A look at D-day that resonates today

The UCLA Film Archives’ Rediscovery presentation of Stuart Cooper’s 1975 “Overlord” on Friday really lives up to the event’s title. Jerry Harvey, programming chief of the early pay-cable Z Channel, championed it, and its rediscovery commenced through clips of the film in Xan Cassavetes’ recent documentary “Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession.”

“Overlord,” which was the code name for D-day, follows a sensitive, intelligent, perfectly normal 20-year-old Englishman (Brian Stirner) from the moment he receives his draft notice through basic training to the Allied landing at Normandy. Cooper retains a compassionate yet understated, matter-of-fact tone as he frames the young soldier’s story within an overview of the Allied invasion.

His seamless incorporation of remarkable archival footage with his narrative gives his film a strong documentary flavor, which in turn heightens the film’s dramatic effect. It’s sad to say, but “Overlord,” an outstanding achievement in the realistic mode, is today timelier than ever.

Between 1968 and 1995 the late French director Maurice Pialat directed 10 intense, distinctive gems, a number of them starring Gerard Depardieu. Among the films in UCLA’s Pialat retrospective is “Police” (1985), arguably his best-known film. It stars Depardieu and screens Saturday after “Under Satan’s Sun” (1987), in which Depardieu plays a priest as conflicted as the cop he plays in the earlier film.

Depardieu’s Det. Mangin has a need to throw himself wholeheartedly into his work, and he is relentless in his zealous determination to break up a Paris drug ring involving six Tunisian immigrant brothers. He’s not shy about resorting to physical force, even treating roughly a young woman (Sophie Marceau) with whom one of the brothers is living.

On one level “Police” is an absorbing, dynamic genre film made with a confident style; on another, it’s a drama of unsettling intimacy. The ironic effect of “Police” lies in Pialat’s deftness in revealing the romantic soul residing in Depardieu’s tough guy, a performance that won Depardieu a best actor prize at Venice.

Swashbuckling

On Monday, the Silent Movie Theatre will show “The Beloved Rogue,” a robust 1927 swashbuckler starring John Barrymore as poet-patriot Francois Villon in a stylized production designed by William Cameron Menzies. Directed by Alan Crosland and written by Paul Bern, the United Artists release presents Villon as a playboy-Robin Hood who tries to rescue the beauteous Charlotte de Vauxcelles -- and France itself -- from the machinations of the Duke of Burgundy (Lawson Butt). The greatest obstacle Villon faces is Louis XI (Conrad Veidt, in his American film debut), whose craftiness lapses into paranoia and who won’t make a move without directions from his stargazer. Barrymore’s sidekicks are Slim Summerville and Mack Swain, and although Barrymore thought his performance hammy, the whole film is played broadly but with a beguiling blithe spirit, high energy and a touching gallantry. With live musical accompaniment.

Outfest offering

The American Cinematheque’s Outfest Wednesday presentation is Sylvie Levey’s 52-minute “Colonel Jin Xing,” an absorbing documentary about Shanghai’s premiere modern dancer and choreographer. Jin Xing entered the Shenyang Military Dance Troupe as a 9-year-old boy, eventually earning the rank of colonel along with renown as a dancer. In 1998 Jin Xing underwent China’s first official sex-change surgery. It was an act of great daring considering the oppressed status of transsexuals in Chinese society, but Jin Xing’s talent and fame proved an effective defense. About 100 Chinese transsexuals have undergone sex reassignment since then.

Jin Xing is now an outspoken woman in her late 30s with a vibrant personality and good command of English who has performed all over the world. Her odyssey has been far from easy, but she considers it behind her as she engages in the struggle for freedom of expression when she depends upon government support and approval for her dance productions. Not surprisingly, Jin Xing has developed a win-some, lose-some attitude and credits her military training for her resilience and discipline.

The Cinematheque’s Les Classiques du Cinema series will present Ardak Amirkulov’s 1990 “The Fall of Otrar” next week. It’s an earthy, rambling, ultraviolent, 165-minute, two-part epic set in the 13th century as Genghis Khan swept over northern China. The central figure is Undzhu (Dokhdurbek Kydyraliyev), a shrewd, incredibly resilient Kipchak kingdom warrior who suffers a series of outrageous misfortunes for trying to warn his ruler of the imminent danger posed by Genghis Khan’s hordes. But his king is so concerned with a threat from Baghdad that he refuses to listen.

Shot in sepia, “The Fall of Otrar” is as exotic in look and feel as a Sergei Paradjanov fable but a lot more rambunctious and savagely humorous. Unfortunately, it is exceedingly hard to track and not surprisingly assumes the viewer is up to speed on medieval Central Asian history. Even so Amirkulov is clearly a major, distinctive talent.

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Screenings

UCLA Film Archives

* “Overlord”: 7:30 p.m. Friday

* “Under Satan’s Sun” and “Police”: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: James Bridges Theatre, Melnitz Hall, UCLA

Contact: (310) 206-FILM

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Silent Movie Theatre

“The Beloved Rogue”: 8 p.m. Monday

Where: 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Hollywood

Contact: (323) 655-2520

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American Cinematheque

* “Colonel Jin Xing”: 7 and 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Egyptian

* “The Fall of Otrar”: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Aero and next Thursday at the Egyptian

Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica

Contact: (323) 466-FILM