Tonight the International Film Series continues with a screening and discussion of “Double Indemnity.”
Sponsored by the Comparative Literature Organization for Undergraduate Discussion, the series’ theme is “Great Authors Writing Screenplays,” combining traditional literature and literary ideas in film.
This is the second screening in the ongoing International Film Series, organized by both graduate and undergraduate members of CLOUD.
Anyone, regardless of major, can join CLOUD, though the group focuses on comparative literature projects. In addition to hosting film series, the group also organizes conferences for undergraduate comparative literature majors.
Tonight’s movie, “Double Indemnity,” was written by Raymond Chandler, a man known both for his literary works and his screen writing.
The film premiered in 1944, and is about insurance agent Walter Neff, his affair with Phyllis Dietrichson and their plot to murder her husband and claim twice his life insurance amount with a double indemnity clause.
Professor Tyler Curtain will be introducing the American film noir masterpiece.
CLOUD graduate student Pablo Maurette and undergraduate Bill Dworsky developed the theme.
Chandler is important as both an author and screenwriter. Maurette said that this movie was chosen because it is hard to find a person skilled in both fields, like Chandler.
The theme does not include movies made from literary works but focuses on important international literary writers that have experimented in screen writing.
The rest of the films in the series have similar characteristics — none are movies adapted from books. The screenwriters are usually better known for their literary works, but they all experimented in cinema.
A discussion on the film will follow the viewing.
The International Film Series in the past has attracted a wide variety of students, graduate and undergraduate alike. This is the seventh year of the film series.
“We are pleased with the format that we created,” comparative literature professor Inger Brodey said in an e-mail.
“All films are introduced by a knowledgeable speaker, enhanced by refreshments that fit the themes or cultural origins of the film and followed by undergraduate-led discussion.”
Past themes for the festival include “(Re)Visions of History,” “Worlds in Transition,” “Capturing Loss,” “Life Screenings/Screening Lives” and “Border Crossings.”
View the film:
“Double Indemnity”
6:30 p.m. today, Graham Memorial, Room 39.
Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
