by Rod Jones
The Oklahoma City University Film Institute series will continue at 2 p.m. Oct. 2 with Christian Petzold’s “Phoenix.” This year’s series is based on the theme “On Being Mortal.”
All films in the series are screened free to the public in the Kerr McGee Auditorium of Meinders School of Business at N.W. 27th Street and McKinley Avenue.
The series is supported in part by the Thatcher Hoffman Smith Endowment Fund and endowments through OCU and the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
“Phoenix” is a spellbinding mystery of identity, illusion and deception that unfolds against the turmoil of post-World War II Berlin. Nina Hoss, winner of acting awards around the world, plays German-Jewish cabaret singer Nelly. Having survived Auschwitz disfigured from a wound, she returns to seek her gentile German husband. The tension mounts with the look and conventions of film noir and Hitchcockian doubles amidst reversals and the atmosphere of suspicion.
The LA Times called it an “intoxicating witches’ brew, equal parts melodrama and moral parable, that audaciously mixes diverse elements to compelling effect.”
The theme of this year’s season is based on Atul Gawande’s recent book “Being Mortal.” Winn, director of the series, said the films were selected to show “how we, as individuals and a culture, confront, avoid and deal with finitude.” Topics covered include how societies deal with people who are aging, the importance of life and how it is lived with need for a healthy and ethical awareness in knowing we all ultimately die.
A discussion session follows each film screening for those who wish to participate. Other dates and films in the series are:
* Oct. 16, Zhang Yimou’s “Coming Home”
* Oct. 30, Naji Abu Nowar’s “Theeb”
* Jan. 22, Francois Truffaut’s “The Last Metro”
* Feb. 5, Lasse Hallstrom’s “My Life as a Dog”
* Feb. 19, Asghar Farhadi’s “Fireworks Wednesday”
* March 5, Ciro Guerra’s “Embrace of the Serpent”
For more information about the series, call 405-208-5707 or visit okcufilmlit.org.
