For a somewhat lighter take on our current theme of science fiction/fantasy in film, join us this Tuesday evening for a vintage Woody Allen comedy.
SLEEPER (89 min.)
Director: Woody Allen
Language: English
WHEN: Tuesday 17 September at 7:00pm
WHERE: Eden Grove Blue
ADMISSION: Free
If Interiors was Woody Allen's Bergman movie, and Stardust Memories was his Fellini movie, then you could say that Sleeper is his Buster Keaton movie.
Relying more on visual/conceptual/slapstick gags than his trademark verbal wit, Sleeper is probably the funniest of what would become known as Allen's "early, funny films" and a milestone in his development as a director. Allen plays Miles Monroe, cryogenically frozen in 1973 (he went into the hospital for an ulcer operation) and unthawed 200 years later. Society has become a sterile, Big Brother-controlled dystopia, and Miles joins the underground resistance--joined by a pampered rich woman (Diane Keaton at her bubbliest).
Among the most famous gags are Miles's attempt to impersonate a domestic-servant robot; the Orgasmatron, a futuristic home appliance that provides instant pleasure; a McDonald's sign boasting how-many-trillions served; and an inflatable suit that provides the means for a quick getaway.
The kooky unthawing scenes were later blatantly (and admittedly) ripped off by Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
More info on the current series at http://www.ru.ac.za/filmfest