joanna hogg’s the souvenir · memory: the origins of alien from its cultural significance to its...
TRANSCRIPT
JOANNA HOGG’S
THE SOUVENIR
JULY - AUGUST 2019 ISSUE 75
EMILIAJONES
SEBASTIANCROFT
NICKFROST
CRAIGROBERTS
KATENASH
RUPERTGRAVES
ALEXMACQUEEN
LEEMACK
BIG SCREEN. TOTAL RIOT.
HORRIBLEHISTORIES.MOVIE HORRIBLEHISTORIESTHEMOVIE
IN CINEM AS JULY 26
LEEMACK
WARWICKDAVIS
SANJEEVBHASKAR
ALEXANDERARMSTRONG
CHRISADDISON
DEREKJACOBI
WITH AND
KIMCATTRALL
BIG SCREEN. TOTAL RIOT.
HORRIBLEHISTORIESTHEMOVIENO RATS WERE HARMED IN NO RATS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS MOVIETHE MAKING OF THIS MOVIE
IN CINEM AS JULY 26
4
At the time of writing, there are 40 cinemas on the Cote d’Azur with seats that are still warm. The Curzon team are back from the feeding frenzy of the Cannes Film Festival, a sleep-deprived fortnight of watching films from around the globe. It was a proud festival for our acquisitions team in particular, with three upcoming Curzon titles playing in the prestigious main competition, including Romanian thriller The Whistlers and the almost entirely female French period drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which won Best Screenplay for its director Céline Sciamma. And we can’t wait to screen South Korean home invasion black comedy Parasite, which won the top prize, the Palme d’Or. More news on their release later in the year.
Titles from Cannes form the backbone of our summer programme. Previous Palme d’Or winner (for Pulp Fiction) Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood, a hedonistic homage to Tinseltown circa 1969, was the festival’s hottest ticket. Spanish maestro Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory, which picked up the Best Actor award for Antonio Banderas, finds an ageing filmmaker contemplating his life. Jim Jarmusch is reunited with Adam Driver, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton for The Dead Don’t Die, a mischievous zombie comedy that is both a love letter to the genre and a consumerist satire of Trump’s America.
Through our venues and the digital streaming service Curzon Home Cinema, we continue to provide customers with new films when, where and how they want them. Features releasing simultaneously in cinemas and at home this summer include The Souvenir, Joanna Hogg’s dangerous romantic drama set in 80’s London; The Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra’s Mumbai charmer Photograph, and following the sad passing of the great Agnès Varda, her final, deeply personal film Varda by Agnès.
CINEMAS 6
MEMBERSHIP 8
CURZON ON DEMAND 12
CURZON SELECTOR 14
BERTHA DOCHOUSE 16
NEW RELEASES 18
EVENTS 42
FEATURES 48
CONTENTS
EditorIan Haydn Smith
DesignerHannah Attwell
Contributors: Jake Garriock | Wendy Ide | Philip Kemp | Kate Gerova | Damian Spandley
Operated by CURZON CINEMAS2nd Floor, 20-22 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LR
Participant in the Europa Cinemas/ European Union Media Programme
At the time of going to print every effort was made to ensure the information contained in this programme was correct. However, where circumstances dictate, we reserve the right to make changes.
CURZON CINEMAS Limited 1934. Registered in London: Company no:283280. Est.1934. CURZON and CURZON CINEMAS are registered trade marks, no:2291124 and no.2424017
curzon.cinemas
curzoncinemas
CurzonCinemas
WELCOME
CURZON is taking action against climate change. Winner of Best Creative Group at the Creative Green Awards 2018.
CURZON is proud to be a Living Wage employer.
Damian Spandley | Director of Programme | @damospandley
Printed by Empress Litho. Both the paper manufacturer and the printer are registered to Environmental Management system ISO14001 and are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certified
LONDON
BLOOMSBURYThe Brunswick, WC1N 1AW
Russell Square
MAYFAIR38 Curzon Street, W1J 7TY
Green Park
RICHMONDWater Lane, Richmond, TW9 1TJ
Richmond
VICTORIA58 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QW
Victoria
SOHO99 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5DY
Leicester Square
WIMBLEDON23 The Broadway, SW19 1RE
Wimbledon
CINE
MAS
REGIONAL
SHEFFIELD16 George Street, Sheffield S1 2PF
Sheffield
Castle Square
BarCafé
Snacks Food
CANTERBURY Westgate Hall Road, CT1 2BT
Canterbury West
KNUTSFORDToft Road, Knutsford, WA16 0PE
Knutsford
OXFORDWestgate Shopping Centre,OX1 1NZ
Oxford
COLCHESTERRoman House, 19 Queen Street,Colchester, CO1 1LD
Colchester Town
RIPON75 North Street, Ripon, HG4 1DP
Harrogate
ALDGATEGoodman’s Fields, 2 Canter Way, E1 8PS
Aldgate East
9
C U R Z O N M E M B E R S
MEMB
ERS MEMBERS’ PREVIEWS
Members’ preview screenings throughout July and August will include
ONLY YOU See page 23 for synopsis
PHOTOGRAPH See page 34 for synopsis
TRANSIT See page 36 for synopsis
THE SOUVENIR See page 40 for synopsis
For venues and times, go to: CURZONCINEMAS.COM/MEMBERSPREVIEWS
CURZON MEMBERSHIP CURZON.COM/MEMBERSHIP
To make sure you have access to exclusive members’ previews, priority event cinema booking, free tickets and much more, join Curzon membership. Prices start from only £40. Our standard member benefits are:
4 FREE TICKETS | DISCOUNTED TICKETS | NO BOOKING FEES | DISCOUNTED FOOD + DRINK | DISCOUNTS ON CURZON HOME CINEMA | CURZON12 | PREVIEWS + PRIORITY BOOKINGS | AND MUCH MORE…..
STUDENT FILM FANS CURZON.COM/STUDENT
You can now sign up for FREE cinema membership. Join Curzon Student at your local venue or online at curzon.com/student
START STREAMINGCurzon members can access all the titles on Curzon12 for free. Members automatically have a Curzon Home Cinema account, so just sign in and the collection will be yours to enjoy.
Find out more at:CURZONCINEMAS.COM/CURZON12
CURZON12We begin July with a series of environmentally themed films. They include acclaimed French documentarian Nicolas Philibert’s Nenette, about the Paris zoo’s beloved orangutan, and Daniel Nettheim’s The Hunter, a taut Tasmanian-set eco-thriller starring Willem Dafoe.
The Souvenir
The Hunter
13
RECOMMENDED
TRANSIT 16 AUG German auteur Christian Petzold brings the past into the present with extraordinary results in this enthralling drama. Adapted from Anna Seghers’ 1942 novel, which explores life for an escapee of a concentration camp as they attempt to seek passage to the US through Nazi-occupied France. But rather than present the action as a period drama, characters wear modern dress. The result is a film that explores past horrors but also questions the rise of the right and treatment of refugees in contemporary times.
COMING SOON:FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY 1 JULYDIAMANTINO 15 JULYJOHN MCENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION 15 JULYCAPERNAUM 29 JULYHAPPY AS LAZZARO 29 JULYRED JOAN 19 AUG
O N D E M A N D
DISCOVERGems not to be missed
FERRANTE FEVER 22 JUL Who is Elena Ferrante? One of the mysteries of the modern literary world is not answered by Giacomo Durzi’s immensely entertaining documentary. Instead, various contributors, from the author’s translator Ann Goldstein to writers Elizabeth Strout, Jonathan Franzen and Roberto Saviano help offer a comprehensive overview of the writer’s work, why she is so loved and deserving of the critical praise her magisterial Neopolitan series has attracted.
IN CINEMAS. ON DEMANDFilms that appear on Curzon Home Cinema the same day that they are released in cinemas – allowing you to watch them your way.
VARDA BY AGNÈS 19 JUL | See page 26 for synopsis
PHOTOGRAPH 2 AUG | See page 34 for synopsis
THE SOUVENIR 30 AUG | See page 40 for synopsis
ONLY YOU Director: Harry Wootliff Starring: Josh O’Connor, Laia Costa, Natalie Arle-Toyne, Isabelle Barth, Tam Dean Burn, Daniel Campbell, Joe Cassidy
Elena and Jake meet on New Year’s Eve. The electricity between them is palpable. Soon, they move from lovers to live-in couple. Their trajectory is furthered by a desire to conceive a child then stalled by problems in doing so. It’s here that Harry Wootliff’s breezy romance gains emotional weight, aided in no small way by the charismatic performances of Josh O’Connor (God’s Own Country) and Laia Costa (Victoria). With cinematographer Shabier Kirchner making the most of Glasgow’s autumnal hues, Wootliff’s debut feature is thoughtful and moving drama.
12 JULY ON CURZONHOMECINEMA.COM
ON D
EMAN
D
Transit
CURZON SELECTORMEMBERS OF THE CURZON TEAM PICK THEIR FAVOURITES FROM THE UPCOMING RELEASES
MIDSOMMAR TBC
Few recent horror films films attracted as much anticipation as Hereditary. With Midsommar, Ari Aster looks set to send pulses racing once again. Florence Pugh plays Dani who, following a recent tragedy, joins boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) on a trip to Sweden and a festival that’s held every 90 years. What that celebration is has been kept under wraps. But don’t expect it to be fun for these unsuspecting participants. See page 22
THE CURRENT WAR TBC
Late 19th-century America lay in the grip of industrialisation and urban migration. Enter two individuals who shared the same dream: to light up the streets and homes of every city and town. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon brings together an impressive cast, headlined by Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon, as Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, for a charged drama about winning the rights to supply electricity to the country. See page 30
Midsommar, 2019
FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW TBC
Curzon might adore its Vardas, Hanekes, Sciammas and Almodóvars, but there’s always a little love for some Hollywood excess. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham reprise their Fast & Furious roles, arriving in London to take on Idris Elba’s psycho merc villain. And The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby is on hand to dish out a right royal ass kickin’. See page 32
THE LEHMAN TRILOGY
Following the success of his award-winning production ‘The Ferryman’, Sam Mendes returns to the stage for this compelling triptych, detailing the rise of the famous banking family and its eventual demise, which marked the beginning of the 2008 global financial crisis. Opening in 1844 and divided into three parts, it stars Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Ben Miles, who take on various guises. See page 46
TRANSIT 12A
Christian Petzold has quietly built up a formidable body of work that encompasses recent Germany history. His adaptation of Anna Seghers’ 1942 novel, which recounts a Holocaust survivor’s attempts to reach the United States via Nazi-occupied France, avoids the trappings of the past by presenting the drama with minimal period detail. The result is a brilliant and unsettling portrait of migration. See page 36
BOOK TICKETS NOWBOOK TICKETS NOW
BOOK TICKETS NOWBOOK TICKETS NOWBOOK TICKETS NOWBOOK TICKETS NOW
469E17_Sony_SMFFH_PrintAd_148x210.indd 1 17/06/2019 11:05
BERTHADOCHOUSEAT CURZON BLOOMSBURY
www.dochouse.org@BerthaDocHouse
SAKAWAThe electronic waste in Ghana contains a treasure trove of information. With a mine of personal details among the detritus, a group of internet scammers develop romantic relationships through dating websites, in the pursuit of an income.
Opens Fri 12 Jul
VARDA BY AGNÈSThe ever creative, playful and curious master of cinema Agnès Varda reflects on her life behind the camera and the things that inspired her with a huge audience, and dazzling insight.
Opens Fri 19 Jul
The UK’s first cinema screen dedicated to documentaries, Bertha DocHouse is a platform for powerful human stories. We screen a mix of new releases and classics, alongside Q&As and special events.
THE HOME OF DOCUMENTARY
ON THE INSIDE OF A MILITARY DICTATORSHIPFollow the complex power struggle that arose between Nobel Prize-winning activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the dictatorship that used to rule Myanmar.
Opens Fri 26 Jul
HAIL SATAN?A playful portrait of the Satanists who seem to be trolling the Christians of America. Hail Satan? Follows the people behind the Satanist movement, and the impact their actions are having.
Opens Fri 23 Aug
MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIENFrom its cultural significance to its stomach-exploding originality, this is a rigorous and insightful exploration of the story behind Ridley Scott’s classic and its imaginative creators, writer Dan O’Bannon and artist HR Giger.
Opens Fri 30 Aug
NEW
REL
EASE
SFROM THE ACADEMY AWARD© WINNING WRITER / DIRECTOR OF THE LIVES OF OTHERS
FLORIAN HENCKEL VON DONNERSMARCK
SEBASTIAN KOCH TOM SCHILLING PAULA BEER
ACADEMY AWARD©
NOMINATIONSBEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
2 IN CINEMAS JULY 5www.modernfilms.com/neverlookaway
“AN EPIC, INTERGENERATIONALTALE OF ART, LOVE,
TRAGEDY AND POLITICS”VARIETY
“ONE OF THE MOSTMESMERIZING, COMPULSIVELYWATCHABLE FILMS RIGHT NOW”
THE WASHINGTON POST
STRONG SEX,NUDITY, THREAT15
NEVER LOOK AWAY 15
Director: Florian Henckel Von DonnersmarckStarring: Tom Schilling, Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer, Saskia Rosendahl, Oliver Masucci, Hanno Koffler, Cai Cohrs, Evgeniy Sidikhin
Germany, Italy 2018 | 189 minsGerman and Russian with English subtitles
Kurt Barnert is an acclaimed international artist. Having survived the Nazis and life under Communist rule, he is haunted by his past. But it’s about to revisit him in a way he could never have expected. This intergenerational drama by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck (the Oscar- winning director of The Lives of Others), loosely inspired by the life of Gerhard Richter, is an expansive, involving epic.
OPENS: FRI 5 JULY
SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME 12A
Director: Jon WattsStarring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel Jackson, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Cobie Smulders, Numan Acar
US 2019 | 129 mins
Peter Parker is still grieving the loss of his friend and mentor Tony Stark. So, a school trip to Europe seems like a perfect escape. But things across the water soon pose their own problems and Peter is enlisted by Nick Fury to help. And with the arrival of Mysterio, who may or may not be a force for good, Peter has to up his game. Tom Holland returns as the webbed crusader in this lighter entry in the Marvel universe.
OPENS: FRI 2 JULY
22 23
N E W R E L E A S E S N E W R E L E A S E S
MIDSOMMAR TBC
Director: Ari AsterStarring: Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Liv Mjönes, Julia Ragnarsson, Anna Åström, Archie Madekwe
US 2019 | 140 minsEnglish and Swedish with English subtitles
Christian (Jack Reynor) has planned a trip with his friends to a once-in-a-lifetime festival in Sweden. At the last minute, he’s joined by his girlfriend Dani (Florence Pugh). The festival is in a remote region and Dani soon begins to suspect something more sinister is afoot. With its nod to The Wicker Man, the latest film from Hereditary director Ari Aster looks set to be the summer’s biggest horror hit.
OPENS: FRI 5 JULY
VITA & VIRGINIA 12A
Director: Chanya ButtonStarring: Gemma Arterton, Elizabeth Debicki, Isabella Rossellini, Rupert Penry-Jones, Peter Ferdinando, Emerald Fennell
Ireland, UK 2018 | 110 mins
Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West were key luminaries of Britain’s literary scene in the first half of the 20th century. Their relationship is believed to be the inspiration behind ‘Orlando’, one of Woolf’s most celebrated novels. Chanya Button’s drama charts this relationship, with Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki shining in the title roles. It’s a beautifully nuanced account of a rarefied world and an illicit love affair.
OPENS: FRI 5 JULY
ONLY YOU 15
Director: Harry Wootliff Starring: Laia Costa, Josh O’Connor, Natalie Arle-Toyne, Isabelle Barth, Tam Dean Burn, Daniel Campbell, Joe Cassidy, Gregor Firth
UK 2018 | 115 mins + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
Elena and Jake meet, fall in love, move in together and make plans for the future. They want a child, but having one isn’t quite so easy. Harry Wootliff’s debut profits from two fine lead performances by Laia Costa and Josh O’Con-nor. But it’s the sensitivity Wootliff brings to her writing and directing that makes this such a rewarding film.
OPENS: FRI 12 JULY
THE DEAD DON’T DIE 15
Director: Jim JarmuschStarring: Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Bill Murray, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Selena Gomez, Iggy Pop
US 2019 | 105 mins
Strange things are afoot in the small town of Centerville. The news reports of happenings near cemeteries, the electricity doesn’t always seem to be flowing and for local enforcement officers Cliff and Robbie, things are only going to get worse. Jim Jarmusch’s smartly scripted take on the zombie movie is a knowing, all-star comedy horror..
OPENS: FRI 12 JULY
OUR TIME TBC
Director: Carlos ReygadasStarring: Natalia López, Phil Burgers, Carlos Reygadas, Maria Hagerman, Yago Martínez, Eleazar Reygadas, Rut Reygadas
Mexico, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden 2018 | 173 mins Spanish with English subtitles
A man finds his ordered world upturned on discovering his wife’s infidelity. Not so much for the betrayal but for keeping the affair a secret from him. Carlos Reygadas’ intricate drama finds him playing the lead and his family starring opposite him. It’s a typically sublime affair from the director of Battle in Heaven and Silent Light.
OPENS: FRI 12 JULY
24
N E W R E L E A S E SN E W R E L E A S E S
PAVAROTTI 12A
Director: Ron Howard Featuring: Luciano Pavarotti, Nicoletta Mantovani, Placido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu
UK, US 2019 | 114 mins
Following on from his The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years, Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13) looks at the life and artistic career of arguably the opera world’s most famous tenor. Charting his journey through the opera world, with contributions from friends and admirers, Howard has created an affecting portrait. See page 47 for details of a special event.
OPENS: MON 15 JULY
ARMSTRONG PG
Director: David FairheadFeaturing: Neil Armstrong, Harrison Ford (voice)
US 2019 | 100 mins
For the first man to land on the moon, Neil Armstrong remained a very private figure. David Fairhead’s (Spitfire, Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo) fascinating documentary explores the life and work of the astronaut, building a portrait of a modest individual whose skill and intelligence saw him lead an extraordinary scientific mission. See page 47 for details of a special event.
OPENS: FRI 12 JULY
GWEN 15
Director: William McGregorStarring: Eleanor Worthington- Cox, Maxine Peake, Richard Harrington, Kobna Holdbrook- Smith, Mark Lewis Jones, Richard Elfyn
UK 2018 | 82 mins
Gwen lives with her mother and sister in a small village in the Welsh mountain range of Snowdonia. It’s the mid-19th century and the area, haunted by an age-old spirit, faces the threat of violence from aggressive industrialisation. William McGregor’s impressive debut incorporates social realism into an unsettling tale..
OPENS: FRI 19 JULY
ARMSTRONG-CURZON_AD_148x210-@100%_R4.indd 1 14/06/2019 17:19
26
VARDA BY AGNÈS 15
Director: Agnès Varda Featuring: Agnès Varda
France 2019 | 115 mins French and English with English subtitles | + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
Agnès Varda had a career as distinctive as any of her French New Wave peers. If her final film proper Faces Places showed Varda at her most playful, this filmed performance offers the opportunity to hear her talk about her experiences throughout her long and rewarding life. There are few people as interesting as Varda and this is a lovely, if bittersweet, swansong.
OPENS: FRI 19 JULY
THE LION KING TBC
Director: Jon FavreauVoices: Seth Rogen, Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, James Earl Jones, Billy Eichner, Keegan-Michael Key, John Kani, Alfre Woodard
US 2019 | TBC mins
The gold standard of Disney’s revitalised animation house in the 1990s finally gets the live-action treatment. And it’s in the safe hands of The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau. An all-star cast voice the characters, led by Donald Glover as the grown-up Simba, who sets out to avenge his betrayed father.
OPENS: FRI 12 JULY
TELL IT TO THE BEES TBC
Director: Annabel JankelStarring: Anna Paquin, Holliday Grainger, Gregor Selkirk, Euan Mason, Lauren Lyle, Kate Dickie
UK 2018 | 108 mins
When Lydia’s husband abandons their family, she receives help from Jean, the recently arrived GP. But with their growing intimacy, neighbours close their doors to them and Lydia faces losing her son. Annabel Jankel’s drama, adapted from Fiona Shaw’s novel, sensitively explores the growing affection between the women and highlights the prejudice they face.
OPENS: FRI 19 JULY
N E W R E L E A S E S
FROM ACADEMY AWARD® WINNING DIRECTOR RON HOWARD
EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW WITH SATELLITE Q&A AND REMASTERED THREE TENORS ARIA JULY 13TH FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY
IN CINEMAS NATIONWIDE JULY 15TH – TICKETS NOW ON SALE
“A WONDERFUL INSIGHT INTO ONE OF OPERA’S GREATEST ARTISTS - FULL OF EMOTION, CHARM AND HUMANITY”
GRAMOPHONE
0643 Pavarotti_Curzon FP_AW_06.indd 1 07/06/2019 15:30
30
Our Time Curzon ad.indd 1 11/06/2019 11:46
N E W R E L E A S E S
THE CHAMBERMAID TBC
Director: Lila Avilés Starring: Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez
Mexico, US 2018 | 102 minsSpanish with English subtitles
Inspired by artist Sophie Calle’s ‘Hotel’ project and a theatre play she directed, Lila Avilés’ involving, nuanced drama explores the daily life of the titular hotel employee. Recording the minutiae of Eve’s activities, Avilés builds a complex portrait of her subject, revealing her hopes of a better life and the challenges she faces, as well as shining a light on a system that exploits low-paid workers. It’s a fascinating and intimate drama with a stunning central performance by Gabriela Cartol.
OPENS: FRI 26 JULY
THE CURRENT WAR TBC
Director: Alfonso Gomez-RejonStarring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Katherine Waterston, Tom Holland, Tuppence Middleton, Matthew Macfadyen
US 2017 | 105 mins
In a very different direction from his acclaimed debut Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s The Current War thrillingly recounts the 19th-century battle of wits and ruthless business tactics adopted by Thomas Alva Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) in the fight to control the power supply to America’s homes.
OPENS: FRI 26 JULY
32
N E W R E L E A S E S
SALON MEXICO The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema
NO DIRECT FLIGHT Digital Blackness in the Age of the Internet
CARY GRANT Britain’s Greatest Export
ANGELA BASSETT Queen of the Screen
Image: La Haine
Also showing July – August
BFI SOUTHBANKCINEMAS | MEDIATHEQUE | LIBRARY | SHOP | BARS | RESTAURANTS
SB Curzon Ad Jul - Aug 148x210mm (amend).indd 2 10/06/2019 15:41
ANIMALS 15
Director: Sophie HydeStarring: Holliday Grainger, Alia Shawkat, Fra Fee, Dermot Murphy, Amy Molloy, Pat Shortt, Olwen Fouéré, Elva Trill
UK, Australia, Ireland 2019 | 109 mins
Sophie Hyde’s (52 Tuesdays) drama is an unconventional and richly rewarding portrait of female friendship. Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat star as Laura and Tyler. Having reached their 30s, the two have very different views of the world and how they cope with it. This adaptation of Emma Jane Unsworth’s novel articulately explores their lives and decisions.
OPENS: FRI 2 AUG
TEEN SPIRIT 12A
Director: Max MinghellaStarring: Elle Fanning, Agnieszka Grochowska, Archie Madekwe, Zlatko Buric, Millie Brady, Vivian Oparah, Ria Zmitrowicz
UK, US 2018 | 93 mins
Violet lives on the Isle of Wight and dreams of becoming a pop star. When execs from the talent show Teen Spirit show up, Violet jumps at her chance of fame. Elle Fanning reveals an impressive singing voice in actor-turned-director Max Minghella’s feature debut, an enjoyable, EDM-infused update of the Cinderella tale.
OPENS: FRI 26 JULY
FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW TBC
Director: David LeitchStarring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Eiza González, Helen Mirren, Tessa Mahoney, Eddie Marsan, Cliff Curtis
UK 2019 | 115 mins
A super criminal by the name of Brixton (Idris Elba, from Hackney) is on the loose. Only two heroes can stop him. The Fast and Furious franchise expands, with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s Hobbs and Shaw on an action- driven adventure of their own. Helen Mirren and Vanessa Kirby are also on hand to steal every scene.
OPENS: THU 1 AUG
34
BFI DVD Curzon Kore-eda Ad 148x210mm FINAL.indd 1 17/06/2019 11:43
N E W R E L E A S E S
PHOTOGRAPH 15
Director: Ritesh BatraStarring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Sachin Khedekar, Denzil Smith, Brinda Trivedi, Lubna Salim
Germany, India, US 2019 | 109 minsHindi, Gujarati and English with English subtitles+ ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
Rafi earns a living taking photographs of people in Mumbai. When asked by his grandmother when he will marry, to stop being hassled by her he sends a photo of a young woman. But now the old woman wants to visit in order to meet the girl, so Rafi has to find her. Ritesh Batra’s charming comedy drama recaptures the magic of his earlier The Lunchbox.
OPENS: FRI 2 AUG
OPUS ZERO TBC
Director: Daniel GrahamStarring: Willem Dafoe, Andrés Almeida, Carlos Aragón, Irene Azuela, Cassandra Ciangherotti
Germany, Mexico 2017 | 81 mins Spanish and English with English subtitles
Paul, an acclaimed composer, retreats to the home of his recently deceased father. Grief-stricken, he becomes reclusive, but the story of a woman who disappeared draws him out and with his investigation enters a dangerous world. Daniel Graham’s beautifully understated debut, skilfully employing a minimalist palette in its intimate and powerful character study, once again highlights the versatility of the superb Willem Dafoe.
OPENS: FRI 9 AUG
36
FOR ANYONE WHO HAS EVER WANTED TO DREAM. YOU’RE NOT ALONE.
IN CINEMAS AUGUST 9
“THE FEEL-GOOD MOVIE OF THE YEAR”New York Post
“YOU WON’T STOP SMILING” FirstShowing.net
“A MUST-SEE BEACON OF JOY”Uproxx
IN CINEMAS AUGUST 9
“THE FEEL-GOOD MOVIE OF THE YEAR”New York Post
“YOU WON’T STOP SMILING”
“A MUST-SEE BEACON OF JOY”
0645 BBTL_Curzon FP_AW_03.indd 1 04/06/2019 17:45
N E W R E L E A S E S
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT 12A
Director: Gurinder ChadhaStarring: Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Aaron Phagura, Dean-Charles Chapman, Nikita Mehta, Haley Atwell, Sally Phillips
UK 2019 | 115 mins
A triumphant love letter to the music of Bruce Springsteen, and which champions the underdog, Gurinder Chadha’s (Bend It Like Beckham) exuberant comedy charts the affection of one Asian boy – based on the life of broadcaster Sarfraz Manzoor – for the songs of the Boss while living in 1980s Britain. It’s a joyful paean to the power of music.
OPENS: FRI 9 AUG
ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD TBC
Director: Quentin TarantinoStarring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Dakota Fanning, Al Pacino, Margaret Qualley, Kurt Russell, Luke Perry, Timothy Olyphant
US 2019 | 159 mins
It’s 1969, Hollywood is undergoing a seismic change and is about to be blown apart by the Manson family. Quentin Tarantino’s rollicking feature tells the story of Rick Dalton, a gradually fading movie star, his stuntman Cliff Booth and rising star Sharon Tate. It’s the visual and verbal feast you would expect from the connoisseur of pop culture.
OPENS: WED 14 AUG
TRANSIT 12A
Director: Christian PetzoldStarring: Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Lilien Batman, Maryam Zaree, Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt
Germany, France 2018 | 115 mins | German and French with English subtitles + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
A man escapes a concentration camp and attempts to make his way to the US via Nazi- occupied France. But this being a Christian Petzold (Barbara, Phoenix) film, all is not what it seems. Updating the look of his characters allows Petzold to draw parallels with the present, resulting in a timely and potent drama.
OPENS: FRI 16 AUG
38VertigoReleasingUK vertigoreleasingVertigoRel#LowryMovie
A FILM BY ADRIAN NOBLE
TIMOTHY SPALLVANESSA REDGRAVEACADEMY AWARD® WINNER BAFTA® NOMINEE
COMING SOON
READER’S DIGEST
“TWO TITAN S AT TH E TO P O F TH E I R GAM E … EXQ U I S ITE PE RF O RMAN C E S”
LOWRY_CURZON_PAGE_AD_2.indd 1 14/06/2019 15:33
N E W R E L E A S E S
LETO 15
Director: Kirill SerebrennikovStarring: Teo Yoo, Irina Starshenbaum, Roman Bilyk, Anton Adasinskiy, Liya Akhedzhakova, Yuliya Aug
Russia, France 2018 | 126 mins Russian and English with English subtitles
For a musician in 1980s Soviet-controlled Russia, a fine line needed to be tread between art and anarchy, social commentary and critique. Kirill Serebrennikov (The Student) captures the Leningrad rock scene of this era to dazzling effect. The cultural landscape is the star here and the film immerses us completely in that world.
OPENS: FRI 16 AUG
GOOD BOYS 15
Director: Gene StupnitskyStarring: Jacob Tremblay, Molly Gordon, Will Forte, Retta, Lil Rel Howery, Millie Davis, Midori Francis, Enid-Raye Adams, Brady Noon
US 2019 | 90 mins
Max, Lucas and Thor are three boys entering their teens. Max is attracted to Brixlee, but as none of the boys have experience with girls, they decide to spy on their female neighbours for tips, with disastrous results. Gene Stupnitsky pre-frathouse comedy comes from the stable of Superbad and features a fine performance by Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder).
OPENS: FRI 16 AUG
PAIN AND GLORY 15
Director: Pedro AlmodóvarStarring: Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas, Cecilia Roth, Raúl Arévalo
Spain 2019 | 113 mins Spanish with English subtitles
Acclaimed director Salvador Mallo finds himself blocked. Vexed by the ailments of an ageing body and troubled by insecurities, he cannot find the creative impulse that once revealed itself so readily. Cannes Best Actor winner Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz are outstanding in Almodóvar’s frank and moving drama.
OPENS: FRI 23 AUG
40 41
The DrawThere’s always that film at the Cannes Film Festival – the one that reaches out beyond the industry and critics to become a talking point amongst general cinema-going audiences. It might not always win the top award, but a buzz builds up around it following its premiere. This year, it was the turn of acclaimed French filmmaker Céline Sciamma and her Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Debuting in 2007 with her sensitive coming of age drama Water Lillies, Sciamma’s films are noted for their subtlety and marked sensitivity towards gender identity. In addition to writing and directing the award winning Tomboy (2011) and Girlhood (2014), she wrote the screenplays for André Techine’s Being 17 (2016) and the gorgeous, moving animation My Life as a Courgette (2016).
The Female GazeWith Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma explores a relationship between a young aristocrat in 18th century France and the woman who has been hired to be her companion. The woman is actually an artist and has been commissioned by the lady’s mother to secretly paint a portrait that will mark her daughter’s impending marriage. However, the relationship between the two women soon takes a different turn. It’s a rapturous tale, told with Sciamma’s customary sensitivity, but also highlights her range as a filmmaker.
OPENS LATER IN THE YEAR+ ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
ON YOUR RADAR: PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE TBC
THE SOUVENIR 15
Director: Joanna HoggStarring: Honor Swinton Byrne, Neil Young, Tom Burke, Jack McMullen, Tilda Swinton, Richard Ayoade, Janet Etuk, Chyna Terrelonge-Vaughan
UK 2019 | 120 mins | + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
Julie is studying film. But her life unravels when she meets the older Anthony at a party. He comes to dominate her life and has a dark side that slowly suffocates their relationship. Set in 1980s London, Joanna Hogg’s (Archipelago, Exhibition) exquisite autobiographical drama features an impressive debut by Honor Swinton Byrne, with Tom Burke outstanding as her lover/mentor.
OPENS: FRI 30 AUG
BAIT 15
Director: Mark JenkinStarring: Ed Rowe, Mary Woodvine, Giles Smith, Simon Shepherd, Chloe Endean, Stacey Guthrie, Jowan Jacobs, Giles King, Edward Rowe
UK 2019 | 89 mins
In a small Cornish town, gentrification threatens to smother the local fishing industry. This is the backdrop to Mark Jenkin’s beautifully realised film. Shot in black and white and on 16mm film, it is as much an homage to bygone cinema as it is a critique of a changing world. Within it, form and narrative successfully combine to remind us that the past is something we should learn from, not forget.
OPENS: FRI 30 AUG
N E W R E L E A S E S
WE THE ANIMALS 15Director: Jeremiah Zagar
IN FABRIC 15Director: Peter Strickland
DON’T LOOK NOW 15Director: Nicolas Roeg
NEVER LOOK AWAY 15Director: Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
VOYAGER PROGRAMME JULY-AUGUST
With so many films released each week and only a limited number of screens upon which to show them, there's always a chance that you might miss out on a hidden gem or a title from around the world. That's where Voyager comes in.
Each month, Curzon cinemas around the country will offer you a chance to see a film outside the normal programme – something that will engage, perhaps even provoke, but always entertain.
For July and August, Voyager will travel to up-state New York, a wintry Venice, throughout 20th century Germany and into the wilds of Reading.
For more info, tickets and the full programme, please visit: curzoncinemas.com/voyager
FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO: CURZON.COM/VOYAGER
EVEN
TSE V E N T S
DOCDAYS
DEAD GOOD PG+ Q&A WITH FILMMAKER REHANA ROSEDate: Wed 10 July | 18:30 Where: Oxford
UK 2018 | 78 mins
Saying good bye to those we love is a painful experience. But as Rehana Rose’s compassionate portrait of Brighton-based funeral directors Cara and Sarah shows, the rituals that surround it can provide comfort and dignity. This is a fascinating and moving documentary.
OF FISH AND FOE ADV 18+ Q&A WITH FILMMAKER ANDY HEATHCOTEDate: Wed 31 July | 18:30 Where: SohoDate: Thu 1 Aug | 18:30 Where: Oxford
UK 2018 | 91 mins
Andy Heathcote’s enthralling film documents life for the Pullars, the last family to use traditional fishing methods to catch Atlantic salmon off the coast of Scotland, and the environmentalists who oppose them at every turn.
LAST STOP CONEY ISLAND: THE LIFE AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF HAROLD FEINSTEIN 12A+ Q&A WITH DIRECTOR
ANDY DUNN Date: Mon 15 July | 18:30 Where: Soho
UK 2019 | 88 mins
Once regarded as one of the finest photographers of his generation, Harold Feinstein is finally receiving the credit he is due for his extraordinary photographic portrait of New York life. This documentary presents a fascinating overview of his life and work.
+ ON CURZON HOME CINEMABAIT TBC+ INTERVIEW WITH FILMMAKER MARK JENKINDate: Fri 30 Aug | 18:30 Where: BloomsburyDate: Sat 31 Aug | 18:30 Where: Oxford
Go to page 40 for synopsis.
THE SOUVENIR 15+ INTERVIEW WITH FILMMAKER JOANNA HOGGDate: Thu 1 Aug | 18:15 Where: BloomsburyDate: Mon 26 Aug | 18:15 Where: OxfordDate: Fri 30 Aug | 18:15 Where: Mayfair
Go to page 40 for synopsis.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK GO TO CURZON.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK GO TO CURZON.COM
CURZON Q&As
© Harold Feinstein Photography Trust
46 47
L I V E E V E N T SL I V E E V E N T S
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE
Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
THE LEHMAN TRILOGYDate: Thu 25 July | 19:00 | 240 mins
Sam Mendes directs Stefano Massini’s play (adapted by Ben Power) that charts the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of the banking giant.
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
MEASURE FOR MEASURE Date: Wed 31 July | 19:00 | 210 mins
RSC artistic director Gregory Doran oversees this production of Shakespeare’s late dark comedy.
ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA
Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
GILBERT & SULLIVAN’S
THE MIKADO 150 minsDate: Tue 2 July | 17:00 Where: Oxford Ripon Victoria Wimbledon
Date: Tue 2 July | 17:30 Where: Knutsford Sheffield
Date: Tue 2 July | 18:00 Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury
This repeat screening of Jonathan Miller’s hugely acclaimed 2015 production of life in the Japanese royal court remains one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular operettas.
GLYNDEBOURNE 2019
Where: Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria
ROSSINI’S
THE BARBER OF SEVILLEDate: Sun 14 July | 17:30 | 180 mins
Rossini’s joyous and rambunctious comedy is a thrill from start to finish in Annabel Arden’s sparkling production.
MOZART’S
THE MAGIC FLUTEDate: Sun 4 Aug | 17:30 | 180 mins
The acclaimed designer-directing team of Barbe & Douce take on the majesty of Mozart’s magical opera.
SPECIAL EVENTS
PAVAROTTI 12ADate: Thu 25 July | 19:00 | 140 mins
Where: Aldgate Canterbury Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
Following the screening, director Ron Howard will be interviewed, live by satellite broadcast.See page 24 for synopsis
The Barber of Seville, Glyndebourne 2019
ARMSTRONG PGDate: Tue 9 July | TBC | 130 minsWhere: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
Dara Ó Briain hosts this special satellite broadcast, featuring Mark Armstrong and other guests. See page 24 for synopsis
48
SPECIAL EVENTS
APOCALYPSE NOW: FINAL CUT 15+ PRE-RECORDED INTERVIEW WITH
FRANCES FORD COPPOLAWhere: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
Date: Tue 13 Aug | 18:40 | 183 minsDirector: Francis Ford Coppola | US 1979 Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando
Francis Ford Coppola finally presents his surreal masterpiece as he wanted it seen.
THE CURE – ANNIVERSARY 1978-2018 LIVE IN HYDE PARK LONDON 12ADate: Thu 11 July | 21:00 | 137 minsWhere: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
Long-term collaborator Tim Pope directs this concert, celebrating 40 years of the iconic British Band.
SUMMER IN SHEFFIELD
Sheffield is playing host to three films that allow you to bask in the heat of a cinematic summer. There’s Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic Jaws, which launched the modern blockbuster and made everyone thing twice about swimming in the sea. Then we travel down under for the effervescent festival of camp that is The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. And finally, one hot day in Brooklyn simmers then explodes as a result of racial tension in Spike Lee’s urban angst masterpiece Do the Right Thing.
For more information, go to: curzoncinemas.com/sheffield/ coming-soon
E V E N T S
WE’RE GOING GREEN!In the last couple of years we have taken steps to reduce the impact our cinemas have on the environment. A lot of our efforts went into minimising waste, which is why if you visit one of our bars you’ll now find compostable packagings for our snack and reusable titanium straws in your cocktails.
You can help us by bringing your own reusable cup, you’ll get a discount on your hot drink, or you can buy one of our Curzon KeepCup and get a free hot drink!
For more on Curzon’s commitment on sustainability visit: corporate.curzon.com/sustainability
BOOK CLUB
PAN’S LABYRINTH 12ADate: Tue 2 July | 18:15 | 118 mins Where: Soho
Writer Cornelia Funke, co-author with director Guillermo Del Toro of the novelisation of Pan’s Labyrinth, discusses the film and will sign copies of her book.
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME 15Date: Wed 17 July | 18:10 | 129 mins Where: Soho
In advance of his sequel ‘Find Me’, author André Aciman will be interviewed by Skype following the screening of this hugely popular film. Each audience member will also receive a free first edition proof copy of the new novel. Thanks to Faber & Faber. Jaws
51
F E A T U R E
Ever since he wowed audiences with his feature debut Reservoir Dogs (1992), Quentin Tarantino has made films with at least one foot planted in the past. Pulp Fiction (1994) blended various eras into an exuberant postmodern melting pot, while the Kill Bill (2003-4) diptych tipped its hat to Asian genre filmmaking classics of yesteryear. If Reservoir Dogs paid homage to the hardboiled noir of Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (1956), visually it was indebted to gritty 1970s American crime movies like The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974). That era also held sway over Death Proof (2007), the director’s entry in the Grindhouse feature programme, and Jackie Brown (1997), a near-perfect adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s ‘Rum Punch’. His most recent work, Inglourious Basterds (2009), Django Unchained (2012) and The Hateful Eight (2015) are all knowing period features – wildly revisionist takes on the war movie and Western. With his new film, Tarantino recalls a moment when idealism was soured by a crime that cast a shadow over the Hollywood Hills.
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood integrates the story of a screen star’s diminishing career and friendship with his stunt double alongside the crimes of the Manson Family. Unfolding in 1969, it it presents Hollywood in a state of flux. The method of production that had dominated for over 30 years was being surpassed by a new approach to filmmaking. And with it came an overhaul of its moral code. Youth culture, which had been a growing force in the US since the early 1950s was too big for the ailing studios to ignore, while opposition to the Vietnam conflict had brought together a generation desperate to find a different path to the norms of the establishment.
This desire for change had been reflected on the screen since the early 1960s. Even classical genres had adapted to the times. West Side Story (1961), with its opening aerial shot
RETRO STYLEQuentin Tarantino journeys back to the end of Hollywood’s golden age and a crime that shook Tinseltown to its core
by Ian Haydn Smith
FEAT
URES
53
F E A T U R EF E A T U R E
over working class New York’s tenement buildings, offered up an edgier take on the musical. Sergio Leone, with his Dollar trilogy (1964-66), made the West a little less wholesome and in Clint Eastwood presented an anti-hero whose moral compass was wildly askew. And the burgeoning effects industry was soon to make previously marginal, B-movie genres such as horror and sci-fi hugely popular. In his entertaining account of this shift, ‘Scenes from a Revolution: The Birth of the New Hollywood’, Mark Harris found the perfect reflection of the times in the films that were nominated for the 1967 Best Picture Oscar: The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Bonnie and Clyde and Doctor Doolittle. Four films challenge social conventions, while the fifth – a dying gasp from a studio attempting to hold on to the past – highlighted just how out of touch with the world traditional Hollywood had become. And yet, what was perceived as progress also masked a conservatism that still held sway over the industry.
Once Upon a Time... taps into the year when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might have topped the annual box office, but it was challenged by Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider, two films that employed the iconography of the Western to scratch at the faults in contemporary US society. Another traditional Western, True Grit (which won John Wayne and Oscar that year) had also made its way into the top ten. But it had been overtaken by Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a comedy that challenged marital conventions. Taken together, these films reflected two generations in conflict, out of which emerged the Manson Family.
If the story of Charles Manson and his followers drives Once Upon a Time... to a bleak resolution, the Hollywood setting allows Tarantino to indulge in his fascination with American popular culture, from diners and doughnuts to the tiny details that not only inform an era but also make the filmmaker’s worlds so immersive. Leonardo DiCaprio once again shines for his director – he appears more relaxed in Tarantino’s films than in his collaborations with Martin Scorsese – while his pairing with Brad Pitt, in his second Tarantino film after Inglourious, works a charm. Some of the magic that made the filmmaker such an icon of 1990s US cinema is present, but as it progresses Once Upon a Time... dares to go darker, questioning whether Tinseltown had a more significant role in the creation of Manson and his followers than it is prepared to admit.
ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD opens 14 AugustButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid True Grit
Midnight CowboyEasy Rider
54 55
planet has resulted in a reversal of the life cycle and soon the local cops, played by Adam Driver, Bill Murray and Chloë Sevigny, are fighting a growing army of zombies. The town they live in is called Centerville. It’s less a real town than a cinematic simulacrum – a movie version of an archetypal US town. Genre cinema has long drawn inspiration from this world, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Night of the Living Dead (1968) and The Crazies (1973/2010) to Halloween (1978), Impulse (1984) and The Mist (2007).
Spielberg’s classic offers up a wonderful portrait of small town life. Although its most memorable moments are water-bound, the day-to-day scenes in Amity that make up a fair portion of the film’s first half tap into themes that dominated a number of mid-1970s US movies. Though hardly a conspiracy thriller on a par with The Parallax View or
The Conversation (both 1974), the officials that govern Amity – particularly Murray Hamilton’s snake oil salesman of a mayor – are compromised characters whose actions threaten lives. In this instance, it is an outsider – Roy Scheider’s newly arrived police chief – who restores order. But what makes Spielberg’s portrait so compelling is the attention he pays to a world that is transformed every holiday season. The montage of holidaymakers arriving in Amity is a joy to watch, as is his observations of the way people behave when relaxed. It’s for these moments, as much as the nerve-shredding tension of the shark attacks and subsequent hunt for the great white behemoth, that makes the film such a pleasure to behold.
F E A T U R EF E A T U R E
There are two kinds of small town America. In the version popularised by Frank Capra, goodness reigns. In his Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1938) and It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), order might be challenged by malevolent forces, but it is restored by the end and life goes happily on. Then there is the world where those forces exist just beneath the surface, waiting for their moment to emerge and make a lasting impact. David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986) set the standard of just
how creepy that world can be. But it wasn’t the first and certainly isn’t the last film to suggest that all is not well in the sleepy heart of Smalltown USA.
Both Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975), which returns to the big screen over summer, and Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die play with the conflict between the peaceable image of small town life and an unwelcome force. For Jarmusch, it’s the arrival of the undead. Mankind’s mistreatment of the
by Neal Baker
SMALL TOWN LIFEJim Jarmusch and Steven Spielberg prove that life in small town USA is far from a peaceable existence
THE DEAD DON’T DIE opens 12 JulyJAWS plays in August
The Dead Don’t DieJaws
56 57
With the speed of progress since the advent of the digital revolution, it seems strange to think that the technology we carry around with us on a daily basis is more advanced than the appliances NASA had available to it when, on 20 July 1969, it landed two astronauts on to the surface of the moon. That event, the culmination of two decades of research and innovation, sped on in no small part by the Cold War with the Soviet Union, remains for many people one of the greatest accomplishments of humankind over the course of the last century. And at the heart of this enterprise is one man who remained mostly silent about his achievement.
Armstrong is one of a number of films celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing. Apollo 11 has already screened in cinemas. But David Fairhead’s (Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo) documentary focuses primarily on the first man to step foot on the Moon, tracing the trajectory of his life and career towards his journey to the lunar surface. It’s a welcome portrait for an individual whose life back on Earth following the Apollo 11 mission is anathema to our mediated times. Armstrong took one victory lap then shunned public life, allowing us to see the momentous event not as the achievement of one person, but that of an entire world.
ARMSTRONG opens 12 July. See page 47 for details of a special screening event
GIANT STEPSAmongst the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, there is a portrait of the astronaut who chose to take a step back from the limelight
F E A T U R E
58 59
characters. It’s unsurprising, then, that directing duties should go to Jon Favreau, the filmmaker behind The Jungle Book. That film featured a vast array of wild creatures, with only one major human presence – the man-cub Mowgli. But where The Jungle Book departed in tone from the light-heartedness of the beloved 1967 animated version, what has so far been seen of the new version of The Lion King remains loyal to the original. Except that the world in which these stunningly rendered computer-generated animals roam are actual African plains, scorched by the sun and thriving with life. It’s against this stunning backdrop that the Shakespearean tale of power and greed plays out.
THE LION KING opens 19 July
The resurgence of Disney as the home of quality animated features, following a prolonged creative and commercial drought, began with The Little Mermaid (1989) and was followed by the dazzling Beauty and the Beast (1991) – the first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar – and Aladdin (1992). But it was The Lion King (1994), based on an original story, that cemented the studios fortunes and restored its reputation as the true home of animation. It has since held pride of place amongst the front rank of Disney animated features, which began with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs way back in 1937. And as such, any live-action remake would only be greenlit if the right creative team were in place to make it.
Unlike the other recent Disney live-action remakes, The Lion King has no human
F E A T U R E F E A T U R E
UNDER AFRICAN SKIESThe Lion King is the latest and arguably most dazzling of Disney’s live-action remakes of their classic animated features
60 61
With Photograph, director Ritesh Batra returns to the location of his much-loved debut feature The Lunchbox (2013): his teeming, fascinating and occasionally infuriating native city of Mumbai. It shares something of the mood of its predecessor: both revolve around wistful, almost-but-not-quite romances between seemingly mis-matched couples, brought about by chance, that leave us wondering what, if anything, might come of these tentative relationships.
In Lunchbox, the accidental link was between Saajan, a middle-aged office worker, and Ila, a much younger woman stuck in a loveless marriage. Photograph offers a variation on that pattern. The odd couple in this case are street photographer Rafi
(played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui), in his late 30s, and bright young student Miloni (Sanya Malhotra), shy and dominated by her family. Rafi, operating at the tourist-magnet Gate of India in Mumbai, takes Miloni’s picture, but she’s called away by her mother before he can give it to her. He then hears that his grandmother, who lives in a rural village, has declared a hunger strike unless he gets engaged. To placate her, Rafi tells her that he’s got engaged to Miloni – even though he’s got no idea where to find her. After all, he doesn’t even know her name. But then Granny announces she’s coming to the city to meet this lovely fiancée…
No less important than the plot, which Batra presents in a subtly oblique manner,
F E A T U R EF E A T U R E
SNAPSHOTA gentle picture of Mumbai life emerges from The Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra’s latest delight
by Philip Kemp
allowing us to intuit what’s happened rather than playing out key interchanges before our eyes, is the city of Mumbai. It’s presented with a mixture of affection and exasperation. This, it seems, is a society where everybody feels entitled to interfere in everybody else’s affairs, proffering comments, suggestions and advice, presuming on the slightest acquaintance, or none at all. This is the source of much of the film’s comedy. Right at the outset, Rafi, passing through the markets, is informed about his grandmother’s hunger strike by three different people. Not one of them is a family member. And a taxi driver is much offended when Rafi tells him to mind his own business and keep his eyes on the road.
Batra throws in the odd subplot to add colour to the proceedings. There’s an encounter with one of cinema’s least scary ghosts, Rafi develops an obsession with a local brand of cola that’s vanished since his childhood and Miloni’s tutor appears to have predatory deigns on her. But for most of the film’s length, Batra is happy to let us absorb the chaotic, bustling atmosphere of Mumbai. Street food should be treated with caution and rats might run across your feet in the movie-house. But ultimately, this is a warm and humane portrait of life in the city.
PHOTOGRAPH opens 2 August+ ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
62
According to Federico Fellini, ‘All art is autobiographical’. But the director who was inspired by his own experiences of creative block to make 8 ½, which in turn loosely inspired Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film, Pain and Glory, would probably concede that some art is more autobiographical than others.
There is no question that Almodóvar’s account of a filmmaker adrift in a creative mire, weighed down by physical pain and memories of the past, is deeply rooted in the filmmaker’s own life. But it’s also true that he has created the shield of afictionalised version of himself – a successful Madrid-based director named Salvador Mallo (played by Antonio Banderas). The name is not quite an exact of his, but shares enough common letters to leave us in no doubt that Mallo is Almodóvar’s alter ego.
The film revisits many of the thematic veins which have run through his previous work: the mother figure, Catholicism, childhood sexual awakening, Madrid. Even the casting has a meta, self-referential twist to it. In one scene, Banderas has an affecting moment with Julieta Serrano, who plays his ailing, aging mother. It reprises a
relationship from two previous Almodóvar films from over thirty years ago: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) and Matador (1986). And the early film by Mallo, retrospectively screened at the local cinematheque, which triggers a series of flashbacks to his youth, has much in common with the camp excesses Almodóvar’s early work.
How much is Almodóvar explicitly telling us about his own life? There was speculation in Cannes that the director was hinting at issues with his own health. But the film’s fictional padding keeps us at a distance. There is no such equivocation with Joanna Hogg’s most recent film, The Souvenir, which makes no secret of the fact that it is closely based on the director’s life.
Honor Swinton-Byrne stars as Julie (based on Hogg in everything but name), a young film student from a privileged but quite sheltered background. Moving to London to study film, she is bowled over by the louche charm of Anthony (Tom Burke) a sophisticated older man. But Anthony, who claims to work for the Home Office, is not all he seems. It becomes clear that he is an addict, with all the associated slippery trust Pain and Glory
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
by Wendy IdeAutobiography and fiction collide in two award- winning films by Pedro Almodóvar and Joanna Hogg
F E A T U R E
What to knowBorn in Nairobi, Kenya, and a part of India’s sizeable diaspora in East Africa, Gurinder Chadha moved to Southall in West London when she was two. After graduating from the University of East Anglia and LCP, she began her career as a BBC news reporter before stepping behind the camera to direct a series of acclaimed documentaries. Amongst these was the award-winning I’m British but… (1989) for Channel 4. She followed it with the narrative short Nice Arrangement (1991),
GURINDER CHADHA
MEET THE FILMMAKER
which screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Subsequently citing the influence of Manoj Kumar’s 1970 feature Purab Aur Paschim, which deals with India’s fight for independence, Chadha’s two shorts presaged the exploration of identity that would characterise her work. Questioning Identity Chadha’s films engage with race and gender. Her debut Bhaji on the Beach (1993) was the first feature-length film made by a British Asian woman. It followed a group of women, mostly Punjabis of various faiths and beliefs, as they embark on a day trip to Blackpool. Inter-generational conflict and the role of feminism come to the fore, but the film leavens the drama with nuanced and frequently hilarious comic observations. Bend It Like Beckham (2002) was another breakout success, while the more recent Viceroy’s House (2017) looked at the end of Britain’s rule in India and the chaos resulting from Partition.
A Musical Past Chadha’s latest film Blinded by the Light, is loosely based on the life of British Asian journalist and filmmaker Sarfraz Manzoor, and inspired by his autobiographical ‘Greetings from Bury Park’, his 2007 account of growing up in Luton on the 1980s. In particular, Chadha’s film focuses on Manzoor’s growing obsession with the music of Bruce Springsteen – hence the similarity of his memoir’s title to Springsteen’s 1973 debut album ‘Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. As playful as the writer-director’s best work – and co-written with Manzoor and her partner Paul Mayeda Berges – Blinded by the Light once again offers a colourful portrait of life in the cultural melting pot of contemporary society.
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT opens 9 August
F E A T U R E
issues. Meanwhile, Julie struggles with realising her student film project. Hogg is open about the fact that this film, the first part of a two film autobiographical project, is inspired by her own experiences. An acquaintance who knew her at the time commented that the recreation of Hogg’s West London flat is uncannily accurate. Like Almodóvar, however, Hogg protects herself with a certain distance from the material, in this instance provided by the time which has passed since the events in question – the setting is the early 1980s.
Hogg and Almodóvar join a tradition of filmmakers who have drawn on their own lives and creative process for inspiration. Fellini was a prime example – in addition to 8 ½, Amarcord (1973) was based on his village childhood. François Truffaut dipped into his own life on numerous occasions: The 400 Blows (1959) was inspired by his early years as a teen tearaway, meanwhile Day for Night (1973) entertainingly interrogates the film making process. Many of the films of the prolific German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder were loosely autobiographical: notable is Beware of a Holy Whore (1971), in which a film crew sink into a mire of drink and drugs, was based on Fassbinder’s eventful experiences filming a previous picture, Whity (1971), on location in Spain.
There’s clearly a tricky balance to be struck: the cost of exposing and exploring a personal life, which is opened up to scrutiny by the act of laying it bare for audiences, is weighed against the risk of solipsism. The real danger with such films is that a director grossly overestimates how interesting their life is to other people. In the case of both Hogg and Almodóvar, a happy balance is struck which results in two exceptionally fine, but very different films.
PAIN AND GLORY opens 23 Augus
THE SOUVENIR opens 30 August + ON CURZON HOME CINEMASee page 44 for details of post-screening Q&As with Joanna Hogg
F E A T U R E
The Souvenir
66
THE FILMS THAT MADE USSOMETIMES, IT’S THE FILMS THAT TEAR US APART THAT FORGE WHO WE ARE
F E A T U R E
down, crack us open and leave us unmoored, drifting through the rest of the day like so much junk plastic floating on our oceans? Characters fall in love, go on wild adventures, fight evil and take part in intergalactic space operas. But, like us, they also do ugly, stupid, horrific things. We need to see that part of ourselves on screen. Like that desolate feeling that comes over you when watching 12 Years a Slave (2013). The knowledge that here too are humans, doing things that humans can do, and only by the grace of God am I the one sitting comfortably in a cinema rather than enduring it.
I was most recently un-made by cinema at the Cannes Film Festival when watching the astonishingly powerful documentary For Sama. Surrounded by the glamour, the mega yachts and the beach parties, here was a transmission from what felt like another dimension. Waad al-Kateab’s self-filmed footage takes us through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, as she and her husband Hamza run a volunteer-led hospital. As the war rages on, it feels like we are watching a world circling an abyss. And in the middle of it are two people who have heroically and selflessly put themselves in the line of fire in the pursuit of helping others. All in the hope of salvaging something of this world for their daughter Sama. Please seek it out when it comes to cinemas later in the year, but I can’t promise you’ll feel whole after it.
FOR SAMA will be released later in the year
Jake Garriock is the head of publicity at Curzon.
What are the films that made me? Oh boy! It asks a few metaphysical questions doesn’t it? Is there a me? Am I a coherent whole – somehow put together with tape and glue and made by cinema? Okay, maybe it doesn’t need a stoner’s over-analysis, but for the sake of being a contrarian and spicing-up this column, let’s interrogate these ideas a little bit.
End of year lists. Favourite films. Movie merchandise. They all feed into a culture of cinema fandom; films that reflect our personalities and give people an insight into our very souls. The films we bring-up on dates and use to sell ourselves to potential partners. ‘We both love His Girl Friday. Let’s get married and call the kids Water and Hildy!’
But what about the films that breaks us
For Sama
The Love Story that inspired Virginia Woolf’s Orlando
A FILM BY CHANYA BUTTON
GEMMAARTERTON
ELIZABETHDEBICKI
ISABELLAROSSELLINI
@TBIRDRELEASING THUNDERBIRDRELEASING.COM #VitaAndVirginia
IN CINEMAS 5th JULY
469E17_Sony_OUATIH_PrintAd_148x210.indd 1 17/06/2019 10:59