Gauguin hits the Silver Screen this December at The Cleveland Museum of Art
Released November 03, 2009
For more information, please contact
James Kopniske, (216) 707-2261
jkopniske@clevelandart.org
The artist’s drama-filled life is depicted on the big screen in the CMA’s December film series
CLEVELAND – Among the many award-winning films screening in December at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) are three are based on the life and times of Paul Gauguin. They complement the museum’s current exhibition, Gauguin: Paris, 1889 and show between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
In the first of the three, the 1980 Emmy-winning TV drama Gauguin the Savage, the late David Carradine takes on the role of Gauguin. This film, directed by Fielder Cook, takes a look at the time in the artist’s life when he made the decision to abandon his wife and children to pursue a life of artistic freedom on the island of Tahiti.
Life in Paris after returning from the Tahitian paradise is the subject of the next Gauguin film, The Wolf at the Door. This movie, starring Donald Sutherland as Gauguin, shows him as a frustrated artist trying to sell enough paintings to return to Tahiti.
The last Gauguin film, The Moon and Sixpence, is based on W. Somerset Maugham’s novel which was inspired by Gauguin’s life. This version shows him as the stockbroker who leaves his family behind to move to Paris and then to Tahiti in order to chase his dream of becoming an artist.
Earlier films in the December series depict the lives of different kinds of people. Little Ashes, starring Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, dramatizes the time in Salvador Dali’s life when he was attending university and becoming a rising star in the art world. The new documentary Gogol Bordello Non-Stop chronicles the rising popularity of the New York-based gypsy punk rock band fronted by Eugene Hütz. In the tear-jerking Cherry Blossoms, a Bavarian couple embarks on a life-changing journey to visit their children in Tokyo and Berlin. The Wonder of it All is an uplifting document in which seven Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon tell their stories and relate how their experiences changed them. Back on Earth, summertime favorite 45635, a documentary about small-town life in Sidney, Ohio, returns for one more showing.
All films will be shown in the CMA’s Morley Lecture Hall on the museum’s lower level at 11150 East Boulevard in University Circle. Admission prices to museum films are: general public $8; CMA members, seniors 65 and over, and students $6; or one CMA Film Series voucher. CMA Film Series vouchers (in books of 10) cost $60 for the general public, $50 for CMA members. Tickets are available through the Online Box Office at www.clevelandart.org, in person or over the phone at 1-888-CMA-0033. Parking is available in the CMA parking garage.
December Films
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
Wednesday, December 2, 7:00 p.m.
Directed by Margarita Jimeno. Filmed over five years, this energetic music film documents the rise of New York-based gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello (fronted by the charismatic Eugene Hütz) from underground club sensation to international phenomenon. “An exhilarating document.” –The Village Voice. Cleveland premiere. (USA, 2008, color/b&w, some subtitles, Beta SP, 87 min.) www.lorberfilms.com/gogol-bordello-non-stop/
Little Ashes
Friday, December 4, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 6, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Paul Morrison, with Javier Beltrán, Robert Pattinson, and Matthew McNulty. Set in Madrid circa 1922, this elegantly-shot historical fantasy speculates that painter Salvador Dalí and poet Federico García Lorca were lovers while attending university with their mutual friend, filmmaker Luis Buñuel, another rising artist of the first rank. Cleveland premiere. Rated R. (Britain, 2008, color, 35mm, 112 min.) www.littleashes-themovie.com
Cherry Blossoms
Friday, December 11, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 13, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Doris Dörrie. Winner of the Roxanne T. Mueller Award for Best Film at this year’s Cleveland International Film Festival, this moving film (a variant on Yasujiro Ozu’s 1953 Japanese masterpiece Tokyo Story) tells of a Bavarian husband and wife who decide to visit their grown children in Berlin and Tokyo—with surprising results. (Germany/France, 2008, color, subtitles, 35mm, 127 min.) www.strandreleasing.com
The Wonder of It All
Friday, December 18, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 20, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Jeffrey Roth, with Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Eugene Cernan, et al. Seven Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon recount their stories and tell how the experience changed them in this uplifting new documentary, a prizewinner at numerous film festivals. (USA, 2007, color, Beta SP, 82 min.) www.thewonderofitallfilm.com
Back by Popular Demand!
45365
Wednesday, December 23, 7:00 p.m.
Directed by Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross. One of our biggest crowd-pleasers this past summer, this movie by two former Buckeyes lovingly chronicles small-town life in their hometown of Sidney, Ohio (located north of Dayton). Won the award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival, (USA, 2009, color, DVD, 90 min.) www.45365movie.com
Holiday Film Festival
Gauguin the Savage
Saturday, December 26, 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 29, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Fielder Cook, with David Carradine and Lynn Redgrave. In this little-known, Emmy-winning TV drama, Gauguin (played here by the late David Carradine) abandons his wife and children in Europe for a life of artistic freedom in Tahiti. (USA, 1980, color, Beta SP, 125 min.)
The Wolf at the Door
Sunday, December 27, 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 30, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Henning Carlsen, with Donald Sutherland and Max von Sydow. This biographical film dramatizes Paul Gauguin’s return to Paris after a long stay in Tahiti, and his difficulty in selling enough paintings to finance the trip back to his island paradise. (Denmark/France, 1986, color, in English, 35mm, 100 min.)
The Moon and Sixpence
Thursday, December 31, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Albert Lewin, with George Sanders and Herbert Marshall. In this film version of a W. Somerset Maugham novel inspired by the life of Gauguin, a self-centered London stockbroker leaves his wife and family to pursue a painting career in Paris, then Tahiti. Restored 35mm archive print from the collection of the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. (USA, 1942, b&w/color, 35mm, 89 min.)
Film Stills
Movie stills and DVD screeners available (dependent upon film): please contact Jim Kopniske, (216) 707-2261, jkopniske@clevelandart.org.
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
Little Ashes
Cherry Blossoms
The Wonder of It All
45365
The Wolf at the Door
About The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes over 40,000 objects and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. Currently undergoing a multi-phase renovation and expansion project, it is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, performing arts, and art education. Admission to the museum has been free since its founding charter.
The Cleveland Museum of Art has a membership of nearly 25,000 households and is supported by a broad range of individuals, foundations, and businesses in Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio. The museum is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Additional support comes from the Ohio Arts Council, which helps fund the museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. For more information on the museum, its holdings, programs, and events, call 1-888-CMA-0033 or visit www.ClevelandArt.org.
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Movie stills and DVD screeners available (dependent upon film): please contact Jim Kopniske, (216) 707-2261, jkopniske@clevelandart.org.
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