There’s something wonderfully subversive about scheduling “Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair” to coincide with the summer solstice, especially in Portland. It’s like, I see your standup paddleboarding in the Willamette, berry picking on Sauvie Island, and sunbathing in the park, and I raise you Vietnam War trauma, teen heroin addiction, and an abused horse.
The film series comes to the Hollywood Theatre on June 19–25. It’s a lineup of movies designed to “venture into the darkest sides of life and the bleakest points of human history,” according to the venue. The festival will likely not appeal to those with abundant serotonin.
Bleak Week started in June 2022 in Los Angeles, a project of the nonprofit arts organization American Cinematheque. Hollywood Theatre head programmer Dan Halsted took notice.
“The idea of cramming in a bunch of bleak, depressing movies into one week? I was like, huh, that’s an interesting concept, but I wonder if it’ll work,” Halsted says. “And then I read about it, and it was hugely successful.”
Misery loves company.
Last year, American Cinematheque reached out to the Hollywood to be one of its first 10 Bleak Week venues outside of Los Angeles. Halsted could program a lineup of films of his choice and use the Bleak Week branding. The Hollywood’s screening of Christiane F. (1981), about a depressed 13-year-old Berliner’s descent into heroin addiction, sold out, as did Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom (1975).
This year, Bleak Week is going global, to nearly 100 theaters in 73 cities.
Programming the Hollywood’s version of the event came easily to Halsted. All of the films have either new 35 mm prints or 4K restorations available that he’s been itching to put up on screen. Tying them to Bleak Week makes sure they don’t get overlooked on the calendar. Beyond that, Halsted had to consider the subtle differences between depressing, disturbing and bleak (see sidebar). Halsted was looking for movies that stick with viewers for days after leaving the theater, in a way that truly crushes the spirit.
“They make you feel down about humanity in general,” he says.
Bingo! Depressives, here’s what’s in store:
Irreversible (2002) in 35 mm at 7:30 pm Friday, June 19.
Synopsis: After a young woman is raped by a stranger in Paris, her boyfriend and ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands. In French, written and directed by Gaspar Noé.
Dan’s take: “Part of the reason that one feels so bleak is the movie goes backwards through the story. So, it starts with just the most horrifying scene, but then the story plays backwards, so it ends with the couple being happy. Just knowing what is coming up later that day is so horrible, and it’s so sad.”
The Deer Hunter (1978) in 35 mm at 6:30 pm Saturday, June 20.
Synopsis: Three friends from a working-class Pennsylvania steel town (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage) have their lives destroyed by the Vietnam War.
Dan’s take: “The Deer Hunter is really about how horrific war is, and the impact that it has on generations afterwards and how it rips societies apart.”
Cannibal Holocaust (1980), a new 4K restoration at 6:30 pm Sunday, June 21.
Synopsis: An anthropologist’s investigation into cannibalistic tribes in the Amazon rainforest. This Italian film comes with a warning from the venue about its graphic content and animal cruelty.
Dan’s take: “It’s horrifically violent, and it goes too far. There’s animal cruelty in it, which is so horrible, but it has this beautiful score to it. I feel like the composer, Riz Ortolani, saw the footage of the movie and was like, this is so horrific and so awful and the music is just sad.”
The Turin Horse (2011), 7 pm Monday, June 22. Sold out.
Synopsis: “A monumental windstorm and an abused horse’s refusal to work or eat signals the beginning of the end for a poor farmer and his daughter,” per the Hollywood. In Hungarian.
Dan’s take: “The Turin Horse is about the slow repetitive life of a countryside family that suddenly becomes increasingly grim. We’re showing it as a tribute to director Béla Tarr, who passed away earlier this year.”
Star 80 (1983) in 35 mm at 7:30 pm Tuesday, June 23.
Synopsis: The true story of the murder of Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten (Mariel Hemingway) by her manager husband (Eric Roberts).
Dan’s take: “It’s such a great, overlooked movie. Bob Fosse was such an incredible filmmaker, and that’s one of his best movies. Also, Eric Roberts is just phenomenal in that movie—the type of performance that I can’t believe he didn’t win an Oscar. He’s so sleazy; you really believe the character and you can’t stand him.”
A Simple Plan (1998) in 35 mm at 7 pm Wednesday, June 24.
Synopsis: Good people do evil things after they discover $4 million in a crashed plane. Starring Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxton.
Dan’s take: “It’s one of my favorite movies from the ’90s, and it’s such an overlooked movie. That movie is bleak because you’re watching just normal, everyday people who just happen upon this bag of money, and then just watching them turn into repulsive people because of greed.”
Threads (1984), a new 4K restoration at 7 pm Thursday, June 25. Sold out.
Synopsis: A young mother struggles to survive a nuclear winter.
Dan’s take: “Starts out grim and descends into total hopelessness.”
SEE IT: Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. $12; some screenings sold out. Check theater listings for updates.
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