Images Cinema: Regaining the lost art of moviegoing
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Jan 15, 1999) -- I can't quite remember back that far, but I'm certain that my decision to choose to go to college in this town some 20-odd years ago was based in part on the presence of a metropolitan-quality art house in this quaint, sleepy village. The equal of the Orson Welles in Cambridge, the Coolidge Corner in Brookline, or the Avon in Providence, Images Cinema, that unheralded gem of the cultural Berkshires on Spring Street, has always been an oasis of cosmopolitanism in a town that conventional wisdom says is too small to support such an institution.

Indeed, Images has taken a beating over the years, its box office a casualty of home video and the corporate multiplexes lurking in surrounding towns. In addition, a huge blow was struck against the theater when, several years back, it lost its streetfront marquee, its storefront entrance and lobby, and a house at least double its current size with the ambiance, albeit on a smaller scale, of a grand old movie palace.

Several times Images has been on the brink of closing, only to be saved through the efforts of a core group of committed townspeople. Most recently this occurred last winter, when an ad hoc group raised enough money to buy the theater and turn it into a non-profit, community-run organization dedicated to the perpetuation of the art of film.

A dynamic duo of creative, innovative managers has revitalized the theater and its programming, which in addition to the independent and foreign films that comprise the bulk of its schedule now includes revivals of classics, children's pictures and thematic programming, such as last fall's Israeli film festival and the upcoming salute to the contemporary comic genius Adam Sandler.

As it stands, Images is no longer just a movie theater. It is, rather, a permanent film festival, and we, the citizens of Northern and Central Berkshire (I have friends who drive up to Images from Lenox) and Southern Vermont, should count ourselves miraculously blessed to have this ongoing, curated exhibition of the best of the art of film in our midst.

The problem is, of course, that too many of us have fallen out of the habit of going to the movies. We fool ourselves into thinking we're too busy to go to the movies, perhaps the greatest, most eloquent art form of the 20th century, and one that arguably pays back more than the price of admission in the way it sends us off into the night recharged with newfound sensibilities. In addition, the act of going to the movies provides us with one of the only significant communal experiences that remain in our insular, post-modern culture, the sort of common ritual essential to the healthy spirit and mind of civilized man.

Out of laziness or inertia, we prefer to rent cheap video copies of last year's Hollywood hits and watch them on tiny TV screens in the comfort of our own couches. Or at best, we succumb to the extraordinary power of Madison Avenue and go to the bland megaplexes to view the latest hundred-million-dollar hype machines, and inevitably leave disappointed both by the movie and the drab experience of watching it in a shopping mall that could be anyplace, anywhere.

Going to Images is an entirely different experience, one that doesn't even bear direct comparison to either of the above. First of all, Images specializes in independently-made films that take their inspiration from America cinema's heyday in the 1970s -- films with strongly personal points of view made by individualistic writers and directors, as opposed to the escapist, star-driven smash-'em'-ups and formulaic TV shows writ large for the big screen, conceived and produced by teams of corporate marketers and demographers to appeal to the least common denominator in the greatest number of megaplexes. Today's best independent filmmakers use moving pictures as canvases on which to tell unique stories, which at their best pack the power of visual novels.

This isn't to say that Images' fare is elitist and inaccessible, all Scandinavian angst and neo-Realist propaganda. Rather, it is cinema for the discerning, contemporary viewer, one who wants more out of a movie than to be condescended to or to have his senses and intellect totally assaulted and then deadened into submission for two hours straight. These are films that -- like them or not -- challenge a viewer intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, films that, like any serious work of art, speak with ingenuity of the human condition in new and provocative ways.

A brief perusal of many film critics' top 10 lists of 1998 turns up a plethora of such movies screened at Images in the past year -- films that for the most part did not last long or even show up at the monster-plexes. In the last 12 months Images moviegoers were treated to such memorable films as Darren Aronofsky's "Pi," Todd Solondz's "Happiness," Neil LaBute's "Your Friends and Neighbors," Tamara Jenkins's "Slums of Beverly Hills," Adrian Lyne's "Lolita," Neil Jordan's "The Butcher Boy" and Spike Lee's "He Got Game."

But Images is more than just a place to go to see great movies. Indeed, you won't always like the movies you see there. But liking them is not the point. Just as a steady diet of likable art leads to mental stultification and the loss of critical faculties, so too does a steady diet of serious movies exercise one's intellect and enhance one's appreciation of film art.

Along the way, you will soon recognize other frequent moviegoers and enjoy the shared experience of being part of a cultural community -- a community of cinema. The discussion before and after the film, in the aisles and the lobby and outside the theater, is always lively. You'll be greeted and sent off into the night by friendly, familiar faces who before long will learn your name.

Knowing that the films at Images have been carefully selected by astute, discriminating curators of the medium, you will get into the habit of just going to the movies, regardless of what's playing, in the same way that your ancestors paid weekly visits to houses of worship, regardless of the topic of the day's scriptural reading or sermon.

In spite of the many positive changes and innovations that the new management team at Images have instituted over the last year -- including film talks, matinees, and collaborative packages with area restaurants -- the theater cannot support itself at the current rate of attendance. While continuing to enhance the theater's offerings in hopes of attracting larger audiences, the organization is launching a membership drive this month.

Whether or not you decide to join in the membership effort to make Images Cinema a healthy, thriving spoke in our region's cultural wheel is your business. But do yourselves and your community a huge favor and make a habit of going to the movies at Images. Life here without it is just too barren and stark a prospect even to contemplate.

For more information, call 458-1039 or visit http://www.imagescinema.org.

Hey ladies!

The bi-continental Ladies Auxiliary Ukulele Orchestra makes a rare local appearance this Sunday at 7 at Uncommon Grounds Café in Great Barrington. The group, which consists of Berkshirites Bernice Lewis and Cathy Schane-Lydon and Amy Rose, now of Great Britain, is a wacky, talented fusion of vaudeville and performance art -- think the Andrews Sisters meet Rasputina.

With a repertoire stretching from Pachelbel to Bruce Springsteen, the trio's anything-goes approach promises an evening of spontaneous thrills. The group's show on Sunday is billed as a "Winter Concert and Swap Meet" -- attendees are asked to bring an item to swap or sell, to serve as inspiration for a song the Ladies will compose on the spot. For more information call 528-6617.

The Ladies will also be performing at Williams College in Goodrich Hall on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 7. Call 597-2284 for more info.

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[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Jan. 15, 1999. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1999. All rights reserved.]