Date and Time for this Past Event
- Sunday, Jun 16, 2024 3:45pm - 6:30pm
Details
"Pre-Code: Sex and Censorship" electrifies the first AFI Silver Classic Film Weekend. Immerse yourself in the thrilling era of pre-Code cinema, a fleeting moment from the late 1920s to 1934 when films defied convention before the Hays Code stifled Hollywood's boldness. These movies, lighthearted or dramatic, showcased complex women and flawed heroes struggling against social injustice, and unflinching explorations of sex, ambition and crime. Witness legendary stars ignite the screen: Clara Bow, James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant, Jean Harlow, Joan Blondell, Spencer Tracy, Warren William, Anna May Wong and Josephine Baker. Festival guests, including film historians Richard Koszarski, Steven C. Smith, Farran Smith Nehme, Katie Gee Salisbury and David Stenn, will introduce each film.
ALRAUNE aka A DAUGHTER OF DESTINY
Special Features: Introduction by film historian Farran Smith Nehme. Live piano accompaniment by Jon Mirsalis
A mad scientist's twisted experiment births an extraordinary woman, the artificial offspring of a prostitute and a hanged convict — a woman with no empathy or conscience. She embodies the dark heart of his quest: is evil born of nature or nurture? This chilling German silent film classic, a precursor to POOR THINGS by nearly a century, stars Brigitte Helm (METROPOLIS) as the creation of the scientist portrayed by Paul Wegener. As his sinister plan unfolds, he finds himself both obsessed with and repulsed by her, while she is ready for revenge. From Henrik Galeen, best remembered for being a writer on THE GOLEM (1920), NOSFERATU and WAXWORKS, comes a tale drenched in the same gothic unease and visual inventiveness as those films but with a new sensual tension. Beautifully restored, ALRAUNE mesmerizes with its poetic horror, audacious themes and raw intensity.
