Two in the Seberg style

THE tragic Jean Seberg brings considerable style to a pair of 1960s dramas being shown as part of UCLA’s “Columbia Restorations” series.

In the first, the Iowa-born beauty, who died at age 40 of a drug overdose, stars opposite Warren Beatty as the schizophrenic title character in 1964’s “Lilith,” directed by Robert Rossen. Beatty plays Vincent, a war veteran who comes to work as an occupational therapist at the private mental health facility where the disturbed young woman lives. Vincent’s pensive taciturnity masks his own troubled past, which slowly emerges as he falls for Lilith. Bearing the full mythological baggage of her character’s name, Seberg gives a vigorous performance as a woman always teetering on the brink of fantasy.

Some of the film’s psychology seems dated, but it’s worth seeing for the cast, which includes Kim Hunter as the head of the facility and Peter Fonda as a fragile young man besotted by Lilith, as well as smaller turns by then up-and-comers Jessica Walter, Gene Hackman, Rene Auberjonois and Olympia Dukakis.

“In the French Style” finds Seberg starring as an aspiring 19-year-old painter from Chicago sojourning in Paris, where she learns about love the hard way. The 1963 film, based on two Irwin Shaw stories and directed by Robert Parrish, nicely captures the French capital with some lush black-and-white cinematography by Michel Kelber. Philippe Forquet and Stanley Baker are among Seberg’s suitors.

Lives of indecision

The black-and-white 16-millimeter of “In This Short Life” is more grayscale than high-contrast, reflecting the unclear direction of its characters’ lives and the middle ground between fiction and documentary staked out by its filmmaker, Britta Sjogren.

Taking her title from an Emily Dickinson poem, Sjogren combines the omniscience of traditional narrative films with the intimacy of home movies. She and her cast, which includes the filmmaker, relatives and friends, actors and nonactors, enact dramas drawn from their lives, full of awkward pauses and unresolved junctions.

Set in Portland, Ore., and Los Angeles, these stories of people on the fringes gently bump up against one another as the characters face major life decisions. An unsteady man who is forced to collect bottles and cans and forage for wild mushrooms to make money is threatened with eviction. An actor struggling for a break refuses to commit to his carpentry job. An elderly piano teacher navigates the obstacles of dating. A filmmaker and her boyfriend consider whether the time is right to have a baby.

This low-fi drama at REDCAT is permeated by a persistent melancholy -- reinforced by the songs of Mark Eitzel and American Music Club -- that rings unwaveringly true.

Tehran at night

As part of UCLA’s Celebration of Iranian Cinema, “One Night” marks the feature directing debut of actress Niki Karimi. Hanieh Tavassoli stars as Negar, a young Tehran woman who heads out into the late evening after a tiff with her mother and, through a series of rides in cars with men, experiences the nocturnal, enigmatic side of the city.

From the opening scene in a dark living room where Karimi holds her frame for its entirety, the director displays an assured eye and a taste for the understated. Out on the streets, where brake lights take on a garish red glare, the shadowy darkness is both menacing and quietly comforting. Long, dimly lighted shots become a motif as Negar gradually reveals some things about herself while learning about the men who give her lifts as she wanders the city looking for her boyfriend.

The first driver is a talkative guy who promotes the idea that “polygamy is men’s right,” which understandably sends Negar fleeing from his vehicle. A gentle doctor is her next chauffeur, and they seem to be kindred spirits as he takes her for coffee, but she grows tired of him and asks to be dropped off. Negar’s final ride comes from a despondent artist who relates his wife’s betrayal and its disturbing outcome.

Karimi’s elliptical portrait of contemporary Iran is extremely compelling yet understated.

*

Screenings

Columbia Restorations

* “Lilith” and “In the French Style”: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall, UCLA

Info: (310) 206-FILM, www.cinema.ucla.edu

REDCAT

* “In This Short Life”: 8 p.m. Monday

Where: Disney Hall, 2nd and Hope streets, downtown L.A.

Info: (213) 237-2800, www.redcat.org

Celebration of Iranian Cinema

* “One Night”: 7:30 p.m. Friday,

7 p.m. Sunday

Where: James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall, UCLA

Info: (310) 206-FILM, www.cinema.ucla.edu