What higher praise can a film have than visionary Wong Kar-wai citing it as a major influence on his masterpiece Chungking Express? When the Hong Kong director dropped this reference to Jacques Demy’s dramatic romance at TIFF, it was specifically to do with Chungking’s second half where two lost souls tangle together. Starring Anouk Aimée and Marc Michel, Demy’s film was also once thought lost, only for a roughened print to be found and restored by filmmaker – and Demy’s widow – Agnès Varda. (Need more Varda? Peep the Beaches of Agnès screening at Hyperreal Film Club on Wednesday, Jan. 29!) This cleaned-up copy allows the coming week’s AFS audiences to revel in the Demy-described “musical without music” made up of missed moments and chance encounters. – James Scott
Jan. 27, 29 & 30
