Larry Kent’s Vancouver Trilogy: The Bitter Ash 4K Restoration
Schedule
Fri Sep 20 2024 at 07:00 pm
Location
Main Floor - 100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, Manitoba R3B 1H3 | Winnipeg, MB
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Dir. Larry Kent1963, Canada, 80 min
With a dead-end job and a potentially pregnant girlfriend jeopardizing his freedom, Des (Cathy’s Curse’s Alan Scarfe) spirals into bitterness, misanthropy, and fantasies of violent crime. While visiting a sick friend one afternoon, he crosses paths with the similarly jaded, even suicidal Laurie (Lynn Stewart), a young parent working as a waitress to provide for her child and struggling playwright husband (Philip Brown). Desperate to recapture a sense of vitality – and raise money for rent – this troubled couple invites Des and a group of local beatniks over for a hedonistic party that culminates in a series of shocking acts of violence and betrayal.
Made for just $5,000, The Bitter Ash is the first feature from celebrated independent filmmaker Larry Kent, a cinematic trailblazer cited as a key influence by countrymates David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan. Playing like a Canadian answer to John Cassavetes’ Shadows, this first entry in Kent’s seminal Vancouver Trilogy (followed by Sweet Substitute and When Tomorrow Dies) also flirts with the frank sexuality and other provocations of ’60s exploitation cinema, which led to a series of censorship battles, dooming the film to decades of obscurity.
Introduced by Andrew Burke.
Cited by David Cronenberg as “a heroic figure,” Larry Kent made films “so ahead of their time” (to quote Atom Egoyan) that they eventually fell out of official circulation. Situated somewhere between the vivid indie dramas of John Cassavetes and the lurid melodramas of Doris Wishman, Kent’s films brought new vitality to Canadian cinema – and time has only added to their potency. The Dave Barber Cinematheque is proud to present these enduring works of underground Canadian cinema, informally known as “The Vancouver Trilogy”, featuring new 4K restorations from Canadian International Pictures.
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Where is it happening?
Main Floor - 100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, Manitoba R3B 1H3Event Location & Nearby Stays:
