‘The Public Enemy,’ ‘Nashville’ among films in spring Buffalo Film Seminars

“The Public Enemy,” “Nashville” and “The Tree of Life” are among the offerings this spring for the 46th edition of the Buffalo Film Seminars.

The popular series, hosted by UB faculty members Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian, will continue remotely this spring, with online screenings and discussions of the films.

The weekly discussions will take place via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays from Jan. 31 through May 9.

An email notification about each film will be sent out on the Saturday before the Zoom discussion date to students registered for Christian and Jackson’s “Film Directors” class (ENG 381), as well as to the Department of English’s Discussion List and to the Buffalo Film Seminars’ listserv (email Jackson or Christian to get on the BFS listserv). That notice will include a URL for the pair’s Vimeo introduction to the film and a PDF of that week’s Goldenrod Handout. The notice will also include an invitation to the Zoom discussion.

All of the films in the series are accessible on Amazon Prime; most are also accessible on other streaming services, such as Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Criterion and Vudu. Check Justwatch.com for listings. 

Nine films are available for free streaming to UB email account holders; the Swank and Kanopy links for those films are included in the lineup below.

The series opens on Jan. 31 with “Sunrise,” a 1927 silent film directed by F.W. Murnau. The film tells the story of a sophisticated urban woman who seduces a farmer in the hopes that he will murder his neglected wife and join her in the city. Instead, he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when she discovers the scheme.

The remainder of the spring 2023 schedule, with descriptions culled from the IMDb online movie database and other sources:

Feb. 7: “The Public Enemy,” 1931, directed by William A. Wellman. Available via Swank: https://digitalcampus.swankmp.net/buffalo304245/watch/58CE35691E905A75. A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster’s accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war. Stars James Cagney and Jean Harlow.

Feb. 14: “Late Spring,” 1949, directed by Yasujiro Ozu. Available via Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/buffalo/video/113281. Several people try to talk 27-year-old Noriko into marrying, but all she wants is to keep on caring for her widowed father.

Feb. 21: “A Man Escaped,” 1956, directed by Robert Bresson. Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/buffalo/video/113467. A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a Nazi prison in France.

Feb. 28: “Contempt,” 1963, directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Screenwriter Paul Javal's marriage to his wife, Camille, disintegrates during movie production as she spends time with the producer. Layered conflicts between art and business ensue. Stars Brigette Bardot and Jack Palance.

March 7: Nashville, 1975, directed by Robert Altman. Swank: https://digitalcampus.swankmp.net/buffalo304245/watch/071F6128804C8D66. Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.

March 14 : Dersu Uzala, 1975, directed by Akira Kurosawa. The Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness, where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.

March 28: “Seven Beauties,” 1977, directed by Lina Wertmüller. Kanopy: https://buffalo.kanopy.com/video/seven-beauties. The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.

April 4: “Brazil,” 1985, directed by Terry Gilliam. Swank: https://digitalcampus.swankmp.net/buffalo304245/watch/399E60CC12F5ECE7. A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.

April 11: “Babette’s Feast,” 1987, directed by Gabriel Axel. Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/buffalo/video/10956968. During the late 19th century, a strict religious community in a Danish village takes in a French refugee from the Franco-Prussian War as a servant to the late pastor's daughters.

April 18: “The Age of Innocence,” 1993, directed by Martin Scorsese. Swank: https://digitalcampus.swankmp.net/buffalo304245/watch/2A5160DCDBD4A928. A tale of 19th-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman’s cousin. Stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder.

April 25: “Magnolia,” 1999, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Swank: https://digitalcampus.swankmp.net/buffalo304245/watch/FA368593E0F0FE07. An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley. Stars Tom Cruise, Jason Robards and Julianne Moore.

May 2: “Moonlight,” 2016, directed by Barry Jenkins. Swank: https://digitalcampus.swankmp.net/buffalo304245/watch/E83C519A1FB4E618. A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence and burgeoning adulthood.

May 9: “The Tree of Life,” 2011, directed by Terrence Malick. The story of a family in Waco, Texas, in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents’ conflicting teachings. Stars Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain.