Following the acclaim of The Artist which won seven BAFTAs and has been nominated for 10 Oscars, silent cinema is having a moment. There is no better time then to revisit a landmark of silent film, René Clair’s An Italian Straw Hat in an exclusive screening at the Barbican with musical accompaniment by Andrew Youdell. Clair’s comedy of errors centres on a young man, about to get married in 1980s Paris. When, on the way to his wedding, his horse chews the straw hat of a married woman, mishap unfolds as he endeavours to replace the hat whilst struggling to make his wedding plans. Adapted from the play by Eugene Labiche and Marc Michel, An Italian Straw Hat stars Albert Préjean and stands as an exemplar of silent cinema at both its finest and silliest.
France 1927 Dir René Clair 95 min, 35mm print
