The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: NYC Repertory Cinema Picks, August 12-18
Petulia (1968)
Directed by Richard Lester
Eccentric Julie Christie considers an affair with square George C. Scott. UK-based American director Lester returned home for what may be the ultimate San Francisco movie, capturing the privilege, pettiness and kookiness of that city in 1968 (characteristics that bridge several eras). A dizzying slew of loose and rich images by cinematographer Nicolas Roeg is edited into something that captures urban cacophony and Antonioni-esque alienation. The sound design is especially good, the way city noises sometimes overwhelm the characters and sometimes disappear amidst their own dramas. A 35mm print is a rare occurrence. Miriam Bale (August 13, 4:30pm at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Lester retrospective)