For its traditional summer cycle, which in the past has been devoted to horror or eroticism, the Cinémathèque québécoise is this year offering a journey through time and dimensions: science fiction will be in the spotlight from July 2 to August 25 in the theaters of this Montreal institution.
The genre embodies a true incubator of the anxieties of the time: artificial intelligence, migrations, climate change, relationships with the Other are deployed in different ways in each film.
The cycle program obviously includes the great classics, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968), The Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968), Soylent Green (Richard Fleischer, 1973), Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982), 1984 (Michael Radford, 1984), Back to the future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985), The Matrix (Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 1999) or Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016).
The selection process is perilous, since the very vast repertoire of this cinema is full of gems. “To choose the films presented in the summer cycle, I establish an initial large list, which I then present to the four members of the programming committee, who add titles to it,” explains Marcel Jean, general director of the Cinémathèque, met this week at the organization’s offices.
The films on this first collective list—more than 250 were on it this year—are then sorted according to various criteria, ranging from the personal preferences of the programmers to the historical or educational dimension of the work, including technical constraints or the overrepresentation of certain authors. After making an initial weeding, Jérôme Michaud, assistant to the programming department, goes in search of copies. Some are impossible to find, others are damaged. Sometimes, foreign film libraries recall the existence of old but practically new films.
Science fiction is as old as 7e art itself. The journey to the moonby Georges Méliès, got the ball rolling in 1902. “Science fiction took off after World War II, but especially in the 1970s, through all the anxiety that came from the Cold War, the nuclear issue and the fear of extraterrestrials,” notes Mr. Jean.
From these fears emerged works that intertwine the spirit of the times with futuristic projections that strangely find their echo today. This is the case of Terminator (James Cameron, 1984), a post-apocalyptic film that exploits the figure of the Other as well as the threats of artificial intelligence and the fear of the end of the world.
Marcel Jean speaks of the genre as a “ferment”: this strange artistic creature lives persistently, transforms itself, astonishes with its result – and can go far beyond the framework of its time.
Some rare works also feature in this summer program. “We have a film copy of 12 Monkeys [Terry Gilliam, 1995]which will open the cycle, in a double program with The pier [Chris Marker, 1962]”I find it interesting to put them side by side, because one inspired the other,” Marcel Jean emphasizes.
Some old Soviet films, “beautiful curiosities”, according to the director of the Cinematheque, will also be presented. This is the case of The Dead Mountaineer’s Inn (Grigori Kromanov, 1979). Adapted from the novel of the same name by the Strugatsky brothers (1970), this investigative story takes place in a hotel next to a ski resort, where guests find themselves stuck because of an avalanche.
Born in Flames (Lizzie Borden, 1983) is a favorite for Mr. Jean. This feminist utopia is, according to him, a fine example of independent cinema of this era. Mimicking the documentary style, the feature film follows three feminist groups opposing the socialist government that has been in place for too long.
Quebec films are also selected. Polaris (Kirsten Carthew, 2022), for example, takes place in a winter setting, which contrasts with the deserts or galaxies popular with the genre. Its original story features Sumi, a young child raised by a polar bear in the year 2144. Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017) will also be presented.
The cycle will end with a special program on Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ETetc.) and George Lucas (Star Wars), dedicated to the first films of these icons of American cinema and the genre.