Raising Cain

press release:

FRI., 9/9, 7 p.m. SISTERS: USA | 1973 | 35mm | 93 min.

Director: Brian De Palma; Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning

In what might be De Palma’s first fully-realized effort, reporter Grace Collier (Salt) witnesses a brutal murder. When no evidence of the crime can be found, Grace’s investigation leads her to model Danielle Breton and her murderous sister Dominique (both played by Kidder), conjoined twins separated at birth. De Palma’s own script borrows liberally from Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho and Rear Window in particular) and the movie even features a chilling score by regular Hitchcock composer Bernard Herrmann. Print courtesy of Academy Film Archive.

FRI., 9/9, 8:45 p.m. RAISING CAIN: USA | 1992 | 35mm | 95 min.

Director: Brian De Palma; Cast: John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer

After The Bonfire of the Vanities’ box-office disaster, De Palma returned to familiar thriller territory with spellbinding results. In a tour-de-force performance, Lithgow plays multiple roles, most notably a pair of twin brothers who are carrying on with the criminal experimental work of their demented psychologist father. Paying homage once again to Hitchcock, but also Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, De Palma delivers a dizzying parade of shocks, twists and delirious visual flourishes.

Brian De Palma Thrills Us! series: Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow’s new documentary De Palma combines interviews and film clips to take us deep into the life and work of Brian De Palma, master of the contemporary thriller and one of American cinema’s most expressive, eclectic, and personal filmmakers. In his New York Times review De Palma, critic A.O. Scott writes “It’s almost hard to believe that he could have made so many wild, haunting and provocative movies, but by the end of the documentary, you may want nothing more than to see them all.” While not a complete retrospective, this series provides you the opportunity to see the first theatrical screening of De Palma in Madison, plus 10 of Brian De Palma’s very best features, several of which will be shown on original 35mm prints.