KUNDUN (35mm) & SILENCE @ The SMC Theater

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SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents

Part of our SPIRITUAL SCORSESE CINEMA Series, Friday, April 7, 2023

LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021

*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the building. Make a right on Wilson Street, then a right behind the building. We’re the first set of black steps after the big gate.

7:30pm KUNDUN (1997, dir. Martin Scorsese, Disney, USA, 134mns, 35mm)

10pm SILENCE (2016, dir. Martin Scorsese, Paramount, USA, 181mns, DCP)

This Passover and Easter season we look at two of the most spiritual works of Martin Scorsese’s very spiritual cinema.

First up is the underrated Scorsese gem Kundun about the life of the current exiled Dali Lama. Scorsese surprised everyone (as he always does) by taking on this screenplay by E.T. scribe Melissa Mathison.

And Scorsese himself has talked since about how, at the time, he was seriously considering a possible conversion to Buddhism. And though Scorsese ultimately (as Silence showed) realized he was and would always be a devout Catholic (with doubts), Kundun shows an engaged, searching, brilliant side of Scorsese.

Shot by ace cinematographer Roger Deakins (who often references this movie as one of the pivotal moments in his life as a cinematographer), Kundun shows the now disappearing world of Tibetan Buddhist culture from the search and selection of the reincarnated Dali Lama as a child to the Dali Lama’s ultimate exile into India after the Communist Chinese and Mao invade and take over Tibet.

The movie is surprisingly sharp politically as well in its ultimate denunciation of political systems that deny people the right to search, practice, and live their spiritual faith. But what it is most of all is a revelation in a kind of Scorsese spiritual style that needs to be experienced in the cinema. On 35mm. With a Phillip Glass score!

We follow this with Scorsese’s most recent spiritually focused film (though they really all are spiritually focused) Silence. Based on Shusako Endo’s 1966 novel of the same name, Silence tells a fictionalized (though based in real fact) story of two Portuguese Catholic priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who sneak into Japan to discover the fate of their mentor, Father Ferreira, who it is reported has committed blasphemy (he has stepped on the crucifix and repudiated Jesus).

Based on the real life events of 1600’s Japan when the government decided to eradicate Catholicism from its shores because it feared it was a Trojan horse to Western influence, Silence tells the very complicated story of how religion, politics, and culture cannot be separated and viewed as distinct and discrete.

But on a much more profound level, the movie asks the most difficult and important questions: what is faith? How does one practice it in a very imperfect world? Is there a God? Why does God allow so much suffering on the part of those who most fervently believe in a God? Is real spiritual faith practiced in word or in act? Even if that act outwardly appears to be blasphemous?

One of Scorsese’s absolute best movies, Silence shows the master, even in his 70’s, honestly wrestling with the eternal questions.

Join us for a double dose of spiritual Scorsese.

Best always,

Craig Hammill

Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer

*Please note that though we strive to always show titles on 35mm film if advertised, we may have to screen digitally if the print we receive is in such bad shape or if we don't receive the print in time because of a shipping delay. We will do our best to alert the audience. When this does occur, we will offer each ticket holder who chooses not to attend a complimentary ticket to a future event in exchange. (Disclaimer: Good for 90 days – Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

REFUNDS:

We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.

However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: [email protected] and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)

HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:

We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.

There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.

HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?

You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm

You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at [email protected] and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.

HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:

You can always email us at [email protected] with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.

Event Host

Secret Movie Club