This is where you get to meet the masters.
The 17th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), in fact, will open with The Ring by Alfred Hitchcock, and, according to the organisers, the entire screening would be a different experience with a live orchestra playing the music and background scores instead of the regular Dolby digital surrounding system.
The silent movie, first released in 1927, is from the Hitchcock collection that have been restored by the British Film Institute from its archives and will be among the maestro’s other restored movies that will be screened in the Retrospective segment that comprises The Lodger , The Pleasure Garden, Champagne, and Downhill.
Apart from Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa will also be a major presence in the Retrospective section with nine of his works being showcased. The organisers say several of these were being screened here for the first time.
The Kurosawa package will include the 1948 release Drunken Angel , one of the movies that stand out from the initial years of his fruitful association with actor Toshiro Mifune, who starred in the Samurai trilogy during the 16-movie partnership. The other movies in the Kurosawa package are The Hidden Fortress’, I Live in Fear, The Idiot, Ikiru, Stray Dog, Madadayo, Sanjuro, and then , Kurosawa’s 1943 debut work , Sanshiro Sugata.
The Retrospective category promises rich fare in the form of a Helena Ignez package as well, one that could be a true delight with the iconic Brazilian actress-director herself expected to be present at the festival. While honouring her career that spans over 50 years, the festival will screen seven of her most popular films. Known for playing a crucial role in creating a space for Brazilian cinema on the global platform, Ms. Ignez is also lauded for her efforts in crafting a new style of acting, particularly for female characters in Brazilian cinema.
The Helena Ignez package in the festival will include the 1968 Red Light Bandit , directed by Brazilian stalwart Rogerio Sganzerla, telling the story of a criminal who used a red flashlight to break into houses and rape women.
The other offerings in the package will include The Priest and the Girl, Belair, Cancoes de Baal, Light in Darkness, The Residentes, and Mr. Sganzerla – The Signs of Light .
Light in Darkness has Ms. Ignez as the director while Cancoes de Baal has Ms. Ignez and Michele Matalon sharing the director’s chair.
The presence of maestros in the Retrospective category gets even richer with the Paul Cox package, with five of the Australian film-maker’s works to be screened.
The package, however, does not include Cox’s recent work, The Remarkable Mr. Kaye , which touched many a heart with its portrayal of his actor-friend Norman Kaye, who fought Alzheimer’s Disease for nearly a decade before passing away in 2007. Still, the package promises much with Cox’s well-known works, including Innocence, Salvation, Man of Flowers, A Woman’s Tale, and My First Wife .
Alain Resnais will be among the masters who has the most number of works screened at the IFFK 2012, with the Resnais Package to include works like Muriel, Same Old Song, Last Year at Marienbad, Private Fears in Public Spaces, Night and Fog, and Statues Also Die , to mention a few from the 11 slated for screening.
Six movies of S. Pierre Yameogo, including the 2005 Cannes Price of Hope winner, Delwende , and special tributes to Malayalam actors Sathyan and Sarada bring up the rest of the Retrospective sections. Sathyan’s Chemmeen and Sarada’s Thulabharam will be among the popular Malayalam films screened in this section.
