Films return to Cinerama

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 25

Films return to Cinerama

HANS PETROVIC

Films are to Ibe shown again at the old)Cinerama theatre — now the Christchurch Youth Centre, at 111 Worcester Street — just in time for the beginning of this year's Canterbury Film Society season. About 850 volunteer hours of hard work during the last few v eeks have made it possible to convert the main auditorium, at present usee mainly as a gymnasium, jack into a hall with the necessary trappings of a cinema. An 8.2 m by 5.5 m screen on rails can easily be pulled to the front of the stage; drapes are pulled to the side of the stage; black masking cloth borders the screen; and huge triangular frt mes cover the basketball hoops on the side of the hall. Seating for 225 was provided from the Waimate cinema; and lias been installed upstairs, leaving the main ground floor area still vacant for times when the centre may be

used as a discotheque with the simultaneous screening of films. On April 8, the Youth Centre will hold a videodisco to celebrate the new look. During April and May, the centre will also stage its own season of youth-oriented films, including "The Rocky Horror Picture Show,'.’ "The Blues Brothers” and "The Wall/Pink Floyd,” with the musical numbers being emphasised with lighting effects.

When the Cinerama building was bought by the Christchurch City Council and leased to) the Christchurch Youth .Centre Trust late in 1985, the theatre was refurbished to accommodate youth activities. Fittings such as ) the original screen, curtaining and theatre seats were disposed of, due to their wear and tear, and the need to create space for a gymnasium. Then, the I Waimate seats become available, creating the opportunity

to reseat the theatre. FILM SOCIETY The refurbishfng, su- [ pervised by the centre's ■ production manager, Johnny Leach, was com- | pleted just in time for i tomorrow’s first use by ) the Canterbury Film ) Society. I The society, which used ' the Museum Theaterette j’ in past years for its city I screenings, this year i moved to the new facili- I ties made available at the ; Youth Centre. ) It will start this year’s j screenings with a series of ■ new-wave Japanese films.' to be screened from tomorrow until Monday at' 7.30 p.m. The films are: ■ Tomorrow, “The New’ Morning of Billy the: Kid” Billy the Kid steps,’ out of Monument Valley) into a saloon where he) finds works as a waiter! alongside various samu-! rai, poets and archetypes' from the East and West,) characters by the name of Charlotte . Rampling, “Dirty” Harry Callahan and Bruce Springsteen, I

Friday, “A Boy Called Third Base” and “Bus”: “Third Base” is set in a borstal but goes back to the world outside, and into a world of dreams and fantasy. "Bus" takes place in a weird, underpopulated rural future that is actually a nostalgic compendium of the science fiction of director Komatsu Takashi’s childhood. Saturday, “Paradise View”: The director, Takamine Tsuyoshi, brings together a tale of indolence, lust and frustration with a truly bizarre invented mythology that involves mutated animals. Sunday, “And Then”: A fragile tale of star-crossed lovers and a beautifully stylised portrait of the elegance of the Meiji era. Monday, “A Farewell to the Land”: based on two newspaper stories: one about a farmer who left his wife but later stabbed his mistress; the other about the grief of a father who lost his sons in

a drowning accident and tattooed their names on his back. The) Canterbury Film society will then continue its weekly screenings at the Youth Centre on Thursday evenings, with Tuesday screenings at the Sociology theaterette, University of Canterbury. Next week's film at both venues will ;be “Adieu, Bonaparte,” al FrenchEgyptian co-production directed by . Yousef Chahine. It is a splendid evocation of Napoleon’s 1798 (invasion of Egypt. This year’s programme will (comprise 51 feature films, including a number of classics by such directors) as Cocteau, Vigo, Dreyer and (Eisenstein. Membership costs $6O, and ) $5O for students, senior citizens and beneficiaries (do(wn from last year's $65 and $55 prices), and lean be obtained from the Canterbury Film Society. P. jO. Box 526, Christchurch, or; at the screenings. | . •