David Lean Film Retrospective at CCBBRio Begins January 27

By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Beginning January 27th and continuing through February 15th, the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil of Rio de Janeiro (CCBBRio) will host a retrospective featuring the complete works of English director David Lean. During the retrospective, the films Lean directed will screen in the CCBBRio’s sala 1 (first theater).

Well known for the movies “Lawrence of Arabia”, “The Bridge on the River Kwai”, and “Doctor Zhivago”, among others, Lean worked in the film industry for over fifty years, from 1930 to 1984.

“In addition to being perhaps the greatest maker of epic films, David Lean is a filmmaker who, by his complexity, deserves to have his work appreciated for movies less known by the general public,” curator of the upcoming retrospective José de Aguiar said in a released statement. “His early English stage with intimate cinema, in particular ‘Brief Encounter’ a film which emerges as a counterpoint to the grandeur of achievements including ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Doctor Zhivago,’ seem to confirm his genius as a director.”

Lean began his career as a film editor. He worked on over twenty films before pairing with Noël Coward to make his directorial debut with the 1942 movie “In Which We Serve.” He would go on to direct sixteen more films before his death in 1991.

Given space and freedom to develop his own style, Lean constructed a unique world perspective through his films by using elaborate camera movements and minimal dialogue sequences. He was highly praised by critics and many of his works are often featured in lists ranking the best films of the twentieth century.

Directors including Stanley Kubrick, John Woo, Joe Wright, and Steven Spielberg have cited Lean’s films as being influential in their works and one of the films nominated for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Picture, “The Revenant” has been repeatedly compared to Lean’s work.

During his career Lean and his films were awarded multiple prizes including the Academy Award for Best Director for “The Bridge on the Rive Kwai” in 1957 and for “Lawrence of Arabia” in 1962.

In addition to the retrospective’s film screenings, on February 3rd, curator José de Aguiar will mediate a discussion with a panel of critics including Gilberto Silva Júnior and Paulo Ricardo Gonçalves de Almeida.

For a complete list of programming, films screening during the retrospective and the screening times, see the CCBBRio website.

What: O Cinema Total de David Lean (Complete David Lean Film Retrospective)
When: January 27th through February 15th. Wednesdays through Monday (CCBBRio is closed on Tuesdays)
Where: Salas de Cinema 1, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Rio de Janeiro, Rua Primeiro de Março 66 – Centro.
Entrance: R$2 – R$4