A Restored Underground Film Screens at Asia Society

Asia Society brings back a restored print of an underground Chinese film for a single Sunday screening on Park Avenue. The booking leans on repertory programming, the kind of title that once moved only through unofficial screenings and rarely reaches a big room. The restoration is the reason to come, a clean print of a film most people have only read about. Expect a film-forward afternoon in a museum theater, with the Asian art galleries a few steps away if you arrive early.

You pick up your ticket at the Park Avenue desk, then head down to the museum theater for the show. People settle into fixed seats, phones away, for a film shown start to finish without breaks. The room stays quiet and attentive, closer to a cinematheque than a multiplex. A short introduction often frames the film before it rolls, worth catching for the context. Slip in early to see a gallery or two before the lights drop.

The screening runs Sunday, September 6, at 725 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side, in the afternoon. Buy the ticket ahead and arrive early to clear the lobby and find a seat. Museum admission and the film are usually separate, worth checking what your ticket covers. It fits people who like repertory cinema, restored prints, and a quiet museum crowd, rather than a casual drop-in movie. If you wanted a mainstream release or a loud night out, this is not that.