The Berkeley Film Archive is running a series of pirate moveis (movies about pirates) in September and October:
Avast, me hearties! We have charted dangerous waters to bring you this flotilla of films, from classic swashbucklers the likes of Michael Curtiz's The Sea Hawk, Jacques Tourneur's Anne of the Indies, and Alexander Mackendrick's A High Wind in Jamaica, to a strange brew of post-piratical features like Vincente Minnelli's The Pirate, Ulrike Ottinger's Madame X, and E. R. Nelson's The Pirates of the Great Salt Lake, each a broadside to the hull of the USS Hollywood. The recent rise of Pirates of the Caribbean has left us questioning just what kind of rogues these pirates be–are they ruthless renegades of the seven seas, gallant privateers swinging gracefully from mast to deck, or rouged and dandy buccaneers, drunk on the grog of grandiosity? And with the galley of pirate fanciers growing daily, between seafaring supply stores, fathomless blogs, and Blackbeard impersonators, we wonder what could be the course of this barbarous affection. While we divine what might a pirate be, we add a new member to the crew, the cultural scrounger who burns booty to fashion into artful trinkets of commerce and commentary. Craig Baldwin's Sonic Outlaws and He Jian-jun's Pirated Copy sail under these new colors, pirates to their dying day. Join us as we set to see.
