An Italian Straw Hat
Farce is a comedic force that sweeps aside all in its path, revealing errors in judgment and the futility of the human condition. An Italian Straw Hat, screening at the Barbican, showcases this force perfectly.
René Clair’s satire on middle-class pretension is one of the great landmarks of French silent cinema. A young man in 1890s Paris is on his way to his wedding, when his horse chews the straw hat of a philandering married woman. He offers to replace the hat whilst trying desperately not to jeopardise his wedding arrangements, and complications inevitably abound.
Comic misunderstandings clash against each other, piling up so swiftly that the film takes on a quasi-beauty in its car-crash hilarity.
An Italian Straw Hat will also feature live musical accompaniment , directed by Andrew Youdell. It will show at the Barbican on Sunday 19 February.
