MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI LAUREL AND HARDY ALEXANDER KORDA CHINESE NEW YEAR - BFI
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JAN 2019
BFI SOUTHBANK
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
LAUREL AND HARDY
ALEXANDER KORDA
CHINESE NEW YEAR
ORIGINAL VINTAGE POSTERS
• Wide variety of posters from
around the world:
• Travel
• Sports incl. Ski Posters
• War and Propaganda
• Advertising
• Film Posters
• Poster Restoration
• Poster Auctions
AntikBar – Original Vintage Posters
404 King’s Road, London SW10 0LJ
Tel: 020 7352 9309
WWW.ANTIKBAR.CO.UK
THIS MONTH AT BFI SOUTHBANK
Welcome to the home of great film and TV, with a world-class library, free exhibitions and Mediatheque and plenty of food and drink
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS NEW RELEASES SEASONS
The timeless films we urge you The best new cinema for you to enjoy, with plenty of screening Carefully curated collections of film
to see (for just £8), programmed by theme dates to choose from and TV, which showcase an influential
genre, theme or talent
Stan & Ollie (p10)
L’eclisse (p20)
Häxan (p36)
BOOKING DATES IN PERSON & PREVIEWS 4 REGULAR PROGRAMME
MEMBER EXCLUSIVES 7 AFRICAN ODYSSEYS, 44
PATRONS AND CHAMPIONS bfi.org.uk/whatson TERROR VISION
NEW RELEASES 8
Mon 3 Dec (from 11:30) WOMAN WITH A MOVIE 45
020 7928 3232
MEMBERS RE-RELEASES 14 CAMERA
11:30 – 20:30 daily
Tue 4 Dec (from 11:30) EXPERIMENTA, 47
In person SEASONS
PUBLIC SONIC CINEMA
Tue 11 Dec (from 11:30) 11:00 – 20:30 daily MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI 16
BFI FAMILIES 48
ALEXANDER KORDA 22
FUTURE FILM 50
LAUREL AND HARDY 28
JOIN TODAY FOR PRIORITY BOOKING AND DISCOUNTS: BFI.ORG.UK/JOIN BFI PLAYER 52
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS 34
LIBRARY, MEDIATHEQUE, 54
The BFI is proud to screen on film where possible, showcasing restorations SPECIAL FILMS & EVENTS 40 MEZZANINE GALLERY
and sourcing archive prints from our partners.
SHOP, IMAX 56
Look out for 16mm, 35mm or 70mm in the film credits.
Cover: La notte
Talent Q&As and rare appearances,
plus a chance for you to catch the
latest film and TV before anyone else
IN PERSON & PREVIEWS
Preview: Destroyer
USA 2018. Dir Karyn Kusama.
With Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan,
Tatiana Maslany, Toby Kebbell. 120min.
Digital. Cert tbc. Courtesy of Lionsgate
An almost unrecognisable Nicole
Kidman stars as jaded LAPD
Preview: Beautiful Boy detective Erin Bell, still reeling from
‘TRAILBLAZING USA 2018. Dir Felix van Groeningen. With Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney,
Amy Ryan. 112min. Digital. 15. Courtesy of STUDIOCANAL
the trauma she experienced after
she and her partner (Stan) were
AND BOUNDARY- David Sheff (Carell) leads a charmed blister on screen as father and son, placed undercover in a notorious
crime gang led by the unpredictable
PUSHING California lifestyle, with a loving
family and a successful career,
in an intimate take on addiction that
reveals the tough and wrenching toll Silas (Kebbell). When it appears that
FEMINIST until he slowly becomes aware of his it takes on loved ones. Silas has re-emerged, Bell becomes
even more determined to close the
WRITER AND teenage son’s (Chalamet) addiction
to crystal meth. Carell and Chalamet
Audio description is available at
this preview case for good.
PERFORMER Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less) Audio description is available at
this preview
COLETTE Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less)
FINALLY GETS
THE BIOPIC SHE
DESERVES’
ANNA BOGUTSKAYA,
EVENTS PROGRAMMER WED 2 JAN TUE 8 JAN
Colette (see p5) 20:30 NFT1 20:30 NFT1
book online at bfi.org.uk
DOC
Preview: Colette + Q&A with producers Stephen Woolley and Preview: Hale County This Morning, This Evening
IN PERSON & PREVIEWS
Elizabeth Karlsen USA 2018. Dir RaMell Ross. 76min. Digital. Cert tbc. Courtesy of ICA
UK-Hungary-France 2017. Dir Wash Westmoreland. With Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Denise Photographer-turned-filmmaker Captured over five years, the film is
Gough, Fiona Shaw. 112min. Digital. Cert tbc. Courtesy of Lionsgate RaMell Ross has crafted an not so much a narrative as a series
Free-thinking, boundary-pushing publisher Willy (West), and her innovative, impressionistic portrait of vignettes and moments that hold
French author and iconoclast Sidonie- growth from provincial maiden to of contemporary life in Hale County, within them urgent questions about
Gabrille ‘Colette’ (Knightley) finally a rule-breaking, defiant writer and Alabama, offering a new way of stereotypes and representations of
gets the biopic treatment with this feminist who led one of the most seeing and experiencing the heat black America.
charming, rollicking film. The story exciting lives of the 20th century. and the hearts of people in the Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less)
focuses on Colette’s marriage and Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less)\ Black Belt region of the USA.
professional relationship with sleazy Audio description is available at
this preview
WED 9 JAN TUE 15 JAN
20:15 NFT1 18:15 NFT3
@BFI 5
KERMODE LIVE IN 3D
Let’s talk about film...
Mark Kermode Live in 3D at the BFI 12 Stars
IN PERSON & PREVIEWS
TRT 90min TRT c120min
Mark Kermode Live in 3D at the guests’ cinematic guilty pleasures. 12 Stars is our monthly series to the present technological, social,
BFI is a monthly conversation Get involved by tweeting your offering filmmakers and thinkers an environmental and geopolitical
between you (the audience) and questions in advance to opportunity to reflect on European challenges will be at the heart of
one of the nation’s favourite @KermodeMovie #MK3D. cinema and identity at a time of this event.
and most respected film critics. Tickets £16.50, concs £13.20 profound cultural and geopolitical In partnership with Institut français UK and
With the help of surprise guests from (Members pay £2 less) transition. For our first event in 2019, EUNIC: European Union National Institutes
of Culture
the industry, Kermode will explore, we’re partnering with Institut
Please check bfi.org.uk for guest updates
critique and dissect movies past français UK and their annual Night of
and present and reveal his or his Ideas, a global project to celebrate the
exchange of ideas between countries,
cultures, topics and generations.
With this year’s theme of ‘facing our
time,’ the question of how we respond
MON 28 JAN WED 30 JAN
18:30 NFT1 18:00 NFT1
6 book online at bfi.org.uk
MEMBER EXCLUSIVES
These events are exclusive to BFI Members and their guests.
Join today at bfi.org.uk/join
TALK
Member Salon: Sorry to Bother You
MEMBER EXCLUSIVES
TRT 60min
Our regular discussion series for headed, and what role corporations
Members and their guests returns could play in our future.
this month with a closer look at Boots Members can book a joint ticket to the salon
Riley’s dark satirical debut (see p8). and the screening on Thu 10 Jan 18:10 NFT3 TALK
for themselves and their guests in advance
Join your fellow Members to discuss
for just £6. Members who’ve watched the film
Riley’s vision as to where on another date are welcome to come along
Behind the Scenes at the BFI
contemporary capitalist and to the free salon discussion and show their Behind the Scenes brings BFI curators, programme, where we source our
consumerist society might be membership card for admission on a first- programmers and policy-makers prints from and also looking at the
come, first-served basis. together to give you a glimpse into work of the BFI Reuben Library and
how we work. This event looks at the BFI Mediatheque.
THU 10 JAN
BFI Southbank and focuses on some Tickets £6
20:10 BLUE ROOM
of our upcoming seasons and events,
exploring how we decide what to
All Member exclusive tickets are just £6 unless otherwise stated. Champions and
Members can book as soon as their priority booking opens and tickets will be
allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Remaining tickets will be released to
THU 31 JAN
the public, as a taster of the benefits of Membership, once public booking opens.
18:10 NFT3
@BFI 7
The best new cinema for you to Sorry to Bother You
enjoy, with plenty of screening USA 2018. Dir Boots Riley.
dates to choose from With Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson,
Armie Hammer, Jermaine Fowler.
(see pull-out calendar)
112min. Digital. 15. A Universal
Pictures release
Writer-director Boots Riley’s breathlessly
inventive satire is bursting with wit
and panache
Mild-mannered call-centre employee
Cassius (Stanfield) discovers he has
a talent to adopt a ‘white voice’ –
an ability which promptly lets him
climb the corporate ladder. But as he
draws closer to disturbed entrepreneur
Steve (Hammer), there might be
more at stake than just his career,
friendships with his co-workers and
his relationship with his activist
girlfriend Detroit (Thompson). In his
NEW RELEASES
dark satirical debut, Boots Riley firmly
establishes himself as a powerful
new voice in contemporary cinema.
Gaylene Gould,
Head of Cinema and Events
‘A TOUCHING See p7 for a Member Salon
INSIGHT INTO
THE WORKING
Audio description available at all
screenings
RELATIONSHIP Hearing-impaired subtitles available:
Thu 3 Jan 14:30 Studio
AND DEVOTED Sun 6 Jan 15:30 Studio
FRIENDSHIP
OF COMEDY’S
GREATEST DUO’
JUSTIN JOHNSON,
LEAD PROGRAMMER CONTINUES FROM FRI 28 DEC
Stan & Ollie (see p10)
book online at bfi.org.uk
Free Solo
USA 2018. Dirs Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi,
Jimmy Chin. 100min. Digital. 12A.
A Dogwoof release
A nail-biting documentary from
award-winning filmmaker Elizabeth
Chai Vasarhelyi and world-renowed
photographer and mountaineer
Jimmy Chin
This poignant, in-depth portrait of
noted American rock climber Alex
Honnold follows him as he attempts
to become the first person to ever
free solo climb Yosemite’s 3,000ft
high El Capitan Wall – with no ropes
or safety gear. This is a thrilling,
edge-of-your-seat experience, filmed
with vertigo-inducing camerawork
that looks into the life and motivation
of an athlete determined to push
himself to the extreme in his quest
to achieve the perfect climb.
NEW RELEASES
Honnold challenges not only his
body but his beliefs, especially when
the unexpected twist of falling in
love threatens his focus...
Anna Bogutskaya, Events Programmer
DOC CONTINUES FROM FRI 28 DEC
@BFI 9
Stan & Ollie
UK-Canada-USA 2018. Dir Jon S Baird. With
John C Reilly, Steve Coogan, Nina Arianda,
Shirley Henderson. 97min. Digital. Cert tbc.
An Entertainment One release
Witness the touching relationship of
cinema’s greatest double act, both on
and off screen
It’s 1953 and Hollywood has fallen
out of love with Laurel and Hardy,
the once golden duo of international
comedy. In the hope of re-igniting
their career, the pair embark on a
tour of the UK’s seaside towns and
music halls, but audiences are sparse
and impresario Bernard Delfont
is already looking for ways to break
their contract. With hilarious
recreations of Way Out West on
film and County Hospital on stage,
Coogan and Reilly excel as the
Relaxed Screening beloved entertainers and give
NEW RELEASES
Welcome to an accessible screening a heart-warming depiction of a
of Stan & Ollie for people who prefer lifelong friendship under pressure.
a relaxed cinema environment. Justin Johnson, Lead Programmer
Presented for those who have autism,
Asperger Syndrome or learning Audio description available at all
screenings
disabilities and their carers
Hearing-impaired subtitles available:
and assistants.
Sat 19 Jan 16:00 NFT3
More detailed information about Wed 23 Jan 14:30 Studio
this event can be found at See p28 for our Laurel and Hardy season
bfi.org.uk/relaxed
Tickets for this pilot event are free but should
be booked in advance
MON 21 JAN 14:00 NFT3 OPENS FRI 18 JAN
10 book online at bfi.org.ukBergman: A Year in a Life Bergman – ett år, ett liv
NEW RELEASES
Sweden-Norway 2018. Dir Jane Magnusson. With Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullmann,
Gunnel Lindblom, Elliott Gould. 117min. Digital. EST. 15. A BFI release
This centennial portrait of the great Swedish writer-director is perceptive,
penetrating and packed with wonderful footage
Jane Magnusson’s documentary childhood to old age, touching on
centres on 1957, a turbulent but his many creative achievements,
miraculously productive year his strengths and failings as a man,
when Bergman, besides unveiling and the way his art derived from
The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries his life. Illuminating anecdotes are
and working extensively in theatre offered by many who knew him –
and TV, led a messily complicated none, however, perhaps quite as
domestic life that included a spell revealing as Ingmar’s own testimony.
in hospital. This focus is merely the Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-large
springboard for a survey that spirals Also available on
out to embrace everything from See overleaf for more Bergman screenings
DOC OPENS FRI 25 JAN
@BFI 11The Seventh Seal Det sjunde inseglet Wild Strawberries Smultronstället
INGMAR BERGMAN FOCUS
Sweden 1957. Dir Ingmar Bergman. With Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Sweden 1957. Dir Ingmar Bergman. With Victor Sjöström, Ingrid Thulin, Bibi Andersson,
Bibi Andersson. 96min.Digital. EST. PG Gunnar Björnstrand. 91min. Digital. EST. 15
Vividly recreating a medieval world fascinating (and finally rather One of Bergman’s warmest films members and strangers alike.
tormented by plague and superstition, touching) as a study of faith in crisis. boasts a magnificent performance Famous for its early dream sequence,
Bergman’s allegorical drama – centred Full of powerful images, it punctuates by Sjöström as ageing, grouchy the film is nevertheless most
on a knight (von Sydow) returned its bleakness with moments of academic Isak Borg, who is driving impressive for its rich, vivid
from the Crusades who challenges pleasingly pawky humour. to Lund to receive an award; the trip characterisations from a superb
Death to a game of chess in order Also available on takes in memories, reveries and cast of Bergman regulars.
to postpone his demise – remains illuminating encounters with family Also available on
SUN 13 JAN SAT 19 JAN MON 28 JAN WED 30 JAN TUE 1 JAN SUN 20 JAN TUE 22 JAN SUN 27 JAN
18:00 NFT1 16:10 NFT1 14:30 NFT3 20:50 NFT1 15:40 NFT3 20:00 NFT2 14:30 NFT3 15:30 NFT1
12 book online at bfi.org.ukBACKED BY
COLETTE
Dir. Wash Westmoreland
THE BFI
COLETTE
9 JANUARY
Directed by Wash Westmoreland and starring
Keira Knightley and Dominic West, Colette is the
story of a woman who has been denied her voice
by an overbearing man, and who goes to
extraordinary lengths to find it.
ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
11 JANUARY
Gabrielle Brady’s first feature takes place on
Christmas Island where 50 million crabs make
their annual voyage to the ocean’s edge.
The same jungle hides thousands of asylum
seekers who have been locked away indefinitely.
#NationalLottery #BFIBacked
IN CINEMAS ACROSS THE UK bfi.org.uk/filmfundWe’ve selected these key The Passenger Professione: reporter
classics (many newly restored) Italy-France-Spain 1975. Dir Michelangelo
for you to enjoy, with plenty of Antonioni. With Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider,
screening dates to choose from Jenny Runacre, Ian Hendry. 126min. Digital.
12A. A BFI release
(see pull-out calendar)
Jack Nicholson is excellent as a burnt-out
political correspondent in what is one
of Antonioni’s greatest achievements
When David Locke (Nicholson)
impulsively exchanges identities
with a businessman he finds dead
in a North African hotel room,
he believes he’s starting anew.
But passing himself off as someone
else doesn’t mean he’s escaping
the past... Working from a superb
script by Mark Peploe and Peter
Wollen, Antonioni creates some
of his most memorable scenes and
eloquent images: Locke breaking
down in the Sahara; soliciting help
from a tourist (Schneider) in Gaudi’s
RE-RELEASES
Barcelona; trying to evade various
people pursuing him through the
arid landscapes of southern Spain.
Suspense, intrigue, wit, visual
beauty, ideas: this classic has them
all in spades.
Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-large
‘ANTONIONI’S Seniors’ matinee + intro Mon 14 Jan
CLASSIC BOASTS 14:00 NFT1
A PEAK-FORM See p16 for our Antonioni season, and p21
for a Philosophical Screens discussion
NICHOLSON AS A on this film
BURNT-OUT CASE’
GEOFF ANDREW,
PROGRAMMER-AT-LARGE FROM FRI 4 JAN
The Passenger (adjacent)
book online at bfi.org.ukCarefully curated collections of
film and TV, which showcase an
influential genre, theme or talent
‘GLAMOUR,
ADVENTURE,
ROMANCE,
SEASONS
COMEDY – THE
GOLDEN AGE
OF ALEXANDER
KORDA OFFERS
THIS AND SO
MUCH MORE’
JOSEPHINE BOTTING,
SEASON PROGRAMMER Confronting the modern world with style
Alexander Korda season (p22)‘UNTIL THE FILM IS EDITED, I HAVE NO
IDEA MYSELF WHAT IT WILL BE ABOUT...
PERHAPS THE FILM WILL ONLY BE
A MOOD, OR A STATEMENT ABOUT
A STYLE OF LIFE’
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
With their groundbreaking style and distinctive worldview,
the influential films of Michelangelo Antonioni feel strangely
timeless, says season programmer Geoff Andrew
Never really a neo-realist, the former critic quickly
established himself with a striking series of features notable TALK
for their visual elegance, narrative subtlety, and cool yet
compassionate fascination with people striving to find Michelangelo Antonioni: Chronicle of a Love Affair
satisfaction in a modern world devoted to material wellbeing, Chronicle of a Modernist’s Career (aka Story of a Love Affair)
TRT 100min Cronaca di un amore
‘progress’ and fleeting passions and fashions. Wary of In this introductory survey of Italy 1950. Dir Michelangelo Antonioni.
melodrama and genre, Antonioni focused on mood, gesture Antonioni’s work as a writer-director With Lucia Bosé, Massimo Girotti,
Ferdinando Sarmi. 101min. Digital. EST. PG
and environment; silence was as meaningful as dialogue, of international renown, season
curator Geoff Andrew will discuss A rich industrialist, provoked by
and figures moved through landscapes that spoke volumes groundless jealousy, hires a detective
both his steady development of
about longing, spiritual listlessness and solitude. In 1960,
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
what became a highly distinctive to investigate the past of the young
with the controversial L’avventura, his importance as an – and extremely influential – style woman (Bosé) he impulsively
experimental innovator was recognised internationally: with of cinematic storytelling, and the married several years earlier: the
themes which preoccupied him move has unfortunate consequences.
its enigmatic characters and ambiguous storylines, its long While the narrative is more focused
over the years. The talk will make
shots and long takes, its chic costumes, distracted dancing lavish use of film clips, some of them than in his later work, this is undoubtedly
and casual sex, modern art-cinema had truly arrived. from deservedly famous sequences. an Antonioni film, with striking
Tickets £6.50 compositions, an implacable sense
of place and a nagging atmosphere
WANT MORE? IN PARTNERSHIP WITH of confused anxiety.
See p14 for screenings of The Passenger, and
p34 for our Big Screen Classics at just £8
Coming in part two in Feb: Red Desert,
Blow-Up, Identification of a Woman and more...
WED 9 JAN WED 2 JAN SUN 6 JAN SAT 19 JAN
18:10 NFT1 18:20 NFT1 20:15 NFT3 20:40 NFT2
@BFI 17N.U.
The Lady Without Camelias Antonioni’s Short Films 1947-65 The Vanquished I vinti
La signora senza camelie TRT c.111min. EST Italy-France 1953. Dir Michelangelo Antonioni.
Italy 1953. Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. Antonioni’s early documentaries, all Suit (1948), The Funicular of Mount With Jean-Pierre Mocky, Franco Interlenghi,
With Lucia Bosé, Andrea Checchi, Gino Cervi, Anna Maria Ferrero, Patrick Barr. 110min.
running to approximately 10 minutes, Faloria and The Villa of Monsters Digital. EST. Advised 18
Alain Cuny. 102min. Digital. EST. PG
are the closest he came to neo-realism, (1950), and a dry wit enlivens Loving
Even by his second feature Antonioni’s Three episodes – set respectively in
though even in his debut, People of Lie and Superstitions (1949). Finally,
interest in fragile relationships Paris, Rome and London – inspired by
the Po Valley (1947) he seems more the selection includes two segments
between restless, intelligent women recent, apparently motiveless murders
interested in atmosphere, imagery made for portmanteau films: the
perpetrated by young ‘delinquents’
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
and insecure or feckless men is and ideas than in any pointed documentary Attempted Suicide
evident. Bosé, drawing on her own see Antonioni taking a typically
narrative. Architecture, urban or (1953) from Love in the City, and
history, excels as a shopgirl-turned- detached approach to questions of
rural, ancient or modern, features the fiction Il provino (1965) from
movie star whose idolising but cause or psychology: no explanations
strongly in N.U. and Seven Reeds, One Three Faces of a Woman.
possessive producer husband has are offered for the crimes. Rather, the
plans for her career... The compositions killers’ relationships to the world
and camera movements evoke around them are examined in terms
the protagonist’s entrapment, even of space and mood. Unsurprisingly,
as Antonioni gently guys Italy’s the film met with censorship troubles.
mainstream movie business.
THU 3 JAN SAT 12 JAN SAT 5 JAN FRI 18 JAN SAT 5 JAN SUN 20 JAN
18:30 NFT1 20:30 NFT3 20:30 NFT3 18:10 NFT2 17:45 NFT3 20:15 NFT3
18 book online at bfi.org.ukLe amiche The Girlfriends Il grido The Cry
Italy 1955. Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Italy-USA 1957. Dir Michelangelo Antonioni.
Eleonora Rossi Drago, Valentina Cortese, With Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, Betsy Blair,
Gabriele Ferzetti, Yvonne Furneaux. 103min. Dorian Gray. 116min. Digital. EST. 12A
Digital. EST. PG Focused for once on a working-class
A young woman, back in Turin to open protagonist, this follows factory
a fashion house, finds an unsuccessful worker Aldo (Cochran) though an
suicide in an adjoining hotel room; impoverished, wintry Po Valley after L’avventura The Adventure
the discovery leads to her taking
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
his lover (Valli) suddenly ends their Italy-France 1960. Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari.
up with a group of friends, and to affair. Accompanied by their daughter, 138min. Digital. EST. PG
one of Antonioni’s most astute and he seeks work and solace, but times Antonioni’s first collaboration with dissection of the relationship that
darkly ironic explorations of different are tough. Episodic yet fluid, mist-filled poet Tonino Guerra extended his develops between her lover and her
attitudes towards love, life and work. yet lucid, downbeat but strangely experiments with narrative: the best friend as they search for her.
The quietly virtuoso deployment dynamic in its halting progress, this sudden disappearance of a diplomat’s Pace, positioning and perspective
of place, space and movement is visually exquisite film eloquently daughter while holidaying with are all-important.
supremely expressive. evokes Aldo’s tortured soul. friends in the Aeolian Islands is less
the start of a mystery than of a cool
WED 9 JAN WED 16 JAN WED 23 JAN
20:40 NFT2 18:30 NFT2 18:20 NFT2
SUN 27 JAN SUN 13 JAN WED 16 JAN SUN 20 JAN TUE 1 JAN SAT 12 JAN TUE 22 JAN SUN 27 JAN
20:20 NFT1 20:00 NFT2 20:45 NFT2 17:50 NFT1 20:10 NFT3 17:30 NFT1 18:30 NFT1 17:30 NFT1
@BFI 19La notte The Night
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
Italy-France 1961. Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni,
Monica Vitti. 121min. Digital. EST. 12A
An afternoon and a night in the lives Antonioni’s most striking and
of a married couple: he’s a successful sophisticated works; notice the play
but blocked writer, she feels bored with shadows, reflections and frames
and unloved. A friend’s illness and a within frames, which mirrors the
rare night out conspire to provoke a measured study of filtered emotions. L’eclisse The Eclipse
moral crisis. Visually, this is one of Also available on Italy-France 1962. Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Monica Vitti, Alain Delon, Francisco Rabal.
126min. Digital. EST. PG
The narrative fractures and man, and Piero (Delon), a go-getting
uncertainties in this third film in stockbroker who soon signals his
the loose trilogy that began with interest in her. The final sequence is
L’avventura mirror those of the rightly famous, but the stockmarket
characters: Vittoria (Vitti), who’s just scenes are equally extraordinary.
ended her relationship with an older
TUE 1 JAN MON 7 JAN FRI 25 JAN MON 28 JAN FRI 4 JAN FRI 11 JAN SAT 26 JAN TUE 29 JAN
18:10 NFT1 18:15 NFT2 20:45 NFT1 20:40 NFT1 20:30 NFT2 18:00 NFT1 20:30 NFT2 20:45 NFT1
20 book online at bfi.org.ukSENIORS BFI COURSES
Free matinees and talks for the over-60s Evening and weekend courses for adults
on a range of craft subjects
FREE DOC
Free Seniors’ Talk: Dear Antonioni Remaking the Image:
+ intro by BFI programmer An Introduction to the Work
David Somerset of Michelangelo Antonioni
BBC 1997. Dir Gianni Massironi. 93min This six-session evening course begins
Using a star-studded array of on Wed 9 Jan at 18:10 with an
TALK
interviewees including David illustrated overview of our film
Hemmings, Sarah Miles, Jack season. The following five sessions,
Philosophical Screens: The Passenger Nicholson and Vanessa Redgrave, led by Dr Matilde Nardelli, Senior
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
TRT 75min and taking its cue from a letter Lecturer at the University of West
The latest event in our popular angles, with questions around from the philosopher and critic London (plus special guest speakers
discussion series exploring cinema identity and self-knowledge, the Roland Barthes, this acclaimed to be announced) will explore a range
through a philosophical lens will importance of space and the desert, documentary offers a captivating of perspectives and focus on different
consider Michelangelo Antonioni’s and the role of non-events. portrait of an intriguing director. moments in Antonioni’s career,
last American film. Join film Free to ticket-holders of The Passenger Free for over-60s (booking by phone or in including his early film criticism,
philosophers Lucy Bolton, William on Thu 17 Jan 17:50 NFT3, otherwise £6.50 person only), otherwise normal matinee price documentary work, video production
(must be booked in advance due to capacity)
Brown and John Ó Maoilearca to See p14 for a seniors’ matinee of and painting, as well as the famous
explore this classic from a variety of The Passenger, and p27 for a free seniors’
films that cemented his place as one
archive matinee
of the founders of modern cinema.
Course fee £72, concs £60
THU 17 JAN MON 14 JAN EVERY WED FROM 9 JAN-13 FEB
20:20 BLUE ROOM 11:00 NFT1 18:30-20:30
@BFI 21‘KORDA WAS THE NEAREST THING TO A MAGICIAN THAT I EVER MET... HE COULD MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE SEEM POSSIBLE’ RALPH RICHARDSON Meet the maverick producer-director whose vision and ambition transformed British cinema, writes season programmer Josephine Botting Alexander Korda was the first filmmaker to earn international acclaim for British cinema and challenge the dominance of Hollywood. As a charming but reckless wheeler-dealer, his profligacy was legendary and he was as creative with ideas as he was with finance. Korda pushed the boundaries of British filmmaking with his bold and quixotic approach, from erecting sumptuous sets at his Denham studio to shooting in colour in far-flung locations. A Hungarian émigré himself, he employed creative talent from all over Europe and his films testify to his skill at bringing together wonderful actors and artists, both literary and visual. Knighted in 1942 for his services to the industry, Korda was at his most inspired during the 1930s, directing lavish biopics and producing visionary sci-fi films, elegant romantic comedies and extravagant Technicolor fantasies. WANT MORE? See p55 for a free Mezzanine exhibition, and p34 for our Big Screen Classics
The Ghost Goes West
UK 1935. Dir René Clair. With Robert Donat,
Jean Parker, Elsa Lanchester, Eugene Pallette.
82min. 35mm U
As producer, Korda consolidated
TALK his transatlantic success with this
tale of a Scottish ghost shipped to
Introducing Britain’s Movie Mogul The Private Life of Henry VIII America along with his ancestral pile.
ALEXANDER KORDA
TRT 90min UK 1933. Dir Alexander Korda. With Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon, Robert Donat, Appealing to the romantic notion of
To launch our Alexander Korda Miles Mander. 94min. Digital 4K (newly restored by the BFI). U British heritage and nobility, the film
season we explore what made him The first British film to garner an rather than the office, and ignores is a paean to simpler times, with
earn the title of ‘Britain’s Movie Mogul.’ Oscar®, The Private Life of Henry VIII politics (except the sexual kind) innovative French director René Clair
How did he manage to challenge the earned Laughton the Best Actor as Henry’s six wives each bring out contributing comic touches –
dominance of Hollywood? How did award for his spirited performance a different aspect of his personality delivered by the ever-charismatic
his background as a Hungarian émigré as the tyrannical king who veers as he grows older, but matures little. Robert Donat, fresh from his success
impact his approach to production between monarch and man-child. Restored by the BFI National Archive and in The 39 Steps.
Korda’s biopic focuses on the man The Film Foundation, in association with + Workers and Jobs
and collaboration? Korda’s biographer
ITV and Park Circus. Funding provided UK 1935. 11min
Charles Drazin, producer David Korda by the George Lucas Family Foundation
and academic Sarah Street will A short about the work of the
discuss the extraordinary career of labour exchange.
Alexander Korda with season curator
Josephine Botting.
Tickets £6.50
TUE 8 JAN TUE 1 JAN FRI 4 JAN TUE 8 JAN TUE 1 JAN SUN 13 JAN
18:10 NFT3 18:30 NFT2 18:20 NFT2 20:20 NFT3 20:40 NFT2 17:50 NFT2
@BFI 23Rembrandt The Man Who Could Work Miracles
UK 1936. Dir Alexander Korda. UK 1936. Dir Lothar Mendes.
With Charles Laughton, Gertrude Lawrence, With Roland Young, Ralph Richardson,
Elsa Lanchester. 85min. 35mm U. 18* Edward Chapman. 82min. 35mm U
Laughton delivers a powerful Producer Alexander Korda and
performance as the Dutch painter writer HG Wells continued their
whose work went unappreciated collaboration with this inspired comic
during his lifetime. Though this Things to Come + intro by Valeria Carullo, Curator, RIBA fantasy, in which Roland Young revels
ALEXANDER KORDA
biopic failed to replicate the success Photographs Collection* in the role of a draper’s assistant
of Henry VIII, its depth and complexity UK 1936. Dir William Cameron Menzies. With Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, granted the power to perform
make it one of the finest portraits of Margaretta Scott. 100min. Digital. PG miraculous acts. His determination
artistic temperament ever produced. Alexander Korda’s collaboration destruction in a war, enslavement by to use his powers for good leads to
The magnificent sets, designed by with writer HG Wells may not have a fascist dictator, and our eventual an exploration of class politics, but
Korda’s brother Vincent, are superbly been Britain’s first science fiction flight to the stars. In terms of sheer the madcap situations and inspired
filmed by French cinematographer film but it was certainly the most spectacle, few British films have tried effects inject plenty of entertainment
Georges Périnal. ambitious to date. It charts the story to match it since. into the proceedings.
+ The W. Stab of a century; of humanity’s near Also available on + Fox Hunt
UK 1935. 19min. 18 UK 1936. 8 min
A commercial for cigarettes Britain’s first Technicolor animation.
in fictional form.
*Due to combined content of this programme
SUN 6 JAN TUE 22 JAN THU 3 JAN SAT 5 JAN THU 10 JAN SAT 5 JAN SUN 20 JAN
15:40 NFT2 20:30 NFT3 20:30 NFT3 16:00 NFT2 18:20 NFT2* 20:40 NFT2 15:45 NFT3
24 book online at bfi.org.ukOver the Moon The Four Feathers + intro
UK 1939. Dir Thornton Freeland. by Dr Emma Sandon,
With Merle Oberon, Rex Harrison, Birkbeck University of London*
Ursula Jeans. 78min. 35mm U
UK 1939. Dir Zoltan Korda. With John Clements,
When Jane Benson (Oberon) Ralph Richardson, June Duprez. 115min.
inherits £18 million, she leaves her 35mm U
drab life behind to see the world, This ‘boy’s own’ tale of derring-do is
acquiring Paris fashions and based on the novel by AEW Mason,
ALEXANDER KORDA
a gaggle of gold-diggers, but losing in which a young man is driven to
her fiancé Dr Jarvis (Harrison). prove his mettle after being branded
This lavish romantic comedy in a coward for refusing to fight in the
vibrant colour was a glamorous Sudanese war. Shooting on location
vehicle for Alexander Korda’s new with unwieldy Technicolor cameras
bride, and Oberon rises to the was an incredible undertaking
Knight Without Armour occasion beautifully. that demonstrates Alexander
UK 1937. Dir Jacques Feyder. With Marlene Dietrich, Robert Donat, Irene Vanbrugh. 100min. + A Day at Denham Korda’s ambition and risk-taking
35mm U UK 1939. 10min as a producer.
Alexander Korda scored a major coup It was Dietrich’s first British role and A short documentary about Korda’s Also available on
in getting Dietrich to star in this tale she is well served by Belgian director studio complex.
of a young Englishman (Donat) who Feyder and the lively script adapted
falls in love with a Countess while from James Hilton’s novel.
caught up in the Russian revolution.
SUN 6 JAN FRI 11 JAN SAT 12 JAN TUE 15 JAN SUN 13 JAN WED 30 JAN
18:00 NFT3 20:40 NFT2 16:00 NFT2 18:20 NFT2 14:50 NFT3 18:05 NFT2*
@BFI 25DOC
That Hamilton Woman UK Premiere:
(aka Lady Hamilton) Churchill and the Movie Mogul
USA 1941. Dir Alexander Korda. + Q&A with director John Fleet
With Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, and academic Charles Drazin
Gladys Cooper. 128min. 35mm PG
UK 2018. Dir John Fleet. 65min. Digital.
Surely the most British film ever Cert tbc
made in America, this historical We present the UK premiere of
drama recreates the romance a new documentary – with
ALEXANDER KORDA
between Lord Horatio Nelson and contributors including Stephen Fry
Lady Hamilton, portrayed by real-life and Charles Drazin– exploring the
lovers Olivier and Leigh. The film relationship between two great men.
became a key element in the During Churchill’s ‘wilderness years,’
propaganda campaign to persuade Alexander Korda employed him as
America to join the fight against a screenwriter and historical advisor.
The Thief of Bagdad fascism – an aim so important that Churchill’s life-long interest in
UK 1940. Dirs Tim Whelan, Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger. With Sabu, Conrad Veidt, Korda returned to directing after storytelling influenced his approach
June Duprez, Rex Ingram, John Justin. 106min. Digital. U a five-year break. to politics and ultimately his
This triple Oscar®-winner (for visual A young thief (Sabu) tries to help Preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive wartime strategy, while, in turn,
effects, cinematography and set King Ahmad defeat the scheming with funding from the AFI/NFA Preservation
Grants Programme his political views shaped Korda’s
design) offered audiences an exotic Vizier and win the hand of the cinematic output.
Also available on
and lavish distraction from the Sultan’s beautiful daughter.
privations of the Second World War. Will good triumph over evil?
*Family ticket price applies, see p48
SAT 5 JAN MON 28 JAN SAT 19 JAN THU 24 JAN THU 24 JAN
13:30 NFT2* 20:30 NFT2 18:10 NFT2 20:30 NFT3 18:10 NFT3
26 book online at bfi.org.ukSILENT CINEMA PROJECTING THE ARCHIVE
Enjoy the best international restorations, A rare chance to see rediscovered British features from the
often with a live musical accompaniment BFI National Archive
FREE
Seniors’ Free Archive Matinee: A Modern Dubarry
The Scarlet Pimpernel + intro by BFI Eine Dubarry von heute + intro
programmer David Somerset and by BFI Curator Bryony Dixon
Lalit Mohan Joshi, SACF Germany 1927. Dir Alexander Korda.
UK 1935. Dir Harold Young. With Leslie With María Corda, Alfred Abel,
Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey, Friedrich Kayssler, Marlene Dietrich. c102min.
Nigel Bruce. 97min. 35mm U 35mm EST. With live piano accompaniment
by Jonathan Best
This perfect example of producer Service for Ladies (aka Reserved for Ladies) + intro
Made in Germany, set in France
ALEXANDER KORDA
Alexander Korda’s customary lavish by BFI Curator Josephine Botting
and pitched to attract international
production values boasts a witty UK 1932. Dir Alexander Korda. With Leslie Howard, Benita Hume, Elizabeth Allan,
markets, this frothy drama features George Grossmith. 90min. 35mm PG
screenplay that amusingly includes Korda’s first wife María Corda,
actual historical figures in a tale Alexander Korda’s directorial debut In the second adaptation of Hungarian
star of the Austrian silent screen,
about a vigilante who rescues in the UK is head and shoulders above writer Ernest Vajda’s novel (the
as Toinette, a shopgirl who rises to
aristocrats from the blade of the the output of the rest of the British American silent version with Adolphe
success in a fashionable dress salon.
guillotine. As the most successful industry in the early sound years, Menjou is sadly lost), the story’s
Corda’s performance dazzled
adaptation of the Baroness Orczy’s both technically and creatively. comic potential revolving around
contemporary audiences. Watch out
famous anglophile romance, this film Howard is effortlessly suave as a mistaken identity is brilliantly
for Marlene Dietrich in a small part
owes much to the perfect casting of head waiter-cum-social guru who exploited by Korda, while the
as a French coquette.
Leslie Howard in the lead role. acts as adviser to his wealthy clientele. romantic moments are sensitively
Free for over-60s (booking by phone or in But when he falls in love, he finds directed. Readers of fan magazine
person only), otherwise normal matinee price himself in need of guidance. Film Weekly voted it their second
favourite British film of 1932.
MON 7 JAN SUN 6 JAN TUE 22 JAN
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@BFI 27‘WE DID A LOT OF CRAZY THINGS IN OUR PICTURES, BUT WE WERE ALWAYS REAL’ OLIVER HARDY With over 100 hilarious Laurel and Hardy shorts and features, the challenge in putting together this season is that they’re just too good, says Lead Programmer Justin Johnson Our Comedy Genius season draws to a close with this rare opportunity to focus on the greatest comedy duo of all time, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy – a dream partnership that united a disciplined, thoughtful Englishman from Ulverston in the Lake District and a pompous but likeable American from Harlem, Georgia. Both worked for producer Hal Roach and his studio independently until he brought them together. He managed their very successful transition from silents to talkies right up until 1940 when, feeling creatively stifled, they left. Their output with Roach represents their best work – and in this season we concentrate on that period. WANT MORE? PART OF See p48 for our families programme, and p10 for screenings of Stan & Ollie
You’re Darn Tootin’
Laurel and Hardy Shorts 1
Sons of the Desert
The Live Ghost
TRT 79min. With live piano accompaniment
on the silent titles. U
Our first selection looks at Laurel and
Hardy’s early shorts with Hal Roach,
including silent films You’re Darn
Tootin’ (1928) with the boys as street
musicians, and Big Business (1929), Laurel and Hardy Shorts 2 Sons of the Desert + The Music Box
LAUREL AND HARDY
where they sell Christmas trees. TRT 99min. U USA 1933. Dir William A Seiter. With Stan USA 1932. Dir James Parrott. With
Moving into sound, we also screen In Brats (1930) Stan and Ollie play Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase. 68min. Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy. 30min. Digital. U
That’s My Wife (1929) where Stan has Digital. U This comedy classic won an Oscar®
their own children, Helpmates* (1932)
to pass himself off as Ollie’s wife, sees Ollie’s house ruined by a party, Stan and Ollie belong to the Sons of and features comedy’s finest double
and Perfect Day (1929), about a picnic and in Dirty Work (1933) an eccentric the Desert fraternity and swear an act trying to deliver a piano to
that doesn’t go as planned. scientist tries to reverse the ageing oath to attend the annual convention a customer’s address only to discover
process. We also screen Me and in Chicago, but must resort to desperate that the house is situated at the
My Pal (1933) with the boys trying to measures involving a concocted top of a very large flight of stairs –
complete a jigsaw, and The Live Ghost medical trip to Honolulu when one but they refuse to give up.
(1934), which brings them face to face of their wives refuses to let them go.
with the supernatural... or does it? This fan favourite has seen the
*35mm restored print courtesy of the UCLA international Laurel and Hardy
Film & Television Archive society adopt ‘Sons of the Desert’
as its name.
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18:30 NFT2 16:00 NFT3 15:30 NFT3 13:30 NFT2 15:50 NFT1 20:30 NFT2
@BFI 29Bonnie Scotland
Our Relations
Bonnie Scotland Our Relations
Babes in Toyland
USA 1935. Dir James W Horne. USA 1936. Dir Harry Lachman. With Stan Laurel,
With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, June Lang. Oliver Hardy, Alan Hale. 73min.
80min. 35mm U 35mm courtesy of Bill Duelly, Strasburg
Stan and Ollie escape prison and Strand Archive and Brian Bavosa. U
stowaway on a boat to Scotland Its double trouble as our comic duo
believing that a significant play themselves and their twin
Babes in Toyland inheritance awaits them from Stan’s brothers in this perfectly paced piece.
While Stan and Ollie are upstanding,
LAUREL AND HARDY
USA 1934. Dirs Gus Meins, Charles Rogers. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Virginia Karns. late grandfather. When this doesn’t
77min. 35mm U materialise, the boys unwittingly respectable citizens, their sea-faring
In a film loosely based on the 1903 + Busy Bodies join a Scottish regiment on tour siblings Alf and Bert are amiable
operetta Babes in Toyland, Stannie USA 1933. Dir James W Horne. 19min. to India. but hopeless fools who are always
Dum and Ollie Dee live in a shoe with 35mm restored print. U + Midnight Patrol messing things up.
Mother Peep and her daughter Little Enjoy some supreme slapstick USA 1933. Dir Lloyd French. 20min. + Berth Marks
Bo-Peep. With plenty of songs and in a saw mill. 35mm restored print courtesy of UCLA Film USA 1929. Dir Lewis R Foster. 20min.
& Television Archive. U 35mm restored print courtesy of
characters such as Old King Cole and Prints courtesy of UCLA Film and
Television Archive The boys play a couple of cops who UCLA Film & Television Archive. U
Mother Goose, this family comedy is
great fun, and features an ultimate interrupt a safe robbery. Laurel and Hardy’s second sound
battle between good and evil. film sees them causing havoc during
a train journey.
TUE 8 JAN SAT 12 JAN THU 3 JAN FRI 18 JAN FRI 11 JAN MON 21 JAN
18:20 NFT2 15:50 NFT3 18:10 NFT3 17:50 NFT3 18:20 NFT2 20:30 NFT3
30 book online at bfi.org.ukWay Out West
Block-heads
Way Out West + Laughing Gravy Block-heads + Chickens Come Home
LAUREL AND HARDY
USA 1937. Dir James W Horne. USA 1930. Dir James W Horne. USA 1938. Dir John G. Blystone. USA 1931. Dir James W Horne.
With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sharon Lynn. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harry Bernard. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Patricia Ellis. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mae Busch.
65min. Digital. PG 31min. Digital. U 58min. 35mm from the collection of the 30min. 35mm U
Stan, Ollie and Dinah the mule are It’s a snowy winter’s night. Stan and Library of Congress. U Ollie is a mayoral candidate who
travelling through the Wild West Ollie are staying in a boarding house World War One has ended and the finds himself up to his ears in trouble
and arrive in the town of Brushwood with a ‘no dogs’ policy but haven’t the armistice has been signed but due to his earlier philandering ways.
Gulch. They have an important deed heart to send their dog ‘Laughing nobody has thought to tell Stan – When a greedy ex threatens to
to deliver, but after offending the Gravy’ out into the cold, so must keep who’s been guarding his trench blackmail him, he enlists the help of
Sheriff and his wife they’re issued him as quiet as possible. When the heroically, after his military brothers Stan to ensure that his wife doesn’t
with an ultimatum and told to leave. landlord cottons on to their flouting went over the top 20 years earlier. work out what’s going on, but this
Featuring ‘The Trail of the Lonesome of his rules, it becomes very clear He is reunited with Ollie, who takes just makes matters worse as a
Pine,’ one of the great comic moments that they have a long and cold night him home to meet his wife, but farcical series of mishaps ensues.
of all time, Way Out West is a true classic. ahead of them. mayhem follows their every move
*Family ticket price applies, see p48 as they squabble with the neighbours
in his apartment block.
SUN 13 JAN SAT 19 JAN SUN 13 JAN SAT 26 JAN
13:00 NFT1* 20:30 NFT3 15:40 NFT2 15:50 NFT2
@BFI 31The Flying Deuces
Swiss Miss
A Chump at Oxford
Swiss Miss The Flying Deuces
USA 1938. Dir John G Blystone. USA 1939. Dir A Edward Sutherland.
With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Grete Natzler. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker.
75min. 35mm from the collection of the 65min. Digital. U
Library of Congress. U When Ollie’s romantic prospects
Stan and Ollie travel to Switzerland take a sour turn, he and Stan decide
but find themselves penniless after to join the French Foreign Legion,
a business venture backfires. Forced A Chump at Oxford + The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case a change in career that promises much
to clean dishes in a hotel’s kitchens,
LAUREL AND HARDY
USA 1939. Dir Alfred J Goulding. USA 1930. Dir James Parrott. but delivers very little, and soon they
they find themselves embroiled in With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Frank Austin. consider desertion – an ill-advised
many mishaps and adventures – Forrester Harvey. 63min. 35mm U 32min. 35mm from the collection of the crime with a harsh penalty.
including a troublesome gorilla, and Laurel and Hardy play a couple of Library of Congress. U
+ Towed in a Hole
Ollie and his nemesis, the hotel chef, down-and-outs who, after a piece The one where Ollie first says USA 1932. Dir George Marshall. 20min.
both falling for a chamber maid. of good luck, get sent overseas on ‘Here’s another nice mess you’ve Digital. U
+ County Hospital a scholarship to Oxford to receive gotten me into’ finds the duo visiting Stan and Ollie set off on a
USA 1932. Dir James Parrott. a formal education. They find an old country house for the reading commercial fishing expedition.
19min. 35mm restored print courtesy of themselves at the wrong end of a will, but they soon discover that
UCLA Film & Television Archive. U they’re suspects in a murder case –
of student pranks, get into trouble
This classic short sees Ollie in with the Deans, and discover that and in danger from the killer.
hospital with a broken leg. Stan has a noble heritage. It’s a
comedy masterclass.
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18:00 NFT2 20:40 NFT2 18:00 NFT3 20:30 NFT3 18:10 NFT2 18:00 NFT3
32 book online at bfi.org.ukSaps at Sea
Swiss Miss
TALK
Saps at Sea + The Chimp King’s Key Scholars in Film Studies: ‘I Want Music Everywhere’:
LAUREL AND HARDY
USA 1940. Dir Gordon Douglas. With Stan USA 1932. Dir James Parrott. With Stan Laurel, Music and Slapstick in Laurel and Hardy’s Early Sound Films
Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson. 57min. Oliver Hardy, Bobby Burns. 25min. Digital. U TRT 90min
Digital. U Two bumbling circus performers end In the latest in this series of lectures King will also consider how these
Stan and Ollie’s final film with the up in possession of a flea circus and featuring world-leading scholars, innovations took a different turn
Hal Roach Studio finds Ollie with Ethel, a chimp dressed in a tutu and Professor Rob King (Columbia University) a few years later in a series of
‘hornophobia’ caused by working in a a hat. But Ethel also happens to be looks at the role of music in one of feature-length operettas starring
horn factory for too long. The perfect the name of their landlord’s wife… the most important Hollywood studios Laurel and Hardy.
antidote appears to be a relaxing boat
of the early sound era, the Hal Roach Tickets £6.50
trip... until an escaped murderer joins
Studios, whose most famous stars Presented in partnership with Department
them on board. of Film Studies, King’s College London
were Laurel and Hardy. Exploring the
studio’s innovation of jazzy ‘wall-to-wall’
musical scores, King’s talk will shed
new light on the ways in which film
scoring was used to enhance
slapstick pacing and tempo.
WED 23 JAN SUN 27 JAN MON 21 JAN
20:40 NFT2 18:15 NFT3 18:10 NFT3
@BFI 33The timeless films we urge you
to see (for just £8), programmed
by theme
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
THINGS THAT GO BUMP Dead of Night
IN THE NIGHT UK 1945. Dirs Alberto Cavalcanti,
Charles Chrichton, Basil Dearden,
Our daily classics this month Robert Hamer. With Michael Redgrave,
Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers.
feature some disquieting 103min. Digital. PG
titles filled with haunted This British horror anthology film
houses, spiritual threats and The Innocents + intro by Lucy Bolton, Queen Mary University of London*
features several eerie tales that
night-time chills. There are UK 1961. Dir Jack Clayton. With Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave, Peter Wyngarde. 100min.
unfold during an evening in a
country house. The most chilling is
silent titles that unsettled Digital. 12A
undoubtedly the final story, which
Based on Henry James’ The Turn of the history of the property, and is
audiences almost a century the Screw, The Innocents follows forced to question her own sanity.
features Redgrave as a ventriloquist
ago, such as Häxan and a newly appointed governess who With stunningly atmospheric
who believes his dummy is real.
With stories by HG Wells and
The Phantom of the Opera, is responsible for two children at cinematography from Freddie Francis
EF Benson, and an impressive line-up
two of the greatest vampire a large country estate. As she starts and a fantastic score, this is a treat
of directing talent, Dead of Night
to suspect that her wards might be on the big screen.
films made in the 1930s, possessed by spirits, she uncovers
is more than capable of delivering
its share of scares.
and Tim Burton on fine Also available on
form with comic scares
in Beetlejuice.
JUSTIN JOHNSON,
LEAD PROGRAMMER
TUE 8 JAN SAT 12 JAN THU 17 JAN
See p44 for Terror Vision 20:40 NFT2 20:40 NFT2 14:30 STUDIO
THU 3 JAN SUN 6 JAN WED 9 JAN SUN 27 JAN FRI 25 JAN
Tickets for these screenings are only £8 20:40 NFT2 17:50 NFT2 18:10 NFT3* 20:05 NFT3 18:20 NFT2
book online at bfi.org.ukNight of the Demon (aka Curse of
the Demon)
UK 1957. Dir Jacques Tourneur.
With Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins,
Niall MacGinnis. 95min. Digital. PG
‘It’s in the trees, it’s coming...’
Jacques Tourneur’s film is based
Cat People on a story by MR James and features Beetlejuice + intro by Justin Johnson, Lead Programmer*
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
USA 1942. Dir Jacques Tourneur. a satanic cult, an eerie séance and USA 1988. Dir Tim Burton. With Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin. 92min.
With Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway. a demonic threat. Night of the Demon Digital. 12A
73min. Digital. PG is now considered a gothic classic, Tim Burton’s second feature is Keaton as Betelgeuse, a crude spirit
A young couple find their relationship and was chosen by Martin Scorsese the ultimate haunted-house movie. trying to help a recently deceased
tested by her belief that she’s descended as one of the scariest horror films It features a belting soundtrack by ghost couple rid their home of
from a line of feline people who of all times. Danny Elfman, impressive visual new inhabitants. This fun, scary,
can transform into panthers when effects (a mixture of stop-motion, outrageous comic fantasy firmly
aroused and are capable of killing. prosthetics and chroma key) and put Burton on the map.
This classic, atmospheric tale of a knockout performance from
suspense draws upon the power of
suggestion, and depicted its horror
in a groundbreaking and chillingly
effective way that proved sometimes
less is more.
MON 7 JAN FRI 18 JAN THU 10 JAN MON 14 JAN MON 28 JAN FRI 4 JAN WED 30 JAN
20:45 NFT3 20:40 NFT2 20:40 NFT2 20:40 NFT2 18:20 NFT2 20:50 NFT3 18:10 NFT3*
@BFI 35Gaslight + intro by Nathalie Morris, The Old Dark House
BFI National Archive Curator* USA 1932. Dir James Whale.
UK 1940. Dir Thorold Dickinson. With Boris Karloff, Raymond Massey,
With Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart. 72min.
Frank Pettingell. 84min. Digital. PG Digital 4K. PG
Despite MGM’s attempts to dispose Five travellers find themselves
of it so as not to rival their lavish stranded in the Welsh mountains
remake four years later, Thorold during a huge storm and are drawn
towards an old, deserted house run
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
Dickinson’s Gaslight thankfully
survives. Newlyweds Paul and Bella by a sinister brother and sister and
arrive at a house that has been their mute butler (Karloff). In a film
empty for years, having previously considered lost for many years,
been the scene of a murder, and it James Whale uses macabre humour
soon becomes clear to Bella that her and things that go bump in the night
Häxan Witchcraft Through the Ages new home has been vacant for to tell a very creepy story. You can’t
Sweden-Denmark 1922. Dir Benjamin Christensen. With Benjamin Christensen, good reason. Gaslight has a sense of call yourself a horror fan until you’ve
Clara Pontoppidan, Oscar Stribolt, Maren Pedersen. c106min. Digital. menace that enthrals throughout. seen The Old Dark House.
*With live piano accompaniment. **With Matti Bye Ensemble score. EST. 15 Also available on
Even upon release, Häxan’s status as Part documentary, part re-enactment,
a great work of cinema was never this silent, well-researched study of
under question, but its ‘unadulterated witchcraft and superstition adopts
horror’ led some critics to consider a subversive, surrealist approach
it ‘unfit for public exhibition.’ that makes it both a chilling curio
and a masterpiece in its own right.
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18:10 NFT3* 18:15 NFT3** 16:10 STUDIO 18:10 NFT3* 15:40 NFT1 20:40 NFT3 20:45 NFT3 18:30 NFT1
36 book online at bfi.org.ukThe Phantom of the Opera
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
USA 1925. Dir Rupert Julian. With Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry. 90min.
Digital. With Carl Davis score. PG
This silent classic, made only 15 years Christine, understudy to the prima
after Gaston Leroux’s novel was donna of the company. After some
published, features Lon Chaney as ghostly sightings and other scares,
the ‘Phantom’ of the Paris Opera Christine comes face to face with
House, who becomes fixated on him – but is he a man or a monster? Dracula
the beautiful and vocally talented Also available on USA 1931. Dir Tod Browning. With Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners. 74min.
Digital. PG
After a successful lawsuit against Count Dracula, a vampire who resides
Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu, Bram Stoker’s in a Transylvanian castle and feasts
widow sold the rights to Universal for upon the blood of young women.
this horror classic, which sees Lugosi The role that defined his career is
reprise his successful Broadway role as powerful and compelling.
SAT 5 JAN TUE 15 JAN MON 21 JAN SAT 26 JAN TUE 29 JAN
18:20 NFT2 20:40 NFT3 20:45 NFT2 16:10 NFT3 20:30 NFT3
@BFI 37Vampyr Vampyr: Der traum des Allan Gray The Others + intro by Anna Bogutskaya, Events Programmer*
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
Germany-France 1932. Dir Carl Theodor Dreyer. With Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel. USA-Spain-France-Italy 2001. Dir Alejandro Amenábar. With Nicole Kidman, James Bentley,
82min. Digital. EST. PG Alakina Mann, Christopher Eccleston. 104min. 35mm 12A
As one of two very different vampire His first sound film was shot in Alejandro Amenábar’s chilling hears voices, and her daughter
pictures released within a year of three languages on location and uses drama owes as much to The Turn of reports sightings of other people.
each other, this is an interesting soft focus to enhance the atmosphere the Screw as it does to more recent Kidman has rarely been better,
companion piece to Tod Browning’s and make for a delightfully horror stories. Grace Stewart and her capturing the paranoia of a fragile
commercially successful Dracula. unsettling viewing experience. two children live in a large country woman trying desperately to protect
Here, Danish auteur Dreyer offers Also available on house after WWII. Grace becomes her family.
a different, more experimental increasingly unsettled when she
take on the vampire story.
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20:45 NFT1 18:20 NFT2 18:30 NFT1 19:50 NFT3 18:10 NFT3*
38 book online at bfi.org.ukYou can also read
