James Ivory (U.S., 1990). Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are an upper-class couple in the 1930s and 1940s, trapped by a strict sense of decorum although each glimpses another way to live. From the novels by Evan S. Connell. “An elegant and exacting anatomy of a marriage” (Rolling Stone). (124 mins)
(In conjunction with) James Ivory Three Films from Novels
If the phrase “Merchant Ivory Productions” is among the opening credits of a film, you are guaranteed that an intelligent, beautifully visualized film will follow. Director James Ivory, who was born in Berkeley and lived in India, had a long and fruitful collaboration with producer Ismail Merchant, who was born in India and studied in America. Perhaps this cross-cultural exchange led them to one of their central themes, that of the expatriate, which often intertwines with another focus, the family. Throughout their fifty-year collaboration, Merchant (who died in 2005) and Ivory were best known for their adaptations of literature, including luscious visual renditions of Henry James’s The Europeans and E. M. Forster’s Howard’s End. Our tribute to James Ivory focuses on their adaptations of contemporary American novels, Mr.& Mrs. Bridge, Le Divorce, and A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries. Ivory’s “body of work really is literary, and not just because he has tackled such a remarkably diverse group of book adaptations. His films are literate in their own right, united by a style that overrides the source material” (Janet Maslin).
Theater Admission Prices
Single Feature
$5.50 BAM/PFA Members, UC Berkeley Students
$9.50 Adults (18-64)
$6.50 UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and retirees
Non-UC Berkeley students
Senior citizens (65 & over)
Disabled persons
Youth (17 & under
Additional Feature $4.00 All Patrons
PFA General:
2575 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 92027
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