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Elle

Elle
Tournées Film Festival is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC), the French American Cultural Fund, Florence Gould Foundation and Highbrow Entertainment.

"'Elle' is bold, fearless and crazy, just as one should expect from maverick director Paul Verhoeven. The 78-year-old helmer of subversive action fare like “Robocop” and “Starship Troopers” has always engaged in boundary- and taboo-pushing material, and “Elle” is no different. While it is his most grounded, human work, it is not for the faint of heart or the easily disturbed, and it plays with deranged sexual politics in ways few other films would dare.

The great Isabelle Huppert plays Michèle Leblanc, who is brutally raped by an assailant in a ski mask on the floor of her home in the film’s harrowing opening scene. Then what? She pulls herself together and goes on about her day. Life goes on.

Michèle is the head of a video game company that travels in violent, misogynistic games. Is the culture to blame for her attack? She’s also the daughter of a serial killer whose brutal murder spree decades ago continues to make her a target for abuse and ridicule. Is she paying for past sins?

Verhoeven doesn’t judge, and Michèle is too tough to let anything slow her down. Huppert plays her with unapologetic aplomb, and it’s a bombshell performance that ranks among the year’s best. (Huppert, 63, recently picked up a Golden Globe for the role.)

Michèle deals with the revolving door of men in her life, using them to satisfy her needs and owning her fate. Even her rapist comes back around. “Elle” never pulls any punches, and Verhoeven titillates right until the end."

-Adam Graham, Detroit News

Elle

Mon October 2, 2017, 7:30 PM, Muenzinger Auditorium

France, in French with English subtitles, Color, 130 min, 2.35 : 1, Rated R for violence involving sexual assault, disturbing sexual content, some grisly images, brief graphic nudity, and language

Director: Paul Verhoeven, Novel: Philippe Djian, Screenplay: David Birke, Adaptation: Harold Manning, Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny, Charles Berling, Virginie Efira

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Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

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Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

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(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

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