Revolver – Films from 1966

February 17 to March 1, 2006

In the discourse on contemporary filmmaking, the “year-end review” (including an analysis of new trends and, of course, a best-of-the-year list) are seen as entirely legitimate and are becoming increasingly popular.

When it comes to representations of film history, however, a concentrated focus on a single year from cinema's past is frowned upon. It would appear that the strict calendar criterion loses its meaning (and becomes more and more haphazard) when the "present" recedes into "history".

The film series Revolver on the year 1966 is a sort of counter-example to this viewpoint. Seven films from different countries, all made or released in the same year, endeavour to illuminate a moment in history precisely through the "coincidence" of their company in this context.

A single movie season, portraying a certain mood: Which thoughts and manners of speech, which textures and sensibilities come to light when a gangster film (Le Deuxième Souffle by Jean-Pierre Melville), a thriller on contemporary history (La battaglia di Algeri by Gillo Pontecorvo), a Western (The Shooting by Monte Hellman), an apocalyptical docu-drama (The War Game by Peter Watkins) a Yakuza revenge film (Tokyo nagaremono by Seijun Suzuki), an experimental road movie (Quixote by Bruce Baillie) and a spy film (Torn Curtain by Alfred Hitchcock) are juxtaposed?