"Leigh's picaresque tale is his by far his most cinematic. The cast is outstanding - Thewlis, in particular, whose virtuoso performance gives the film its cruel energy, wit and power." - Time Out
Our contribution to this year's Scalarama Festival is Mike Leigh's bleak yet comic slice of 90s London life.
Mike Leigh arguably produces his most interesting work when operating outside his comfort zone (see also Vera Drake and Topsy Turvy) and by this criteria Naked is his dark masterpiece. The London depicted here is one of loneliness and of physical and emotional brutality.
Not an easy watch, admittedly, but an utterly gripping one. It is also very, very funny. And in the character of Johnny, David Thewlis has created an anti-hero as unsettling and unforgettably off-kilter as any of your Travis Bickles, Randle McMurphys or Alex the Droogs.
"Director John Boulting brings the fabled Greeneland, that vile landscape ripened on sin and betrayal at the black heart of all his novels, to sensuous life." - Ian Nathan, Empire
In tribute to Richard Attenborough, who died on Sunday 24 August, we're showing the great British noir based on Graham Greene's novel.
Attenborough, aged just 24, plays Pinkie, a small-town psycho whose gang runs a protection racket based at Brighton race course.
While leading his men in a racetrack robbery, Pinkie kills a man. He convinces pretty waitress Rose (Carol Marsh) to provide him with an alibi, promising to marry her in exchange. After the wedding, the sociopathic Pinkie conducts a slow and careful campaign to drive his young wife to suicide.
“Criminally underrated with two great performances from the lead males.” - Kim Newman, Empire
Rafelson’s follow-up to Five Easy Pieces also stars Jack Nicholson – but this time playing against type as a shy and retiring late-night radio personality.
Bruce Dern is his swaggering, mobbed-up elder brother, who drags Jack out of the darkness and into an ill-judged get-rich-quick scam.
Set in a shabby Atlantic City, The King of Marvin Gardens is a lesser-known-but-classic slice of New Hollywood cinema.
We were very sad to learn of Robin Williams’ death on Tuesday.
By way of tribute we’ll be showing Good Morning Vietnam. Not only is it one of Robin Williams’ best-loved films it’s also possibly the one that allowed his manic, comic energy most free rein.
“It is still possible to feel the power of the film and of Brando and Kazan, who changed American movie acting forever.” - Roger Ebert
Marlon Brando clumsily attempts to court Eva Marie Saint to a backdrop of union corruption and mob-endorsed violence. In 1952 Elia Kazan was hauled before the House Committee of UnAmerican Activites and proceeded to name fellow artists he believed held Communist sympathies (including Arthur Miller). On the Waterfront is generally considered to be Kazan’s apologia. Nominated for 12 Academy Awards, won 8.
“Quintessential Capra - popular wish-fulfilment served up with such fast-talking comic panache that you don't have time to question its cornball idealism.” - Derek Adams, Time Out
The winners of our last quiz, the Temple of Dumb, chose this Hollywood classic from our list of vote losing 'also rans' as part of their prize.
Capra’s sharp satire of American politics remains pretty much spot-on. Jimmy Stewart plays the cornball newbie senator whose big hearted policy plans meet corruption and chicanery. A film of heart and many many laughs.
“To watch Lives is not just to enjoy a fabulously constructed timepiece; it's to appreciate a deft cautionary tale.” - Washington Post
East Berlin in the 1980s, and a Stasi agent’s surveillance of a couple of high-profile artists leads to him questioning his loyalty to the State. A modern classic which deservedly won an Oscar and Bafta for Best Foreign Film.
"A fantastic reminder of why 70s Hollywood is so often the benchmark for modern moviedom to aspire to." - Ian Freer, Empire
Filmed between The Godfather and The Godfather II, what may have been a “palette cleanser” for Coppola is a small-scale gem of 70s New Hollywood for the rest of us.
Gene Hackman gives one of his greatest performances as lonely surveillance expert Harry Caul, whose life slowly begins to come apart as he becomes convinced that the targets for his latest assignment are going to be murdered. As well as cameo roles for Harrison Ford and Robert Duvall, The Conversation also co-stars the late, great John Cazale - who only ever made five films*, each an absolute classic.
* The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter.
“A brilliantly crafted intellectual thriller with a spring like a trap. It carries you down with it.” - Washington Post
A man becomes obsessed with finding out the truth behind his lover's inexplicable disappearance. Genuinely unsettling cult Dutch drama that lingers long after the final credits roll.
“Its virtues are still plentiful: Kurosawa's visual style at its most muscular, rhythmically nuanced editing, and excellent performances.” - Time Out
A heinous crime and its aftermath are recalled from differing points of view. Kurosawa’s masterpiece has become the watchword for slippery perspectives. With so many contradictory stories, it’s left to the viewer to determine which, if any, is the truth.
“As do few movies, The Swimmer stays in the memory like an echo that never quite disappears.” - Vincent Canby, New York Times
Film Club favourite Burt Lancaster delivers one of his finest performances as middle-aged suburbanite Neddy Merrill who one day decides to swim his way home via his neighbours' swimming pools. Adapted from John Cheever's brilliant short story, this is bizarre vision of 1960s America and a lost gem of a movie.
“Remains as caustic, daring and horrifically shocking as it did in 1974. See this film as many times as you can. Please.” – Adam Lee Davies, Little White Lies
PI Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to trail her husband who she suspects is having an affair. What initially looks like a simple case of adultery soon descends into a maze of corruption and noir of absolute pitch black. Produced by Robert Evans, with a screenplay by Robert Towne, Chinatown is not only Polanski’s masterpiece but one of the finest films to emerge from the 70s New Hollywood.
“One of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies.” - Roger Ebert
As part of their prize, the winners of our last film quiz chose this from our list of also rans, to screen at Film Club.
Made at the height of Beatlemania, Richard Lester’s joyous, funny and incredibly energetic film showcases the misadventures of the Fab Four as they travel from Liverpool to London to film a TV show.
Full of Beatles hits, the film is not just a musical triumph but a highly influential piece of cinema.
“The Big Sleep is as fresh and perverse as ever, and remains one of Hollywood's most entrancingly strange bedtime stories.” - Jonathan Romney, Independent
The classic pairing of Humphrey Bogart of Lauren Bacall. Howard Hawks’ version of Raymond Chandler’s quintessential private-eye Philip Marlowe is one the great Hollywood crime films - much imitated but never matched.
“A wonderful achievement, a dark film with a generous heart in the shape of an extraordinarily touching performance from Hoskins.” - Derek Adams, Time Out
In tribute to Bob Hoskins we’ll be showing Mona Lisa, a film for which the actor won a Bafta and was Oscar nominated.
Hoskins plays George, an ex-con who takes up a job as driver for Simone, a high-class call girl with whom he forms an at first grudging, and then real affection.
Reacting to Bob Hoskins’ death, his Mona Lisa co-star Michael Caine called him "one of the nicest and best actors I have ever worked with".
“From the opening montage to the final superb shootout in a cavernous saloon, Siegel's film is a subtle, touching valedictory tribute to both Wayne and the Western in general.” - Geoff Andrew, Time Out
John Wayne’s final role is the perfect end to a career that spanned six decades. The Duke plays a dying gunfighter who spends his last days looking for a way to die with the least pain and the most dignity. Featuring supporting roles from Hollywood legends Jimmy Stewart and Lauren Bacall, the film is a wonderful elegy to Wayne, Westerns and the American frontier.
John Wayne's appeal for the American Cancer Society, featuring a clip from The Shootist
"Atlantic City is a sophisticated fairy tale, beautifully acted and beautiful to behold; it is as funny as it is touching." - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Nominated for five Academy Awards, Burt Lancaster is Lou: a has-been numbers runner passing himself off as a retired hit-man in order to impress trainee croupier, Sally (a young Susan Sarandon). When Sally’s estranged husband turns up unexpectedly with drugs stolen from the mob, Lou sees a last chance to be the man he never was.
“The movie's blazing energy is still astounding; the vérité street-scenes are terrific and Scorsese's pioneering use of popular music is genuinely thrilling.” - Peter Bradshaw, the Guardian
The New York auteur draws on elements of his childhood and his relationship with the Church in this kinetic drama about two cousins (Harvey Kietel and Bobby DeNiro) struggling to make a name for themselves on the mean streets of Little Italy.
“Mean Streets was an attempt to put myself and my old friends on the screen, to show how we lived, what life was like in Little Italy”.
"All That Jazz may be Fosse's finest cinematic achievement." - Slant Magazine
The late Roy Scheider gives a powerhouse performance as the womanising, workaholic director-cum-dance choreographer, Joe Gideon – whose self-destructive quest for perfection drives him into the arms of the angel of death in Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical musical.
"It's hard to think of another movie of its era that makes the viewer so fully feel like a denizen of its setting; the roving, dollying, craning camera makes angels of us all." -Bill Weber, Slant
Unbeknownst to the inhabitants of West Berlin, their lives are watched over by angels, reading their thoughts and offering silent consolation where required.
When one of the angels (Bruno Ganz) falls in love with a trapeze artist, he sacrifices his wings for mortality, stepping out of the monochrome world of the angels and into the colourful world of the circus and Berlin. A melancholy rumination on life and loves in a divided city.
Features memorable cameos from Peter Falk and Nick Cave (& his Bad Seeds).
