Preceded by short: Metamorphosis (Métamorphose) (Tony Lekain, France, 1923): A film about high fashion circa 1923. (c. 25 mins) (Minuit°Place Pigalle). Superimpositions, fast-paced montage, extraordinary lighting all convey the delirious decadence of Paris's Place Pigalle, Montmartre, in the late twenties. As for music-this is a jazz film that you won't remember as silent. Prosper (Nicolas Rimsky), maitre d' in the bustling Flamant Rose (Pink Flamingo) cabaret, is on the verge of retirement; Mon Repos, a modest chateau in the midi, awaits him. But in his new sea-charmed village, Prosper doesn't prosper. Every cocking rooster reminds him of the bon vivants of his former domain. He returns to Paris and Pigalle, this time as a player-but not a winner. The cabaret sequences have "the zest of tender anarchism reminiscent of the dadaist Entr'acte," notes Dominique Païni, who points out the film's debt to the international influence of Pabst (Pandora's Box) and others. An orchestre russe and a brilliant homage to the various spectacle arts of the '20s-mime, ballet, cabaret-make this film, for us, a rewarding fusion of documentary and narrative. The cubo-futurist/Art Deco-influenced design is by the superb art director Jaquelux.