The Dryden will screen The Falls (Peter Greenaway, U.K. 1980, 185 min., 16mm) tonight at 8 p.m.

Peter Greenaway's first feature-length work, The Falls introduced film audiences to its director's singular style and wit. The film employs an anthropological tone to tell of the aftermath of a fictional cataclysmic event, referred to in the film simply as VUE, or "Violent Unknown Event." In this way, it juxtaposes the language of facticity with the wildly absurd details of an imagined catastrophe. We are told that this mysterious phenomenon has affected nearly 20 million people, who share a number of common symptoms: most notably, the acquisition of completely new languages and a seemingly inexhaustible fascination with birds. Although it might be called a "mock" documentary, Greenaway employs breathtaking cinematography and an almost obsessive attention to detail to make its doomed characters feel real.

[source: Dryden website, 2015-May-11]