Under the Banyan Tree: Open Air Cinema (JUNE)2 min read

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Celebrate the romance and magic of cinema with your family and friends in a refreshing open-air setting as we screen some of your favourite and most beloved movie classics in the popular Under the Banyan Tree monthly series.

The films for the month of June are Mon Oncle (My Uncle) and The General.

Venue: Stamford Garden
Admission is FREE!

Mon Oncle (My Uncle)

Friday 25 June 2010, 8:00pm
1958 | France | 110 min | 35mm | PG | Jacques Tati

Jacques Tati, one of cinema’s greatest comedians, reprises his role as the lovable and accident-prone Mr Hulot in the film Mon Oncle, a follow-up to the hugely popular Mr. Hulot’s Holiday. Mon Oncle proves to be equally successful, becoming a big international hit and winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.

In Mon Oncle, Mr Hulot grapples with the absurdities of modern living with hilarious results when he visits his brother-in-law who lives in a futuristic house full of mechanised gadgets. Filled with inventive and delightful sight gags, the nearly dialogue-free film is a comic masterpiece, and at the same time, a sly dig at American-style consumerism and our obsession with modern efficiency.

A joy to watch from beginning to end, the highlight of Mon Oncle is Tati’s playful and distinctive brand of visual humour, which has been a huge influence on the style of comedians from Monty Python to Peter Sellers and Rowan Atkinson.

The General

Saturday 26 June 2010, 8:00pm
1927 | USA | 75 min | 35mm | PG | Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

Combining romance, adventure and breathtaking stunts, The General is silent comedian Buster Keaton’s masterpiece, and a classic that still inspires awe and wonder. Based on a story set during the Civil War, The General stars Keaton as Johnny Gray, a resolute Southern railroad engineer who pursues his beloved locomotive and his sweetheart, Annabelle Lee, when they are captured by Yankee spies.

In some of the most thrilling chase sequences ever committed to film, Keaton goes after the hijackers on a handcar, bicycle, and finally a locomotive, while battling many obstacles, including an errant canon, with calm stoic grace. As with all his films, Keaton performs all his stunts with perfect timing and dexterity.

Made towards the end of the silent era, The General is one of the most expensive films made during the time, featuring hundreds of extras and an actual locomotive falling into a gorge. Although it did poorly at the box office when it was first released, it is considered by critics as one of the greatest silent films of all time.