High Life
UW Cinematheque 821 University Ave., UW Vilas Hall, Room 4070, Madison, Wisconsin
press release: UK, France, Germany, Poland, USA | 2018 | DCP |113 min.
Director: Claire Denis; Cast: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin
Light years from Earth, a spaceship drifts towards a black hole. Onboard are a father and daughter, the last survivors of a doomed mission. The mysterious fate of the rest of the crew—a group of death row inmates under the care of a witchy doctor (Binoche)—is revealed through a web of flashbacks. A 21st century companion to deep space head trips like 2001 and Solaris, Denis’s long-awaited sci-fi freakout is a visually astonishing, mind-melting trip into the interstellar abyss.
In June, the Cinematheque continues its tradition of showcasing the work of modern cinema’s greatest poet of sound and image, Claire Denis. Denis, working closely with a team of trusted collaborators, makes films that take the form of reveries, crafting mood pieces that are at once deeply subjective and gloriously physical. She has called this uniquely sensuous and beguiling body of work “open cinema,” a term reflective of films that are as aesthetically entrancing as they are politically complex. This summer’s program includes the only local theatrical showing of Denis’ most recent feature, the sci-fi freakout High Life, and a 35mm print of her enigmatic adventure movie, L’intrus.
All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public.