Aisle Seat

I love movies, but the whole experience of watching a so-so flick at a crowded and pricey megaplex theater leaves me cold. So, I’m especially grateful for the Detroit Film Theater (DFT) at the Detroit Institute of Arts, which shows an eclectic schedule of films you just won’t find at the local megaplex.

I started going to movies at the DFT many years ago when I managed to talk Tim and another friend into going to see a film called “Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey”. If you’ve ever watched a cheesy 1950s sci-fi flick, you’ve probably hear the spooky strains of the theremin’s electronic music, but this movie about the instrument’s inventor Leon Theremin contains more intrigue than many of today’s biggest blockbusters. Still, it’s the kind of movie you’d never see at your local megaplex.

Consider “Cold Fever”, an Icelandic-Japanese movie about a young Japanese businessman who cancels a Hawaiian vacation to undertake an odyssey that takes him to Iceland in order to perform a traditional Japanese ritual to honor his parents. The movie features stunning Icelandic scenery and the fascinating story of a spiritual quest. You would probably never see this movie playing at most local theaters, either.

Getting caught up in a 1927 silent movie about pioneering farmers during the early 1900s in Siam (present-day Thailand) and their dramatic battle against marauding “chang” (the Siamese word for elephant) that threaten to destroy their village and harm their families would be a unique experience in any movie theater. That experience is even more unique and exciting when watching “Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness”, accompanied by a soundtrack composed and performed live by the Alloy Orchestra.

I’m a real fan of documentaries, and the DFT offered a series of films from documentarian Errol Morris several years ago. Morris is perhaps best known for films like “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons Learned from the Life of Robert S. McNamara” and “Fast, Cheap & Out of Control”, which features several folks with obsessively odd occupations.

However, the DFT series offered fans a chance to see some of Morris’ earlier and lesser known work like “Gates of Heaven”, a strange documentary centering on two pet cemeteries in California. Then again, most of Morris’ work is strange, which is a large part of its charm for me.

I’ve seen these movies, and many others, in the DFT’s majestic 1920s theater. The 1,200-seat theater, designed by architects Paul Philippe Cret and Detroiter C. Howard Crane, features all of the sumptuous gilding, grillwork and Art Deco-style touches so common in some of the 1920s most beautiful movie theater houses. Crane also designed Detroit’s Fox Theater, a stunning late-1920s movie house, restored in the late 1980s and still in operation today.

The DFT fields a schedule of films that runs Thursday through Sunday most weeks of the year. Films include documentaries, foreign films from around the globe and restored classics ranging from popular silent films to more recent films like the stunning wide-screen showing of “The Graduate” we saw that commemorated the 40^th anniversary of that film a couple of years ago.

Next up for us? We’re planning to see “Patti Smith: Dream of Life”, a film about Detroit poet, political activist and priestess of punk, playing at the DFT this weekend.

Look for me in the aisle seat!

© Dominique King 2008

Comments

[Rachel Burton]

Very cool. I will have to check it out next time I'm in the Motor City. (which might be sooner than I was planning on!)

[Tim Marks]

Ah Yes Errol Morris!!!! The Pet Cemetery movie was a bit strange for me but I did enjoy "Chang" & "The Red Violin" was great! Looking forward to "Patti Smith"!

[Dominique]

Rachel, do let me know if you get over this way! We can always do a Midwest bloggers meet-up for coffee or something.

Tim, You're never going to let me live down that pet cemetery movie, are you?!! C'mon, I've had more hits than misses with choosing movies :)