Death of the Brattle?

An evil ancient spirit murders stranded wedding guests on an abandoned farm beneath the Halloween moon. A biotechnological food-industry conspiracy implicates global agricultural giants and the United States government in a manipulative invasion of the American dinner plate.

While at first glance these two themes have nothing in common, they describe the two films showing tonight at the Brattle Theatre. It is this meditated oddball variety that makes the Brattle unique; no one could expect the high-minded Harvard Film Archives (HFA) or the corporately operated Kendall Cinema to air “The Future of Food” or “The Roost,” much less back to back.

It is for the sake of this quirky individuality, for this independent soul, that the Brattle needs salvation. With falling ticket sales and rising operating costs, the theater must raise a colossal $400,000 by the end of the year to keep their lively catalog in the projectors and real butter on their popcorn. In conversations with Harvard students, faculty, and alumni, managers from competing area film venues, and the directors of the Brattle, The Harvard Crimson explores the question of what turned the ardent romance between the independent cinema and the bohemian Harvard Square into the lover’s quarrel threatening to oust the Brattle today.

AN UPHILL BRATTLE

Financial problems are no stranger to the Brattle. Created as a live performance space in 1946, which John I. Simon ’46, theater reviewer for Bloomberg News, remembers as “a very lively place with all kinds of theatricals.” Although Simon insists it was a very important constituent of cultural life, a loss of capital and actors soon led to its transformation into a repertory film theatre—“at least it was a respectable movie house,” says Simon—featuring an eclectic, and often obscure, mix of foreign, classic, and independent films ever since (see sidebar). Financial troubles arrived in earnest in the nineties, and, despite a shift to nonprofit status and some major renovations in 2001, those troubles have only deepened as attendance figures have dropped, says Brattle Creative Director Ned Hinkle.

These widespread troubles have prompted the Brattle Film Foundation to launch the most extensive fund-raising effort in its history: $400,000 by the end of 2005, $100,000 in 2006. The “PRESERVE THE BRATTLE LEGACY CAMPAIGN,” as they are calling it, is an acknowledgment that, to continue to run the obscure films for which they are famous, the Brattle must seek additional community support.

Many of the financial woes of the theater are related to the unique method by which films are acquired and displayed. Ivy Moylan, Executive Director of the Theatre, says about 50 percent of profits on ticket sales have to go back to the distributor. Revenue proves difficult when many of the films screened at the Brattle, including those in the “Recent Raves” series of popular second-run indie films, are only shown once.

“It is the most costly way to program because you’re not dividing that minimum over a number of days,” says Moylan, meaning that attendance at every single show is important to the return on that film. With a house capacity of 240, anywhere from 150-200 tickets a show is an attendance to get excited about, says Hinkle, but many don’t draw that audience.

But solely screening seat-fillers runs counter to the underlying ideology of the theater: showcasing important films that might otherwise go unseen. “What we’re trying to do is get to a point where we don’t have to rely on ticket sales,” says Hinkle.

At the root of the problem, then, is a set of competing interests: the Brattle would like to continue to screen their wide variety of films without worrying about profits, but they are more dependent on those profits than their more financially secure competitors. HFA and Kendall each have the financial safety net of a larger entity behind them. HFA’s affiliation with the University allows it to hand out free passes to students in the College’s film classes, which may account for its relative popularity among students.

It is the Brattle’s attempt to provide a deeper, educational context to films that has led the Brattle to dub itself “Boston’s unofficial film school.” Ted Barron, Managing Director of the HFA and an ardent Brattle supporter, echoes this statement, saying: “The Brattle’s programming is geared towards a younger audience, towards people discovering film for the first time.”

It is this aspect of the theater, and its unique ambience, that Barron believes separates the Brattle from other local screens, including the HFA.

Its approach, less chronological and in some ways more diverse than the HFA’s, Barron feels, is what helps it provide a unique way for people to learn more about film. Barron emphasizes that a large portion of the HFA’s programming is geared towards departmental classes. The Kendall Cinema, owned and operated by National Landmark Theatres, also benefits from additional financial support, but lacks the individual curation and film selection like the Brattle’s.

These thoughts on the Brattle’s importance were echoed by Assistant Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies J.D. Connor ’92, who teaches popular courses on historical and contemporary cinema. Connor loves the Brattle, “from its real butter to its clocks,” and describes it as a critical part of his own film education. “Chunking through a director’s works is not going to get you any closer to those answers. You need curating, programming, collective culture for that,” Connor writes in an email.

Considering the importance of the Brattle, Connor comes to an interesting conclusion: “With the immense interest in the arts here at Harvard, and the severe constraints on space—for screenings, or performances—why wouldn’t the University seriously consider a much deeper relationship?”

SCHOOL TIES

With 216 students enrolled in Literature and Arts B-11: “The Art of Film” and increasing numbers flocking to the VES department’s newly developed Film Studies concentration, the academic study of film at Harvard is reaching new heights. Is it possible to translate this burgeoning academic interest into regular recreational film-going by students?

One solution, though a long shot and one that will require much more coordination, is a collaboration between Harvard University and the Brattle. Barron and the HFA could certainly benefit from additional facilities in which to screen 35 mm and other prints for classes and the public, while the Brattle might financially benefit from renting the theater. Hinkle says that thoughts of pursuing such a relationship have been around for a while; however, in the absence of a formal relationship, individual students have the potential to galvanize the independent film movement and to support the Brattle.

Sara M. Watson ’07, editor-in-chief of Cinematic: The Harvard Annual Film Review, is among the students who would regret the loss of the Brattle. Watson, who attends the theatre at least once a month, says that the Brattle has been “really supportive of us as a film magazine. It would be a huge loss for us as far as a resource and as a venue.” The student organization has relied on the Brattle for fundraising for its publication and has held midnight screenings at the theater. Likewise, Cinematic has attempted to promote the theater, “handing out two for one passes at the activities fair to raise awareness of its existence,” Watson says.

However, Watson recognizes the conflict that exists between student desire for independent film and student financial resources. While Watson says she knows no student who is a member, “I’m sure everyone would be if they had that kind of money to spend.”

Even for those strapped for cash, financially backing the Brattle may be possible. Mohlan says that one fundraising effort in development is a “Watch-A-Thon,” in which participants would be sponsored to see as many movies as they can over a period of time—costing the student film-goer nothing but the effort to find support.

Hayes H. Davenport ’08, who says he goes to the Brattle four or five times a month, counts the Brattle’s proximity and colorful selection of movies as reasons for his support. “The staff there is as excited as any customer about what they’re screening,” Davenport writes in an e-mail. He adds that students should show their support if they do not want Harvard Square to lose another of its landmarks and slip further towards commercialization.

Although it might be hard for students to see outside the metaphorical tunnel between the River and the Science Center, the vibrancy of Square is certainly one of the benefits to attending Harvard. The disappearance of institutions like the Brattle might radically change the Cambridge students know and love.

This scrutiny of the Square’s ongoing cultural transformation is particularly important to Brian P. Murphy ’86-’87, a Cambridge City Councillor who lives two blocks from Quincy House, where he lived as an undergraduate. Murphy’s recent focus on “the state of the Square” has led him to a number of realizations about the changing face of the Square.

“People I talk to are worried about it becoming just another mall without a parking lot,” says Murphy, pointing to the loss of independent stores like Wordsworth Books. “There’s such a synergy to experiencing the Square, where I can have a burger at Bartley’s, shop at the Harvard Book Store, grab dessert at Toscanini’s, and catch a movie at the Brattle. We have to get together with local business and figure out how to preserve and adapt.”

DVD WARFARE

Some might argue that, although the romantic night on the Square Murphy described might be nice enough for local Cantabrigians, a typical night for most Harvard students is the dining hall to Lamont to bed. What is the loss, then, of just one more activity for which students don’t have time? Substantial, some argue.

“Film was made to be seen on the big screen,” says Hinkle. “You can miss so many little things if you don’t take in a film the way filmmakers intended you to see it.”

Matt Cowal of Landmark Theatres, which operates the Kendall Square Cinema, was quick to remark that attendance is down this year at all theatres, and that this larger cultural shift in film habits may be at least partly responsible for the hurt felt by the Brattle.

The influx of convenient home video services like Netflix—which make varied film libraries all the more readily available and put the choice more firmly in the hands of the customer—provide yet another opponent to the success of small venues like the Brattle.

Assistant Professor of VES and Comparative Literature Despina Kakoudaki, who teaches classes on film theory and history, is eager to see how the next few generations, with their extreme exposure to digital filmmaking and the internet, transform film culture. “Art house cinema has always been tied directly to college counter-culture,” says Kakoudaki, “And it all depends on whether this generation wants to maintain this movement in the way they have thus far.”

Kakoudaki believes that the improvements of home technology and the resulting increasing availability of films are a mixed blessing for theatres like the Brattle. Increased exposure means current generations of young people are watching more films, not less, and are hungrier for increasingly different and rare films. However, multiplexes seem increasingly shabby relative to increasingly complex home theater systems, says Kakoudaki.

THE BRATTLE RAGES ON

At the mercy of student interest and donor generosity, the Brattle must vigorously market what it has to offer that Netflix does not: incredible (sometimes excessive) variety, a romantic/hipster atmosphere, and an education that students have to be willing to submit to if they are to succeed in winning over new converts. The Brattle was one of the first theatres in the country to run “Donnie Darko,” the cult-classic, and brings directors and film scholars to introduce and discuss their own work and the work of others a few times ever season. Yes, your roommate might be a real movie buff, but chances are good he can’t speak to the meanings of certain scenes as the people who directed them themselves.

Hinkle offers an interesting challenge to Harvard students and community members alike, to prove once and for all the importance of the theatre to their film experiences and to the Square’s culture in general. Next month’s calendar features showings of “Casablanca,” which is indelibly linked to the Brattle. The New York Times’ Frank Rich ’71, also a Crimson editor, remembers “the Brattle as the place you went to see ‘Casablanca.’ It was a sort of romantic institution.” Hinkle challenges viewers to watch the film at home, on DVD and then asks that they come to the Brattle and experience it on the big screen. “The sound, the size...it makes all the difference in the world,” he claims, and this is a chance, for film experts and novices alike, to put claims like these to the test.

Whether on a date or a solitary inquiry, Harvard students should at least give the Brattle a chance before abandoning it for lost: who knows, one just might find an unrealized film scholar buried deep inside, waiting only for an experience in a classic art house cinema like the Brattle to blossom into a Film Studies-concentrating, turtleneck-sweater-wearing hipster—or maybe just have a good time.

—Staff writer Henry M. Cowles can be reached at hmcowles@fas.harvard.edu.

—Kristina M. Moore contributed to the reporting of this article.