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IS IT REALLY the start of a new season? Yes and, not only that, come 2 October it is thirty years to the day since we showed our very first film. Alas, Good Morning Babylon (reaction: 77%) is currently unavailable so we are celebrating the milestone with a special showing of Jour de Fête (also in that first season). Do write the date (7 October, the nearest Sunday) in your diaries and join us for a glass of wine (French, of course!) beforehand.
We have also retained the 3F system as follows: F = female director; F = noteworthy female role(s); f = female editor. Happy viewing! |
If you have a comment on one of our films, please leave it below
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Programme 2018-19
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2018
23 Sept 7 Oct 21 Oct 4 Nov 18 Nov 2 Dec 9 Dec 2019 6 Jan 20 Jan 3 Feb 17 Feb 3 March 17 March |
The Post Jour de Fete* / One Week The Death of Stalin Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Bastards* The Shape of Water Lean on Pete The Nile Hilton Incident* Loving Vincent* Maudie Phantom Thread Custody* Lady Bird |
* Because of the difficulties we have experienced with the legibility of subtitles, we have deliberately included fewer subtitled films.
23 September
THE POST
US/Ind, 2017, 116m, colr, 12A, Ff
Director: Steven Spielberg
With Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bradley Whitford
WASHINGTON, 1971. As the Vietnam War rumbles on, a set of classified documents surfaces thanks to the veracity of a government whistleblower. Whilst some are stymied by the government’s – and president’s – attempts to obfuscate events, Bob Bradlee (editor-in-chief of the Washington Post) is determined to go to press. However, the newspaper’s publisher, Katharine Graham, is already struggling to keep her business afloat financially and some tough decisions will have to be made. And here we are now, in 2018 . . .
7 October
JOUR DE FÊTE
France, 1949, 76m, colr & b/w, U, s/t
Director: Jacques Tati
With Jacques Tati, Guy Decomble, Paul Frankeur
THE STORY IS SIMPLE – after seeing a film about the American postal system, the postman of a sleepy French village determines that such methods will work just as well at home. The film became one of the most endearing of all comedies and, almost overnight, Tati’s sublime antics were compared to those of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. This presentation is in Thompsoncolor.
Plus ONE WEEK (US, 1920, 17m, b/w, U; directed by Buster Keaton & Eddie Cline)
Buster and his bride build their own house, not realising his arch-enemy has switched labels.
21 October
THE DEATH OF STALIN
Fr/Can/Bel/UK, 2017, 107m, colr, 15
Director: Armando Iannucci
With Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Jason Isaacs
JOSEPH STALIN IS at the peak of his tyrannical powers, untouchable and a myth in his own lifetime – but this is 1953 and the dictator has the misfortune to die without a plan of succession. Cue the most miserable group of plotters and hangers-on imaginable, headed by Beria (in charge of the secret police) and Nikita Khrushchev, trying to establish a hegemony that might see out the week. Iannucci’s political wit remains razor sharp and the blacker it becomes, the funnier it becomes. Indeed, the opening credits ought to warn us that too much laughter is a health risk!
4 November
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
US/UK, 2017, 115m, colr, 15, F
Director: Martin McDonagh
With France McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish
MISSOURI, PRESENT DAY. Mildred Hayes, still angry and frustrated at the lack of progress in solving her daughter’s murder, rents the titular billboards to name and shame the town’s sheriff. This, in turn, causes Ebbing’s racist deputy to plumb new career depths and triggers a series of events that no-one seems able to control. Easily the director’s best film (it has greater tension, is more nuanced and funnier than Seven Psychopaths), both Harrelson and Rockwell are excellent; nevertheless, it is McDormand’s towering performance that makes everything work so well.
18 November
BASTARDS
UK, 2014, 82m, colr, 12A, s/t, FFf
Director: Deborah Perkin
With Raba El Haimer, Selma, Aicha Chenna
AGED ONLY FOURTEEN, Raba was forced into an arranged marriage. After giving birth to a daughter, she discovered that this ‘fatha’ – a rural ceremony – was not legal. So, through no fault of her own, she was guilty of sex outside marriage (also illegal) and her daughter was illegitimate and thus condemned to a life of victimisation. Despite being a slum dweller with few supporters, and being at a great disadvantage because of her illiteracy, Raba refused to conform and took on the Moroccan court system in her search for justice. It is a quite remarkable story.
2 December
THE SHAPE OF WATER
US, 2017, 123m, colr & b/w, 15, F
Director: Guillermo del Toro
With Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Octavia Spencer
BALTIMORE, 1962. Elisa is a mute cleaner – no, new train of thought: it’s a creature-feature romcom that stands narrative convention on its head; the cultural and social history of the United States from the graceful art of the silent clowns to Guantanamo and POTUS no. 45; Dorothy’s red shoes and the Hollywood musical; inclusion or prejudice; the elegance of a raindrop on a windowpane. The film’s richness is enhanced by exquisite cinematography and a beautiful score that carries us from scene to scene; in short, we have – unequivocally – a masterpiece.
9 December
LEAN ON PETE
UK, 2017, 122m, colr, 15
Director: Andrew Haigh
With Charlie Plummer, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Zahn, Steve Buscemi
PORTLAND, OREGON, THE PRESENT. Charley stands on the threshold of manhood but, in part due to his itinerant father, has little direction or sense of purpose. Taking a casual job at a local racetrack, he soon forms a bond with one of the horses, Lean on Pete. On learning that the horse is to be sent to Mexico for horsemeat, Charley steals the horse and heads for Wyoming . . . Andrew Haigh continues to show the promise he demonstrated with Weekend (2011) and 45 Years (2015) with a thoughtful, bittersweet drama that expands his range rather satisfyingly.
6 January
THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT
Swe/Ger/Den, 2017, 111m, colr, 15, s/t F
Director: Tarik Saleh
With Fares Fares, Mari Malek, Yaser Ali Maher
CAIRO, 2011, just before the revolution. As tensions increase and lines of morality become blurred, the body of a young woman is found in a bedroom of an upmarket hotel. A detective, recently widowed, is quickly assigned to the case and he is conscientious enough to try and solve it. Subjected to not so much a double cross as a double bribe, and soon encountering pimps and dubious establishment figures, the odds on him succeeding are not great. Particularly as the one key witness, a Sudanese chambermaid, is trying to blackmail one of the suspects.
20 January
LOVING VINCENT
Pol/UK, 2017, 95m, colr, 12A, s/t Ff
Directors: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman
With Douglas Booth, Robert Gulaczyk, Eleanor Tomlinson, Saoirse Ronan
IT IS 1891 and a year has passed since the death of Vincent van Gogh. Joseph Roulin, the postmaster in Arles, asks his son, Armand, to deliver what is thought to be the artist’s final letter to his brother. Discovering that Theo van Gogh is also dead, Armand interviews people that knew Vincent in his final months and starts to wonder if the great man’s death was indeed suicide. Filmed in the style of a mystery thriller, but uniquely so as its creators have used over 65,000 hand-painted frames to bring this magical labour of love to life.
3 February
MAUDIE
Can/Ire/US, 2016, 116m, colr, 12A, FF
Director: Aisling Walsh
With Sally Hawkins, Ethan Hawke, Kari Matchett, Gabrielle Rose
NOVA SCOTIA, THE LATE 1930S. Maud Lewis (another excellent performance by Sally Hawkins) lives with her aunt and, suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, is facing an uncertain future. Responding to an advert placed by a local fish merchant (Hawke, also superb), Maud soon discovers that her nascent talent for painting is far greater than her housekeeping skills. The star and director (here making her feature debut) of the TV production Fingersmith have re-united to bring us a most delightful, and engaging, romantic drama.
17 February
PHANTOM THREAD
US, 2017, 130m, colr, 15, F
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
With Daniel Day Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Leslie Manville, Camilla Rutherford
SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND, circa 1950. Reynolds Woodcock is a couturier to the rich and titled dedicated obsessively to his work. His modus operandi is to select a muse, then use and discard her with the help of his ever-present sister. However, his latest model, a young waitress who serves him breakfast and soon becomes his lover, is deceptively strong willed; so much so that the fault lines in his well-structured world start to crack open. Newcomer Vicky Krieps matches Mr Day Lewis scene for scene in what is, in essence, a rather splendid gothic romance.
3 March
CUSTODY
France, 2016, 94m, colr, 15, s/t, F
Director: Xavier Legrand
With Denis Ménochet, Léa Drucker, Thomas Gioria
A FAMILY COURT, somewhere in France. Miriam and Antoine have already divorced; this hearing is to decide whether accusations of violent behaviour are true. The judge rules that the father should be granted weekend access to his son, but without the need to know where he and his mother now live. With the help of the maternal grandparents, Antoine arranges the first meeting and the clock starts ticking . . . M. Legrand’s experience as an actor in film, theatre and television has surely benefited young Thomas Gioria, who gives a wonderful performance.
17 March
LADY BIRD
UK/Swe, 2016, 117m, colr, 12A, FF
Directors: Greta Gerwig
With Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet
SACRAMENTO, THE RECENT PAST. Christine, who insists on being called Lady Bird, is in her final year at a Catholic school and planning her escape to college. Moving seamlessly from one to the other is tricky, however. Her mum wants a local college but she wants to go to New York; maths and drama classes are not bending to her will; family, friends and boyfriends can be such hard work when you are only seventeen. Favouring short scenes, the director needs her cast to etch memorable characters with relatively little screen time - and they all deliver brilliantly.
THE POST
US/Ind, 2017, 116m, colr, 12A, Ff
Director: Steven Spielberg
With Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bradley Whitford
WASHINGTON, 1971. As the Vietnam War rumbles on, a set of classified documents surfaces thanks to the veracity of a government whistleblower. Whilst some are stymied by the government’s – and president’s – attempts to obfuscate events, Bob Bradlee (editor-in-chief of the Washington Post) is determined to go to press. However, the newspaper’s publisher, Katharine Graham, is already struggling to keep her business afloat financially and some tough decisions will have to be made. And here we are now, in 2018 . . .
7 October
JOUR DE FÊTE
France, 1949, 76m, colr & b/w, U, s/t
Director: Jacques Tati
With Jacques Tati, Guy Decomble, Paul Frankeur
THE STORY IS SIMPLE – after seeing a film about the American postal system, the postman of a sleepy French village determines that such methods will work just as well at home. The film became one of the most endearing of all comedies and, almost overnight, Tati’s sublime antics were compared to those of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. This presentation is in Thompsoncolor.
Plus ONE WEEK (US, 1920, 17m, b/w, U; directed by Buster Keaton & Eddie Cline)
Buster and his bride build their own house, not realising his arch-enemy has switched labels.
21 October
THE DEATH OF STALIN
Fr/Can/Bel/UK, 2017, 107m, colr, 15
Director: Armando Iannucci
With Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Jason Isaacs
JOSEPH STALIN IS at the peak of his tyrannical powers, untouchable and a myth in his own lifetime – but this is 1953 and the dictator has the misfortune to die without a plan of succession. Cue the most miserable group of plotters and hangers-on imaginable, headed by Beria (in charge of the secret police) and Nikita Khrushchev, trying to establish a hegemony that might see out the week. Iannucci’s political wit remains razor sharp and the blacker it becomes, the funnier it becomes. Indeed, the opening credits ought to warn us that too much laughter is a health risk!
4 November
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
US/UK, 2017, 115m, colr, 15, F
Director: Martin McDonagh
With France McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish
MISSOURI, PRESENT DAY. Mildred Hayes, still angry and frustrated at the lack of progress in solving her daughter’s murder, rents the titular billboards to name and shame the town’s sheriff. This, in turn, causes Ebbing’s racist deputy to plumb new career depths and triggers a series of events that no-one seems able to control. Easily the director’s best film (it has greater tension, is more nuanced and funnier than Seven Psychopaths), both Harrelson and Rockwell are excellent; nevertheless, it is McDormand’s towering performance that makes everything work so well.
18 November
BASTARDS
UK, 2014, 82m, colr, 12A, s/t, FFf
Director: Deborah Perkin
With Raba El Haimer, Selma, Aicha Chenna
AGED ONLY FOURTEEN, Raba was forced into an arranged marriage. After giving birth to a daughter, she discovered that this ‘fatha’ – a rural ceremony – was not legal. So, through no fault of her own, she was guilty of sex outside marriage (also illegal) and her daughter was illegitimate and thus condemned to a life of victimisation. Despite being a slum dweller with few supporters, and being at a great disadvantage because of her illiteracy, Raba refused to conform and took on the Moroccan court system in her search for justice. It is a quite remarkable story.
2 December
THE SHAPE OF WATER
US, 2017, 123m, colr & b/w, 15, F
Director: Guillermo del Toro
With Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Octavia Spencer
BALTIMORE, 1962. Elisa is a mute cleaner – no, new train of thought: it’s a creature-feature romcom that stands narrative convention on its head; the cultural and social history of the United States from the graceful art of the silent clowns to Guantanamo and POTUS no. 45; Dorothy’s red shoes and the Hollywood musical; inclusion or prejudice; the elegance of a raindrop on a windowpane. The film’s richness is enhanced by exquisite cinematography and a beautiful score that carries us from scene to scene; in short, we have – unequivocally – a masterpiece.
9 December
LEAN ON PETE
UK, 2017, 122m, colr, 15
Director: Andrew Haigh
With Charlie Plummer, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Zahn, Steve Buscemi
PORTLAND, OREGON, THE PRESENT. Charley stands on the threshold of manhood but, in part due to his itinerant father, has little direction or sense of purpose. Taking a casual job at a local racetrack, he soon forms a bond with one of the horses, Lean on Pete. On learning that the horse is to be sent to Mexico for horsemeat, Charley steals the horse and heads for Wyoming . . . Andrew Haigh continues to show the promise he demonstrated with Weekend (2011) and 45 Years (2015) with a thoughtful, bittersweet drama that expands his range rather satisfyingly.
6 January
THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT
Swe/Ger/Den, 2017, 111m, colr, 15, s/t F
Director: Tarik Saleh
With Fares Fares, Mari Malek, Yaser Ali Maher
CAIRO, 2011, just before the revolution. As tensions increase and lines of morality become blurred, the body of a young woman is found in a bedroom of an upmarket hotel. A detective, recently widowed, is quickly assigned to the case and he is conscientious enough to try and solve it. Subjected to not so much a double cross as a double bribe, and soon encountering pimps and dubious establishment figures, the odds on him succeeding are not great. Particularly as the one key witness, a Sudanese chambermaid, is trying to blackmail one of the suspects.
20 January
LOVING VINCENT
Pol/UK, 2017, 95m, colr, 12A, s/t Ff
Directors: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman
With Douglas Booth, Robert Gulaczyk, Eleanor Tomlinson, Saoirse Ronan
IT IS 1891 and a year has passed since the death of Vincent van Gogh. Joseph Roulin, the postmaster in Arles, asks his son, Armand, to deliver what is thought to be the artist’s final letter to his brother. Discovering that Theo van Gogh is also dead, Armand interviews people that knew Vincent in his final months and starts to wonder if the great man’s death was indeed suicide. Filmed in the style of a mystery thriller, but uniquely so as its creators have used over 65,000 hand-painted frames to bring this magical labour of love to life.
3 February
MAUDIE
Can/Ire/US, 2016, 116m, colr, 12A, FF
Director: Aisling Walsh
With Sally Hawkins, Ethan Hawke, Kari Matchett, Gabrielle Rose
NOVA SCOTIA, THE LATE 1930S. Maud Lewis (another excellent performance by Sally Hawkins) lives with her aunt and, suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, is facing an uncertain future. Responding to an advert placed by a local fish merchant (Hawke, also superb), Maud soon discovers that her nascent talent for painting is far greater than her housekeeping skills. The star and director (here making her feature debut) of the TV production Fingersmith have re-united to bring us a most delightful, and engaging, romantic drama.
17 February
PHANTOM THREAD
US, 2017, 130m, colr, 15, F
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
With Daniel Day Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Leslie Manville, Camilla Rutherford
SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND, circa 1950. Reynolds Woodcock is a couturier to the rich and titled dedicated obsessively to his work. His modus operandi is to select a muse, then use and discard her with the help of his ever-present sister. However, his latest model, a young waitress who serves him breakfast and soon becomes his lover, is deceptively strong willed; so much so that the fault lines in his well-structured world start to crack open. Newcomer Vicky Krieps matches Mr Day Lewis scene for scene in what is, in essence, a rather splendid gothic romance.
3 March
CUSTODY
France, 2016, 94m, colr, 15, s/t, F
Director: Xavier Legrand
With Denis Ménochet, Léa Drucker, Thomas Gioria
A FAMILY COURT, somewhere in France. Miriam and Antoine have already divorced; this hearing is to decide whether accusations of violent behaviour are true. The judge rules that the father should be granted weekend access to his son, but without the need to know where he and his mother now live. With the help of the maternal grandparents, Antoine arranges the first meeting and the clock starts ticking . . . M. Legrand’s experience as an actor in film, theatre and television has surely benefited young Thomas Gioria, who gives a wonderful performance.
17 March
LADY BIRD
UK/Swe, 2016, 117m, colr, 12A, FF
Directors: Greta Gerwig
With Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet
SACRAMENTO, THE RECENT PAST. Christine, who insists on being called Lady Bird, is in her final year at a Catholic school and planning her escape to college. Moving seamlessly from one to the other is tricky, however. Her mum wants a local college but she wants to go to New York; maths and drama classes are not bending to her will; family, friends and boyfriends can be such hard work when you are only seventeen. Favouring short scenes, the director needs her cast to etch memorable characters with relatively little screen time - and they all deliver brilliantly.
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SOME PRESS COMMENTS
THE POST ‘It’s nimble, crisp, passionate, full of verve and invention’ Philadelphia Daily News ‘Eminently satisfying screen entertainment’ The Times JOUR DE FÊTE ‘Sheer genius’ Radio Times ‘A milestone in French comedy’ Ephraim Katz THE DEATH OF STALIN 'A genuinely great screen comedy’ Leonard Maltin ‘A frighteningly funny satire’ Total Film THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI 'McDormand is fearless and terrific’ Financial Times ‘Funny, brutal and breathtakingly beautiful’ Empire BASTARDS 'An extraordinary intimate and moving portrait’ Independent ‘More tense, more gripping than many mainstream films’ Mark Kermode, Radio 5 THE SHAPE OF WATER 'A fantasy masterpiece’ BBC Culture ‘Boundlessly beautiful’ The Daily Telegraph ‘Not simply a triumph, but a reminder of what it is to fall in love with cinema’ CineVue |
LEAN ON PETE
'Potent, stirring . . . heart-rending’ The Guardian ‘A searching, unsentimental coming-of-age drama’ IndieWire THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT ‘A genuine thrilling neo-noir’ HeyUGuys Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance LOVING VINCENT 'A truly awe-inspiring portrait’ Variety ‘See it to applaud its astounding audacity’ Empire MAUDIE 'A biopic of subtlety, sensitivity and unwavering focus’ Sight & Sound ‘A slow-burn, unshowy film, with nuanced performances’ Empire PHANTOM THREAD ‘A compelling masterpiece’ The Times ‘Undeniably wonderful’ Time Out CUSTODY 'Heart-stopping stuff and a truly auspicious debut’ Sight & Sound ‘Electric and unpredictable’ Daily Telegraph LADY BIRD 'Fresh, funny and lastingly poignant’ Big Issue ‘An absolute sunrise of a movie, the kind of thing that makes your heart leap’ GQ Magazine |
Tea and cakes downstairs each Sunday from 4:45pm
Film on-screen 5:30pm
Film on-screen 5:30pm