New Film Series Digs Into Chicago Architecture On Film

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 14, 2016 4:14PM

The Dark Knight

Have you ever seen Los Angeles Plays Itself? It’s a great video-essay documentary, from 2003, about, in large part, how Hollywood and independent filmmakers represent LA architecture in film. It’s a great watch, but it always leaves us with dreams of a flyover edition, a Chicago Plays Itself if you will. Well, we’re still waiting for someone to actually make that movie, but in the meantime, an upcoming film series, which explores the role of our city’s rich architectural legacy on the big screen, looks to ably fill the gap.

Chicago Architecture Foundation and ArcLight Cinema are teaming up for "Architecture Afternoons with CAF," a four-film monthly series beginning on Jan. 22, which includes the Art Deco-rich The Untouchables (Jan. 22), the Mid-Century Modern-spotlighting Stranger Than Fiction (Feb. 19), the skyscraper-influenced Metropolis (March 12) and the downtown-saturated The Dark Knight (April 23)—which also happens to be Chicagoans' favorite Chicago-made film, don't you know? Each film screens at 2pm, and a Q&A with expert panelists follows each screening in which they explore the intersection of architecture, design, film, storytelling and exteriors.

Check out more details, including ticket info, here.

[H/T Curbed]