WELCOME TO OUR NEXT SCREENING
Robert Altman's
BREWSTER MCCLOUD
(USA | 1970 | 105 mins | R16)
Wednesday 12 November, 7.30PM, University of Otago’s Castle 1 Lecture Theatre**
Brewster McCloud follows a young recluse who lives in a fallout shelter under the Houston Astrodome, where he is building a pair of wings in order to fly. He soon becomes a chief suspect in a series of bird-related murders.
|
|
| | “[Brewster Mccloud] concerns a young man who wants to build wings and fly (Bud Cort), a steely-eyed detective (Michael Murphy) and a tall blond who may or may not be the mysterious strangulation killer... There’s also a Texas billionaire, a kooky bird lecturer, and more raven guano than you can shake a stick at. If you don’t know what guano is, don’t worry; the movie makes it abundantly clear, in word and in deed. There’s even an expert scatologist to explain. Anyway, the young man hides in the Houston Astrodome and works on his wings. The detective investigates the murders. The girl appears mysteriously whenever she’s needed to help the young man. |
| “And beyond that, there’s nothing I can tell you about the plot that would be of the slightest help. Altman’s style is centrifugal, whirling off political allusions, jokes, double takes and anything else that flies loose from the narrative center... The lecturer on birds keeps saying things about birds that are reflected in the lives of human beings. A radio station announcer keeps us posted on the epidemic of strangulations. And Altman himself is always there, prodding something extra into a scene, adding action in the background as well as the foreground, making scenes allude to each other" (Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com). |
|
FURTHER REVIEW
"Brewster (Bud Cort) is the baby bird nestled in the Houston Astrodome, a young loner who, with his round specs and striped shirts, looks like a larval, vaguely malevolent version of the Where’s Waldo? nerd. His ambition is to take flight with the pedal-propelled thingamabob he’s been piecing together in his basement hideout; his guardian is an enigmatic blonde (Sally Kellerman) whose white trench coat cloaks the (mama falcon? fallen angel?) wing scars on her shoulder blades... Tracked down by “super cop” Frank Shaft (Michael Murphy in a send-up of Steve McQueen), ogled by libidinous colleague Hope (Jennifer Salt), and seduced by dippy tour guide Suzanne |
| (Shelley Duvall, debuting in mile-long eyelashes), Brewster works toward the loss of his naïf-hood and a rendezvous with the heights. Reputedly one of Altman’s favorites of his own films, Brewster McCloud has the charm and self-indulgence expected from a project deliberately made to be a cult classic. “To isolate the dream” is the goal, the non sequitur is the method: the often counterintuitive wackiness encompasses a carnival out of Fellini... What saves the film from curdled, wise-ass whimsy is the control Altman brings to the freewheeling material, to say nothing of the undercurrent of despair that keeps its absurdism bold and beguiling" (Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine). |
|
Finally, watch Robert Altman and Shelley Duvall discuss Brewster McCloud...
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
ABOUT THE DUNEDIN FILM SOCIETY
ADMISSION
Free to members.
TO JOIN
To purchase a Half Season membership:- complete a membership form from our website and pay by online bank transfer (06-0942-0696013-00);
- or join at the door before any screening (cash only).
- you can also join at the OUSA office reception at the University of Otago (cash only).
Alternatively, you can purchase a Three-Film sampler ($25), which can be also be shared to bring two friends to one screening. The sampler does not expire and can be used over multiple years.
Membership includes generous discounts at Rialto Cinemas (from Monday to Friday); and FREE entry to the 2025 screenings of all other affiliated New Zealand Film Societies. Each member is entitled to ONE FREE GUEST ADMISSION to a single screening.
**To get to the Castle 1 Theatre: walk up between the University of Otago’s Arts building (Burns) and Information Services building (Central Library), on Albany Street.
WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK!... on this screening, or any other Dunedin Film Society showing, on dunedinfi...@gmail.com –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– |
|
| | Dunedin Film Society
C/- 1 Crewe Street Maryhill Dunedin, Otago 9011New Zealand |
|
|
|
