.
• Feb. 21: “Paths of Glory,” 1957, directed by Stanley Kubrick. When soldiers in World War I refuse to continue with an impossible mission, their superiors decide to make an example of them.
• Feb. 28: “12 Angry Men,” 1957, Sidney Lumet. This classic courtroom drama starring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb and Martin Balsam received three Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.
• March 6: “The Music Room,” 1958, directed by Satiyajit Ray. A financially destitute Indian aristocrat desperately clings to a fading way of life.
• March 20: “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” 1976, directed by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood also stars in this story of a Missouri farmer who joins a Confederate guerilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.
• March 27: “The Killer,” p;1989, directed by John Woo. A disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded, only to be double-crossed by his boss.
• April 3: “Three Colors: Red,” 1994, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowki. The final entry in a trilogy of films dealing with contemporary French society. A model discovers her neighbor is fond of invading people’s privacy. Nominated for three Oscars, including Best Director.
• April 10: “Thin Red Line,” 1998, directed by Terrence Malick. Malick’s adaptation of James Jones’ autobiographical 1962 novel on the conflict at Guadalcanal during World War II. Starring Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn and Nick Nolte, the film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.
• April 17: “City of God,” 2003, directed by Fernando Meirelles. Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer. Received four Oscar nominations, including Best Director.
• April 24: “The Dark Knight,” 2008, directed by Christopher Nolan. The most recent film released in the “Batman” franchise, Batman is forced to deal with the chaos unleashed by a terrorist mastermind known only as the Joker. Received two Academy Awards, including one posthumously for Heath Ledger for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.