For Immediate Release
September 19, 2024
CLARK ART INSTITUTE SCREENS
CAR CHASES: A DAVID-JEREMIAH FILM SERIES
Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute screens three films inspired by the public spaces installation David-Jeremiah: I Drive Thee. Like David-Jeremiah’s work, the films are meditations on performance, drive, and specific ideas of masculinity. They are also watershed moments in film history—moments of technical virtuosity and revolutionary performances—during massive changes in the film industry. All films are screened at 6 pm in the Manton Research Center auditorium.
October 17
Bullitt (1968)
Simply the greatest car chase sequence ever filmed. The director, Peter Yates, had a deceptively simple, eloquent, and direct style, which was only augmented by Steve McQueen’s straight-ahead performance in this action-thriller. Bullitt is among few film examples of efficient storytelling and rigorous attention to detail. (Run time: 1 hour, 53 minutes)
October 24
The French Connection (1971)
Director William Friedkin’s documentary-style account of a 1961 smashup of an international heroin-trafficking ring by two New York cops—played by two then-little-known actors, Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider—is a real-time thriller about staking out criminals, the bureaucracy of crime-fighting, class differences, and the ugliness of bigotry (especially when it wears a plain-clothes uniform). But it’s also about the thrill of the chase. The French Connection won Oscars for Best Picture and Director. (Run time: 1 hour, 44 minutes)
November 14
Easy Rider (1969)
The definitive road movie and a counterculture blockbuster. The down-and-dirty directorial debut of Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider heralded the arrival of a new era in film, an era of independent filmmaking pitched angrily against the mainstream. After the film’s cross-country journey—with its radical, New Wave–style editing, outsider-rock soundtrack, revelatory performance by a young Jack Nicholson, and explosive ending—the American road trip was never the same. (Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes)
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of some 300,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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