BRAINSTORM | FOMO Secret Cinema Tbilisi

BRAINSTORM

Douglas Trumbull, 1983, USA, 1h46m, presented in the original English audio with English subtitles

If you’re a Christopher Walken fan, I can almost guarantee this is one you haven’t seen. You really should. BRAINSTORM gives him one of his most unexpected roles: a brilliant scientist, an enthusiastic inventor and a husband trying to reconnect with his wife. There’s warmth and vulnerability here that you don’t often get to see from him. He’s a big part of why I wanted to show this.

The other reason is Ken Russell’s ALTERED STATES, which I screened last Thursday at FOMO. That got me thinking about BRAINSTORM again. Both films explore the deeper recesses of consciousness through scientists willing to experiment on themselves. If ALTERED STATES left you wanting more of that kind of cinema, this is my follow-up.

Walken and Louise Fletcher play researchers developing a machine that lets people record and share their sensory experiences. Natalie Wood plays his estranged wife, a designer helping turn their invention into something usable. Their breakthrough attracts military interest, while the scientists become increasingly absorbed in what else it might reveal.

Behind the camera is Douglas Trumbull, who helped create the extraordinary effects for Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER. He directed only two theatrical features himself: SILENT RUNNING and this.

BRAINSTORM was supposed to be his next great technical achievement. Trumbull wanted to use his experimental Showscan process to make parts of the film feel almost physically real. (Showscan utilised 70mm film just like IMAX but projected it at an astonishing 60 fps to create hyper-realistic images.) The cost defeated that plan, but the ambition survives in the finished film’s rushes of subjective imagery. Someone who had helped Kubrick take audiences beyond Jupiter now wanted to take them inside another person’s consciousness.

Then Natalie Wood died during a break in production. MGM tried to abandon the film. Trumbull argued that he already had enough of her performance to finish it, and fought to do exactly that. With backing from the insurers, he succeeded. The experience however left him so bitter he never directed another theatrical feature.

A couple of weeks ago, I showed Saul Bass’s PHASE IV to a small but enthralled audience. Bass made only one feature. Trumbull made two. Both were celebrated for their contributions to other directors’ films, and I love getting to show what happened when they directed their own.

These are exactly the films I want to make room for at FOMO. Underappreciated, underseen, and worth spending an evening with. Sometimes that means discovering the only feature Saul Bass ever directed. This Sunday, it means discovering a Christopher Walken performance you might never have known existed, directed by the guy who helped make 2001 one of cinema's greatest technical achievements.. If that’s what you’re looking for in a cinema, you’re in the right place.

BRAINSTORM is for fans of CULT SCI-FI · CINEMA OF OBSESSION

10% OFF FOOD, PLUS GROUP DEALS

Dinner before a film at FOMO is now sorted! We’ve arranged special offers with our two favourite places to eat in Bazari Orbeliani, both right next door to FOMO:

• 10% off at La Focacceria

• 20% off at Potato Factory

• Potato Factory 2+1: buy two and get one free

• Potato Factory 3+2: buy three and get two free

Simply show your Fienta ticket when ordering. You’re welcome to eat in the Sherekilebi Bar at FOMO Secret Cinema or upstairs at FOMO Open-Air Cinema. Tell them where you’ll be sitting and they’ll bring your food to you.

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: SHEREKILEBI Bar in FOMO Secret Cinema opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 01:30, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol or drinks from outside are allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!

LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.

HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1

REFUND & CREDIT POLICY: If FOMO cancels a screening, all ticket holders will receive a full refund. If your plans change and you can no longer attend, we’ll issue you a credit for the value of your ticket, which can be used for any FOMO film screening within the following 30 days.

TICKETS are also available at SHEREKILEBI Bar on arrival unless sold out.