Mountain Films
Mountain films
|
|
Die Weisse Hölle Vom Piz Palü (White Hell of Pitz Palu) 1929 All ages The last of Germany’s great silent mountain films, most of it shot under freezing conditions during a five-month location trip in the Alps. Survival trumps romance when three mountain climbers (including Leni Riefenstahl) are pinned down on the icy face of Piz Palü awaiting rescue. Thu 30 Oct 12 noon / Cinema A |
|
|
With Byrd At The South Pole 1930 All ages The 1930 Oscar-winning American documentary about Byrd at the Antarctic and his attempt to be the first to fly over the South Pole. A beautifully shot record of what Byrd had to endure, presented as an alternative to the German mountain films that at the time were defining the genre. Fri 31 Oct 8.00pm / Cinema B |
|
|
Das Blaue Licht (The Blue Light) 1932 All ages A crucial mountain film, the one that first connects mountains to romantic legends and myths. In this case, Junta (Leni Riefenstahl), child of the mountains, suspected of being a witch, has a strange rapport with a mystical blue light that glows when the moon is full. The Blue Light is significant in Leni Riefenstahl’s career because it intrigued Hitler and gave her the opportunity to make the Nazi documentaries that have insured her notoriety. Fri 31 Oct 6.00pm / Cinema B |
|
|
90º South 1933 All ages Herbert G Ponting’s passionate firsthand account of Robert Scott’s tragic British Antarctic expedition of 1910―1912. Ponting dedicated his life to the memory of Captain Scott, who died in his race to the South Pole. Originally a silent film released as early as 1911, Ponting added narration and music in 1933. Thu 6 Nov 12 noon / Cinema A |
|
|
Die Letzte Chance (The Last Chance) 1945 All ages A Swiss mountain film that reverses primary principles of the German prototypes. In the days before the Italian armistice, two prisoners of war escaping a German train confront civilian refugees trying to cross the Alps into the Swiss frontier. They join forces to climb the treacherous slopes. Wed 5 Nov 4.00pm and 6.00pm / Cinema B |
|
|
Careful 1992 All ages As Juliet Clark writes, “a mountain film a la Leni Riefenstahl shot in a tawdry simulation of two-strip Technicolor, with purposely out-of-sync dubbing and drifts of audio snow.” High in some imaginary Alp, the smallest sound can trigger an avalanche, so villagers must behave with propriety even when acting on incestuous fantasies. The pinnacle of dementia. Sun 28 Sept 3.00pm / Cinema A |
