on 9/11/2023, 2:54 pm
WE were wondering if our RARE NOIR 3 show, which took a transfixed Roxie audience all around the world just last month, would cause any rumblings over across the Bay...
...and lo & behold, it definitely seems to have done so. (It's nice to know that being ignored only goes so far...!)
This is apropos of the announcement today that NC 21, which will screen at the Grand Lake Theatre from Jan 19-28 in our year of the Lord 2024, will be made up of one American noir followed by one international noir.
Given the standard structure of the NC schedule (24 films), that would mean 12 of each.
AND that opens up the floor to just what international noirs are going to populate NC 21 come January, and how they'll be deployed against American noirs.
Given that specific format, one doesn't sense that the festival will traffic in as many previously unseen international noirs as it might if it were following in the footsteps of NC 18, which did bring into play a number of films that weren't already well-known to the cognoscenti.
So it makes sense for us to begin some form of guessing game regarding the titles of the international noirs that will play at NC 21 by posting a master list of the non-American films that have played at NC since the inception of the series. It's safe to say that at least some of these films will be screened again next January: but which ones? Let's take a look at the list:
So Evil My Love-1/29/11-UK
Bedelia-1/22/12-UK
Curse of the Demon-1/26/13-UK
Hell Drivers-1/26/13-UK
Native Son (1951, Arg.)-1/29/13-Arg
Third Man, The-1/24/14-UK
En la palma de tu mano-1/25/14-Mex
Victimas del pecado-1/25/14-Mex
Drunken Angel-1/26/14-Jap
Stray Dog-1/26/14-Jap
Murderers Are Among Us, The-1/27/14-Ger
Death is a Caress-1/28/14-Nor
Death of a Cyclist-1/28/14-Sp
It Always Rains on Sunday-1/29/14-UK
Brighton Rock-1/29/14-UK
Apenas un delincuente-1/30/14-Arg
No abeas nunca esa puerta-1/30/14-Arg
El Vampiro Negro-1/31/14-Arg
La salaire de la puer-1/31/14-Fr
Pepe Le Moko-2/1/14-Fr
Quai des Orfevres-2/1/14-Fr
Une si jolie petite plage-2/1/14-Fr
Rififi-2/1/14-Fr
Deux hommes dans Manhattan-2/1/14-Fr
Hidden Room, The-1/22/15-UK
Sleeping Tiger, The-1/22/15-UK
Ossessione-1/24/15-It
Diabolique-1/24/15-Fr
Los Tallos Amargos-1/23/16-Arg
Girl With Hyacinths-1/23/16-Swe
Corridor of Mirrors-1/26/16-UK
Red Shoes, The-1/30/16-UK
Peeping Tom-1/31/16-UK
Blow-Up-1/31/16-UK
Four Ways Out-1/21/17-It
Big Deal on Madonna St.-1/21/17-It
Rififi-1/22/17-Fr (2)
Classes Tous Risques-1/22/17-Fr
Cruel Gun Story-1/23/17-Jap
Ladykillers, The-1/24/17-UK
League of Gentlemen, The-1/24/17-UK
Sicilian Clan, The-1/25/17-Fr
Sexy Beast-1/28/17-UK
Aura, The-1/28/17-Arg
Victoria-1/29/17-Ger
Breathless-2/2/19-Fr
La Bestia Debe Morir-1/24/20-Arg
El Vampiro Negro-1/24/20-Arg (2)
Panique-1/25/20-Fr
Razzia Sur La Chnouf-1/25/20-Fr*
Le Doulos-1/25/20-Fr
Melodie en Sous-Sol-1/25/20-Fr*
Hanyo aka The Housemaid-1/26/20-Kor*
Geoemun Mori aka Black Hair-1/26/20-Kor*
Cronaca di un Amore-1/27/20-It
Un Maledetto Imbroglio-1/27/20-It
And the 5th Horseman Is Fear-1/28/20-Cze
90 Degrees in the Shade-1/28/20-Cze
The Long Haul-1/29/20-UK
Never Let Go-1/29/20-UK
Pale Flower-1/30/20-Jap*
Rusty Knife-1/30/20-Jap
The Devil Strikes At Night-1/31/20-Ger
Black Gravel-1/31/20-Ger
Distino Amanacer-2/1/20-Mex
Crepusculo-2/1/20-Mex
La Noche Avanza-2/1/20-Mex
Salon Mexico-2/1/20-Mex*
A Woman's Face-2/2/20-Swe
Ashes & Diamonds-2/2/20-Pol*
That's 68 separate international noirs screened at NC in varying levels of quantity since 2011 (two films, RIFIFI and EL VAMPIRO NEGRO, have been screened twice already).
The breakdown by country is as follows: UK 18, France 14, Argentina 7, Mexico 6, Japan 5, Italy 5, Germany 4, Sweden 2, Korea 2, Czechoslovakia 2, Norway 1, Spain 1, Poland 1.
OUR best guess at this point is that Eddie will try to spread things around the world, which probably translates into a schedule that covers as many nations as possible.
There are some French films that screened in THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT that are now more readily available, and it's possible that one or two of those will get tapped--but we note that Eddie has not yet screened BOB LE FLAMBEUR, which seems likely to get the nod, particularly since it can get paired with a number of American films that deal with casinos/gambling.
It's also possible that we might see a giallo in the lineup as well, perhaps with a noir/horror hybrid.
LOTS of possibilities here, but don't expect the actual lineup to be announced any time soon, as Eddie is notoriously tight-lipped about his screening schedules. We likely have three months before we'll see the details, so feel free to take some guesses/make some suggestions!