[Program title]LE TEMPS DEVANT SOI Ⅷ – Mécaniques célestes
[Film title] Le temps du ciel
Melancholia
[Date] 2012.12.1 – 12.24
[Screen time] 58 min./ 135 min.
[Place] Maison Hermès 10F 5-4-1, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
In December we are proud to present a composite program, with Mécaniques célestes representing the central theme. In the morning, we will introduce the Stéphane Druais-directed Le temps du ciel and three works by Georges Méliès. The afternoon will feature director Lars von Trier’s Melancholia.
Le temps du ciel
1999 / France / 26 min / Color / Digital Betacam
Director: Stéphane Druais
Description: Umberto Eco
Subtitle: Yoko Matsuoka
Distributor: Les Films d’Ici
Throughout the centuries, man has observed the sun and the moon and the movement of the stars. Yet to how have we really developed our conception of time? Le temps du ciel is a scientific documentary taken from the six-part documentary anthology LE TEMPS, VITE! Each piece includes an introduction by philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco. While making free use of numerous documents and weaving together various images, the documentary relies on historic, scientific, and philosophical approaches to depict the relationship between man and time—in society as well as in the arts and sciences.
Eclipse de soleil en pleine lune
1907 / France / 9 min / Black and white / 35mm
Director: Georges Méliès
Music: Alexander Rannie
Cast: Georges Méliès
La Lune à un mètre
1898 / France / 3 min / Black and white / 35mm
Director: Georges Méliès
Music: Donald Sosin
Cast: Georges Méliès
Voyage à travers l’impossible
1904 / France / 20 min / Color / 35mm
Director: Georges Méliès
Written by: Jules Verne, Adolphe Dennery
Music: Alexander Rannie
Cast: Georges Méliès
Distributor: Lobster Films
Georges Méliès was a great lover of film and early pioneer who pushed the limits of the art form. Eclipse de soleil en pleine lune introduces us to stars that have transformed into young women, while a huge, voracious moon makes an appearance in La Lune à un mètre. In Voyage à travers l’impossible, travelers board a flying train and head out across the stars to the sun.
Melancholia
2011 / Denmark / 135 min / Color / 35mm
Writer/Director: Lars von Trier
Producer: Meta Louise Foldager, Louise Vesth
Cinematography: Manuel Alberto Claro
Editor: Molly Malene Stensgaard
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland
Subtitle: Mina Matsuura
Distributor: Broadmedia Studios
The world is ending… Still riding a wave of acclaim from the Cannes International Film Festival, in his latest work genius director Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves (’96), Dancer in the Dark (’00)) crafts a beautifully filmed majestic epic that depicts the internal struggles of characters as Earth faces a near collision with the mysterious planet Melancholia. The film features frequent use of fantastical scenes that look something like slow-moving paintings, sisters with an increasingly strained relationship, and the elegant melodies of Wagner. The knockdown ending provides viewers with a strong jolt to the heart.