Dive Into The Movies That Epitomize Cool: Heist Films At Facets Film School
By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 6, 2012 8:40PM
Just over a decade ago, director Steven Soderbergh remade of a stylish but unsatisfying heist movie called Ocean's Eleven. Beyond the sequels and imitators it spawned, Soderbergh's star-studded blockbuster mined decades of earlier classics to achieve its most lasting contribution: it may have solidified the heist film's place as the most self-consciously cool movie genre. Is it the flinty loner who plays by his own rules? Is it the shiny toys? Is it the fantasy of a life of leisure if we could just pull off that one well-executed job?
Our pick from this summer's slate of Facets Film School sessions may provide some answers. "One Last Job: The Heist Film" takes a spin through some of our very favorite exemplars of the form to understand what makes them tick. There's something about watching the planning, execution (preferably in real-time), and aftermath of a complex and dangerous operation that keeps us coming back for more. It's the kind of film that not only gets new favorites for every generation, but one whose most successful incarnations get remade over and over.
Part of the enjoyment of a Heist movie is knowing what to expect. Foremost is a detailed and challenging operation which necessitates dependence on the assembly of very talented criminals, some of whom shall be of questionable stability. But when Jules Dassin more or less invented the template with 1955's Rififi, lacking those expectations proved no obstacle for enjoyment. The crisp storytelling, impossibly cool characters and settings and (above all) the jaw-dropping, 30+ minute long, dialog-free sequence of the robbery itself still prove irresistible. That FilmMonthly.com's Jef Burnham chose it to kick off the class indicates that this operation is in the hands of an expert.
Other films include The Killing, a bracing racetrack heist movie from the coolest of them all, Stanley Kubrick, as well as the Michael Caine and car lover's wet dream, The Italian Job and one of the most-exciting and certainly best-soundtracked action films of the 1970s, The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three. Switching gears to heist films that don't go so well, the session concludes with A Fish Called Wanda and Reservoir Dogs.
It's no secret that we love Facets Film School, and think the price for six weeks of great movies and lectures are more than worth the price. The Heist Films track happens on Tuesday nights starting July 17. The other summer sessions are equally strong, starting with Thursday night's "Banned in Iran: Film and Censorship," a great way to get to know one of the world's most vibrant and at-risk cinema cultures while putting recent standouts such as The Circle and A Separation in context. Mondays are booked with an investigation of director Ida Lupino's trailblazing Hollywood films from the 1950s. You can also spend Wednesday night with one of the very best legacies of the 1930s: the films of Hollywood's most famous dance partnership, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Sessions start the week of July 16, but if you can't decide if Facets Film School is right for you, the Cinémathèque is hosting a free event to kick things off on Monday July 9. Reel Talk at Facets: Film Scholars on Tap will begin with observations from the scholars conducting the courses, with clips from films under discussion, followed by a reception with beer, wine and snacks.
Each class is $125, $80 for Facets Patron Circle members, and are held at Facets Multi-Media, 1517 W Fullerton.