As part of its interest in exploring the connection between film and other arts, the Sag Harbor Cinema has announced Booksmart, a new initiative featuring screenings of films inspired by literature, each followed by a conversation with a guest.
The series will launch this weekend with “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters,” a film by Paul Schrader that will be shown Saturday at 6 p.m., and Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 thriller “Don’t Look Now,” a multiple BAFTA nominee, set for Sunday at 6.
Next weekend’s offerings will be Tim Burton’s “Batman” (Sept. 28 at 6) and Larry Peerce’s “Goodbye, Columbus” (Sept. 29 at 6).
“Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” (1985) is a collage-like portrait of the acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima, played by Ken Ogata. Taking place on the last day of Mishima’s life, when he famously committed suicide, the film is punctuated by flashbacks to the writer’s past and stylized evocations of his fictional works.
Mr. Schrader, whose screenwriting credits include “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” and “Affliction,” which was adapted from a novel by Russell Banks, will take questions after the screening.
Starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, “Don’t Look Now” was adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant. Sutherland and Ms. Christie play a married couple on an extended stay in Venice after the death of their daughter. While there they have a series of inexplicable, terrifying, and increasingly dangerous experiences.
The film will be followed by a discussion with Susan Scarf Merrell, whose novel “Shirley” was inspired by a chapter in the life of the gothic author Shirley Jackson and subsequently made into a film.
The original source for Mr. Burton’s “Batman” (1989) was the 1939 DC Comic by Bob Kane and Bill Finger that introduced the caped crusader. Adapted for the screen by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren, it stars Michael Keaton in the title role, Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale.
The post-screening discussion will feature a conversation with Michael Uslan, the originator and executive producer of the Batman movie franchise from 1989’s revolutionary "Batman" to the upcoming "Joker: Folie à Deux" and "The Batman, Part 2."
“Goodbye, Columbus” (1969) was adapted by Arnold Schulman from the Philip Roth novella. It stars Richard Benjamin as a young librarian in New Jersey with eyes for a Radcliffe student, played by Ali MacGraw. Although both are Jewish, her family is wealthier and more conservative than his, and the complications that ensue test their feelings for each other.
Eric Alterman, a Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism at the City University of New York and the author of 12 books, will answer questions after the screening.
This article has been modified from its print version to include the announcement that a conversation with Michael Uslan will follow the screening of "Batman."
