Film Scene: Of World War II, and George Peppard

Well, it's that time again, dear readers: Time for your weekly update on the ongoing variety of independent film screenings and festival events taking place in the greater Savannah area.

Those who still insist (against ample evidence to the contrary) that local audiences rarely get a chance to catch a first-run indie or foreign film on the big screen should take note.

Georgia Southern University film professor Tomasz Warchol's specialty is presenting acclaimed, contemporary European motion pictures, and he does so several times a year under the banner of his CinemaSavannah organization.

Once more, he's arranged for a special, one-night-only engagement of one of the best-reviewed foreign films of the past year - young Australian director Cate Shortland's intense World War II psychological drama "Lore."

That's the thing with the independent and alternative film scene in Savannah: 90 percent of all engagements of this sort are for one night (or sometimes one show) only. That means ardent, adventurous film lovers have to keep their eyes and ears wide open and do their best to fit such unexpected opportunities into their schedules.

The 2012 German and Australian co-production screens just twice on May 4 (5 p.m. and 8 p.m.) at downtown's Muse Arts Warehouse. Tickets are only $8, and the feature is recommended for mature audiences.

"Lore" has swept numerous notable film fests abroad and nabbed multiple awards in the process, but has only recently been released on the U.S. art-house circuit. It was also Australia's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar (it's in spoken German with English subtitles).

Set in southwestern Germany immediately after WWII, a handful of destitute children (led by a 14-year-old girl named Lore) are forced on a 500-mile journey to their grandmother's home after their high-ranking Nazi parents vanish.

On their travels, they come upon a wide swath of other Germans from different walks of life - and with different attitudes - before meeting a young Jewish concentration camp survivor.

Lore is emotionally torn between her need to trust the survivor for the sake of her family's well-being and her ingrained distrust and hatred of Jews.

Heralded for its fractured, impressionistic and at times haunting visual imagery, most critics agree that while the world may already have seen more than its fair share of WWII period pieces, "Lore" is a low-key triumph of personal filmmaking that's both complex and provocative without resorting to mawkishness.

Leba Hertz, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, calls the movie "full of surprises, (drawing) a thin line between pity and revulsion," and says it begs the question, "How would you feel if you had discovered your whole life had been based on lies?"

A few nights later, on May 8 at The Sentient Bean Coffeehouse, the Psychotronic Film Society offers another sort of period piece when it pays memorial tribute to the life and career of beloved B-list leading man George Peppard - best known for his iconic roles as Audrey Hepburn's love interest Paul Varjak in the 1961 romantic comedy "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and as "Hannibal" Smith in the campy TV action series "The A-Team" - who died on that day in 1994.

Peppard's knack for playing cocky, insolent - yet highly intelligent - rakes was at odds with his freshly scrubbed, all-American good looks, and throughout his tumultuous career, the jocular, hard-drinking actor (who passionately fought to help other alcoholics after finding sobriety late in life) played all manner of both heroes and heavies.

For this Special Mystery Screening, the PFS presents an overlooked Peppard feature from the early '70s that was never released theatrically.

The exact title will not be revealed until showtime, but both diehard fans of the actor and those unfamiliar with his body of work should enjoy this rarely seen dramedy immensely. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $6, cash only.

Till next week. Thanks for supporting local indie cinema, and don't forget to turn off your cellphone.

Jim Reed directs the award-winning Psychotronic Film Society of Savannah, presenting indie, foreign, classic and cult cinema year-round. Read more from Jim on Savannah's film scene at filmsavannah.com.