Closing Night!

Blind Husbands 1919

Director: Eric Von Stroheim starring Eric von Stroheim, Francelia Billington, Gibson Gowland

99min

Few directors have such a mystique surrounding them as Eric von Stroheim. Although never giving up acting, his debut as a director with this film allowed him to join the ranks of those who would define film as an artistic pursuit.

Stroheim concentrated on the ragged underside of the human relationship with his deeply flawed characters pursuing life through a world of moral depravity. This film was so successful commercially and critically that it shot von Stroheim to into the spotlight and with it the fascinating body of work which followed (Foolish Wives, Greed, Wedding March).

Rich in detail with a decidedly European “feel” to the film, von Stroheim plays an Austrian officer who meets a vacationing American doctor and his neglected wife in the Austrian Alps. Although loving her husband, the wife’s resolve slowly crumbles under his constant sexual predatory attentions.

Not content with just a story of right and wrong, Stroheim deliberately created the layering of moral ambiguity we have come to expect in his later work.

Plus: The Best of TUFF 2014 Five award winning one-minute silent shorts from the Toronto Urban Film Festival, up on the big screen with live original scores.

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Technicolor Pt 5

Live piano accompanist: Jordan Klapman

Tickets: $15 in advance online or at the door

Festival Pass: $80

Festival runs April 9-14 at various venues across the city

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