Science-fiction has become a mainstay of television (well, streaming) with the likes of Doctor Who and the various incarnations of Star Trek and now Star Wars (five series and counting). In the cinema, high concept/high budget sci-fi films only really started with 2001: a Space Odyssey (1968) and then carried on with the likes of Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972) and Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Of course, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) had been an enormous undertaking but for the next 40 years it was mostly serials (Flash Gordon) and low to mid-budget fare. This produced several minor classics in the 1950s including 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still (to be given another run out by TP Saturday teatime), War of the Worlds (1953) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). However, the film that came closest to high concept (and art) during this period was MGM’s Forbidden Planet (1956). Britain’s contributions were not great at this time except for the two Quatermass films and The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961). The British classics were closer to home (see below).
THE POWER OF THE DOG (2021) Sunday 20 August 10.00-12 midnight BBC 2 P If proof were needed that Jane Campion is one of the most imaginative directors working today, this would prove it. Ranch owner George marries for love; even though it was a short courtship, there is still time for his brother (Benedict Cumberbatch) to undermine and derail their happiness. Set in Montana in 1925, this is the best ‘modern’ western drama since Brokeback Mountain. ROOM AT THE TOP (1959) Wednesday 23 August 9.05-11.25pm TP (Channel 82) Shock! Horror! 1950’s Britain, as depicted in this season’s opening film Living was, by the end of the decade, on a collision course with adult relationships that included sex. Laurence Harvey is superb as the accountant (and antihero) Joe Lampton, but the Oscar-winning Simone Signoret is even better. The 1965 sequel Life at the Top isn’t a patch on this classic, but the 1971-3 TV series Man at the Top was pretty good. Certainly, it was popular enough for Kenneth Haigh to take the character back onto cinema screens. SHADOWLANDS (1993) Thursday 24 August 9.00-11.05pm BBC 4 Richard Attenborough would have been 100 on 29 August. Here he directs Anthony Hopkins as CS Lewis and tonight’s showing is bookended by two episodes of Arena which give a very good overview of his career to that point (2003). He was a true British great – as an actor, director, and humanitarian, and for his work in education and sport. Anthony Hopkins’ latest film will be one of the gala presentations at this year’s LFF.
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By David JohnsonChairman of Lyme Regis Film Society Archives
June 2024
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Updated 29.10.2024
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