"The letter in the image" is a collaboration project between La Filmoteca and the Public Library of Valencia around the relationship between cinema and literature. Once a quarter we screen a film based on a literary work, in the presentation of which the relationships between the book and its adaptation to the big screen are analysed. The film chosen for this installment is El buscavidas, one of Robert Rossen's most outstanding films, with the iconic Paul Newman as a bright beacon. This late work in his filmography, which is placed in a decisive manner in the transition of the classic North American cinema to a modernity incipient, is a bitter and critical dissection of the "American dream", with a precise staging of tightrope lines, like a game of pool. Its starting point is the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, considered one of the great American writers of the second half of the 20th century (Also author of The Queen's Gambit, set in the world of chess), a magnificent x-ray about the world of billiards and the figure of the loser.
26.11.25 WEDNESDAY / 20.00 h Presentation by José Antonio Hurtado, Head of Programming at La Filmoteca.
29.11.25 SATURDAY / 18.00 h
The hustler
The Hustler
ROBERT ROSSEN. USA. 1961. VOS SPANISH. B/N. 135′. 35 mm.
Int. Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott, Myron McCormick, Murray Hamilton.
Eddie Felson is an arrogant young man who frequents pool halls with success. Determined to become the best, he won't rest until he beats the Gros de Minnesota, a legendary champion, regardless of the price he has to pay for it.
