Film Forum

Other than for the “Higher” membership levels Film Forum does not sell reserved seats.

You mean they’re showing it in standard 35mm on a small screen?

Oh boy oh boy, that is a BIG disappointment.

Will this print be in color?

No curtains at the Film Forum? That’s too bad.

Well, at least it will be a visual treat to see the film in 70mm on the big screen. That format doesn’t get revived often enough these days.

The ad on the website says the tickets are going on sale 10/12. I don’t think this theater has reserved (assigned) seats. The ad also says the two parts are being sold separately and that both have an intermission. You can see them both in one day, or on different days. Link posted above by IFA.

I recall seeing Bernardo Bertolucci’s Uncut 5 hour 11 minute, 2-Part Epic “1900” (Novecento) at the Film Forum in February 1991 and had no problem with screen size or seat comfort. Considering the magnitude of “War and Peace”, having seen the 2-Part US edition several times during the 70mm-Stereo engagement at the former De Mille Theatre, 7th Ave and 47th St, NYC from April to October 1968, a hearty welcome for the original subtitled edition. In 1968, I was literally left emotionally exhausted by the powerful “Battle of Borodino” sequence from the section where Prince Bolkonsky faces death observing the swirling canon ball at his feet all the way through to the sweeping aerial photography of the battle leading the viewer being drawn further up into the tranquility of the clouds with the battle almost unnoticed below. The “Burning of Moscow” is another incredible sequence. The imagery and editing almost defies analysis as it has such a complex dynamic structure of editing, effects and that powerful music score by Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov. I tried to break down the “Borodino” sequence into shots and camera angles and was moderately successful. Sergei Bondarchuk had to be a “beyond” genius artist to pull all of the elements together in a film that is almost impossible to forget. The last New York showing of the Russian language subtitled version of “War and Peace” was at the Museum of Modern Art in a tribute to the late Sergei Bondarchuk given from January 12-14, 1995. If the screen at the Film Forum is not the largest and the seats not the most plush and comfortable, I am willing to endure such shortcomings to see cinematic artistry at its finest. Each of the 2-Parts does have an intermission, making each segment 90 to 120 mins. Enjoy and be overwhelmned.

I certainly hope so, then it will be just like seeing it when it was first released!

Do you know if they are selling advance tickets on a reserved seat basis? I want to be sure to get the “sweet spot” for this one.

IFA; please thank Ms. Verlotsky and Seagull Films for bringing this Roadshow Epic back to New York.

Bob, I don’t know if you’re trying to be funny about War and Peace looking spectacular at the Film Forum, but…while the image will be crisp and bright and the sound will be clear, the screens are so small, the seats a bit uncomfortable (one must suffer for art!)and the sightlines less than ideal, I would dread seeing a seven hour movie (in Russian!) at this house.

Thanks, Lost Memory. What a good little theater to “trip” over, “shockproofed” or not !

Film Forum is presenting a 21 day Pre-Code Fox movie program this December. Expect big crowds to attend.

The upcoming swashbuckling and Tashlin series look great. These are the kinds of films I always look for in the Loew’s Jersey programming and always in vain. Gorgeous b and w classics and glossy 50’s and 60’s comedies and musicals.
To see Scarlet Pimpernel and Zenda in a movie palace!
If you were around in New York on their first release you got to see them at the Music Hall.

I regularly attend the Film Forum and agree that the massive current series “B Noirs” (70 films) has been very well attended, but I don’t think the tickets have been as tough to get as the Film Noir series they ran back in ‘92 that encompassed about 40 films.

I caught “Army of Shadows” when MoMA ran a Melville retro back in ‘96, but that is also doing real well at the Film Forum. I have seen the “sell out” sign for this film several times, including the 1 o'clock show yesterday when I was down there for a couple of the noir films.

What seems to really be a tough ticket is when FF runs films from the 1930s. All the cineastes come running. Last year’s Paramount Pre-code series was even more packed than the current noir series.

Film Forum needs to show some of the Paramount, Columbia, and United Artists product that TMC never seems to show. I think we’d all pay money for goodies not on TV or video. Too much repeating, TMC !!! And how about Dottie Lamour for star-of-the-month ??? Any Dottie fans out there ???