Man Ray: Return to Reason

Wednesday, May 15 - Thursday, June 13, 2024

4K Restoration!

Wednesday, May 15: Post-screening Q&A with Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan at 7:00 p.m., extended introduction with Jarmusch and Logan at 8:55 p.m.

The four films Man Ray directed between 1923 and 1929, LE RETOUR À LA RAISON, EMAK-BAKIA, L’ÉTOILE DE MER and LES MYSTÈRES DU CHÂTEAU DU DÉ represent a high watermark of early European avant-garde cinema, a seminal nexus of experimental technique, surrealist narrative, and playful abstraction as suffused with dark eroticism. In these films Ray began discovering the limitless possibilities of montage as well as the direct application onto celluloid of objects such as salt, pepper, pins, and thumbtacks. Juxtaposing undulating geometric patterns, a twirling fairground ride, and a female nude, among other striking images, Ray finds subconscious correspondences among seemingly incongruous materials and figures.

In celebration of the hundredth anniversary of LE RETOUR À LA RAISON, the Jim Jarmusch-Carter Logan combo Sqürl present MAN RAY: RETURN TO REASON, with a newly-recorded drone rock soundtrack for that title as well as the three other Ray films. The band’s cosmic sounds complement Ray’s work by conjuring the beautiful, ineffable, haunting, and sublime. 

The restoration process was led by Womanray and Cinenovo sourcing original prints from various parts of the world, in partnership with La Cinémathèque française, the Centre Pompidou, the Library of Congress, the French CNC and Cineteca di Bologna.

  • Country France
  • Language French with English Subtitles
  • Year 1923-1929
  • Running Time 70 minutes
  • Format 4K Restoration
  • Distributor Janus
  • Director Man Ray
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.