Ne Change Rien

Dir. Pedro Costa (2009).
Call it the Passion of Jeanne: Pedro Costa, legendary for his intimate, epic, underlit portraits of Lisbon slum-dwellers, ponders the mystery of Jeanne Balibar, actress turned chanteuse. Typically, one-fifth of the screen is illuminated; the extreme chiaroscuro lighting renders the singer’s harlequin-featured face as a crescent moon in the inky void. Ne Change Rien is entrancing—literally: When Balibar appears on stage to fervently intone the theme from Johnny Guitar she’s nothing less than the muse of cinema.

Wednesdays-Sundays, 6:45 & 9:15 p.m.; Mon., Nov. 15, 6:45 & 9:15 p.m.; Tue., Nov. 16, 6:45 & 9:15 p.m. Starts: Nov. 10. Continues through Nov. 14, 2010