Auteur cinema also has a space among the Christmas plans in Madrid. The Sala Berlanga (Chamberí district) will host this December five films proposed by Javier Calvo, which will focus on renowned directors who set their works in the Christmas season.
Luis García Berlanga, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson and Todd Haynes will be featured in the new edition of the “Programmed by...” series.On this occasion, the SGAE Foundation’s initiative will feature the director, screenwriter, actor and producer Javier Calvo, who has been in charge of selecting the films to be screened.
They can be seen during the afternoons from December 16 to 20, with a double daily session, for the price of 3.50 euros plus booking fee per ticket. In addition, on Thursday, December 18 there will be a discussion with Javier Calvo and film critic Luis Martinez.
Christmas as a backdrop
If there is something that unites these films beyond their cinematographic quality and authorial stamp, it is the presence of Christmas in all of them. As Javier Calvo explains on the Sala Berlanga website, he was inspired by a Christmas season he saw at the Metrograph cinema in New York, which also featured auteur films.
“The films that take place at Christmas have something nostalgic, cozy and mysterious. The ones I have chosen are some of my favorite films and for me they are a safe place,” says the filmmaker.
All of them are set at Christmas and deal with themes such as couple or family relationships, tradition and the social and economic oppression suffered by the individual. They become a space for reflection and provide the viewer with a very different experience from the typical after-dinner Christmas comedies.
Nominated and awarded at the Oscars
The series kicks off on December 16 with Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Invisible Thread, which earned six Oscar nominations and won Best Costume Design. It will continue with Luis García Berlanga‘s Plácido, which portrays a Christmas campaign in Franco’s Spain and won an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film.
The rest of the films have also been praised by experts and academics. For example, Todd Haynes‘ Carol was nominated for six Oscars and Ingmar Bergman‘s Fanny and Alexander won four of these awards, making it one of the Swedish filmmaker’s crowning works.
In the case of Stanley Kubrick, his work Eyes Whide Shut was not nominated for an Oscar, but it was recognized by international critics. In it, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman embody a psychological thriller set at a Christmas party, where they reflect on marriage, moral oppression and the yearning for freedom.
Program
Tickets are already available through the website, but they will also be available at the box office. The program will be:
- December 16: The Invisible Thread ( 6:30 p.m.) and Placido ( 9:00 p.m.).
- December 17: Eyes Wide Shut (6:00 p.m.) and Carol ( 9:00 p.m.).
- December 18: Fanny and Alexander ( 6:00 p.m.), followed by a discussion with Javier Calvo and Luis Martínez.
- December 19: Placido ( 6:00 p.m.) and Eyes Wide Shut ( 8:00 p.m.).
- December 20: Carol ( 6:00 p.m.) and The Invisible Thread (8:30 p.m.).