Film for Thought: 7 Aug 2019, 6 pm onwards - Science Fiction Double Bill at Sunaparanta

This Wednesday, 7^th August 2019 at 6pm, Sunaparanta will host a 1950’s SCIENCE FICTION DOUBLE BILL at the indoor gallery, presented by Arvind Sivakumaran.

SCIENCE FICTION films in the 1950s were drastically different from the ones put out today. Less about gadgetry and special effects, most were subversive critiques on the larger politics and cultural problems of the time.

These two films are a commentary on the communist “red” paranoia – the possibility of invasion by alien ideas and “beings” that threatened the security of the American status quo. They were also a veiled attack on our propensity for nuclear proliferation exploring mankind’s constant willingness to go to any lengths, even self-annihilation to preserve the existing order. This message makes these films as relevant today as when they were first made.

Screening @ 6.00pm

Film: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)       

Directed by: Robert Wise

Starring: Patricia Neal and Michael Rennie

Duration: 1 hr 32 mins

Film Synopsis:  Vastly different from its inferior modern remake, Robert Wise’s (The Sound of Music) original is a cautionary tale, an ultimatum to people on earth about their inability to co-exist peacefully. The plot revolves around the arrival of a spaceship and the sense of fear it engenders in a militaristic American society.

Screening @7.45pm

Film: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)    

Directed by: Don Siegel

Starring: Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter

Duration: 1 hr 20 mins

Film Synopsis:  Remade several times since, Siegel’s original film focuses on a doctor who starts to believe that everyone in his small-town community is slowly being replaced by lifeless alien duplicates. The classic ending still resonates.

NOTE: LIMITED SEATING, ON FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS ONLY.

Venue: Sunaparanta Indoor Gallery

Kindly contact us for more details: Tel: 0832-2421311 / Email: info@sgcfa.org