IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK - BARRY JENKINS' - Curzon Cinemas
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JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2019 ISSUE 72 BARRY JENKINS’ IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
CONTENTS
CINEMAS
MEMBERSHIP
6
8 WELCOME
CURZON ON DEMAND 12
CURZON SELECTOR 14
Another new year and one step closer to my ‘Cinema
BERTHA DOCHOUSE 16 Veteran’ free cinema pass, but not before I spend a little
NEW RELEASES 18 more time showcasing great films at Curzon, including this
year’s sparkling awards season, which dominates the
EVENTS 42
January and February programme.
FEATURES 48 A trio of period dramas dominated by charismatic females
lead the way. The wonderful Olivia Colman is outrageous and
bratty as Queen Anne in absurdist genius Yorgos Lanthimos’s
Editor (The Lobster) regal comedy The Favourite. And she’s joined by
Ian Haydn Smith the equally dazzling Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone. Still Alice
Designer director Wash Westmoreland returns with the biopic Colette,
Hannah Attwell
starring Keira Knightley. And theatre director Josie Rourke
Contributors
impresses with her feature debut Mary Queen of Scots.
Kate Gerova | Wendy Ide |
Philip Kemp US politics enters the fray, with Hugh Jackman playing
disgraced Democratic nominee Gary Hart in The Front
curzon.cinemas Runner. And in Vice, The Big Short’s Adam McKay delivers a
bitingly satirical biopic of Dick Cheney’s career, with Christian
CurzonCinemas
Bale unrecognisable in the lead role.
curzon.cinemas After his Oscar success with Moonlight, Barry Jenkins
adapts James Baldwin’s Harlem romance If Beale Street
Could Talk. And Green Book, the true story of an Italian
Operated by CURZON CINEMAS
2nd Floor, 20-22 Stukeley Street, bouncer who drove a famous black pianist on a tour of the
London WC2B 5LR American South in the 1960s, is a festival audience award
Participant in the Europa Cinemas/
European Union Media Programme
winner and genuine pleasure. Mahershala Ali - Academy
At the time of going to print every Award winner for Moonlight - and Viggo Mortensen star.
effort was made to ensure the Finally, two Foreign language Oscar submissions come
information contained in this
programme was correct. However, to Curzon, both huge buzz and prize-winning titles from the
where circumstances dictate, we
reserve the right to make changes. Cannes Film Festival. An early stake for my film of the year,
CURZON CINEMAS Limited 1934. Burning (South Korea), is a smouldering paranoid thriller
Registered in London:
Company no:283280. Est.1934.
that combines mystery with pyromania. And Capernaum
CURZON and CURZON CINEMAS (Lebanon) is the touching story of a Beirut street kid suing
are registered trade marks,
no:2291124 and no.2424017 his parents for ‘being born’.
CURZON is taking action against
climate change. Winner of Best
Creative Group at the Creative Damian Spandley | Director of Programme | @damospandley
Green Awards 2018.
CURZON is proud to be a Living
Wage employer.
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
4
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KNUTSFORD
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Green Park THE WASHINGTON POST
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CINEMAS
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Water Lane, Richmond, TW9 1TJ Harrogate PERFORMANCE”
VANITY FAIR
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SHEFFIELD
SINGULAR JOURNALIST”
WALL STREET JOURNAL
16 George Street, Sheffield S1 2PF
SOHO
Sheffield “ AN ELECTRIFYING
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Castle Square PERFORMANCE FROM
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COLCHESTER
VICTORIA Roman House, 19 Queen Street,
58 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QW Colchester, CO1 1LD
Victoria Colchester Town
BA SED ON THE TRUE STORY
OF JOURNALIST MARIE COLVIN
WIMBLEDON
23 The Broadway, SW19 1RE Café Bar
I N C I NE M A S F E B R UA RY 15
Wimbledon
Snacks Food FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY – SPECIAL NATIONWIDE PREVIEWS
FOLLOWED BY A LIVE Q&A WITH THE CAST AND SPECIAL GUESTS
IN CINEMAS FEBRUARY 4
APRIVATEWAR.FILM #APRIVATEWAR
CUR Z ON MEMBER S
CURZON
MEMBERS’ PREVIEWS MEMBERSHIP
FOXTROT 15 To make sure you have
access to exclusive members
Date: Sat 16 Feb | 11:00 previews, priority event
Where: Ripon cinema booking, free tickets
Date: Sun 17 Feb | 11:00 and much more join Curzon
Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Knutsford membership. And prices
Oxford Richmond Victoria Wimbledon start from only £40.
See this startling new drama from the director of Lebanon. Our standard member
benefits are:
GIRL 15
4 FREE TICKETS
MEMBERS
Date: Sat 23 Feb | 11:00
Where: Ripon Soho Victoria Wimbledon DISCOUNTED TICKETS
Date: Sun 24 Feb | 11:00 NO BOOKING FEES
Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester
Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Sheffield DISCOUNTED FOOD + DRINK
Mustang
Lukas Dhont’s timely debut explores the complexity of 15% OFF
gender identity. See page 41 for details. CURZON HOME CINEMA
CURZON12 PREVIEWS + PRIORITY
BOOKINGS
2019 looks set to be a bumper year for the Curzon12 collection.
AND MUCH MORE…..
There is an exciting line-up of themed strands, which will
encompass classics of world cinema and key contemporary CURZON.COM/MEMBERSHIP
titles. Expect films from great directors such as Godard, Bresson
and the Dardennes, alongside thrilling new talent such as
Deniz Gamze Ergüven, who made the wonderful Mustang.
STUDENT FILM FANS!
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If you’re a Curzon cinema member and you’ve collected
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your card, you can access all the titles on Curzon12
for free by adding your membership number to your
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Foxtrot
Curzon Home Cinema account. The collection of 12
films refreshes on the 12th of every month.
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9
GOLDEN GLOBE
®
N O M I N E E S
BEST ACTRESS Melissa McCarthy
DRAMA
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Richard E. Grant
“The best film of the year.
The kind of rare, real-deal masterpiece
that comes along once in a blue moon”
NEW YORK OBSERVER
“Melissa McCarthy is criminally good”
NEW YORK TIMES
“Richard E. Grant is simply sublime”
ROLLING STONE
IN CINEMAS FEBRUARY 1
ON D EMAND
IN CINEMAS. ON DEMAND
Films that appear on Curzon Home Cinema the same day
that they are released in cinemas – allowing you to watch RECOMMENDED
them your way.
MyFrenchFilmFestival THE WIFE 21 JAN
Once again, Curzon Home Cinema plays host to films by Joe Castleman (Jonathan
some of the brightest talents in French cinema with this Pryce) is about to be awarded
short season of films. The selection covers comedy, drama the Nobel Prize for literature.
and thrillers and features stars Marion Cotillard, Vincent His wife Joan (Glenn Close)
Cassel, Anaïs Demoustier, Romain Duris, Sandrine Kiberlain, is initially elated, but when a
ON DEMAND
Mathieu Amalric and many more. journalist (Christian Slater)
asks her about her role in
ALSO ON DEMAND: Joe’s creative life, old
MEKTOUB, MY LOVE 15 FEB | See page 36 for synopsis resentments resurface. Björn
Runge’s drama is a powerful
exploration of duplicity, the
ties that bind relationships
and the lengths some go to
protect their reputation.
COMING SOON:
TEHRAN TABOO 7 JAN
THE SEAGULL 11 JAN
SKATE KITCHEN 21 JAN
An Impossible Love
BLINDSPOTTING 4 FEB
UTØYA: JULY 22 25 FEB
AN IMPOSSIBLE LOVE Mektoub, My Love
Director: Catherine Corsini
Starring: Virginie Efira, Niels Schneider, Jehnny Beth, Estelle
Lescure, Coralie Russier, Iliana Zabeth DISCOVER Gems not to be missed
If you’ve seen the moving Leaving or rapturous Summertime, THE RIDER 7 JAN
you’ll have some idea of what to expect from Catherine Rodeo star Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) awakens in
Corsini’s new film. Adapted from the novel by controversial hospital following a serious accident. A horse stamped on
French author Christine Argot (she co-wrote last year’s Let his head and the damage to his skull is such that a doctor
the Sunshine In with Claire Denis), this is a visually resplendent warns him of the perils of returning to the ring. But this is
account of a tortuous relationship, an emotionally engaging the only life that Brady knows. Or loves. To give up would be
tale of motherhood and an articulate exploration of how like losing himself, but continuing may cost a higher price.
emotions shift with the passage of time. This alternative take on the Western is a riveting drama that
confirms director Chloé Zhao as a major talent.
The Wife
PREVIEWING EXCLUSIVELY FROM 28 DEC ON CURZONHOMECINEMA.COM
13
“THE PERFECT STORY FOR OUR TIMES”
CURZON SELECTOR
RED
HHHH
THE TIMES
“STUNNING” “RAVISHING”
B A Z B A M I G B OY E , D A I LY M A I L RO B B I E CO L L I N , T H E T E L E G R A P H
HHHH
T H E G UA R D I A N
MEMBERS OF THE CURZON TEAM PICK THEIR FAVOURITES FROM THE UPCOMING RELEASES
STAN & OLLIE TBC BEAUTIFUL BOY 15
Jon S. Baird’s affectionate tribute to one of Nic Sheff was close to his father David, but
the greatest comedy double acts stars Steve an escalating drug problem almost tore
Coogan and John C. Reilly as Laurel and them apart. Adapted from the two men’s
Hardy. They are superb, portraying the pair contrasting memoirs, Felix van Groeningen’s
in their twilight years, when they became a film highlights the devastating impact of
British theatre sensation. It’s a generous drug addiction and features stunning
and funny drama that humanises the performances by Timothée Chalamet
screen legends. and Steve Carell.
See page 22 See page 23
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS 15
Once again proving why she’s regarded
as one of the finest screen actors of her
generation, Saoirse Ronan is fabulous
as the titular monarch in theatre director
Josie Rourke’s feature directorial debut.
Margot Robbie holds her own as a ferocious
Elizabeth I, whose court pushes her into
a war with her former ally.
See page 24
Mary Queen of Scots, 2018
BURNING ALL IS TRUE TBC
ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE
TBC SAOIRSE MARGOT
R O N A N R O B B I E
One of the sensations at the Cannes Film Beginning with his acclaimed 1989 version of
Festival last year, where it won the FIPRESCI Henry V, Kenneth Branagh has directed five
and Art Direction prizes, Lee Chang-dong’s Shakespeare adaptations. Who could be
unsettling drama begins as a funny romantic better to explore the final years of arguably
drama before transforming into something our greatest playwright? Ian McKellen and
far darker. Suggestion is everything as a Judi Dench also star in this drama, which is
young, seemingly innocent man gradually written by Ben Elton, who recently penned
becomes more obsessed with his friend/ the TV comedy about Shakespeare’s life,
lover’s disappearance. Upstart Crow.
See page 27 See page 32
IN CINEMAS JANUARY 18 � BOOK NOW
© 2018 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
BERTHA The UK’s first cinema
O CUM E N TA RY
DOCHOUSE
screen dedicated to O F D
documentaries, Bertha E H O ME
DocHouse is a platform TH
AT CURZON BLOOMSBURY for powerful human
stories. We screen a
ON HER SHOULDERS
mix of new releases and
The story of 23-year-old activist Nadia Murad who
classics, alongside Q&As survived the 2014 genocide of the Yazidis in Northern
and special events. Iraq and escaped ISIS, to become a beacon of hope
for her people and a leader of change.
Opens Friday 25 January
ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
Gabrielle Brady’s hypnotic documentary explores the
perplexing world of Christmas Island. Brady closely
follows Poh Lin, a trauma therapist working with
inmates of the island’s Australian detention centre.
Opens Friday 11 January 93QUEEN
Rachel “Ruchie” Freier is a no-nonsense Hasidic
lawyer who is determined to shake up the “boys club”
in her Hasidic community by creating Ezras Nashim,
the first all-female ambulance corps in NYC.
Opens Friday 1 February
THE RAFT
In 1973, a 101-day sea voyage explored the origins
of violence and the dynamics of sexual attraction. 40
years later, the surviving members reconstruct ‘one
of the strangest group experiments of all time.’
Opens Friday 18 January THE SILENCE OF OTHERS
The Silence of Others reveals the epic struggle of
victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General
Franco, who organized the groundbreaking ‘Argentine
Lawsuit’ and continue to seek justice to this day.
www.dochouse.org Opens Friday 15 February
@BerthaDocHouse
B A S E D O N A N I N S P I R AT I O N A L T R U E S TO R Y
F R O M T H E D I R E C TO R O F F O R R E S T G U M P
NEW RELEASES THE FAVOURITE 15
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Olivia Colman,
Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone,
WELCOME TO
MARWEN 12A
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Steve Carell, Diane
“STEVE CARELL GIVES
THE BEST PERFORMANCE
OF HIS CAREER”
RISHMA DOSANI, METRO ONLINE
Kruger, Eiza Gonzalez, Leslie
Emma Delves, Faye Daveney, Mann, Gwendoline Christie,
Paul Swaine, Jennifer White, Janelle Monáe, Merritt Wever,
LilyRose Stevens, Nicholas Siobhan Williams
Hoult US 2018 | 116 mins
US 2018 | 120 mins
Inspired by the real-life
For his first period film, The events that transformed
Lobster and The Killing of a Mark Hogancamp’s adult life,
Sacred Deer director Yorgos Robert Zemekis’ (Forrest
Lanthimos enters the court of Gump) film is an imaginative
Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), account of how one man,
the 18th century British who narrowly survived a
monarch whose sense of vicious attack outside a bar,
paranoia is exacerbated by rebuilt his life. He imagines
the competing voices of two an alternate world in which
subjects (Rachel Weisz and he battles his fears and
Emma Stone) vying for her nightmares through a
affection and favour. fictitious war.
OPENS: TUE 1 JANUARY OPENS: TUE 1 JANUARY
STEVE CARELL
YO U C A N ’ T P U T T H I S H E R O I N A B O X
I N CI NEMA S NEW YEA R’S DAY“One of the most essential films Academy Award® nominee
that could exist right now” Steve Carell
Collider Academy Award® nominee
★★★★
The Telegraph
Timothée Chalamet
“Timothée Chalamet proves why he is one of Maura Tierney
the strongest performers of his generation”
Vanyaland
and Amy Ryan
★★★★ From the Producers of
MOONLIGHT & 12 YEARS A SLAVE
The Independent
“A moving family portrait... A triumph”
Little White Lies
★★★★
The Skinny
“Steve Carell’s performance
is marvellously sensitive”
The Wrap
Based on the acclaimed memoirs of
DAVID SHEFF and NIC SHEFF
IN CINEMAS JANUARY 18
Screenplay by
LUKE DAVIES and
FELIX VAN GROENINGEN
Directed by
FELIX VAN GROENINGENN EW RELEAS ES NEW R ELEASES
COLETTE 15 BEAUTIFUL BOY 15
AN IMPOSSIBLE LOVE 15 STAN & OLLIE TBC THE FRONT RUNNER 15
Director: Wash Westmoreland Director: Felix van Groeningen
Director: Catherine Corsini Director: Jon S. Baird Director: Jason Reitman Starring: Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Starring: Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet,
Starring: Virginie Efira, Niels Starring: John C. Reilly, Steve Starring: Hugh Jackman, Vera Eleanor Tomlinson, Denise Gough, Fiona Shaw, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan, Christian Convery,
Schneider, Jehnny Beth, Estelle Coogan, Shirley Henderson, Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Kaitlyn Aiysha Hart, Al Weaver, Dickie Beau Oakley Bull, Kaitlyn Dever
Lescure, Coralie Russier, Iliana Danny Huston, Nina Arianda, Dever, Jenna Kanell, Sara
UK, US 2018 | 112 mins US 2018 | 120 mins
Zabeth, Catherine Morlot Stephanie Hyam, Rufus Jones Paxton, Molly Ephraim, Alfred
France, Belgium 2018 | 135 mins UK, Canada, US 2018 | 97 mins Molina, Mark O’Brien
Keira Knightley gives one of the best Based on the memoirs by David Scheff and
French with English subtitles US 2018 | 113 mins his son Nic, Felix van Groeningen’s film is an
performances of her career to date as the
+ CURZON HOME CINEMA Reality and showbiz clash in famous French writer, who became an icon account of the struggle to grapple with and
this affectionate tribute to Gary Hart had it all: ambition, for her role in challenging society’s treatment overcome drug addiction. It’s a cautionary
Catherine Corsini (Leaving, two screen legends. It’s the good looks and a clear path of woman, its taboos and the men who tried tale that also attempts to help those in
Summertime) grapples with 1950s and fading comedy to the White House. But a to steal her voice. Wash Westmoreland’s similar circumstances find solace. And it
provocative material as she heroes Laurel and Hardy politician’s private life was (Still Alice) intelligently scripted, brilliantly is dominated by two powerful central
adapts one of the novels by are touring small theatres no longer regarded as off acted (Dominic West is superb as Colette’s performances from Timothée Chalamet
French writer Christine Angot, around the UK. But as they limits to the media. Jason husband) and hugely entertaining film is also and Steve Carell, who once again impresses
the co-screenwriter of Claire progress to each venue, Reitman’s account of political a timely call to arms for gender equality. as a dramatic actor.
Denis’ Let the Sunshine In. their popularity begins to hubris, set during the 1988
It’s a tale of tortured love set grow once again. With US Presidential primaries, OPENS: FRI 11 JANUARY OPENS: FRI 18 JANUARY
over a period of decades and two wonderful central sees Hugh Jackman shine as
profits from a stunning performances, Jon S. one of the first casualties of
performance by Virginie Efira. Baird’s film is a delight.. the modern media age..
OPENS: FRI 4 JANUARY OPENS: FRI 11 JANUARY OPENS: FRI 11 JANUARY
22 23NEW RELEAS ES MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS 15 GLASS TBC Director: Josie Rourke Director: M. Night Shyamalan Starring: Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan, Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, David Tennant, Jack Lowden, Gemma Chan, James McAvoy, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Ian Hart, Spencer Treat Clark, Luke Kirby, Adam David Martin Compston Thompson UK 2018 | 124 mins US 2019 | TBC mins Acclaimed former artistic director of the Almost two decades ago, M. Night Shyamalan Donmar Warehouse Josie Rourke makes her offered up one of the more original cinematic feature debut with this visually ravishing and takes on the superhero myth with impressively acted historical drama. It details Unbreakable. Now, he takes the hero the fight for power that took place between (Bruce Willis) and nemesis (Samuel L. Jackson) Elizabeth I and the eponymous Scottish from that film and introduces them to the monarch. Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan demented antagonist (James McAvoy) of star as the warring queens, while a great his more recent Split. Less a sequel than an supporting cast populates the two courts, expanding of a universe, expect more than where intrigue festers.. a few twists and shocks.. OPENS: FRI 18 JANUARY OPENS: FRI 18 JANUARY 24
N EW RELEAS ES
THE MULE TBC DESTROYER 15 VICE 15
Director: Clint Eastwood Director: Karyn Kusama Director: Adam McKay
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Starring: Nicole Kidman, Toby Starring: Christian Bale, Steve
Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña, Kebbell, Tatiana Maslany, Carell, Sam Rockwell, Amy
Taissa Farmiga, Andy Garcia, Sebastian Stan, Scoot McNairy, Adams, Jesse Plemons, Alison
Alison Eastwood, Laurence Bradley Whitford, Toby Huss Pill, Eddie Marsan, Tyler Perry,
Fishburne, Dianne Wiest US 2018 | 121 mins Bill Camp
US 2018 | TBC mins US 2018 | 132 mins
This is Nicole Kidman as
Based on a New York Times you’ve never seen her before, He’s regarded as one of the
article, Clint Eastwood’s as an almost unrecognisable most powerful vice presidents
latest film finds the director and chilling presence in in US history and very much
back in front of the camera, Karyn Kusama’s (Girlfight) the boss of his boss. Now,
playing a 90-year-old uncompromising cop drama. Dick Cheney is portrayed
American who has become a Kidman plays Erin Bell, a by Christian Bale, who once
mule for a Mexican drug detective and shell of a again takes his commitment
cartel. Bradley Cooper, human being. When an to a role to extraordinary
re-teaming with his unsolved case that lengths. The Big Short director
American Sniper director, caused her partner’s death Adam McKay’s withering
plays a DEA agent on his trail resurfaces, so do unwelcome satire is a rollicking account
in this cat-and-mouse thriller. ghosts from Erin’s past. of recent history.
OPENS: FRI 25 JANUARY OPENS: FRI 25 JANUARY OPENS: FRI 25 JANUARY
BURNING TBC
Director: Lee Chang-dong The short story ‘Barn Burning’ by beloved Japanese author
Featuring: Ah-In Yoo, Haruki Murakami is the loose inspiration for this beguiling
Steven Yeun, Jong-seo Jeon, mystery, which played to huge success at the Cannes Film
Soo-Kyung Kim, Seung-ho Festival. Lee Chang-dong’s (Poetry) film starts out as a
Choi, Seong-kun Mun, romantic drama when two former school friends are
Bok-gi Min, Soo-Jeong Lee reunited. But the arrival of a third character finds the film
US 2018 | 158 mins entering murkier territory, as obsession takes over. Oblique
Korean and English with and tantalising, Burning is riveting cinema.
English subtitles
OPENS: FRI 1 FEBRUARY
26NEW RELEAS ES
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? 15 GREEN BOOK 12A
Director: Marielle Heller Director: Peter Farrelly
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali,
Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone, Gregory Korostishevsky, Linda Cardellini, Dimeter Marinov, Mike Hatton,
Jane Curtin Iqbal Theba, P.J. Byrne
US 2018 | 106 mins US 2018 | 130 mins
Lee Israel was a critically acclaimed but The true story of a white driver (Viggo
financially impoverished biographer when Mortensen) and his African American
she inadvertently hit on the idea of forging passenger (Mahershala Ali), who journey
letters by late literary figures. Marielle through the Deep South to attend a series
Heller’s (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) second of piano recitals, Green Book presents a
feature, written by Nicole Holofcener (Lovely portrait of friendship in the face of
& Amazing, Please Give, Friends with adversity – in this instance, the bigotry
Money), features stunning performances of a racist culture. It’s a moving tale,
by Melissa McCarthy and a career-best entertainingly told by director Peter Farrelly
Richard E. Grant. and compellingly acted.
OPENS: FRI 1 FEBRUARY OPENS: FRI 8 FEBRUARY
—————— January – February ——————
SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER
Confronting the modern world with style
BFI SOUTHBANK
CINEMAS | BFI SHOP | BFI REUBEN LIBRARY | CAFÉS
ALSO SHOWING IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY
LAUREL AND HARDY FORGOTTEN BLACK TV DRAMA
Image: L’eclisse
BARBARA STANWYCK THE LADY EVE
EARLY KOREAN CINEMA
28NEW RELEAS ES
THE LEGO MOVIE 2:
THE SECOND PART TBC ON THE BASIS OF SEX TBC
Directors: Mike Mitchell, Trisha Gum Director: Mimi Leder
Voices: Margot Robbie, Alison Brie, Chris Pratt, Starring: Felicity Jones, Justin Theroux,
Elizabeth Banks, Stephanie Beatriz, Armie Hammer, Kathy Bates, Cailee Spaeny,
Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum Stephen Root, Sam Waterston, Jack Reynor,
US 2018 | TBC mins Gabrielle Graham
US 2018 | 120 mins
The Lego Movie was one of the more original
US animated films of the last decade. Now, If you don’t know much about Ruth Bader
following on from the similarly entertaining Ginsburg, this fascinating film, featuring
The Lego Batman Movie, comes this zany, the excellent Felicity Jones, reveals why the
universe-expanding sequel. Everything is Supreme Court Justice is more essential
no longer awesome as an alien life form has now than ever. Mimi Leder’s biopic traces the
invaded Earth. So, Emmett (Chris Pratt) is obstacles Ginsburg faced on her road to the
forced to man up, bring out his dark highest court in the land, highlighting her role
side and grow some stubble in order to in the ongoing fight for gender equality and
win the day and save his home. paving the way for her future.
OPENS: FRI 8 FEBRUARY OPENS: FRI 8 FEBRUARY TBC
30NEW RELEAS ES
“STRANGER THAN NON-FICTION... EXQUISITELY CONSTRUCTED”
FRIEZE
THE STRANGEST GROUP EXPERIMENT OF ALL TIME
“THE ORIGINAL “SUPERB...
LOVE ISLAND... STORMY SEAS OF IDENTITY
BUT MORE X-RATED”
THE SUN
POLITICS IN THE 1970S”
SCREEN
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK 15 ALL IS TRUE TBC
Director: Barry Jenkins Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench,
Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Ian McKellen, Kathryn Wilder, Lolita Chakrabarti,
Michael Beach, Aunjanue Ellis Michael Rouse, Jack Colgrave Hirst
US 2018 | 119 mins UK 2018 | TBC mins A F I L M BY M A R C U S L I N D E E N
Barry Jenkins’ (Moonlight) faithful Ever wonder how Shakespeare lived out his
adaptation of James Baldwin’s fifth novel final years? Leave it to Kenneth Branagh to
WINNER
is a sumptuous evocation of young love guide us through the Bard’s return from
AWARD 2018
in the heart of New York’s Harlem London to Stratford-upon-Avon. He was
neighbourhood. It’s also a powerful at the height of his success when his beloved
examination of the barriers set by a society son died and theatre burned down, so he
wracked by racism. Shifting back and forth decides to return home to makes amends
in time, If Beale Street Could Talk is a paean
to family life and further proof of Jenkins’
with his estranged family. Written by
Ben Elton, it also stars Ian McKellen and
O N R E L E A S E 1 8 J A N UA R Y
modernfilms.com/theraft
consumate skill as a filmmaker and storyteller. Judi Dench.
“NOTHING SHORT “THIS FAIRY TALE IS
OPENS: FRI 8 FEBRUARY OPENS: FRI 8 FEBRUARY OF BREATHTAKING... SIMPLY UNMISSABLE”
UNLIKE ANYTHING AWARDS DAILY
YOU’VE SEEN”
SCREEN ANARCHY
SPECIAL VALENTINE’S DAY PREVIEWS 14 FEB | IN CINEMAS 8 MARCH
www.modernfilms/border
326 GOLDEN GLOBE
N O M I N AT I O N S
BEST PICTURE BEST SCREENPLAY BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST DIRECTOR BEST ACTOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
IN CINEMAS JANUARY 25NEW RELEAS ES
BOY ERASED 15 MEKTOUB, MY LOVE 15
Director: Joel Edgerton Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Starring: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Joel Starring: Shaïn Boumedine, Ophélie Bau,
Edgerton, Russell Crowe, Xavier Dolan, Troye Salim Kechiouche, Lou Luttiau, Alexia Chardard NICOLE KIDMAN LUCAS HEDGES
Sivan, Madelyn Cline, Victor McCay, Emily Hinkler France / Italy 2017 | 181 mins AND RUSSELL CROWE DELIVERS A POWERFUL
US 2018 | 115 mins French and English with English subtitles ARE SUPERB. PERFORMANCE.
+ CURZON HOME CINEMA
Jared Eamons lives a happy life with his
mother and pastor father. But a chance Mektoub, My Love charts life in the southern
encounter in college leads to admitting that French town of Sète and a local Franco-
he believes he is gay. In order to maintain Tunisian community. It’s 1994 and Amin
stability in the family, Lucas is enrolled on returns home after quitting college. Initially
a church-supported gay conversion morose, he is encouraged to get out of the
programme, led by the forceful Victor. house. Before long, he finds himself in a
Joel Edgerton’s (The Gift) moving film is an series of whirlwind love affairs. It’s a sensuous
understated drama that gradually builds feast, as one would expect of the director of
towards a powerful denoument. Blue is the Warmest Colour and Couscous.
OPENS: FRI 8 FEBRUARY OPENS: FRI 15 FEBRUARY
36IN CINEMAS MARCH 1
A PRIVATE WAR 15
Director: Matthew Heineman Marie Colvin observed the worst of humanity and died
Starring: Rosamund Pike, attempting to report on it. Matthew Heineman’s rousing
Jamie Dornan, Tom Hollander, biopic features an astonishing performance by Rosamund
Stanley Tucci, Faye Marsay, Pike, charting the last ten years of Colvin’s life. But alongside
Greg Wise, Nikki Amuka-Bird, the depth of Heineman and Pike’s psychologically and
Alexandra Moen emotionally searching portrait is a film that reels at the horror
UK / US 2018 | 110 mins of war and the ease with which governments and individuals
enter into it
OPENS: FRI 15 FEBRUARY
38NEW R ELEASES
COMING UP
GIRL 15
The Draw
Lukas Dhont’s accomplished debut screened in Un Certain
Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, drawing critical plaudits
for both the filmmaker and his star Victor Polster. He plays
Lara, a young trans woman with ambitions to enter a
prestigious dance school and embark on a career in ballet.
But the challenges of hormone treatment, peer pressure
and the demands of a strict training regime create a heavy
burden on the teenager.
CAPERNAUM TBC On Style + Theme
Dhont’s approach is similar to the work of fellow Belgian
filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. There is an
Director: Nadine Labaki Nadine Labaki’s extraordinary third feature cements her
immediacy to the film, yet never at the cost of a lyricism in
Starring: Zain Al Rafeea, position as a world-class filmmaker. It tells the story of Beirut
the way Dhont captures the young students training. It is
Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife street urchin Zain, initially seen taking his parents to court in
understated in its visual style, employing an aesthetic that
Treasure Bankole, Kawsar Al order to sue them for bringing him into the world. It then
allows for an intimate relationship between the camera and
Haddad, Fadi Yousef, Haita shifts back in time to chart the beginning of his most recent
‘Cedra’ Izzam, Nadine Labaki Polster. This approach proves particularly powerful in the
woes. Employing a cast of non-professional actors and
scenes of Lara dealing with her changing body, which are
Lebanon / US 2018 | 121 mins shot on the streets of the Lebanese capital, this is a film
filmed with tenderness and restraint. Ultimately, Girl is
Arabic and Amharic with of immense compassion.
another in a continuing series of films that look beyond
English subtitles
mainstream gender conventions, such as XXY (2007) and
OPENS: FRI 22 FEBRUARY
A Fantastic Woman (2017).
OPENS: FRI 15 MARCH
40 41EVENTS
DOCDAYS SOHO SOHO 60
OF LOVE & LAW ADVISED 15
+ Q&A WITH DIRECTOR HIKARU TODA & PRODUCER
ELHUM SHAKERIFAR
Date: Thu 21 Feb | 18:30
Director: Hikaru Toda Japan, UK, France 2018 | 94 mins
Fumi and Kazu are partners in both life and work. This
EVENTS
documentary charts their relationship and the challenges The bastion of independent cinema, Curzon Soho
they face in running the only law firm in Japan to be set up celebrates its 60th birthday this year. Commissioned
by an openly gay couple. Intimate in its focus, whilst also by Harold Wingate, who ran Curzon Mayfair, the cinema
taking in the problems faced by the LGBTQ+ community opened as The Columbia on 4 February 1959, with
in Japan, Of Love & Law is a moving and often joyous the UK premiere of Vincente Minnelli’s Gigi. The single-
celebration of two people who have chosen to live their screen, 734 seater venue became Curzon West End in
lives on their own terms. 1985 and was redeveloped into its present three-screen
layout in 1998, when it was renamed Curzon Soho.
On 4 February 2019, we mark both the sixtieth birthday
BAFTA SHORTS
of The Columbia and twenty-one years of Curzon Soho
with a screening of Gigi, based on Collette’s novella,
which takes us back to early 20th-century Paris.
Members can see the film for £5.
Join us for the premiere of Join us for a first look at
this year’s BAFTA-nominated the BAFTA-nominated
short films. short films from the GIGI PG Screening from a 35mm print
2019 EE British Academy Date: Mon 4 Feb | Time TBC
Dates: Thu 7 Feb | Time TBC
Film Awards. Director: Vincente Minelli US 1958 | 113 mins
Where: Bloomsbury Gigi
Showing at selected Curzon
cinemas and available on
demand on Curzon Home GO TO CURZONCINEMAS.COM FOR INFORMATION ABOUT UPCOMING
Cinema from February. CELEBRATORY EVENTS AND SCREENINGS.
43EV ENTS
FESTIVAL CURZON WELCOMES THE RETURN OF ONE OF LONDON’S MOST POPULAR FESTIVALS
16th LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
Now in its 16th year, this London Short Film Festival is a
celebration of groundbreaking talent, alternative filmmaking,
music and art. LSFF has rapidly become a mecca for
independent film fans, industry luminaries and the UK’s
best new creative talent.
Dates: Fri 11 Jan – Sun 20 Jan Where: Soho
Blue Monday TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED Date: Sat 12 Jan | 16:00 | 94 mins
Stories with a twist, ranging from nightmarish London landlords
to feminist conspiracies from the Neighbourhood Watch.
LONDON LIVES Date: Sun 13 Jan | 16:00 | 91 mins
A collection of shorts criss-crossing the city.
BLUE MONDAY Date: Mon 14 Jan | 18:30 | 87 mins
Characters here must pool their inner strength to overcome life’s
myriad obstacles. UK Competition Programme 1.
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME?
Date: Tue 15 Jan | 18:30 | 98 mins
People fighting injustices both systemic singular, even with odds
stacked against them. UK Competition Programme 2.
IT TAKES A MUSCLE Date: Wed 16 Jan | 18:30 | 91 mins
A psychosomatic workout, mixing animation, moving image, prose
It Takes a Muscle
and performance. UK Competition Programme 3.
FADE TO GREY Date: Thu 17 Jan | 18:30 | 95 mins
Bright lights sadly fade, whether it be selfhood eroded in the face
of daily racist abuse, an exploration of collective anxieties or Brexit
parochialism. UK Competition Programme 4.
ACTING THE PART Date: Fri 18 Jan | 18:30 | 96 mins
Behind the masks we hide behind and into the personas that make
us feel truly us.
CROSSED WIRES Date: Sat 19 Jan | 16:00 | 96 mins
Some shorts about the things unsaid and figurative walls put up
as communication between people falls apart.
AWARD WINNERS Date: Sun 20 Jan | 15:15 | 120 mins approx
A chance to see all the winning films from this year’s LSFF in
one programme. Book early to avoid disappointment.
44LIV E E V E NTS LIVE EVENTS
2018 - 2019 SEASON EXHIBITION ON SCREEN NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE
METROPOLITAN OPERA
YOUNG PICASSO Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester
Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Where: Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond
Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon Date: Tue 5 Feb | 18:30 | 85 mins
SHAKESPEARE’S
Where: Mayfair Date: Sun 10 Feb | 11:00
CILEA’S The Queen of Spades, Royal Opera House
There has always been intense focus on
THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD II
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR the genius of Picasso’s later years. But this
Date: Tue 15 Jan | 19:00 | 150 mins
Date: Sat 12 Jan | 17:55 | 238 mins 2017 - 2018 SEASON fascinating portrait looks at the time the One of our finest stage actors, Simon
Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała star in ROYAL OPERA HOUSE young artist spent in Malaga, Barcelona Russell Beale, appears at North London’s
this tale based on the real life of the titular and Paris, honing his art and breaking Almeida Theatre to play the titular English
18th-century actor, who embarked on a boundaries in form and representation. monarch, whose reign weakened the state.
Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester
doomed love affair with a man already
Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond DAVID HARE’S
involved with a scheming princess, played
Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
by Anita Rachvelishvili. La Bayadere, Bolshoi Ballet I’M NOT RUNNING
TCHAIKOVSKY’S Date: Thu 31 Jan | 19:00 | 180 mins
BIZET’S
THE QUEEN OF SPADES David Hare returns to the political arena
CARMEN Date: Tue 22 Jan | 18:45 | 220 mins with this compelling portrait of political
Date: Sat 2 Feb | 17:55 | 221 mins action in contemporary Britain. It examines
Tchaikovsky’s adaptation of Pushkin’s short
This revival of Richard Eyre’s acclaimed the cost on one’s private life of being
story is a sprightly tale that the composer
production stars Clémentine Margaine engaged, active and outspoken in the
used to portray aspects of his own life. This
and Roberto Alagna as the eponymous public sphere.
acclaimed new production stars Aleksandrs
seductress and the kind-hearted Don José,
Antonenko and Eva-Maria Westbroek.
who falls for her all-consuming passions.
VERDI’S
LA TRAVIATA
Date: Wed 30 Jan | 18:45 | 225 mins
Richard Eyre’s richly opulent production
is the perfect setting for a classical telling
of this masterwork from the opera canon,
2018 - 2019
foregrounding the emotional power and BOLSHOI BALLET
lyricism of Verdi’s craft
Where: Knutsford Oxford Ripon Victoria
CERVANTES’
DON QUIXOTE LEON MINKUS’
Date: Tue 19 Feb | 19:15 | 165 mins LA BAYADÈRE
Choreographed by Carlos Acosta, after Date: Sun 20 Jan | 15:00 | 210 mins
Marius Petipa and with music by Ludwig Yuri Grigorovich’s thrilling choreography,
Minkus (arranged and orchestrated by after Marius Petipa and Sergei Khudekov,
Martin Yates), this exuberant reworking of finds the Bolshoi Company on exhilarating
Cervantes’ playful examination of myth is form, as they play out this drama of love,
a vibrant treat from the Royal ballet. intrigue and tragedy, set in India.
Adriana Lecouvrer, Metropolitan Opera The Tragedy of King Richard II, National Theatre Live
46 47LIVEFEATUR
EVENTSE
A
FAVOURITE
The Favourite once again highlights the versatility
of Olivia Colman
By Wendy Ide
FEATURES
There is no shortage of theories about what makes Olivia
Colman so special. With each new interview or review, comes
another breathless run-through of the attributes that add up
to one of the most versatile and naturally gifted actors of her
generation. But what’s really telling, and what speaks as much
of her generosity as a performer and empathy as a human
being as it does of her talent, is the praise that comes from
her colleagues.
Meryl Streep, Mrs Thatcher to Colman’s Carol Thatcher
in The Iron Lady (2011), described her as ‘divinely gifted’. Hugh
Bonneville has said of her, “She has a phenomenal ability to
be utterly spontaneous in every role she plays. Her comedic
and dramatic range is extraordinary, as is her natural gift of
being loved by everyone she works with.” And Tom Hollander,
her co-star in the television comedy series Rev, beautifully
sums up the intricacy and accessibility of her acting. She is, he
has said, “like a watch with the mechanism visible”. It’s well-
deserved praise. As Alex, wife of Hollander’s Anglican vicar
in the series that Colman adores because it is “so gentle and
intelligent”, she is ostensibly the straight guy. But the flickering,
unguarded reactions to Hollander’s lines cements the humour
within. Not only can we see every thought, projected in those
huge, velvet brown eyes, we wholly believe them.
Colman herself admits that she is someone whose
emotions run close to the surface, but with typical
self-deprecation, she makes a joke of it: “If something touches
me, I cry. That’s it. I’m a bit raw, a bit rubbish really. Often a
director will say to me, ‘I don’t think this is a scene where your
character cries.’ And all I can say is, good luck with that!” The Favourite, 2018
48 49F E ATURE
For a while it seemed that she was destined for a career
as comic support. She cut her teeth in television alongside
David Mitchell and Robert Webb, whom she met when she
auditioned for Cambridge footlights. Their collaborations
included Bruiser, The Mitchell and Webb Situation and Peep
Show. But although she was more than up to the task of
matching Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the broad comedy
of Hot Fuzz (2007), it was a dramatic role, in Paddy
Considine’s directorial debut Tyrannosaur (2011), which made
the industry sit up and take notice. Playing opposite Peter
Mullan’s raging addict – his demons are the alcohol and the
violence which temporarily relieve his pain – Colman’s
The Iron Lady
Christian charity worker is the humane and hopeful chink of
Broadchurch
light that makes this gruellingly tough film bearable.
It was the combination of her proven comic skills with her
award-winning performance in Tyrannosaur that paved the
way for an enviably rich and diverse run of roles. In the TV
detective drama Broadchurch, she was eminently relatable
as the local police officer who must investigate the murder
of a child she knew. In The Night Manager, she excelled as a
doggedly decent British intelligence professional Angela Burr
(the role was re-written to take account of her real-life
pregnancy). She was cast in The Crown, taking over the role
of Queen Elizabeth from Claire Foy; previously she was a
deliciously angular, socially awkward Queen Mother, in Hyde
Park On Hudson (2012).
But it’s another royal role, as the ill-starred Queen Anne in
Yorgos Lanthimos’ riotously funny court drama The Favourite,
which looks set to elevate Colman’s career still further.
Capricious, childlike, ridiculous and tragic, Queen Anne is a gift
of a role that allows the actress to explore the full scope of her
abilities. Her crisply hilarious line-readings win our sympathy
for this sickly, self-pitying royal. But with a scene that hints at
the extent of her personal tragedy, Colman bares the Queen’s
wounded soul. Suddenly, a film that revels in the shallow
superficiality of its characters is given an unexpected depth,
with this petulant, cosseted monarch grounded by an almost
inconceivable sadness. Colman should expect a busy awards
season ahead.
THE FAVOURITE opens 5 January
Tyrannosaur
50F E ATURE
UNDOCUMENTED
LIVES
There is a huge gulf between Nadine
Nadine Labaki changes gear
for her searing third feature
By Neal Baker
short-lived and the desperate boy realises
Labaki’s first two features and her latest, that he cannot run forever.
Cannes-winning drama Capernaum. Both Capernaum finds its spiritual legacy in
Caramel (2007) and Where Do We Go Now? the films of the Italian Neorealists, whose
(2011) are widely admired dramas and dramas depicted the lives of the economically
unique perspectives on life in Lebanon. They downtrodden, both towards the end and in
are also films produced in a classical style. the aftermath of the Second World War.
Capernaum, by contrast, is a raw, urgent One of the earliest films in this movement,
account of a young boy’s attempts to survive Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City (1945),
by his wits on the streets of Beirut after he was actually shot on the streets of the Italian
runs away from his family home. capital whilst still under German control and
The film opens in a court, where young many scenes are a quasi-documentary
Zain (the remarkable Zain Al Rafeea) has portrait of life under occupation. Labaki
chosen to sue his parents for bringing him followed a similar route with her film. The
into the world. From there, we shift back in non-professional actors who appear in
time to witness the events that led up to that Capernaum all know the travails of their
moment. Labaki captures the hardship of characters first hand. Yordanos Shiferaw,
those living in a state of desperate poverty who plays Ethiopian migrant Rahill, was
in Beirut’s labyrinthine neighbourhood of arrested for not having papers two days
dilapidated buildings. What makes after shooting a similar scene. The moment
Capernaum so compelling from the outset where Souad, Zain’s mother, calls out to a
is both the speed at which Labaki moves her relative waving from a prison cell window was
narrative forward – like Zain’s daily routine, not scripted – it really was actor Kawthar
life is lived in the moment, which progresses Al Haddad’s cousin. And Zain himself has
at a lightning pace – and the compassion the lived on Beirut’s streets. Corralling these
filmmaker has for her characters. There are events into a cogent narrative, Labaki’s film
no villains per se, but cultural norms Labaki is a rally cry in defence of the millions of Nadine Labaki directs Zain
clearly believes should be overturned and undocumented people who deserve the Al Refeea (@Mooz Films)
people bereft of the power to do so. A series rights that we take for granted.
of events find Zain on the run, eventually
seeking shelter with a mother and her young CAPERNAUM opens 22 February
baby. But such respite from the world is
52F E ATURE
HARLEM LIFE
Moonlight director Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of James Baldwin’s If Beale Street
Could Talk is a rich and languorously beautiful film
James Baldwin’s penultimate novel was first drama unfolds. If there is less urgency here
published in 1974, just over a decade before than there was in his Oscar-winning Moonlight,
his death. It charts, through a fragmented there is rapture in the imagery Jenkins
timeframe, the relationship between Fonny creates (the filmmaker collaborates once
and Tish. Childhood friends, they become again with cinematographer James Laxton).
sweethearts and lovers, only to be separated The rhythms of Harlem life, meanwhile, are
by the prejudice of a hateful cop. Like much further enhanced by Nicholas Britell’s fine
of Baldwin’s writing – both his fiction and score. Ultimately, the film is an elegant
articles – the novel details the pernicious rhapsody to the euphoria of being in love,
nature of racism and bigotry. But it also whilst never shying away from the ugliness
celebrates the beauty of human intimacy. of those who seek to destroy such feelings.
Barry Jenkins’ film makes much of
Baldwin’s rich, evocative dialogue, whilst IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK opens 8 February
creating a stunning setting upon which the
54 55FEATUR E
A SINGULAR
VOICE
Still Alice director Wash Westmoreland directs
By Wendy Ide
Keira Knightley as the iconic French writer Colette
Perhaps it’s a reflection of the realities of Parisian salon, he corrects her, “I suspect you
being a woman writer in the 19th or early were more intimidated than bored”.
20th century, but films about female literary But Willy is forced to acknowledge his
figures have a tendency to be singularly glum wife’s talent, even as he takes credit for it.
affairs. Take Sylvia (2003), the Gwyneth Her first books – the loosely autobiographical
Paltrow-starring portrait of Sylvia Plath: the stories of a witty, forthright country girl called
fact that the filmmakers couldn’t secure the Claudine, are published under his name. And
rights to Plath’s poems was only one issue they are a sensation. Willy strong-arms her
with this tiresome hagiography. Then there into complicity with the deception, reasoning
was Nicole Kidman, moping through The that revealing her as the true author would
Hours (2002) as Virginia Woolf. Iris Murdoch be to open them both up to ridicule. So far, so
fared slightly better in the 2001 biopic, with sexist: it’s a narrative that’s already familiar
a buoyant Kate Winslet capturing her early from the factually-based Big Eyes (2014)
life, before Alzheimer’s whittled away her and last year’s fictional The Wife.
intellect. But in the majority of female literary But what the film does brilliantly is capture
biopics, spirits are crushed, suicide is rife and Colette’s confrontational originality – in some
the boots of the patriarchy stamp all over ways, it has more in common with portrait
female talent. Which is why Colette, starring of the fashion designer Coco Before Chanel
a feline Keira Knightly as the French writer (2009). Even as a young country girl, Colette
Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (best know for stands out. Later, in Paris, she is the it-girl of
penning Gigi and the Claudine series, but with the city’s Bohemian circle. Her dress choices
a style and personality at least as iconic as trigger copycat trends; her romances with
her creations), is such a refreshing delight. women are both deliciously scandalous and
That’s not to say that Colette doesn’t bracingly liberated. But most thrilling is the
encounter her fair share of chauvinism. fact that Colette never once doubts that her
Married to Parisian literary sensation ‘Willy’, husband needs her more than she needs him
(an irrepressibly bombastic turn from Dominic – it plays out like a proto-feminist high five
West), it takes a while for Colette to carve with the #metoo generation.
herself an identity outside of being Willy’s
wife. Even her husband underestimates her. COLETTE opens 11 January
After Colette yawns her way through her first GIGI is screening at Curzon Soho on 4 Feb
56 57F E ATURE
A DANGEROUS
DANCE
Lebanon director Samuel Maoz explores
grief and the surreal aspects of life on
the front line in his award-winning Foxtrot
Samuel Maoz doesn’t make conventional
war films. Instead, his dramas are personal
ruminations on events unfolding across the
frontline of a geopolitical landscape that has
divided opinions for the last 70 years. Not
that his films are weighed down by the
gravity of history. Amidst the conflict and
tension, there is humour, both knockabout
and absurdist. It helps to leaven his films’
more serious moments, but also emphasises
the tragedy that lies at the heart of his stories.
Maoz’s latest feature, Foxtrot, is both
wider in scope and more daring than an unbearably tense and claustrophobic that their son has been killed in combat, to face, the arrival of a carload of Palestinians
Lebanon (2009), his feature debut. That experience. And unlike David Ayer’s a borderline post where a group of soldiers soon sends their lives spiralling into chaos.
film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film subsequent Fury (2014), which attempted while away their boredom with all kinds Maoz’s second film also premiered at
Festival. It documented the 1982 Lebanon a similar tactic in charting the travails of a of distractions. Their initially frivolous Venice, where it won him the Silver Lion for
War through the experiences of a young tank crew as they progress through war-torn behaviour contrasts vividly with the pain of a Best Director. And it cements his position
Israeli conscript who joins the crew of a Germany in 1945, Lebanon eschews grief-stricken family. But Maoz is too smart as one of the bolder filmmakers to grapple
Centurion battle tank. The perspective of cod-heroics in favour of a more chilling to have either situation play out as we might with the complexity of the Israel-Palestine
the entire film, save for a few exterior shots portrait of the detritus left in the wake of war. expect it to. The familial strife soon takes a situation and the cost of a perpetual conflict.
(most famously featuring the armed vehicle Foxtrot is a markedly stranger beast. surreal turn. And if the soldier’s basic living
driving through a sea of sunflowers), is Comprising a series of vignettes, the film accommodation, which is slowly sinking into
FOXTROT opens 1 March
from the inside of the tank, making for shifts between a family reeling from the news the desert, is a harbinger of the danger they
58 59FEATUR E
The comparison between Green Book and Oscar. (Her success notwithstanding, on
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) is an obvious one. awards night she was still relegated to sitting
The former, an account of the journey into at the very back of the venue.) But films
the American South undertaken by renowned like The Defiant Ones (1958), Guess Who’s
African American pianist Dr Don Shirley Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night
(Mahershala Ali) and his Italian American (both 1967) – all starring barrier-breaking
driver Tony Lipp (Viggo Mortensen) in the actor Sidney Poitier – gave centre stage to
early 1960s, is a reversal of Bruce Beresford’s a black character. It’s in the liberal tradition
drama, which starred Jessica Tandy as the of filmmakers such as Stanley Kramer – who
passenger and Morgan Freeman her driver. directed the first two – and Norman Jewison
But beyond both films’ use of location and that Farrelly’s film, set during the same era
exploration of prejudice, the similarities end. that those films were made, plays out.
For one, Tony’s foul mouth would likely have A spin on the road movie, Green Book
given Miss Daisy a seizure. (the title refers to the guidebook for non-white
Green Book might seem a strange choice travellers during the era, detailing where
of film for the director of Dumb and Dumber they could stay and what they could do) is
(1994) and There’s Something About Mary ultimately a buddy movie in which two
(1998), but Farrelly skilfully details the growing characters realise their differences are no
friendship between Tony and Dr Shirley, along impediment to friendship, whilst acknowledging
with the prejudice the musician faces as he such a friendship will attract rancour and
journeys deeper into the Jim Crow counties ignorant rage. And it is in the space where
of the South. And in its ebullience – the they begin to acknowledge what they have in
celebration of two people from different common that Farrelly’s film finds its heart.
cultures finding common ground – Green
DRIVING
Book continues a tradition of films exploring GREEN BOOK opens 1 February
racism through the collision of different,
seemingly opposed personalities.
Black actors were barely visible in the
first 60 years of mainstream American
DR SHIRLEY
cinema. There was a separate black
cinema, pioneered by the likes of Oscar
Micheaux. (These films are now available to
watch thanks to the BFI’s outstanding box
set ‘Pioneers of African-American Cinema’.)
But black actors in Hollywood suffered the
ignominy of minor roles, usually playing
Comedy director Peter Farrelly changes gear with an household or menial staff. Hattie McDaniel
account of a real-life friendship that looks set to be a major by Neal Baker in Gone with the Wind (1939) is the most
awards season contender famous example, although she made so
much of her limited character it won her anF E ATURE FEATUR E
The Front Runner, 2018 Vice, 2018
POWER vs
Cheney and Ruth Bader Ginsburg respectively, on a darker tinge and brought us to where
span the US political spectrum. we are today.
The Front Runner and Vice represent Hollywood has previously explored the
figures from the two leading parties, but grey area between the political and personal
PECCADILLOES
also highlight a division of themes when it when it comes to Democratic Party nominees.
comes to cinematic representations of recent Michael Ritchie’s 1972 Robert Redford vehicle
political figures. For the Democrats, there has The Candidate identified a chink in a young
been more focus on bedroom antics, while Californian hopeful’s political persona when
Republican leaders have been found he is seen, close to the film’s end, following
politicking, conniving and blackmailing their a woman into a hotel room. Earlier still,
The pitfalls and rewards of US political life are way to ever increasing levels of power. discussions surrounding a candidate’s
By Ian Haydn Smith In the early stages of the 1988 ‘morality’ surfaced in The Best Man (1964),
showcased in three new films
Presidential election campaign, Gary Hart whose screenplay was written by Gore Vidal,
not only appeared to be a shoo-in to stand a relative of the Kennedys who would have
Hollywood and the US political world are activity. While for some, the relationship’s as the Democratic nominee against George been fully aware of the sexual shenanigans at
uneasy bedfellows. The glamour of one can finest moments saw a B-movie star achieve H.W. Bush, his path to the White House play in Camelot’s ivory tower. More recently,
be an irresistible allure for the other, while the highest office and a Mr Universe-turned- seemed unimpeachable. But then news Wag the Dog saw media manipulators wage
the seriousness of Washington has long cyborg killing machine become the Governor broke of his liaisons with a young woman a fictional war to turn the US populace’s
appeared an antidote to the vagaries of of California. Between these extremes, from Miami, Donna Rice, and his campaign gaze away from the sexual activities of their
Tinseltown. That relationship hit its nadir with Hollywood has churned out a steady stream imploded. The story covered in The Front President, while Primary Colors (1997) adapted
the McCarthy witch-hunts of the 1950s, when of political dramas and comedies. The latest Runner now feels like an artefact from a thinly veiled fiction dealing with Bill Clinton’s
the full force of Congress sought to rout the of these, The Front Runner, Vice and On the another world, but for some it pinpoints the peccadilloes and The Ides of March (2011)
entertainment world of suspected Communist Basis of Sex, which focus on Gary Hart, Dick moment when a potentially bright future took found Ryan Gosling’s idealistic press secretary
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