The Maltese Falcon at Central Cinema

Join the Knoxville Museum of Art for a special screening of The Maltese Falcon (1941) at Central Cinema, introduced by Eleni Palis, Associate Professor of English and Cinema Studies at the University of Tennessee. This event celebrates Melancholia in Arcadia, the current exhibition at the Eugenia Williams House, and explores the visual language shared by film noir and Gabriel’s evocative installation.

Widely regarded as one of the defining works of film noir, The Maltese Falcon marked the directorial debut of John Huston and established many of the genre’s enduring visual and narrative conventions. Before the screening, Dr. Palis—author of Classical Projections (Oxford University Press, 2022) and a scholar whose work has appeared in Film Quarterly, Camera Obscura, Screen, and Cinema Journal—will introduce the film and discuss its relationship to the exhibition.

As Gabriel reflects, “If cinema is a language, then it also has punctuation. Generally, these punctuating elements of cinema are what is called the mood shots or other shots that punctuate the narrative like for instance, the establishing shot. Now, if anything, Melancholia in Arcadia is a mood shot.” Mood shots, establishing shots, and other visual moments shape the emotional rhythm of a film. In that spirit, Melancholia in Arcadia can be understood as a kind of cinematic mood shot: an image drawn from the vocabulary of film noir that announces the arrival of something or someone, while inviting viewers into a space of mystery, anticipation, and atmosphere.

Screening Details:
Wednesday, August 5
6:00 PM

Tickets:

KMA Members: FREE

Non-Members: $5

Central Cinema
1205 N Central Street, Knoxville, TN