Almodóvar Adds 4 Classic Horrors/Thrillers to AFI Fest

AFI Fest have just announced five more titles for their upcoming festival, handpicked by Festival Guest Director Pedro Almodóvar. Focusing on classic horror and thriller films, Almodóvar's picks will join his 1987 film Law of Desire which will screen as a special 25th anniversary edition to be attended by Almodóvar and star Antonio Banderas. Almodóvar has also created comprehensive notes for each of his curated films which will be shared with AFI Fest attendees as part of the festival program guide. Details on each of the films in the sidebar are below as well as excerpts from the press release.

AFI Fest kicks of November 3rd in Hollywood.

LE CERCLE ROUGE - Jean Pierre Melville - 1970
The "red circle" of fate ensnares Alain Delon in Jean-Pierre Melville's austere masterpiece about a Paris heist gone terribly wrong.
Starring: Alain Delon, André Bourvil, Gian Maria Volontè, Yves Montand, Paul Crauchet, Paul Amiot, Pierre Collet, André Ekyan, Jean-Pierre Posier, François Périer. France.
Saturday, November 5, 4:00 p.m., Rigler Theatre, Egyptian

EYES WITHOUT A FACE - Georges Franju - 1960
Haunting, lyrical and elegant, Eyes Without a Face offer us Dr. Génessier (Pierre Brasseur), one of the greatest "mad doctors" in all of cinema. Written by: Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Jean Redon, Claude Sautet.
Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Edith Scob, François Guérin, Juliette Mayniel, Alexandre Rignault, Béatrice Altariba, Charles Blavette, Claude Brasseur. France.
Saturday, November 5, 1:30 p.m., Rigler Theatre, Egyptian

THE KILLERS - Robert Siodmak - 1946
Director Robert Siodmak turns Hemingway's six-page short story into a beautiful, tough, tragic thriller starring Burt Lancaster as an ex-boxer who can't outrun his fate. Written by Anthony Veiller from the short story by Ernest Hemingway.
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker, Sam Levine, Vince Barnett, Virgina Christine, Jack Lambert. USA.
Monday, November 7, 4:00 p.m., Rigler Theatre, Egyptian

LAW OF DESIRE - Pedro Almodóvar - 1987
A 25th anniversary screening of Pedro Almodóvar's early masterpiece, a twisted love story featuring explosive performances from Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura.
Starring: Eusebio Poncela, Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas. Spain.
Almodóvar and Banderas will introduce the film. A conversation about Almodóvar's career, moderated by John Hopewell, Chief International Correspondent at Variety, will precede the film.
Monday, November 7, 7:00 p.m., The Chinese

NIGHTMARE ALLEY - Edmund Goulding -1947
Tyrone Power gives a mesmerizing performance as an ambitious carnival barker with a fifth-rate circus in this terrifying and moving film noir classic. Written by Jules Furthman.
Starring: Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker, Taylor Holmes, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith. USA.
Wednesday, November 9, 4:30 p.m., Rigler Theatre, Egyptian

Almodóvar describes LAW OF DESIRE as a film that embodies his voice saying, "LAW OF DESIRE is a fundamental title in my career. Even though we made it on a very modest budget, I don't think I'd change a single shot, and not because it's perfect but because I recognize myself in all of them...It's true that my palette has darkened and, in the case of the latest film, the humor has almost disappeared. Fortunately I've changed sufficiently so that no one can accuse me of repeating myself, but I'm still the same. LAW OF DESIRE shows that." He chose the other four classic films "because in some way, albeit tangentially, they have a relationship with my present."

Almodóvar will attend the festival on Monday, November 7, joined by Antonio Banderas, who has a leading role in LAW OF DESIRE. The film was the first to be produced by El Deseo S.A., the production company founded by Pedro Almodóvar and his brother, Agustín, and through which all of Almodóvar's films have since been produced. A conversation about Almodóvar's career and the history of El Deseo S.A., moderated by John Hopewell, Chief International Correspondent at Variety, will precede the screening of the film.