Friday 20 November - Wednesday 25 November
ROMY SCHNEIDER
AT CINE LUMIERE

17 Queensberrry Place,
London SW7 2DR,
Box Office 020 7073 1350

Friday 20 November 20:40 Ciné lumière
La Mort en direct

(Death Watch), 1980, France/FRG/UK. Directed by Bertrand Tavernier.
With Romy Schneider, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton, Max von Sydow.
128min. English with French subtitles.

Diagnosed with a terminal disease, Katherine sells the TV rights to her death, but then hides, only to be unwittingly filmed by the one person she trusts. Tavernier considered Schneider, herself a constant media target, as ideal for the film. Set in the near future, it foreshadows reality TV and video surveillance. Harvey Keitel co-stars, his camera-eyes fixed on his target, en route from Glasgow to Land’s End.

Saturday 21 November 18:15 Ciné lumière
Ludwig

1972, Italy/France/FRG. Directed by Luchino Visconti. With Romy Schneider, Helmut Berger, Trevor Howard, Silvana Mangano.
220min. Italian with English subtitles.

Visconti cast Schneider once more as Elisabeth of Austria, Ludwig’s cousin, as if finally to bring the Sissi chapter to a close. In this operatic and luxurious portrait of the ‘Mad’ Bavarian King, she plays the Empress as a mature and independent woman. Ludwig adores her but knowing that he must not love her, she steers him towards her sister.

Sunday 22 November 14:00 Ciné lumière
 Le Train 

(The Last Train), 1973, France/Italy. Directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre. With Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Maurice Biraud, Paul Amiot.
101min. In English only.
As the Germans invade France during WWII, Julien and his family flee south but become separated. On a refugee train Julien meets and falls in love with Anna, a German Jew. Once they are safe, Julien sets off to find his family. When he sees Anna again, it is in the presence of the Gestapo. Schneider viewed her participation in the film as a personal statement on Germany’s failure to deal with its Nazi past.

Sunday 22 November 16:05 Ciné lumière
 Les Choses de la vie 

(The Things of Life), 1969, France/Italy. Directed by Claude Sautet. With Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider, Lea Massari, Gérard Lartigau.
89min. French with English subtitles.

Following an accident, Pierre is lying by the side of the road, his half-conscious mind taking him back to the people and things he loved. Schneider’s first collaboration with Sautet and Piccoli consolidated her place in French cinema and coined her image as the modern independent woman who, like Hélène in this film, commits to her love and won’t accept a lover’s indecision.


Monday 23 November 20:40 Ciné lumière
 La Piscine 

(The Swimming Pool), 1969, Italy/France. Directed by Jacques Deray. With Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin.
102min. French with English subtitles.

While on holiday near St Tropez the couple Marianne and Jean-Paul enjoy lazing and making love around the pool. Things take a chillier turn when Marianne’s former lover appears with his teenage daughter. The on-screen reunion of the former dream couple Schneider and Delon stirred many rumours, and adds to the tension of this taut and lavishly photographed psychological drama.


Tuesday 24 November 20:40 Ciné lumière
 L’Important c’est d’aimer 

1974 / 75, France. Directed by Andrzej Zulawski. With Romy Schneider, Fabio Testi, Jacques Dutronc, Klaus Kinski.
109min. French with English subtitles.

In a César-winning role Schneider plays a world-weary actress amidst desperate artists and drop-outs. Bound to her husband, she resists the love of a melancholic photographer whosecretly pays a large sum to get her into a proper stage play. A fierce yet tender melo-drama,
it also stars Klaus Kinski in one of his best performances.


Wednesday 25 November 15:00 Ciné lumière
L’Enfer de Henri-Georges Clouzot

(Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno), 1964 / 2009, France. Directed by H.-G. Clouzot, Serge Bromberg, Ruxandra Medrea. With Romy Schneider, Serge Reggiani, Bérénice Bejo, Jacques Gamblin.
94min. French with English subtitles.

In 1964 Henri-Georges Clouzot started working on the highly experimental film L’Enfer for which Schneider would be covered in blue paint, olive oil or sequins. When the project had to be abandoned, the amazing images were forgotten until recovered for this new film. A mixture of original material, reconstruction and making-of, it is also a visual ode to the daring Schneider.

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