GLORIA   1980  Directed by John Cassavetes  123 minutes  In English

Director John Cassavetes had become a legend for pounding out beautiful emotionally wrenching, hard-hitting, grainy black-and-white, reality-capturing movies in the 60s. In the 70s his movies shifted into color, and with it his movies took on a new edge. By the time this project rolled around, he was willing to break new ground by making a movie that could almost be a Hollywood production but at the same time was radically different. In fact, once it was finished, the studio wanted to just shelve it and never screen it. It hung around in limbo for a year, and was only released because Cassavetes kept pressuring the studios, and took it to European film festivals where it gained critical acclaim.

Once it was given a limited appearance in movie theatres, the American public didn't take to it very well because it was too off-beat and unusual... but for others it was clearly a huge influence. It's been remade several times by directors who deeply love it, for example Luc Besson's version is called Léon (where only the gender roles are changed). The inimitable Gena Rowlands gives a powerhouse performance as Gloria, a woman who gets caught up in a gangster scenario when she protects a little boy. Instead of running to a man to protect her, she takes things into her own hands. Besides Gena Rowland's grand delivery, the film also has an incredible script, complete with gender-bending roles. Absolutely wonderful.

This will be a high-definition screening.