‘Settle In,’ the Popular Series of Movies with Marathon Runtimes, Returns for a 4th Year to the Gene Siskel Film Center

For the fourth year, the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago is excited to welcome back “Settle In”, its popular series of “marathon” movies that test the limits of runtimes (and human endurance!) and lean into their length, each screening in their entirety over the course of a single day at the Siskel Film Center. This year’s series, which boasts six films that range in length from five and a quarter to eight hours, will screen on Saturdays at either 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. in January, with the just-added “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air In Moscow” screening at 11:00 a.m. on the first Saturday and Sunday in February. 

The series kicks off Saturday, January 3, with Eric Rohmer’s perennially delightful quartet: “A Tale Of Springtime” (CONTE DE PRINTEMPS, 1990, 107 min.), “A Tale Of Winter” (CONTE D’HIVER, 1992, 114 min.), “A Tale Of Summer” (CONTE D’ÉTÉ, 1996, 115 min.), and “A Tale Of Autumn” (CONTE D’AUTOMNE, 1998, 111 min.). 

The series continues on Saturday, January 10, with Lav Diaz’s “Batang West Side”, the  longest film from Southeast Asia at the time of its 2001 release, marking a watershed moment for contemporary Philippine cinema and a turning point in Diaz’s career. Beginning January 30, the Siskel Film Center will also present a run of Lav Diaz’s latest epic, MAGELLAN, a globe-spanning reexamination of the colonization of the Philippines.

Our longest film in the series, Kevin Jerome Everson’s meditative and immersive “Park Lanes”––which demands reflection on labor, on class, on endurance, on perseverance––clocks in at eight hours, the run time of the average American work day, and will screen on Saturday, January 17.

On Saturday, January 24, the Siskel Film Center will screen Mikko Niskanen’s underappreciated Finnish classic, “Eight Deadly Shots”, inspired by the killing of four policemen in rural Finland, with Niskanen delivering a shattering performance as the farmer Pasi.

Our January screenings conclude on Saturday, January 31, with a 4K digital restoration of Sergei Bondarchuk’s “War And Peace”, the definitive adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s epic classic.

The series concludes on Saturday and Sunday, February 7 and 8, with Soviet-born American filmmaker Julia Loktev’s Oscar shortlisted “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air In Moscow”, which investigates how independent journalists were declared “foreign agents” by Putin’s regime — as it turns out, just four months before Russia started a full-scale war in Ukraine. 

Tickets are on sale now. Special ticket prices apply, as listed in the individual film pages. 

Ticket holders have the option to add a boxed lunch ($16) to their experience courtesy of our friends at Goddess And The Baker (must be ordered at least 72 hours in advance).

Below is the full Settle In lineup: 

TALES OF THE FOUR SEASONS

Saturday, January 3, 11:00 a.m. 

1990 –1998, Eric Rohmer, France, 447 mins

In French with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Start the new year by experiencing four seasons in a day with back to back screenings of Eric Rohmer’s perennially delightful quartet: “A Tale Of Springtime” (CONTE DE PRINTEMPS, 1990, 107 min.), “A Tale Of Winter” (CONTE D’HIVER, 1992, 114 min.), “A Tale Of Summer” (CONTE D’ÉTÉ, 1996, 115 min.), and “A Tale Of Autumn” (CONTE D’AUTOMNE, 1998, 111 min.). Cinema’s expert of romance, each film in Rohmer’s tetralogy follows different relationships, chronicling their ups and downs, misunderstandings and disappointments, and all matters and rhythms of the heart. This breezy but deeply thoughtful collection will start your year on a note of passion, love, and lots of French wine. Program includes three intermissions.  More

BATANG WEST SIDE

Saturday, January 10, 11:00 a.m.

2001, Lav Diaz, Philippines/USA, 315 mins

In English and Filipino and Tagalog with English subtitles | Format: 2K digital restoration

It is a cold and cruel winter in Jersey City, and police detective Mijares (Joel Torre) is investigating the West Side Avenue murder of Hanzel, a Filipino teen who got caught up in the dealing of caffeinated crystal meth, known on the street as shabu. As Mijares pounds the snow covered pavement collecting clues and gathering evidence, a portrait of alienated immigrant Filipino youth—marked by gangs and drug use—emerges. As the investigation stretches on, Mijares becomes haunted by his own self-proclaimed exile to America, and Lav Diaz’s slow burn, riveting police procedural evolves into a profound survey of Filipino displacement. The longest film from Southeast Asia at the time of its release, “Batang West Side” marked a watershed moment for contemporary Philippine cinema and a turning point in Diaz’s career, as he transitioned from commercial filmmaking to the rigorous, durational cinema he has become renowned for. As intended by the filmmaker, there will be no intermission for this screening. Lav Diaz encourages you to take breaks as needed. More

PARK LANES

Saturday, January 17, 9:00 a.m. 

2015, Kevin Jerome Everson, USA, 480 mins

In English | Format: Digital

Kevin Jerome Everson’s meditative and immersive “Park Lanes” clocks in at eight hours: the run time of the average American work day. Free from the trappings of standard documentaries – there is no expert commentary or voice over narration – “Park Lanes” observes the daily grind of workers at a Virginia factory that produces bowling alley supplies and equipment. Unbroken, focused sequences observe workers on the line, their acts of assemblage transforming into a choreographed dance. “Park Lanes” is the name of a bowling alley in Everson’s hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. As the hours tick by, one cannot help but consider the final destination of the products being made, the leisure time, bowling shoes, drink specials, and good times. From its title to its run time, “Park Lanes” demands reflection: on labor, on class, on endurance, on perseverance. Clock in, and get to work. As intended by the filmmaker, program includes no intermissions. More

EIGHT DEADLY SHOTS

(KAHDEKSAN SURMANLUOTIA)
Saturday, January 24, 11:00 a.m. 

1972, Mikko Niskanen, Finland, 316 mins

In Finnish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Listen, it is January in Chicago – things are already pretty bleak, so you might as well lean in. Newly restored by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, this underappreciated Finnish classic was inspired by the killing of four policemen in rural Finland. Mikko Niskanen wrote, directed, and produced “Eight Deadly Shots”, and delivers a shattering performance as the farmer Pasi, who struggles to support his family and self medicates with alcohol, including the moonshine he makes on the side for extra money. As his drinking increases, his health begins to fail, and his family begins to fear him. The inevitable, tragic conclusion to “Eight Deadly Shots” casts an unsettling, devastating pall over the film. Originally made for Finnish television, Niskanen’s film is a monumental vision on the big screen, a story that seems small and inconsequential but unfolds as an epic portrait of desperation and rage.

Program contains one intermission. More

WAR AND PEACE

VOYNA I MIR

1965, Sergei Bondarchuk, Soviet Union, 453 mins

In Russian, German and French with English subtitles | Format: 4K digital restoration

Saturday, January 31, 11:00 a.m. | Accept no substitute: Bondarchuk’s “War And Peace” is the definitive adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s epic classic (no offense, King Vidor). Made at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet film industry set out to dazzle with a production that would offer a singular cinematic experience, employing a cast of thousands, implementing an array of cinematic camera techniques – including the first use of remote controlled camera, among other tricks – and crafting a sweeping vision of glittering rococo aesthetics and astonishing Napoleonic battles to do so. The effort set a new standard for epic moviemaking. Rarely shown in its entirety, Bondarchuk’s daring vision is best appreciated with a comprehensive viewing, wherein the romance of the text is brought to breathtaking life. Program includes three intermissions. 

More

MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART I — LAST AIR IN MOSCOW

Saturday, February 7, 11:00 a.m. & Sunday, February 8, 11:00 a.m. 

2024, Julia Loktev, Russia/USA, 324 mins

In Russian with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Soviet-born American filmmaker Julia Loktev (“The Loneliest Planet”, “Day Night Day Night”) came to Moscow in 2021 to make a film about independent journalists being declared “foreign agents” by Putin’s regime — as it turns out, just four months before Russia started a full-scale war in Ukraine. With her friend Anna Nemzer, a talk show host at TV Rain, Russia’s last remaining independent news channel, Loktev brings us into a community of sharp, warm and funny young women speaking truth to power as they face increasing threats. Loktev filmed in Moscow during the first week of the full-scale invasion, as the journalists tried to counter Russian propaganda and report the truth on the war, until all independent media was shut down and they were forced to flee the country. Structured in five chapters, feeling like a cross between a Russian novel and a reality show about frighteningly real reality, Loktev’s film is an extraordinary historic record of a country on the verge of fascism and an immersive and intimate inside view of the opposition in an authoritarian society, which becomes all the more globally relevant every day. Program includes two intermissions. More

Be sure to check back here at SCREEN Magazine for more exclusive news and interviews. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.