About this Event
THE FILMS OF SAUL & ELAINE BASS
Featuring an extraordinary collection of beautiful archival 16mm prints courtesy of the Academy Film Archive, 7th House presents a rare two-evening retrospective of the extraordinary filmmaking career of Saul and Elaine Bass — spanning groundbreaking short films, visionary cinematic experiments, and culminating with their sole feature film, the singular cult science-fiction parable PHASE IV. Even if you don’t know the name, you know and love the work of Saul Bass. One of the most influential image-makers of the 20th century, Bass revolutionized the language of visual culture through his iconic film title sequences, posters, advertisements, logos, and cinematic collaborations with directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin Scorsese. Yet to speak only of Saul is to tell an incomplete story. Throughout the most personally fertile and adventurous decades of his career, Saul worked in close creative partnership with his wife and collaborator Elaine Bass, whose immense artistic contributions were deeply intertwined with his own and whose legacy has too often been overshadowed by his singular public reputation. Nowhere was their extraordinary artistic dialogue more evident than in the remarkable body of short films and cinematic experiments they created together — visionary works that fused modernist graphic design, speculative fiction, philosophical inquiry, surreal humor, and breathtaking visual invention into films unlike anything else in American cinema. Together, these two evenings offer a rare opportunity to experience the Basses on the big screen not simply as legendary designers, but as visionary filmmakers whose cinematic imagination remains startlingly modern, playful, and profound.
NIGHT 2
Night Two journeys into the Basses’ most visionary and metaphysical cinematic territory, where science fiction, ecology, speculative philosophy, and astonishing visual design converge into works of eerie beauty and cosmic wonder. Beginning with the Oscar-nominated THE SOLAR FILM — a remarkably gorgeous and awe-struck meditation on sunlight, energy, and humanity’s relationship to the natural world — the evening expands further into otherworldly terrain with the rarely-screened science-fiction marvel QUEST, co-written by Ray Bradbury and featuring some of the most extraordinary visual effects and production design in 1980s science fiction cinema. Set on a desolate alien world inhabited by descendants of a crashed spaceship crew who live and die within eight days, the film unfolds as a hypnotic vision of strange landscapes, shifting scales of time, and haunting interplanetary imagery that left even George Lucas and Industrial Light & Magic stunned.
The evening culminates with the Basses’ sole feature film, the singular cult science-fiction parable PHASE IV — one of the strangest and most visually ambitious studio science-fiction films of the 1970s. Starring Michael Murphy and Lynne Frederick, the film follows a team of scientists isolated in the desert as they attempt to communicate with — and ultimately survive against — a rapidly evolving colony of hyper-intelligent ants whose behavior suggests the emergence of an alien collective consciousness. Combining astonishing macro-photography, meticulously composed production design, hypnotic editing, and an atmosphere of mounting existential unease, PHASE IV transforms ecological science fiction into something eerie, philosophical, and wholly unlike any Hollywood film before or since. Following the film in its original theatrical form, we will present the retrospective’s grand finale: the restored, deeply psychedelic, and long-thought-lost original ending to PHASE IV — a mindblowing cinematic descent that ranks alongside the finale of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY as one of the most overwhelming, trippy sequences ever put to film.
Program:
— THE SOLAR FILM, 1980, 9 mins, 16mm
Print courtesy of the Saul & Elaine Bass Collection at the Academy Film Archive
— QUEST, 1984, 30 mins, 16mm
Print courtesy of the Saul & Elaine Bass Collection at the Academy Film Archive
—PHASE IV, 1974, 84 mins, Digital
— PHASE IV: ORIGINAL ENDING, 1974, 6 mins, Digital.
Presented with intermission.
Recommended Ages13 and Up.
Very special thanks to Edda Manriquez, the Academy Film Archive, and Jennifer Bass.
Tickets: $15 (All Screenings Are In Person Only)
Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.
ADVISORY DISCLAIMER
With some exception, The Philosophical Research Society’s 7th House Screenings does not typically provide advisory warnings about potentially upsetting content or subject matter, as sensitivities are particular to each viewer. Please be sure to read event listings, research on the web, or visit Common Sense Media, IMDb, and DoesTheDogDie.com for thorough info on content and age-appropriateness. If you have any specific content advisory questions, please email [email protected].
CONTENT DISCLAIMER
The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed within exhibited works are solely those of their creators and may not represent those of the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), its affiliates, or any individuals associated with PRS. Screenings are intended for educational and entertainment purposes.
ACCESSIBILITY
PRS wants all guests to be able to enjoy our events safely and comfortably. If you require any accessibility accommodation, please reach out to [email protected] before showtime and we will be happy to assist you.
REFUND POLICIES
All sales are final. There are no refunds for PRS events , except in the event of a medical emergency, including but not limited to a positive COVID-19 test. Ticket exchanges may be granted on a case by case basis, pending circumstances.
In the event that PRS is forced to cancel an event entirely, tickets will be refunded or vouchers offered for a rescheduled event.
PARKING
Limited parking is available onsite at PRS in both the front lot (entry from Los Feliz Blvd. when heading east), as well as street parking on Griffith Park Blvd. and (after 7 PM) on Los Feliz Blvd. We encourage attendees to consider carpooling, walking or biking to events if possible, and please be considerate of our Los Feliz neighbors when parking.
PRS EVENT POLICIES
- We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.
- Events are subject to change without notice, including guest speakers and/or performers.
- We encourage you to arrive at least 30 min. before the scheduled event start time to find parking, enjoy the Bookstore and take your seats.
- Please turn off all mobile devices before the show. Talking and texting are not allowed during the events.
- No filming, audio recording or mobile phone recording of events, screenings, concerts or other programs by audience members is allowed without permission.
- There is no smoking permitted on PRS grounds.
- We strongly encourage guests to wear masks to PRS events to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
- PRS allows Service Animals into the facility under ADA and state guidelines. For further details please visit www.ADA.gov. No animals permitted whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support, under ADA guidelines and CA Health Code.
- Please do not bring outside food or drink into PRS events.
- Weapons are strictly prohibited at PRS events.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard, Los Angeles, United States
USD 17.85
