“A Married Woman” (1964), directed by Jean-Luc Godard, Brooklyn Academy of Music, opens December 4Appearing in a new restoration, “A Married Woman” is a repeatedly overlooked masterpiece from the most audacious filmmaker associated with the French New Wave, Jean-Luc Godard. In most historical summaries, the film tends to be left out of the narrative of his winding filmography, and according to Colin MacCabe in his biography of Godard, part of that reason might be due to the way it was made: Godard, on the assurance from the Venice Film Festival that if he had a film ready they would screen it, made “A Married Woman” in one month, from start to finish. The 1960s was a highly productive decade for the filmmaker, and “A Married Woman” was one of two films — the other being “Alphaville” (1964) — that Godard made while waiting, impatiently it seems, for the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo’s schedule to open up so they could film what would become “Pierrot le fou” (1965). From his first film, “Breathless” (1960), to the dawn of the next decade, Godard made 21 films, each one more daring and provocative than the next. The only comparable film artist, in terms of output, is Rainer Werner Fassbinder, wildly prolific with around 30 filmed projects in the 1970s.“A Married Woman” stars Macha Méril as the title character, stuck between her lover (Bernard Noël) and husband (Philippe Leroy). It combines the loose playfulness of Godard’s earliest work with the Brechtian distance that would soon after become a dominant preoccupation.“I Knew Her Well” (1965), directed by Antonio Pietrangeli, Museum of Modern Art, December 3Screening as part of a larger retrospective at MoMA dedicated to forgotten Italian filmmaker Antonio Pietrangeli (December 3-18), “I Knew Her Well” stars Stefania Sandrelli in what might still be her best, if one of her earliest, roles: the hopelessly naive Adriana Astarelli, a hairdresser who arrives in Rome with a shady promoter who promises to make her famous. From there it’s a series of questionable and comedic mistakes, but as the film progresses, it takes on darker, and ultimately tragic, overtones. Like a punch to the gut, “I Knew Her Well” will put Pietrangeli on your radar, as an equal to Antonioni and Fellini, the two major figures of Italian cinema in the same period who overshadowed him.“River of Fundament” (2014), directed by Matthew Barney, IFC Center, opening December 4“River of Fundament” is not for everyone. The film, which stretches nearly six hours, is Matthew Barney’s theatrically released follow-up to “Drawing Restraint 9,” and an endurance test equaling his most famous work, the “Cremaster” cycle of films. But according to ARTINFO’s Scott Indrisek, those who can “stomach the film’s entirety” — which includes “grown men crawling out of cow carcasses” — will not regret spending half a day in a dark theater. “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, Museum of the Moving Image, December 5Billy Wilder’s cruel drama about a fallen silent film actress (Gloria Swanson) and the screenwriter (William Holden) who ends up first at her dilapidated mansion and later floating in her pool, is screening as part of “The Hollywood Films Behind Walkers,” at the Museum of the Moving Image. Still gripping, much of the film’s resonance and legend is due to its casting. Swanson was a famous silent film actress — Wilder once said in an interview: “Once she was dressed, her hair done to perfection, they placed her on a sedan and two strong men would carry her onto the set so no curl would be displaced” — whose departure from the spotlight was similar, if less tragic, to that of the film’s central character, and Wilder surrounded her with other relics of the former era of Hollywood (Erich von Stroheim, Cecil B. DeMille, Buster Keaton) playing versions of themselves.“The Treasure,” directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, Film Society of Lincoln Center, December 5 This one was mentioned in a previous edition of this column, back when “The Treasure” screened at the New York Film Festival. In a rare occurrence for a film like this, which tends to fall by the wayside, it is screening again. Porumboiu’s film is one of the highlights of the always fascinating “Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema,” an annual series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. (Ahead of last year’s series, I wrote about Porumboiu and his film “The Second Game.”)
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