Kent MOMI is pleased to announce a new eight-week programme of screenings at the museum. The screenings, collectively entitled CINEMA OF DESIRE will run every Friday evening from 16th August to 4th October.  See below for the intoxicating details!

WEEK ONE Friday 16th August

Flesh and the Devil

Introduced by Joss & David. Running time: 112 minutes.

Newcomer Garbo, in only her third Hollywood appearance, though still fresh from her European triumphs in Gosta Berling’s Saga (1924) and The Joyless Street (1925), shot to the front rank of stars in Flesh and the Devil, in which she was paired – momentously, for the first time – with the man who became one of her many lovers, John Gilbert, who inherited the crown as Hollywood’s handsomest leading man following the death of Rudolph Valentino (who we encounter next week).  The film proves, if proof were needed, that dialogue can be a bar to intense screen emotion: its silence is truly golden.

Flesh and the Devil is also an intensely visual, almost luminous film – the perfect setting for a woman whose mathematically perfect and endlessly expressive face was (in the words of one contemporary) almost “a Platonic dream of beauty”.  Clarence Brown’ s well-paced and inventive direction and his remarkable cameraman (Garbo’s favourite) William Daniels’ superlative use of light and shadow make Flesh and the Devil as compelling to the eye today as it was in 1926.  (Watch for the perfect scene in a which a cigarette is lit.)  

 The friendship of Ulrich (Lars Hanson, star of the late silent classics The Scarlet Letter and The Wind) and Leo (Gilbert), is destroyed by a beautiful woman, Felicitas (Garbo), devoid of moral principles, who ultimately prefers wealth over passion.  The result is two duels, one powerfully presented in silhouette.  One almost applauds when Garbo meets her end in frozen waters, so successful is she at portraying an unprincipled vamp.  But, luckily, film resurrected her and the dreams she made possible, in film after beautiful film. 

To reserve places, please hit the button, below, or email info@kentmomi.org

First come, first served with a limited capacity of 30 places.

Doors open 5.30, for drinks, nibbles & classic cocktails by Dr. Natasha.

Films commence 6.30pm sharp.

Screenings are FREE to Kent MOMI yearly ticket holders, but a £5 donation is suggested, to help us keep the lights on. Museum tickets can be bought at the door, and are valid for a year.