A few weeks ago, the day @hecubah and I went cycling through the city of Amsterdam, we purchased a Cineville card. Cineville is an organization of thirteen independent movie cinemas in Amsterdam, showing a total of at least 500 movies every week. Since that day, we have seen Hadewijch at Rialto and La Danse at de Uitkijk without having to pay for it, other than the monthly fee of just € 17,50 a month.
Last night, there were two more or less unique movies we wanted to see. There was ‘Upload Cinema: the Art of the Webcam’ which is very ’2010′. And then there was ‘La Prissionniere’ or ‘His Captive’. A movie from the 1960s about modern art, but above all about sadomasochism. After we picked up our tickets for Upload Cinema at de Uitkijk, we went down to the Filmmuseum for La Prissionniere.
After a short stroll via Leidseplein and Vondelpark, we arrived at the Filmmuseum, to find out our Cineville cards had been put on hold, as we already picked up tickets for the other show later that night. The lady at the register told us the people at de Uitkijk shouldn’t have sold the tickets already, and that she couldn’t accept the cards now. As I wanted to see the film anyway, and it only aired that night and the night before, I decided to just pay for the tickets. With a student discount, that set us back 13 euros.
The movie however, was superb and absolutely worth the money we paid. I’ve heard a lot of people praise ‘The Secretary’ for the way it portrays BDSM, including myself, but La Prissoniere is completely different. Better. It’s strength lies in the subtlety of it. Without a single spanking, it beautifully captures the inner struggle of a woman newly introduced to what’s known as sadomasochism. The battle between the objectionability of being abused and humiliated one one side and giving in to the desire of submission on the other.
Aside from that, the film was probably revolutionary at the time. Throughout the movie, screenplay progresses rather fast, and with the art gallery as a backdrop, a lot of modern art is put in the film, resulting in psychedelic effects which are stunning in itself, although those suffering from epileptic attacks might not like them as much.
Next up was ‘Upload Cinema’, a monthly collection of Youtube movies ‘taken to the big screen’. This month’s theme was ‘the Art of the Webcam’, focusing on several aspects of the webcam throughout the years. As we waited for the movie to start in the cinema’s lobby, I felt like I had entered a modern-day group of (more or less) intellectuals. Most of the people attending knew each other and conversations on new media such as Twitter were ongoing while enjoying a beer. There was a very lively buzz to it all.
The screening itself was better than expected. Although I didn’t know what to expect from a series of short movies, one after the other, 40 in a row, it actually worked out fine. There was a nice mixture of humorous movies and more serious ones, and from time to time you could hear people laugh a little too soon, proof of the fact they had seen that particular movie before. After seeing this month’s show, @hecubah and I decided to go see the previous one as well, which is being shown next week in Amsterdam.
La Prissonière was truly an amazing movie. A must see for every kinky person, as it’s easy to relate. I’m happy I got the chance to watch it on the big screen, especially because it isn’t available on DVD.
Upload Cinema was amausing for a geek like me. The crowd was indeed nice to witness, and if we visit each month, we might get to know some people (: Do happy I get to share this with you (: