Advancing the Rear

IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE DAYS OF independent moviehouses have come to an end in the Cambridge area. In the past year, USA Cinemas bought both the Harvard Square and the Janus Theaters, turning each into first-run venues, complete with ornate, plastic interior design and overpriced Swiss chocolate. The Orson Welles burnt to the ground last spring and will not re-open. Only the Brattle Theater--re-emerging after bankruptcy forced the previous owners to sell the building--and the Somerville Theater remain as repertory options to the usually drab first-run fare offered by the USA cinema empire.

In Boston, however, there remains an alternative to both first-run and repertory theaters: the Rear Window, an independently run and programmed series, that specializes in showing "obscure films in obscure locations." With its unique programming and format, the Rear Window offers a refreshing escape from the stiffbacked chairs and long-lines of first-run and repertory houses.

The Rear Window is the brainchild of David Kleiler, who runs the organization out of his home in Brookline. Kleiler began the Rear Window a little over six years ago, after 12 years of teaching film at Babson College. Feeling disconnected from the world of cinema after quitting Babson, Kleiler began the organization as a showcase for locally produced films, particularly shorts, which were going unappreciated in the Boston community. Kleiler had previously shown films in his living room, and liked the casual environment and discussion such a format provided.

Today, the Rear Window continues to maintain this casual tradition. Kleiler shows his films in locations as diverse as Chet's Last Call, the Brookline Arts Center, and the Boston Food Coop. At a screening I attended last year, a series of Nick Zedd shorts were shown on a portable screen in the now defunct Studio 54 on Queensbury Street in the Fenway. The audience lounged on the floor, passing around beer from a Bud suitcase to friends and strangers alike, while Lydia Lunch spouted profanities overhead.

At a recent screening of "Night School" and shorts by Boston filmmakers, admission included wine, cheese and discussion. Just try to get that atmosphere at the concession stand of your local multi-screen cinecomplex.

Kleiler still programs the Rear Window himself, maintaining his commitment to local film, but also branching out to include obscure and cult features ranging from Russ Meyer films to little seen works of major directors like Sam Peckinpah. To keep in touch with the demands of his audience, Kleiler uses suggestion boxes. Still, he consciously steers clear of the films offerred in ordinary repertory series. "I've tried to ensure that the Rear Window, as primitive as it is, have different conditions than the usual moviehouse. We try to maintain a certain funkiness."

The Rear Window's funkiness is clearly evident in its average weekly fare. Films as diverse as "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Girl Can't Help It," "Gervaise" and "Repulsion," alternate with live music and experimental performance. The Rear Window also runs several series in conjunction with other organizations. Besides Kleiler's own. trademark "Festival of the Bizarre and Insane," the Rear Window has recently programmed the "Images of Boston" series (in conjunction with the Boston Center for Adult Education) and "Sets in the Cinema: The Movies and Modern Architecture" (with the Boston Architectural Center). In his diverse approach to programming, focusing on local as well as established talent, obscure as well as acclaimed films, Kleiler clearly offers some bit of funkiness for all tastes, from Astaire and Rogers to Cocteau, Polanski and Zedd.

DESPITE THE REAR WINDOW'S MANY projects, and its established reputation for programming, financial solvency is still difficult for Kleiler. "I hold down six part-time jobs, and try to stay ahead of the bills." Audiences for Rear Window features range from as little as six to as many as sixty people (at a recent showing of "Swing-time"). Collaborations with organizations such as the Boston Architectural Center (which rebuilt its top floor screening room for the Rear Window) and the Boston Food Co-op ease the financial burden; these organizations underwrite the series, giving Kleiler the freedom to program without concern for financial problems.

Added to the financial burdens are the increasing difficulties in obtaining films from distributors. "Besides the financial problems, with the recent consolidation, films are more difficult to get a hold of. The availability of titles has gone down, making it much more tough to obtain obscure titles."

Yet another problem is attracting an audience large enough or dedicated enough to sustain Rear Window's off-the-wall programming. Kleiler attributes the difficulty in attracting a college audience to the lower attention span of our generation. "College kids have no interest in the past, in movies more than two years old. I wouldn't blame this on TV and VCRs; it's more of a general trend--in books, media as a whole."

Despite its casual tradition, Kleiler expressed interest in bringing the Rear Window to a more permanent home, on one screen in a multi-screen complex for example. However, the large rental fees asked by larger houses to utilize their equipment (as much as $400 per night) make such plans unfeasible at the moment. The organization's limited budget would necessitate a more mainstream repertory program to pay the fees of such venues. Also, Kleiler remains committed to the Rear Window's more or less permanent home in Brookline, providing alternative programming for the area at the Brookline Arts Center.

The Rear Window screens films Fridays at 7:30 p.m. (and some Sundays) at the Brookline Arts Center (86 Monmouth St.), Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at the Boston Food Co-op (449 Cambridge St., Allston), and at the Boston Architectural Center (320 Newbury St.). Films are also shown in other locations; for more information, call 277-4618.

Despite the obscure locations, the Rear Window is well worth checking out. For one night, leave your Videosmith card at home, leave the squalor of your own room. Escape from the wretched Golden-Glo bogus butter and crowds of large cinemas, and the safe, seen-them-all-before programming of most repertory moviehouses is just a T ride away. It's not really so far from your front door to the Rear Window.