Privileging emotion over reason, Romanticism began in the early 19th century and fundamentally changed the way people perceived themselves, and their relationship to nature. This popular form in art and literature promoted the meditative and sentimental side of humanity, providing an escape from the constricted, rational, practical views of the classicists.

• Wednesday 14 October 1.30pm & 6pm
  Sunday 18 October 1.30pm
  * Note: Early start times
  The Leopard
  Dir: Luchino Visconti  1963
  205 mins  35mm  Colour  Rated: PG
  Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon
  Italian with English subtitles
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  Set against Italy's turbulent era of unification in the 1860s, Luchino Visconti’s multigenerational spectacle is a portrait of Sicily’s crumbling aristocracy. The film gives a sublime consideration of morality and mortality on the part of a pragmatic yet reflective Sicilian nobleman, Prince Salina (Burt Lancaster) as he meditates on the waning power and loss of conviction of his class.
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• Wednesday 21 October 2pm & 7.15pm
  Sunday 25 October 2pm
  The Age of innocence
  Dir: Martin Scorsese  1993
  139 mins  35mm  Colour  Rated: G
  Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder
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  New York City in the 1870s is a society ruled by decorum and propriety, where immorality brings scandal and ruin. When a young lawyer Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) meets a recent arrival from Europe, Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer), a subtle fire begins smouldering, leading to a painful dilemma. Should Archer proceed with his intended marriage to the Countess’s conventional cousin, or allow his impulses to transgress what is socially acceptable? Martin Scorsese’s sumptuous production is enhanced by the contributions of composer Elmer Bernstein and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.
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• Wednesday 28 October 2pm & 7.15pm
  Sunday 1 November 2pm
  Cyrano de Bergerac
  Dir: Jean-Paul Rappeneau  1990
  137 mins  35mm  Colour  Rated: G
  Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet
  French with English subtitles
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  Edmond Rostand's 1898 play Cyrano de Bergerac is a definitive example of European romanticism: the truth is buried, beauty is found to be skin deep and virtue goes unrewarded. Though romantic writers have embellished his life, Cyrano de Bergerac was a real person, a French soldier who fought gallantly in the Spanish War and subsequently wrote comedies. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau has painstakingly recreated the period in this lavish, emotionally charged tour de force – one of the most popular French films of the 1990s. Swordsman and poet, Cyrano harbours a deep love for his cousin, Roxanne.  However, his features are deformed by a large nose which, he fears, will ruin any chance of gaining her affections.  A romantic story of unrequited love, the film is a wry, swash-buckling adventure with outstanding performances from Depardieu and Brochet.
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• Wednesday 4 November 2pm & 7.15pm
  Sunday 8 November 2pm
  Pride and prejudice
  Dir: Joe Wright  2005
  127 mins  35mm  Colour  Rated: G
  Keira Knightly, Talulah Riley
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  This tale of love and values unfolds in the class-conscious England of the late 18th century. The five Bennet sisters - including strong-willed Elizabeth and young Lydia - have been raised by their mother with one purpose in life: finding a husband. When a wealthy bachelor takes up residence in a nearby mansion, the Bennets are abuzz. Amongst the man's sophisticated circle of friends, surely there will be no shortage of suitors for the Bennet sisters. But when Elizabeth meets up with the handsome and - it would seem - snobbish Mr. Darcy, she swears to loathe him forever. Emphasising the love story rather than Jane Austen's satire of society, first time director Joe Wright’s interpretation of this 1813 novel is entertaining, amusing and moving, with sumptuous costumes and grand settings.
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• Wednesday 11 November 2pm & 7.15pm
  Sunday 15 November 2pm
  Picnic at Hanging Rock
  Dir: Peter Weir  1975
  107 mins  35mm  Colour  Rated: G
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  One of the key films marking the re-emergence of the Australian film industry in the 1970s, Peter Weir’s second feature, set in the summer of 1900, is the story of three girls from an exclusive academy in rural Victoria who ascend an ominous rock in the bush, and then disappear. Romantic lyricism is offset by an atmosphere of unease. The strict regimen of the girls’school is contaminated and finally destroyed by the strange, unsolvable mystery.
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Still from The Age of innocence (21, 25 October)
courtesy Sony Pictures