Story of a Three Day Pass
[A] landmark movie…brimming with humor and bittersweet truth.
-- Judith Christ, New York Magazine
The Story of a Three Day Pass
Melvin Van Peebles' edgy, angsty, romantic first feature could never have been made in America. Unable to break into a segregated Hollywood, Van Peebles decamped to France, taught himself the language and wrote a number of books in French, one of which, La permission, would become his stylistically innovative 1968 debut. Turner (Harry Baird), an African American soldier stationed in France is granted a promotion and a three-day leave from base by his casually racist commanding officer and heads to Paris, where he finds whirlwind romance with a white woman (Nicole Berger)—but what happens to their love when his furlough is over? Channeling the brash exuberance of the French New Wave, Van Peebles creates an exploration of the psychology of an interracial relationship as well as a commentary on France's contradictory attitudes about race that is playful, sarcastic, and stingingly subversive by turns, and that laid the foundation for the scorched-earth cinematic revolution he would unleash just a few years later with Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.
New 4k restoration by IndieCollect in consultation with Mario Van Peebles with support from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
“AMONG THE GREAT AMERICAN FILMS OF THE SIXTIES."
-Richard Brody, New Yorker
"HIS DISARMINGLY ROMANTIC DEBUT FEATURE DESERVES A PLACE IN THE CANON."
-A.O. Scott, The New York Times
"This unique bittersweet love story is one of my favorite films from my father. It’s also one of his most personal, and triggered my own passion for filmmaking. I'm thrilled to be collaborating with IndieCollect and the Criterion Collection on this gorgeous new restoration, and to work with Janus Films to bring it back to the screen. Giving audiences the opportunity to discover (or rediscover) it through the lens of today is exciting, and I'm looking forward to the conversations ahead."
-Mario Van Peebles
New 4k restoration by IndieCollect in consultation with Mario Van Peebles with support from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
“AMONG THE GREAT AMERICAN FILMS OF THE SIXTIES."
-Richard Brody, New Yorker
"HIS DISARMINGLY ROMANTIC DEBUT FEATURE DESERVES A PLACE IN THE CANON."
-A.O. Scott, The New York Times
"This unique bittersweet love story is one of my favorite films from my father. It’s also one of his most personal, and triggered my own passion for filmmaking. I'm thrilled to be collaborating with IndieCollect and the Criterion Collection on this gorgeous new restoration, and to work with Janus Films to bring it back to the screen. Giving audiences the opportunity to discover (or rediscover) it through the lens of today is exciting, and I'm looking forward to the conversations ahead."
-Mario Van Peebles
Genre
Drama,
Romance,
African-American Experience
Web Site
Runtime
87
Language
English,
French
Director
Melvin Van Peebles
Cast
Nicole Berger,
Harry Baird
FEATURED REVIEW
Richard Brody, New Yorker
The release on Friday of Spike Lee’s new movie, “Da 5 Bloods,” about four black Vietnam War veterans who return to the country where they fought and to their memories of the time, brought to mind both Lee’s earlier film “The Miracle at St. Anna” and a remarkable precursor of both, Melvin Van Peebles ...
Played at
NoHo 7 5.07.21 - 5.13.21
Laemmle Virtual Cinema 5.07.21 - 5.20.21
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