The Shop Around the Corner
An essential and timeless theme if ever there was one, love naturally holds a special place in cinema. Romantic, sensual, obsessive, ambiguous, forbidden, lighthearted or profound, love on screen is as diverse as the individuals who live its stories. Drawing form different eras, tones, and cinematic styles, this program brings together a selection of remarkable films that will warm your heart from the start of the winter season to Valentine’s Day.
A love story begins in a Budapest leather goods factory.
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born American film director who began his career as an actor. A prolific director, he made over fifty films in thirty years and left a mark on cinema history with his comedies, including Design for Living (1933), Ninotchka (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), To Be or Not to Be (1942), and Heaven Can Wait (1943). Renowned for his mastery of ellipsis, anticipation, and surprise, Lubitsch stood apart from the expressionism of German cinema and the conventions of silent films. The celebrated Lubitsch Touch is defined by its elegant emotional restraint, creating a unique cinematic style where nothing feels overstated. It reflects an art of living, shaping the interactions between characters, as well as between the film and its audience. It also embodies his Jewish humor, offering a graceful resistance to the absurdities of human foolishness.
