NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas

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NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2019 ISSUE 76

JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN

NON-FICTION
NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
T HE C I N E M AT I C E V E N T OF THE YEAR
                                                      “PERFECT ESCAPISM”                    “SENSATIONAL”
       “FIRST CLASS.                                      Frances Hedges, Harper’s Bazaar       Sam Taylor, The Lady

A TRUE DELIGHT.”   Marie Claire
                                                   “EFFORTLESSLY CHARMING” “LUSCIOUSLY FILMED”
                                                            Baz Bamigboye, Daily Mail          Kate Green, Country Life

                                  ONLY IN CINEMA S SEPTEMBER 13
NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
CONTENTS
                                                             WELCOME
CINEMAS		                           6
MEMBERSHIP                          8

CURZON ON DEMAND                 12

CURZON SELECTOR                  14
                                        A selection of gems transported from the small to big screen –
BERTHA DOCHOUSE                  16     and back again – celebrate the versatility of modern storytelling
NEW RELEASES                     18     and viewing habits in the Curzon early autumn programme.
                                        The BAFTA-winning Fleabag originated as a stage show at the
EVENTS		                        46      Edinburgh Fringe before Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s modernist
FEATURES                        52      comic genius was talent-spotted for TV. Waller-Bridge is back
                                        on stage with Fleabag (p.21), at the National Theatre, and looks
                                        set to break box office records as an NT Live broadcast to
Editor                                  Curzon Cinemas. My urgent plea is BOOK NOW! We’ve already
Ian Haydn Smith                         sold out many screenings. In fact, such is the high demand,
Designer                                we are hastily scheduling week-long runs of the show in our
Hannah Attwell                          main programmes. They’ll start at Soho from 17 September
Contributors:                           and expand to the rest of our circuit from 27th. One-off ‘event
Wendy Ide | Philip Kemp |               cinema’ broadcasts now count for 8% of our admissions, but
Tricia Tuttle                           Fleabag’s exhilarating popularity is a true phenomenon.
                                             Another Emmy and BAFTA-winning TV show, Downton
       curzon.cinemas                   Abbey (p.20), gets the cinematic treatment when it comes to
                                        town this autumn. Or should I say, ‘visits the country’, as a royal
       CurzonCinemas                    visitation to the Granthams’ stirs up the house, both upstairs
       curzoncinemas                    and down. An Academy Award winner for Gosford Park,
                                        screenwriter Julian Fellowes takes the writing credit for his
                                        creation, with Imelda Staunton and Matthew Goode making
Operated by CURZON CINEMAS
2nd Floor, 20-22 Stukeley Street,       their Abbey debuts alongside the regular cast.
London WC2B 5LR                              Of the films available on both the big and small screen
Participant in the Europa Cinemas/
European Union Media Programme
                                        – in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema – two new films
At the time of going to print every
                                        from great contemporary French directors stand out. Olivier
effort was made to ensure the           Assayas’s Non-Fiction (p.32) is a publishing-world sex comedy
information contained in this
programme was correct. However,         starring Juliette Binoche. While François Ozon takes on the
where circumstances dictate, we         Catholic Church in By The Grace Of God (p.38), a film being
reserve the right to make changes.
                                        dubbed the ‘French Spotlight’.
CURZON CINEMAS Limited 1934.
Registered in London:                        Finally, the programming team’s must-sees include
Company no:283280. Est.1934.
CURZON and CURZON CINEMAS               heart-warming Sundance prizewinner The Farewell (p.22) and
are registered trade marks,             Chris Morris’s war-on-terror satire The Day Shall Come (p.28).
no:2291124 and no.2424017
                                                                                                                           IN CINEMAS SEPTEMBER 27
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
                                                                                                                          #TheGoldfinch   @warnerbrosuk   @warnerbrosuk   @WarnerBrosUK
                                              registered to Environmental Management system ISO14001 and are Forest
                                              Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certified

4
NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
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CINEMAS
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          VICTORIA
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               Victoria                         Castle Square

          WIMBLEDON
          23 The Broadway, SW19 1RE               Café             Bar
               Wimbledon
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NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
CUR Z ON MEMBER S

          CURZON12                                                              CURZON MEMBERSHIP CURZON.COM/MEMBERSHIP
          The most prestigious event in the UK film calendar, the               To make sure you have access to exclusive members’ previews, priority event cinema
          London Film Festival is with us once again. To celebrate this         booking, free tickets and much more, join Curzon membership. Prices start from only £40.
          feast of films and filmmaker events, Curzon Home Cinema               Our standard member benefits are:
          will be programming a series of past festival favourites –
                                                                                4 FREE TICKETS | DISCOUNTED TICKETS | NO BOOKING FEES |
          some well-known titles and other lesser-known gems.
                                                                                DISCOUNTED FOOD + DRINK | DISCOUNTS ON CURZON HOME CINEMA | CURZON12 |
                                                                                PREVIEWS + PRIORITY BOOKINGS | AND MUCH MORE…..

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                                                                                venue or online at curzon.com/student
MEMBERS
                                                                              MEMBERS’ PREVIEWS
                                                                              Members’ preview screenings throughout September and October will include
                                                                              NON-FICTION See page 32 for synopsis
                                                                              BY THE GRACE OF GOD See page 38 for synopsis
                                                                              For venues and times, go to: CURZONCINEMAS.COM/MEMBERSPREVIEWS

           We Need to Talk About Kevin

                                         START STREAMING
                                         Curzon members can access all
                                         the titles on Curzon12 for free.
                                         Members automatically have a
                                         Curzon cinemas account, so just
                                         sign in and the collection will be
                                         yours to enjoy.
                                         Find out more at:
                                         CURZONCINEMAS.COM/CURZON12            Non-Fiction

                                                                                                                                                                           9
NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
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
                                                                           them your way.
                                                                           NON-FICTION 18 OCT |   See page 32 for synopsis

                                                                           RECOMMENDED
                                                                           MAIDEN 30 SEPT
ON DEMAND
                                                                           In 1989, Tracy Edwards skippered the first all-female team
                                                                           in the Whitbread around the world yacht race. When she
                                                                           announced her plan, no one thought she could muster up
                                                                           a capable crew or the financing for the venture. She did.
                                                                           When she lined up for the start of the race, the media
                                                                           treated her like a joke. But the last laugh was hers. Alex
                                                                           Holmes’ documentary, an account of the preparations
                                                                           leading up to the race and the race itself, is an engrossing,
                                                                           thrilling and, ultimately, moving portrait of a group of women
                                                                           who refused to accept ‘no’ in response to their dream.
                                                                                                                                            DISCOVER
                                                                           COMING SOON:                                                     Gems not to be missed
                                                                           OUT OF BLUE 2 SEPT                                               THUNDER ROAD 20 SEPT
                                                                           BEATS 9 SEPT
                                                                                                                                            Jim Arnaud is not having the
                                                                           JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM 16 SEPT
            BY THE GRACE OF GOD
                                                                                                                                            best day, week, year or even
                                                                           SOMETIMES ALWAYS NEVER 14 OCT                                    life. Things have not gone to
                                                                           SUPPORT THE GIRLS 21 OCT                                         plan for him and they seem
                                                                                                                                            likely to get worse. Recently
            Director: François Ozon
                                                                                                                                            divorced and grieving his
            Starring: Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud, Melvil Poupaud,
                                                                                                                                            deceased mother, the police
            Éric Caravaca, François Marthouret, Bernard Verley,
                                                                                                                                            officer seems to be edging
            Josiane Balasko
                                                                                                                                            towards a breakdown. All of
                                                                                                                                            which might suggest this is
            François Ozon’s 18th feature finds him at his most serious,                                                                     a bleak US indie drama. Far
            presenting a powerful, urgent account of a cover-up in                                                                          from it. Writer-director-star
            the French Catholic church. Denis Ménochet, who was                                                                             Jim Cummings’ SXSW Film
            outstanding as the Farmer in the opening chapter of Quentin                                                                     Festival winner is just that –
            Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, is stunning here, playing a                                                                    one of the most winning and
            man whose demons are barely contained as he decides to                                                                          outrageous character studies
            join other former victims of abuse in challenging the                                                                           you’ll see this or any year.
            authority of what should be an institution beyond reproach.                                                                     But you’ll definitely come
                                                                                                                                            away from it glad that you’re
                                                                                                                                            not in Jim Arnaud’s shoes.
                                                                            Maiden
            25 OCT ON CURZONHOMECINEMA.COM
                                                                                                                                                                        13
NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
CURZON SELECTOR
MEMBERS OF THE CURZON TEAM PICK THEIR FAVOURITES FROM THE UPCOMING RELEASES

DOWNTON ABBEY           PG                        THE FAREWELL          12A

For five years, the residents of the eponymous    This is a must for fans of Crazy Rich Asians.
estate and their staff were a popular fixture     That film cemented Awkwafina’s star status.
on television. No sooner had they departed        Here she proves herself to be a skilled actor,
from our screens than the Windsors took           playing a young women visiting her
up residence with The Crown. Now, in an           grandmother. The old woman is dying but
aristocratic variation on the WWE celebrity       has not been told and Awkwafina’s character
tag-team, this feature-length version of          is troubled by this secrecy. It’s a sensitive
Julian Fellowes’ internationally beloved series   performance and likely to feature prominently
has the Granthams playing host to members         come the awards season.
of the Royal Family. See page 20                  See page 24

                                                  AD ASTRA      TBC

                                                  Although he’s skirted the fringes of science
                                                  fiction (Twelve Monkeys, voicing Terrence
                                                  Malick’s ethereal Voyage of Time), this is Brad
                                                  Pitt’s first cinematic journey into outer space.
                                                  And in the hands of James Gray (Little
                                                  Odessa, The Yards, The Lost City of Z), it’s an
                                                  epic exploration of the ties that bind families,
                                                  even across the vast expanse of the universe.
Ad Astra, 2019                                    See page 22

JOKER TBC                                         BILLY CONNOLLY: THE SEX LIFE
                                                  OF BANDAGES
The Internet has been abuzz with talk
about this film since it was announced that       For those not present at Billy Connolly’s
Joaquin Phoenix was on board to play the          acclaimed and sell-out Australian tour, the title
deranged villain. Directed by Todd Philips        of this film offers up something both mysterious
(the Hangover series, Due Date and political      and unpalatable. However, as Connolly is this
satire War Dogs), this is likely to be a world    country’s most beloved and successful
away from Zac Snyder’s recent DC                  comedian, a genius whose unpredictability on
adaptations, presenting a grittier portrait       stage is part of his appeal, expect nothing less
of how Arthur Fleck became the nemesis of         than a riotous and inventive barrage of jokes,
Gotham city. See page 26                          observations and, well, bandages. See page 49
NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
NON-FICTION JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN - Curzon Cinemas
NEW RELEASES   IT CHAPTER TWO

               Bill Skarsgård, Jessica
               Chastain, James McAvoy,
                                      15

               Director: Andy Muschietti
               Starring: Finn Wolfhard,

               Sophia Lillis, Jack Dylan
                                                 ROJO 15
                                                 Director: Benjamín Naishtat
                                                 Starring: Darío Grandinetti,
                                                 Andrea Frigerio, Alfredo Castro,
                                                 Diego Cremonesi
                                                 Argentina, Brazil, France,
               Grazer, Bill Hader,               Netherlands, Germany, Belgium,
               James Ransone                     Switzerland 2019 | 109 mins
               US 2019 | 169 mins                Spanish with English subtitles

               Just when you thought it was      Lawyer Claudio carries with
               safe to go back to the town       him an air of superiority, as
               once terrorised by a psycho       evinced in the way he berates
               clown… The group of kids          a man in a restaurant. But
               who survived the murderous        that encounter is soon to have
               antics of Pennywise realise       repercussions that threaten
               in adulthood that they hadn’t     to change his life forever. Set
               quite vanquished their            just prior to the Argentina’s
               clownish foe. Andy Muschietti’s   1975 coup d’état, Benjamín
               impressive adaptation of          Naishtat’s drama has all the

                                                                                    TEHRAN:
               Stephen King’s beloved novel      tension of Pablo Trapero’s
               ups the ante as Richie,           The Clan whilst offering a
               Beverly and their friends         withering satire on masculinity
               attempt to stop Pennywise         in the style of Ruben Östlund’s

                                                                                    CITY OF LOVE
               once and for all.                 Force Majeure.

               OPENS: FRI 6 SEPT                 OPENS: FRI 6 SEPT
                                                                                    A FILM BY ALI   JABERANSARI
                                                                                      “Pitch-perfect deadpan humour helps paint a
                                                                                    picture of Tehran as you’ve never seen it before”
                                                                                               Elhum Shakerifar, LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

                                                                                                        HHHHH
                                                                                            “A beautifully paced tragicomedy”
                                                                                                          THE UPCOMING

                                                                                                     BEIJING INTERNATIONAL
                                                                                                          FILM FESTIVAL
                                                                                                          BEST ACTRESS
                                                                                                     FOROUGH GHAJABAGLI

                                                                                    FOROUGH GHAJABAGLI
                                                                                    MEHDI SAKI
                                                                                    AMIR HESSAM BAKHTIARI
                                                                                    BEHNAZ JAFARI
                                                                                    IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 2019
                                                                                                                                        www.newwavefilms.co.uk
N EW RELEAS ES                                                                                                                                                                                          NEW R ELEASES

THE SHINY SHRIMPS 15               DOWNTON ABBEY PG                    PHOENIX 18                           FOR SAMA 18                         HUSTLERS TBC                       FLEABAG 15
Directors: Maxime Govare,          Director: Michael Engler            Director: Camilla Strøm              Directors: Waad al-Kateab,          Director: Lorene Scarfia           Director: Vicky Jones
Cédric Le Gallo                    Starring: Hugh Bonneville,          Henriksen                            Edward Watts                        Starring: Constance Wu,            Featuring: Phoebe Waller-
Starring: Nicolas Gob, Alban       Maggie Smith, Michelle              Starring: Ylva Bjørkaas Thedin,      Featuring: Waad Al-Kateab,          Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles,      Bridge
Lenoir, Michaël Abiteboul, David   Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern,        Maria Bonnevie, Sverrir Gudnason,    Hamza Al-Kateab                     Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart,        UK 2019 | 110 mins
Baïot, Romain Lancry, Roland       Joanne Froggatt, Penelope           Casper Falck-Løvås, Kjersti          UK 2019 | 100 mins                  Cardi B, Lizzo, Madeline Brewer,
Menou, Geoffrey Couët              Wilton, Jim Carter, Matthew         Sandal, Renate Reinsve, Nils Vogt                                        Mercedes Ruehl                     Over two BAFTA-winning
France 2019 | 100 mins             Goode                               Norway 2018 | 100 mins               As the initially peaceful           US 2019 | 107 mins                 television series, Phoebe
French + English with English      UK 2019 | 122 mins                  Norwegian with English subtitles     Syrian uprising gained                                                 Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, a
subtitles                                                                                                   ground in 2011, Waad                Fed up with witnessing the         portrait of a young woman’s
                                   The cinematic spin-off of the       Ylva Bjørkaas Thedin is              al-Kateab picked up a               greed of fat cat financiers        travails in everyday life, has
Matthias Le Goff is a French       popular TV series reunites          outstanding as Jill, a teenage       camera and documented               who live off the misery of         become a something of a
swimming champion. He’s also       us with all our favourite           girl having to prop up her           what happened over the              others, a group of strip club      sensation. This NT Live series
a homophobe. A tirade caught       characters at the aristocratic      family in Camilla Strøm              next five years. It included        employees decide to play           screening of Waller-Bridge’s
on camera results in his being     country pile, with the added        Henriksen’s impressive debut.        her marriage and the birth          with the system and enact          hilarious and fearless one-
ordered to join a gay water        fizz of a royal visit and all the   News arrives that the family         of her daughter, to whom            their own form of robbery.         woman stage show receives
polo team as part of a PR          pomp that that entails. The         are to receive a visitor, but it’s   the film is dedicated. But it       Inspired by a New York             extensive encores at our
exercise. He agrees, but what      additional cast is impressive,      unlikely to help their situation.    also details life in a city under   Magazine article, this             cinemas due to its huge
soon outrages him the most is      but they’ll have to hold their      Playing with thriller elements,      constant attack from aerial         all-star-cast – led by             popularity. It offers the chance
that the team has no desire to     own against Maggie Smith’s          this unsettling chamber              bombings and mortar fire.           Jennifer Lopez – offer up          to see where it all began. It’s
win. It’s a smart set-up for a     matriarch and her withering         drama creates a compelling           See page 46 for details of          a fast-paced version of            a stunning performance in a
fun fish-out-of-water comedy.      put-downs..                         atmosphere.                          a DocDays event.                    a heist movie.                     prescient comedy-drama.

OPENS: FRI 6 SEPT                  OPENS: FRI 13 SEPT                  OPENS: FRI 13 SEPT                   OPENS: FRI 13 SEPT                  OPENS: FRI 13 SEPT                 OPENS: TUE 17 SEPT

20                                                                                                                                                                                                                 21
AD ASTRA TBC
Director: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler,
Tommy Lee Jones, Donald
                                  Roy McBride is working on the upper fringe of the Earth’s
                                  atmosphere when an event that becomes known as The
                                  Surge affects the entire planet. He discovers that it may be
                                                                                                 BFI SOUTHBANK
                                                                                                 CINEMAS | MEDIATHEQUE | LIBRARY | SHOP | BARS | RESTAURANTS
Sutherland, Ruth Negga, John      connected to his astronaut father who disappeared years
Ortiz, Loren Dean, Greg Bryk,     before. Roy is tasked with journeying into space to find the   ALSO SHOWING IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER
Kimberly Elise                    solution and even his father. James Gray (The Lost City
US 2019 | 124 mins                of Z) sends us into the darkest corners of the solar system
                                  in this existential sci-fi adventure.
                                                                                                 CARY GRANT                    MIDNIGHT COWBOY
                                                                                                 Britain’s Greatest Export     A new 4k Restoration
                                  OPENS: FRI 18 SEPT
                                                                                                 ANGELA BASSETT                BFI MUSICALS!
                                                                                                 Queen of the Screen           The Greatest Show on Screen
NEW RELEAS ES                                                                                                                                                                                     NEW R ELEASES

THE FAREWELL 12A                                  THE GOLDFINCH 15
                                                                                                      HOTEL MUMBAI 15                    THE THIRD MAN PG                      WEREWOLF 15
Director: Lulu Wang                               Director: John Crowley
Starring: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin,           Starring: Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Aneurin       Director: Anthony Maras            Director: Carol Reed                  Director: Adrian Panek
Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong, Jiang Yongbo,              Barnard,                                            Starring: Armie Hammer, Dev        Starring: Joseph Cotton, Orson        Starring: Sonia Mietielica, Kamil
Gil Perez-Abraham, Ines Laimins, Han Chen         Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson,          Patel, Nazanin Boniadi, Tilda      Welles, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard,   Polnisiak, Danuta Stenka, Nicolas
                                                  Jeffrey Wright, Nicole Kidman                       Cobham-Hervey, Anupam Kher         Bernard Lee, Paul Hörbiger            Przygoda, Werner Daehn, Jakub
US 2019 | 100 mins
                                                                                                      India, Australia, US 2018 | 122    UK 1949 | 149 mins                    Syska, Helena Mazur
English and Mandarin with English subtitles       US 2019 | 149 mins
                                                                                                      mins | Multiple languages with     English, German and Russian           Poland, Netherlands, Germany
Opening with the line ‘Based on an actual lie’,   The first of Donna Tartt’s bestselling novels to    English subtitles                  with English subtitles                2018 | 88 mins
Lulu Wang’s moving drama tells the story of       be adapted for the screen is also one of the                                                                                 Polish, German and Russian
a family who, on hearing that their ageing        major film events of the year. It tells the story   The terrorist attack on Mumbai     A novelist travels through the        with English subtitles
grandmother has terminal cancer, decide           of Theodore Decker, whose life is changed           in 2008 is recreated with          occupied streets of post-
                                                                                                      forensic detail in Anthony         Second World War Vienna,              Following the liberation of
not to tell her. Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians,    following the death of his mother, an event
                                                                                                      Maras’ harrowing drama. Like       investigating the death of an         the Concentration Camps, a
Ocean’s Eight) is on impressive form as the       that leads him into a world of crime. Ansel
                                                                                                      United 93, the film places us      old friend. That’s the set-up         group of parentless children
granddaughter who travels to China to visit       Elgort is impressive in the lead and is
                                                                                                      in the middle of the events as     of this glorious European             hole up in a deserted mansion
her Gran and has mixed feelings about             supported by a stellar cast, while John Crowley
                                                                                                      they unfold, resulting in a film   noir, which is dominated by           in a forest. But reality and
the deception.                                    (Brooklyn, Boy A) directs with sensitivity.
                                                                                                      that exists halfway between        Orson Welles’ charismatic             fantasy begin to blur as they
OPENS: FRI 20 SEPT                                OPENS: FRI 27 SEPT                                  drama and documentary.             performance as the mercurial          eke out an existence. Adrian
                                                                                                      Dev Patel is particularly good     Harry Lime. This is a                 Panek’s award-winning
                                                                                                      as an employee at                  breathtaking restoration of           allegorical tale is a richly
                                                                                                      the besieged hotel.                Carol Reed’s masterpiece..            rewarding film.

                                                                                                      OPENS: FRI 27 SEPT                 OPENS: SUN 29 SEPT                    OPENS: FRI 4 0CT

24                                                                                                                                                                                                           25
N EW RELEAS ES

GOOD POSTURE TBC                 JOKER TBC                         JUDY 12A
Director: Dolly Wells            Director: Todd Phillips
                                                                                                                    ★★★★★
                                                                   Director: Rupert Goold                                    Little White Lies
Featuring: Grace Van Patten,     Starring: Joaquin Phoenix,        Starring: Renée Zellweger,
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Timm         Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz,      Jessie Buckley, Rufus Sewell,
Sharp, John Early, Emily         Frances Conroy, Shea Wigham,      Michael Gambon, Bella                    “SENSATIONAL”
Mortimer, Nat Wolff, Condola     Brian Tyree Henry, Marc Maron,    Ramsey, Finn Wittrock, Andy                            David Gritten, Saga

Rashad                           Bryan Callen                      Nyman, Fenella Woolgar
US 2019 | 91 mins                US 2019 | TBC mins                UK 2019 | 118 mins
                                                                                                            “MAGNIFICENT”
                                                                                                                      Nina Nannar, ITV News
Stepping behind the camera       Forget the recent Gotham-         It’s 1969. Judy Garland has
after playing the kindly         set blockbusters. Todd Philips’   seen her best years. But a
bookseller in Can You Ever       re-boot of the Joker story is a   chance to perform in London              “EXCEPTIONAL”
Forgive Me?, Dolly Wells’        super-villain movie by way of     offers financial support and                  Tom Macklin, Harper’s Bazaar
directorial debut is a comedy    early 1970s American cinema,      one final shot in the limelight.
about friendship set in New      offering up a dark and troubled   Renée Zellweger gives a
York. Grace Van Patten (the      portrait of damaged soul          sensational performance                      “AMAZING”
hilarious daughter in The        Arthur Fleck, who transforms      in Rupert Goold’s moving                                      Psychologies

Meyerowitz Stories) excels       into the city’s most outrageous   tribute, conveying the iconic
as a bratty but lonely student   nemesis. And Joaquin Phoenix      Hollywood star’s charisma on
who ends up living in the        plays him as a complex,           stage and her troubled life
                                                                                                               “DAZZLING”
                                                                                                                        Jason Solomons, BBC
house of an irascible writer.    twisted figure.                   behind closed doors..

OPENS: FRI 4 OCT                 OPENS: FRI 4 OCT                  OPENS: FRI 4 OCT
                                                                                                                    ★★★★★
                                                                                                                                     Attitude

                                                                                                      IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 2
26
N EW RELEAS ES
                                                                                                     A FILM BY CHRIS MORRIS DIRECTOR OF ‘FOUR LIONS’

                                                                                                           “DEVASTATINGLY FUNNY...
                                                                                                          CHRIS MORRIS’ FINEST WORK”
                                                                                                                            THE BIG ISSUE

THE DAY SHALL COME           15                    FARMING         TBC

Director: Christopher Morris                       Director: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Starring: Marchánt Davis, Anna Kendrick,           Starring: Damson Idris, Kate Beckinsale, John
Danielle Brooks, Denis O’Hare, Jim Gaffigan,       Dagleish, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jamie Winstone,
Miles Robbins, Kayvan Novak, Danielle Brooks       Genevieve Nnaji, Zephan Amissah
UK, US 2019 | 88 mins                              UK 2018 | 107 mins

Moses (a star-making turn by Marchánt Davis)       ‘Farming’ was the term given to a practice in
wants nothing more than to make the world          the 1960s and 70s by which recent Nigerian
a better place. To do so he decides to form an     arrivals in the UK would pay for their children
army of god, but can only find three conscripts.   to live with white families. It’s what Adewale
FBI Kendra Glack (Anna Kendrick) needs to          Akinnuoye-Agbaje experienced first-hand
uncover a domestic terrorist plot to please        and his powerful semi-autobiographical film
her boss. So she makes Moses the patsy in a        shows how he turned on his own heritage to
conspiracy. Chris Morris (Brass Eye) follows       become the member of an all-white skinhead
up Four Lions with another sharp satire.           gang with connections to the National Front.

OPENS: FRI 11 OCT                                  OPENS: FRI 11 OCT

                                                                                                            A COMEDY BASED ON A HUNDRED TRUE STORIES

28
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                                                                                                       W I L L S MI T H                           W I L L S MI T H

TEHRAN: CITY OF LOVE            TBC                  GEMINI MAN          TBC

Director: Ali Jaberansari                            Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Frough Ghajabagli, Mehdi Saki,             Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead,
Amir Hessam Bakhtiari, Behnaz Jafari                 Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, Theodora Miranne,
Iran, UK, Netherlands 2018 | 102 mins                Douglas Hodge, Ralph Brown, Linda Emond
Persian with English subtitles                       China, US 2019 | TBC mins

                                                                                                                   WHO WILL
Hessam Fazli is champion bodybuilder                 Now past his prime, assassin Henry Brogan                     SAVE YOU
desperate to act in a film that he thinks will       finds he’s is no longer at the top of his game.                 FROM
star Louis Garrel. Young Arshia is training to       But he has a shock when he discovers who                      YOURSEL F
be a bodybuilder and looks up to Hessam.             his replacement is, particularly as they’re
Mina Shamsi is a receptionist at a beauty            assigned to kill him. Ang Lee enters the action
clinic. What they share is a sense of loneliness     fray in some style with his state-of-the-art
in the Iranian capital. Ali Jaberansari’s touching   (it’s shot on 4K 3D and at 120 frames per
film is a nuanced portrait of the city and three     second) cat-and-mouse identity thriller
lives that struggle every day in it.                 featuring Will Smith and, er, Will Smith.

OPENS: FRI 11 OCT                                    OPENS: FRI 11 OCT

                                                                                                                   GeminiManMovie.co.uk   /GeminiManUK   #GeminiMan

                                                                                                            IN     , 3D & 2D CINEMAS
                                                                                                                 COMING SOON
30
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                                                                                                        “A P O W ERF UL & V I TA L FIL M A BOU T L IE S ,
                                                                                                      DECEP T ION & ONE W OM A N’S FIGH T FOR T RU T H”
                                                                                                                             BA Z BAMIGBOYE

                                                                                                               “K NIGH T L E Y I S SEN S AT ION A L”
                                                                                                                               THE TIMES

AMERICAN WOMAN            TBC   OFFICIAL SECRETS TBC               NON-FICTION         15

Director: Jake Scott            Director: Gavin Hood               Director: Olivier Assayas
Starring: Sienna Miller,        Starring: Keira Knightley,         Starring: Guillaume Canet,
Christina Hendricks, Aaron      MyAnna Buring, Matthew             Juliette Binoche, Vincent
Paul, Will Sasso, Pat Healy,    Goode, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys         Macaigne, Nora Hamzawi,
Amy Madigan, Sky Ferreira,      Ifans, Matt Smith, Indira Varma,   Christa Théret, Pascal
Macon Blair                     Conleth Hill, Tamsin Grieg         Greggory, Laurent Poitrenaux
UK, US 2018 | 118 mins          UK, US 2019 | 112 mins             France 2018 | 107 mins
                                                                   French with English subtitles
When a young woman goes         Katherine Gun’s job involved       + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
missing, her mother calls       handling top-secret
on the local community to       communications. Reading            Alain is the director at an
help, as she tries to hide      information that goes against      esteemed publishing house.
her anguish from her            the official line on support for   Selena is an actor. The couple
granddaughter. Jake Scott’s     the 2003 invasion of Iraq,         have been married for years
small-town drama finally        she is faced with a dilemma:       and they lead complex personal
gives Sienna Miller the role    keep quiet or speak out and        lives. They’re also the centre
that her talent deserves.       face imprisonment? Gavin           of a cultural circle that this
It’s a powerhouse               Hood’s (Eye in the Sky) film       witty, intelligent drama moves
performance that grounds        is an impassioned tribute to       around. It’s a film that employs
this moving film in an          a woman who risked all for         ideas to explore its characters
all-too-believable reality.     her country.                       and does so with panache.

OPENS: FRI 11 OCT               OPENS: FRI 18 OCT                  OPENS: FRI 18 OCT

                                                                                                                IN CINEM A S OCTOBER 18
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                                                                                                     THEY’RE CREEPY AND THEY’RE KOOKY
                                                                                                           MYSTERIOUS AND SPOOKY

                                                     A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE:
MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL                   TBC   FARMAGEDDON U
Director: Joachim Rønning                            Directors: Will Becher, Richard Phelan
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Michelle Pfeiffer, Elle    Voices: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Kate
Fanning, Sam Riley, Ed Skrein, Harris Dickinson,     Harbour
Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville        UK 2019 | 86 mins
US 2019 | TBC mins
                                                     Everyone’s favourite sheep is back in another
Princess Aurora once again attracts the              animated adventure. An alien has landed on
wrath of her mother when she announces she           Shaun’s farm and to help it get back home
is to be married. Her soon-to-be mother-in-          he and the flock are once again going to
law claims she will protect her, but is Queen        have to venture beyond their grassy
Ingrith all she claims to be? One thing’s for        pastures. But they’re pursued by scientists
certain: there’s a war coming. Angelina Jolie        who want to examine Shaun’s new friend.
once again dons that fabulous outfit,                It’s another triumph for the consistently
sharpens those cheekbones and lets rip in            brilliant Aardman animation - a film
glowering style, in this colourful Disney epic.      packed with hilarious visual gags.

OPENS: FRI 18 OCT                                    OPENS: FRI 18 OCT

                                                                                                            IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 25

                                                                                                                      © 2019 METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
                                                                                                               THE ADDAMS FAMILY™ TEE AND CHARLES ADDAMS FOUNDATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

                                                                                                                          T heAddamsFamilyM ovie. co. uk

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                                                                                                       “TOTALLY
                                                                                                      UNMISSABLE
                                                                                                        CINEMA”
THE ADDAMS FAMILY TBC                            MONOS       TBC                                     HHHHH
                                                                                                       The Hollywood News
Directors: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon           Director: Alejandro Landes
Voices: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron,            Starring: Sofia Buenaventura, Julian Giraldo,        “POWERFUL”
Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll,                                                               Variety
                                                 Karen Quintero, Laura Castrillón, Deiby Rueda,
Bette Midler, Allison Janney
US 2019 | TBC mins
                                                 Paul Cubides, Sneider Castro, Moises Arias
                                                 Colombia, Argentina, Netherlands, Germany,
                                                                                                     HHHHH
                                                                                                         The Independent
                                                 Sweden, Uruguay 2019 | 102 mins
Charles Addams’ beloved kooky family                                                                  “BRILLIANT”
started out as a sardonic comic strip in The     A group of bandits live high in the mountains     Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
New Yorker and now, after the popular TV         of South America. They’re savage, ruthless
series and film adaptations, they return to
animated form with this ghoulishly enjoyable
                                                 and armed to the teeth. And they’re also
                                                 teenagers. Alejandro Landes dazzling second
                                                                                                     HHHHHThe Guardian
reincarnation. It finds the Addams pitched       feature plays out like Lord of the Flies with
against a town that considers itself normal.     guns. The film exudes a near-hallucinatory            “UTTERLY
And when Wednesday befriends a girl at           tone as it takes us on a journey into an amoral      ABSORBING”
the local High School, things start to get       world where the leaderless gang bring fear              The Independent
very, very weird.                                as they move down into the thick jungle.

OPENS: FRI 25 OCT                                OPENS: FRI 25 OCT

                                                                                                                       IN CINEMAS NOVEMBER 1ST
38
“A HYPNOTIC COMING-OF-AGE STORY”
                                                                                                                                                   JONATHAN CHRISTIAN, THE PLAYLIST

                                                                                                        HHHH
                                                                                                          TIME OUT
                                                                                                                         HHHH
                                                                                                                            THE ARTS DESK
                                                                                                                                                        HHHH   EMPIRE
                                                                                                                                                                                       HHHH
                                                                                                                                                                                         DAILY EXPRESS
                                                                                                                                                                                                               HHHH
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  THE UPCOMING

                                                                                                              “VISUALLY STUNNING”                                       “TRULY REMARKABLE”
                                                                                                                          THE UPCOMING                                                  AESTHETICA MAGAZINE

                                                                                                         THE LAST TREE
                                                                                                                                 a       f i l m      b y     S H O L A               A M O O

BY THE GRACE OF GOD               15

Director: François Ozon                François Ozon’s film, by turns angry and compassionate, was
Starring: Denis Ménochet,              made with such urgency that the case it details – the Catholic
Swann Arlaud, Melvil Poupaud,          church’s alledged collusion in covering up a priest’s abuse
Éric Caravaca, François                of boys – had not yet been concluded in court. It’s a stark
Marthouret, Bernard Verley,            change for the director, but his film is an important record
Josiane Balasko                        of damaged lives ignored for too long. The cast are superb,
France, Belgium 2019 | 138             particularly the actors playing the victims. This is an urgent
mins | French with English             and exemplary film by Ozon.
subtitles | + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
                                       OPENS: FRI 25 OCT

                                                                                                        I N          C I N E M A S                             2 7               S E P T E M B E R
40
                                                                                                              TheLastTreeFilm        WWW.THELASTTREE.FILM                                                #TheLastTreeFilm
ON YOUR RADAR: LITTLE WOMEN TBC
The Draw                                            includes Timothée Chalamet, James Norton,
As it’s one of the most beloved rite of             Louis Garrel, Bob Odenkirk and Chris Cooper.
passage novels, anticipation surrounding this
                                                    The Female Gaze
film is high. Firstly, there’s the cast. Previous
                                                    It takes a filmmaker with some clout to attract
Hollywood adaptations boasted impressive
                                                    so many stars to one project. And Greta
line-ups. A young Katherine Hepburn headlined
                                                    Gerwig currently has it. After starting out in
George Cuckor’s 1933 version; June Allyson,
                                                    a series of low-budget mumblecore films,
Margaret O’Brien, Elizabeth Taylor and Janet        she attracted acclaim for her performances
Leigh featured in Mervyn LeRoy’s 1949               in Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2012),
production; and Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst         Mistress America (2015), Jackie and 20th
and Claire Danes were siblings in Gillian           Century Women (both 2016). From there,
Anderson’s 1994 production. The new                 Gerwig scored a huge hit with critics and
adaptation stars Saoirse Ronan as Jo (the           audiences alike with her directorial debut
character previously played by Hepburn,             Lady Bird (2017). It starred Ronan and their
Allyson and Ryder), with Emma Watson,               incendiary combination that looks set to
Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen playing             continue with this adaptation of Louisa May
the other March sisters. Alongside them is          Alcott’s entrancing period tale.
Meryl Streep as Aunt March, Laura Dern as
Marmee March and a supporting cast that             OPENS: 27 DEC 2019
VOYAGER PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER

                                                                  FIVE SEASONS: THE GARDENS             TRANSIT      12A
                                                                  OF PIET OUDOLF U                      Director: Christian Petzold
                                                                  Director: Tom Piper

With so many films released each week and only a limited
number of screens upon which to show them, there's always a
chance that you might miss out on a hidden gem or a title from
around the world. That's where Voyager comes in.                  BAIT   15                            FOR SAMA 15
                                                                  Director: Mark Jenkin                Directors: Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
Each month, Curzon cinemas around the country will offer you a
chance to see a film outside the normal programme – something
that will engage, perhaps even provoke, but always entertain.

For September and October, Voyager presents a visionary
portrait of our coastline, journeys from Manhattan’s High Line
to Brooklyn, imagines contemporary Marseilles as a totalitarian
state and witnesses Vienna emerging from war, and in a powerful
and intimate documentary we witness a well of humanity in the
devastated city of Aleppo.
                                                                  THE THIRD MAN           PG            GOOD POSTURE            TBC
                                                                  Director: Carol Reed                  Director: Dolly Wells
For more info, tickets and the full programme, please visit:
curzoncinemas.com/voyager
                                                                                               FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO: CURZON.COM/VOYAGER
LIVE EVENTS

         DOCDAYS                                                       2019-2020 SEASONS
                                                                       METROPOLITAN OPERA
         FOR SAMA 18
         + Q&A WITH DIRECTOR WAAD AL-KHATEAB                           Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford
           AND EDWARD WATTS                                            Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria
         Date: Mon 2 Sept | 18:30 Where: Soho                          Wimbledon
         UK 2019 | 100 mins
                                                                       TURANDOT                       PORGY AND BESS
         We are delighted to welcome the directors of this             Date: Sat 12 Oct | 17:55       Date: Sat 1 Feb ‘20 | 17:55
         extraordinary and moving film to Curzon for this screening.   MANON                          AGRIPPINA
         See page 23 for synopsis                                      Date: Sat 26 Oct | 17:55       Date: Sat 29 Feb ‘20 | 17:55

                                                                       MADAME BUTTERFLY               THE FLYING DUTCHMAN
                                                                       Date: Sat 9 Nov | 17:55        Date: Sat 14 Mar ‘20 | 16:55

                                                                       AKHNATAN                       TOSCA
                                                                       Date: Sat 23 Nov | 17:55       Date: Sat 11 Apr ‘20 | 17:55

                                                                       WOZZECK                        MARY STUART                    Jewels

                                                                       Date: Sat 11 Jan ‘20 | 17:55   Date: Sat 9 May ‘20 | 17:55

                                                                                                                                     BOLSHOI BALLET
                                                                       ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
EVENTS

                                                                                                                                     Where: Canterbury Knutsford
                                                                                                                                     Oxford Ripon Sheffield
                                                                       Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester
                                                                                                                                     Victoria Wimbledon
                                                                       Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield
                                                                       Victoria Wimbledon
                                                                                                                                     RAYMONDA
                                                                       DON GIOVANNI                   LA BOHÈME                      Date: Sun 27 Oct | 15:00
                                                                       Date: Thu 8 Oct | 18:45        Date: Wed 29 Jan ‘20 | 19:15
                                                                                                                                     LE CORSAIRE
                                                                       DON PASQUALE                   MARSTON & SCARLETT             Date: Sun 17 Nov | 15:00
                                                                       Date: Thu 24 Oct | 19:30       Date: Tue 25 Feb ‘20 | 19:15
                                                                       CONCERTO, ENIGMA               FIDELIO                        THE NUTCRACKER
                                                                                                                                     Date: Sun 15 Dec | 15:00
         QUEERBEE PRESENTS: TRANSWORLD                 12A             VARIATIONS &                   Date: Tue 17 Mar ‘20 | 19:15
         + PANEL DISCUSSION HOSTED BY INGO CANDO                       RAYMONDA ACT III               SWAN LAKE                      GISELLE
                                                                       Date: Tue 5 Nov | 19:15
         Date: Thu 19 Sept | 18:30 | 87 mins      Where: Soho                                         Date: Wed 1 Apr ‘20 | 19:15    Date: Sun 26 Jan ‘20 | 15:00
                                                                       COPPÉLIA                       CAVALLERIA                     SWAN LAKE
         There are transgender people all around the world and         Date: Tue 10 Dec | 19:15
         each location has its own challenges and opportunities.                                      RUSTICANA/PAGLIACCI            Date: Sun 23 Feb ‘20 | 15:00
         Welcome to a screening of eight short films about life,       THE NUTCRACKER                 Date: Tue 21 Apr ‘20 | 19:00
         dating, milonga and names we preferred to be called.          Date: Tue 17 Dec | 19:15
                                                                                                      THE DANTE PROJECT              ROMEO AND JULIET
                                                                                                                                     Date: Sun 29 Mar ‘20 | 15:00
                                                                       THE SLEEPING BEAUTY            Date: Thu 28 May ‘20 | 19:15
                                                                       Date: Thu 16 Jan ‘20 | 19:15
                                                                                                      ELEKTRA                        JEWELS
            FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK GO TO
                                                                                                      Date: Thu 18 Jun ‘20 | 19:45   Date: Sun 19 Apr ‘20 | 16:00
                         CURZON.COM

                                                                                                                                                                47
LI V E E V E NTS                                                                                                                                                                      LIVE EVENTS

NORTHERN BALLET LIVE                           SPECIAL EVENTS                                                                                      EXHIBITION ON SCREEN
Where: Canterbury Knutsford Oxford             MARGARET ATWOOD: LIVE IN CINEMAS                 ROGER WATERS US + THEM                             LEONARDO: THE WORKS 90 mins approx
Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria              Date: Tue 10 Sept | 19:15 | 110 mins approx      Date: Wed 2 Oct | 21:00 | 135 mins approx          Date: Tue 29 Oct | 18:30
Wimbledon                                      Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury                   Sun 6 Oct | 14:30 | 135 mins approx          Where: Canterbury Colchester Knutsford
                                               Oxford Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon              Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury               Oxford Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
DRACULA                                        To celebrate the publication of The              Knutsford Oxford Richmond Sheffield                Date: Sun 3 Nov | 11:00
Date: Thu 31 Oct | 19:00 | 135 mins approx                                                      Victoria Wimbledon
                                               Testaments, her follow-up to The                                                                    Where: Mayfair Richmond
What better way to spend Halloween than        Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood will            Ex-Pink Floyd lead and all-round rock icon         Explore the artworks of the great Italian
in the company of this magical adaptation of   be in conversation with broadcaster and          offers up a truly cinematic filmed recording       polymath, screening to coincide with the
Bram Stoker’s classic chiller.                 author Samira Ahmed, live by satellite.          of the European leg of his monumental Us +         500th anniversary of his death.
                                                                                                Them tour.

                                               RIGOLETTO ON THE LAKE        140 mins approx
                                               Date: Tue 17 Sept | 17:30                        HITSVILLE: THE MAKING OF MOTOWN
                                               Where: Oxford                                    Date: Mon 30 Sept | 18:15 | 125 mins
                                               Date: Tue 17 Sept | 18:00                        Where: Canterbury Knutsford Oxford
                                               Where: Knutsford Richmond Ripon Victoria         Richmond Victoria

                                               Date: Wed 18 Sept | 18:00                        Date: Mon 30 Sept | 18:00 | 125 mins
                                               Where: Wimbledon                                 Where: Ripon
                                                                                                This screening of Benjamin and Gabe’s filmic
                                               Not just any lake, but the extraordinary stage
                                                                                                history of Motown begins with a live broadcast
                                               on Bregenz lake in Austria.
                                                                                                from the red carpet of the film’s premiere.
One Man Two Guvnors, National Theatre Live

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE                                                                           BILLY CONNOLLY: THE SEX LIFE
                                                                                                OF BANDAGES 150 mins approx
Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury                                                            Date: Thu 10 Oct | 18:00
Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford                                                             Where: Oxford Victoria Wimbledon                     DISCOVER THE WORLD’S
Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria
Wimbledon
                                                                                                Date: Thu 10 Oct | 18:15
                                                                                                Where: Canterbury Knutsford Sheffield
                                                                                                                                                     BEST NEW FILMS
ONE MAN TWO GUVNORS                             Wise Children                                   This uproarious show, which finds the great          AT CURZON
Date: Thu 26 Sept | 19:00 | 210 mins                                                            Scottish comic firing on all cylinders, captures     Date: Wed 2 Oct - Sun 13 Oct
To celebrate ten years of National Theatre
                                               WISE CHILDREN     130 mins approx                him on his acclaimed tour of Australia.              Where: Mayfair Soho
                                               Date: Thu 3 October | 17:30
Live, we welcome back a screening of one of                                                     Billy Connolly
                                               Where: Oxford Richmond Ripon                                                                          The 63rd BFI London Film Festival in
the most popular productions, a perfectly
                                                                                                                                                     partnership with American Express
executed farce starring James Corden.          Date: Thu 3 October | 18:00
                                                                                                                                                     returns to Curzon this October.
                                               Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM                      Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon                                                                          Featuring the best new features,
Date: Thu 17 Oct | 19:00 | 180 mins            This is a chance to catch award-winning                                                               documentaries, short films and special
Gwendoline Christie leads the cast in this     director Emma Rice’s acclaimed stage                                                                  events, the #LFF is your chance to see the
Bridge Theatre production, directed by         adaptation of Angela Carter’s final novel,                                                            year’s most anticipated films from around
Nicholas Hytner.                               which was produced at York’s Theatre Royal.                                                           the world – right on your doorstep.

48                                                                                                                                                                                                49
EV ENTS

FESTIVALS
CURZON WELCOMES THE RETURN OF TWO OF LONDON’S MOST POPULAR FESTIVALS.
MOST SCREENINGS WILL FEATURE Q&AS OR PANEL DISCUSSIONS.

OPEN CITY DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL WED 4–TUE 10 SEPT ADV 15
For more details on the films screening, go to www.curzoncinemas.com/opencity Also visit
opencitylondon.com/venues/bertha-dochouse/ for details of screenings at Bertha Dochouse.

ELECTIONS                                       THE CROSSES
Date: Wed 4 Sept | 18:30 Where: Soho            Date: Sun 8 Sept | 13:45
Director: Alice Riff | Brazil 2018 | 100 mins   Where: Bloomsbury
                                                Directors: Teresa Arredondo, Carlos Vásquez
MIDNIGHT FAMILY                                 Méndez | Chile 2018 | 80 mins
Date: Thu 5 Sept | 18:30    Where: Soho
Director: Luke Lorentzen | US 2019 | 81 mins    TREASURE ISLAND
                                                Date: Sun 8 Sept | 17:15     Where: Soho
TASTE OF HOPE                                   Director: Guillaume Brac | France 2018 |
Date: Thu 5 Sept | 20:30
                                                96 mins
Where: Bloomsbury
Director: Laura Coppens | Switzerland,          BIRTH/MOTHER
Germany 2019 | 70 mins                          + EXTENDED CONVERSATION WITH NAOMI KAWASE
                                                Date: Mon 9 Sept | 18:30 Where: Soho
THE HOTTEST AUGUST                              Director: Naomi Kawase | Japan, France |
Date: Fri 6 Sept | 18:30    Where: Soho         43 mins
Director: Brett Story | US 2019 | 94 mins
                                                SHORTS: ON THE BORDER
CABALLERANGO                                    Date: Mon 9 Sept | 20:30 | 96 mins
Date: Fri 6 Sept | 18:30                        Where: Bloomsbury
Where: Bloomsbury
Director: Brett Story | Mexico 2018 | 61 mins

THE LAST MALE ON EARTH                           15th ROMANIAN FILM
Date: Wed 4 Sept | 15:30 Where: Soho
Director: Floor van der Meulen | Netherlands,
                                                 FESTIVAL
Belgium, Germany 2019 | 72 mins
                                                 Date: 24-28 October          Where: Soho
CHEZ JOLIE COIFFURE
                                                 We are delighted to welcome back the
Date: Sat 7 Sept | 18:30
                                                 Romanian Film Festival, which will showcase
Where: Bloomsbury
                                                 that country’s finest releases from the last
Director: Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam | Belgium
                                                 year. The full festival line-up will be published
2018 | 70 mins
                                                 shortly, but we can confirm that programme
LAURA GRACE FORD PRESENTS: AN ACT                will include Daniel Sandu’s A Step behind
OF UNFORGETTING                                  the Seraphim, Stere Gulea’s Moromete
Date: Sat 7 Sept | 20:40    Where: Soho          Family: On the Edge of Time and festival
Directors: Various | UK | 90 mins                favourite Adina Pintilie’s Touch Me Not.

50
FEATUR E

           HOLY MOSES!
           The creator of Brass Eye and director of Four Lions returns with
                                                                                          By Wendy Ide
           an inspired farce that finds conspiracies in everyday US life

           The benchmark of great satire is how close        Morris took aim at Islamic terrorism, another
           it comes to predicting the truth. And by that     subject that people had hitherto not been
           measure, Chris Morris, director of The Day        inclined to find amusing.
           Shall Come, has to be one of the sharpest              In the intervening period between Four
           satirists of his generation. His trademark        Lions and Morris’s latest film The Day Shall
FEATURES
           blend of the surreal and the savage was           Come, he worked alongside long-time
           nurtured alongside that of Armando Iannucci       collaborator Iannucci and directed several
           on BBC Radio 4 with On the Hour, before           episodes of the satirical political series Veep.
           moving to television with the current affairs     But as Iannucci observed in 2017, somewhere
           and news parodies The Day Today and               along the way, reality overtook satire; the
           Brass Eye. He held up for ridicule the strident   Trump administration positioned itself beyond
           ‘info-tainment’ approach to factual television.   parody; truth became more outlandish than
           The jokes hit home even though at the time –      fiction. Which is why, presumably, Morris’s
           the programs were aired in the mid to             latest film is rooted, he says, in fact. The
           late-1990s, before the concept of clickbait       Day Shall Come, the story of a cynical CIA
           had taken root – that style of newscasting        operation intended to goad a hapless
           was not as widespread as it now is.               religious crank named Moses into domestic
                Morris made the preposterous seem            terrorism is based on ‘100 true stories’ of
           plausible. He skewered the celebrity culture      agency manipulation to bolster arrest figures.
           which would whore itself out for insincere        The humour is typically astringent, and is
           endorsements of whatever issue of the day he      garnished with an absurdity which finds a
           had invented (the ‘made up’ drug ‘cake’ was       kinship with Four Lions.
           most memorable). In a way, he predicted the            But what’s unexpected here is the
           rise of influencers and professional sell-outs.   poignancy of the work. The hard edges of
           He mocked the outrage journalism which            Morris’s intellect are as cutting as ever, but
           has now been magnified and has found its          there’s empathy for the wrenching plight of
           natural home on social media. And he tamed        the well-meaning doofus at the heart of the
           seemingly untouchable subjects with comedy.       story. It’s as though Morris has re-calibrated
           The notorious episode of Brass Eye that dealt     that well-known equation that states that
           with the moral panic around paedophilia           ‘tragedy plus time equals comedy’ and found
           remains one of the most complained about          that, at this time, comedy and tragedy are
           programs on British television and prompted       pretty much interchangeable.
           the Daily Mail to describe him as ‘the most
           loathed man on British television’. With Four     THE DAY SHALL COME opens 11 October
           Lions (2010), his move into feature filmmaking,
                                                                                                          53
FE ATURE

A RECORD OF
HUMANITY
An extraordinary documentary details the personal
impact of war and the bravery of people who choose
to fight for the lives of those they love

By Ian Haydn Smith

The uprising in Syria started, like so many      planes had decimated the city while the           film is named and to whom it is dedicated.       hospital ward in its opening minutes to the
uprisings that defined the Arab Spring, with     Syrian army progressed, street by street,         Shortly after the conflict began, al-Kateab      bloodied floors of the makeshift operating
students sensing a moment of change. The         to rout any opposition. ISIS had been a           began a relationship with and then married       theatres, the film – which was co-directed by
wave calling for democracy, the hope that        presence, but as al-Kateab notes in her           Hamza, a friend and doctor whose decision        Edward Watts – refuses to shy away from the
regimes would change through popular and         astonishing film For Sama, their atrocities       to stay in Aleppo and work in a makeshift        horror of what took place. But what remains,
widespread demonstrations, gained traction       paled against the brutality of the regime         hospital helped save countless lives. She        after the credits have rolled, is a record of the
in late March 2011. For citizen journalist and   that had ruled over Syria for generations.        gave birth to Sama in 2016 and the film          humanity and selflessness displayed by the
documentary filmmaker Waad al-Kateab,                There have been a glut of documentaries       jumps back and forth in time, allowing us a      doctors, engineers and builders; the families
events in Aleppo, the city she had arrived       covering the Syrian conflict over the last few    perspective on how the conflict developed        who stay to the last because their homes
in to study marketing, started for her with      years. But few could match the impact and         and the devastation it wreaked on the lives      and friends are everything to them; and
anti-Assad slogans being daubed on a wall.       emotional power of al-Kateab’s film. More         of those living in Aleppo. (Aerial drone shots   al-Kateab’s compassionate lens, showing
From there, it escalated rapidly. Previously     than an overview of how the uprising began        not only show how large the city is, they        the world happened to the city of Aleppo.
peaceful and hope-filled demonstrations          and failed, it is a video diary of the ordinary   reveal the full impact of the aerial bombings
were met with violence by State and pro-         people affected by the conflict. It is also a     and ground shelling.)                            FOR SAMA opens 13 September
Assad forces. Injuries became more severe        record of the first few years in the life of          For Sama is disturbing. And rightly so.      Go to page 46 for details of the DocDays event
and deaths soon followed. By 2017, Russian       al-Kateab’s daughter Sama, after whom the         From the shock of the bomb blast on a
54                                                                                                                                                                                                55
FE ATURE                                                                                                              FEATUR E

A NOVEL IDEA
Two new films, a stage production and the literary
event of the year all highlight that the novel is                   By Ian Haydn Smith
alive and well

News reports about the death of the novel          alongside those of Alain with his colleagues,
may have jumped the gun. Even how we               revolve around ideas – literary, economic,
read seems to have reversed. The fervour           philosophical and political – but it becomes
for e-books appears to have quelled and            clear that these are platforms for exploring
even ‘serious’ fiction occasionally makes an       these character’s identities. Like a novel,
appearance on booksellers’ lists. These are        Assayas peels away the layers to reveal
some of the ideas raised in Olivier Assayas’       people far more fragile than they would like       The Goldfinch
latest film Non-Fiction. Essentially a series of   to appear and certainly more self-centred
discussions between colleagues, friends and        and venal than they would ever wish others
lovers – with the lines between those roles        to know.
frequently blurred – the film focuses primarily          Finding the heart of a character underpins
on Guillaume Canet’s Alain, the head of a          the brilliance of Donna Tartt’s fiction. After
publishing house. Accepting that print and         the breakthrough success of her first novel
digital worlds are no longer separate entities,    The Secret History and The Little Friend, Tartt
Alain hires Laure (Christa Théret) to oversee      scored one of the critical and commercial
‘digital transition’ at the house. This might      literary successes of this decade with The
mean making sacrifices, the first of which is to   Goldfinch. Her sprawling bildungsroman tells
say no to the latest roman-à-clef by poorly-       the story of Theodore Decker, who emerges
selling novelist Léonard Spiegel (Vincent          from a terrible event in his childhood a
Macaigne). Seen together, they are immediately     haunted young man with a secret that
recognisable types – Alain represents the          threatens his life. Tartt has a forensic eye for
smart, trim cultural elite, while Leonard is       detail, all in the service of adding colour to
the writer as ruffian, a slightly more feral       her characters and Decker is a fascinating
Michel Houellebecq. Selena (Juliette Binoche),     young man who, like the central characters
Alain’s partner, is an actor who’s unhappy         in Non-Fiction – like us all – reveals only part
with her ongoing role in an action cop drama       of himself to the world.
on TV. She doesn’t agree with Alain’s decision           Brooklyn director John Crowley is helming
not to publish Leonard. Then there’s the           the film version of The Goldfinch, with the
witty Valérie (Nora Hamzawi), Leonard’s far        adaptation written by Peter Straughan. It’s
cleverer partner, the chief aide to an aspiring    no easy feat bringing an 800-odd page to
                                                                                                      Non-Fiction
political candidate. Their group discussions,      life, particularly one so rich in detail in both
FEATURE                                                                                                             FEATUR E

                       the main protagonist’s interior life and the
                       world he lives in. However, Straughan’s track
                       record is impressive, having adapted both
                       Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011, with Bridget
                       O’Connor) and Wolf Hall (2015).
                            An adaptation can bolster the commercial
                       success of a book. Even Non-Fiction’s Leonard,
                       with his belief in art without compromise,
                       might secretly be pleased with the financial
                       boon of the film or TV rights of his work being
                       purchased. Few recent adaptations have
                       attracted such fervour as The Handmaid’s
                       Tale (2017-). Previously adapted as a film
                       by Volker Schlöndorff in 1990, HBO’s take
                       on Margaret Atwood’s sixth novel, originally
                       published in 1985, seems to have hit a note
                       with the times we live in. But like Game of
                       Thrones (2011-19), which outran George R.R.
                       Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series and
                       forged its own path, so the TV adaptation of
                       The Handmaid’s Tale has had to work through
 The Handmaid’s Tale   an original storyline in order to continue. But     Margaret Atwood
                       now Atwood is back with The Testaments,
                       which catches up with Offred 15 years after
                       the original novel. She’s even embarking on
                       the literary equivalent of a world tour – with a
                       live broadcast of her discussing the new book.
                            Angela Carter, like Atwood, excelled at
                       drawing out feminist themes from her play
                       with genre elements. And her popularity
                       was bolstered by a screen adaptation of her
                       work. Loosely drawing from her short story
                       collection The Bloody Chamber (1979) and
                       adapting it herself, A Company of Wolves
                       (1984) rightly established Carter as one of
                       our most important writers. The filmed stage
                       adaptation of her magnificent final novel
                                                                           Angela Carter
                       Wise Children (1991) highlights her brilliance
                       as a fabulist. But it also underpins what
                       makes the art of creative writing so unique.       MARGARET ATWOOD: LIVE IN CINEMAS takes place on
                       As the Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges        Tue 10 September
                       once noted, humanity has created some              THE GOLDFINCH opens 27 September
                       extraordinary instruments, from the plough to
                                                                          WISE CHILDREN screens on 3 October
                       the telescope. But the book, the art or writing,
                                                                          NON-FICTION opens 18 October
                       is the most wondrous. It is ‘an extension of       + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA
 Wise Children
                       memory and imagination’.
FE ATURE

                                                                                               A CITY
                                                                                               UNDER SIEGE
                                                                                               In the UK, Peter Watkins honed this style with    and mortar fire pinning the family down,
Hotel Mumbai recreates the moment in 2008 when the                                             Culloden (1964), which employed a modern          Maras keeps his camera close. He adopts
                                                                    by Neal Baker              style of war reporting to examine the             the same style for Hotel Mumbai but on a
Indian city became yet another victim of a terrorist attack.
                                                                                               disastrous 1746 battle that quelled the           much larger scale. The sense of dread is
                                                                                               Jacobite uprising. Two years later, Gillo         palpable (and best conveyed by Dev Patel
Around 8pm on 26 November 2008, ten            community centre and the Oberoi-Trident         Pontecorvo offered up one of the defining         in an extraordinary and commanding
men, mostly members of the Pakistani-based     Hotel lasted three days. The second hotel       examples of the docudrama with The Battle         performance as one of the hotel’s employees)
Islamic terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba,       the terrorists attacked, Taj Mahal Palace and   of Algiers (1966), an account of the battle for   and Maras gives balance to all the people
landed at Mumbai waterfront, near the          Tower Hotel, turned into a four-day siege and   Algerian independence from France. More           fearing for their lives, not just the group of
Gateway to India monument. Dividing into       became the focus of the world’s media. The      recently, Paul Greengrass has become              Western tourists. Like United 93, Hotel
two groups, they unleashed a widespread        events that unfolded there are painstakingly    synonymous with the style with his films          Mumbai is not an entertainment. It grapples
and savagely coordinated attack on locations   recreated in Anthony Maras’ powerful and        United 93 (2006), Captain Philips (2013)          with the kind of event that’s becoming
across the heavily populated metropolis.       harrowing docudrama Mumbai Hotel.               and July 22 (2018).                               increasingly commonplace. When discussion
At the end of the four-day assault, at least       Docudrama has a long history. Not to be         Anthony Maras previously made the short       of politics and ideologies can be obfuscatory,
164 people had been killed – including nine    mistaken with docufiction which blends          The Palace (2011), which focused on a family      Hotel Mumbai reminds us that when put into
of the attackers, with the tenth executed in   documentary and fiction (such as Robert         – a couple, their son and a baby – holed up       practice, extremism exacts a terrible toll.
2012 – and over 300 injured. Their attack on   Flaherty’s 1924 film Nanook of the North)       in an abandoned Ottoman-era palace in
a railway station, hospital and café was       docudrama aims to recreate events that          Cyprus in 1974, as Turkish troops were            HOTEL MUMBAI opens 27 September
immediate and quick. The assault on a Jewish   actually took place, albeit in dramatic form.   advancing through the island. As bullets
60                                                                                                                                                                                           61
FEATURE

THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF A
HOLLYWOOD STAR
Renée Zellweger steps into the shoes of a beloved
                                                                       by Philip Kemp
but deeply troubled Hollywood icon.

Few Hollywood stars shone as brightly as Judy       medications they should take. Some of the
Garland. Rupert Goold’s Judy is an homage to        stronger-minded women, such as Katharine
a supreme entertainer, but also details the cost    Hepburn and Bette Davis, rebelled as much
of such a life on Garland’s personal and family     as they could. But others succumbed. And in
life. Opening in 1969, as the brightness of the     some cases, it destroyed their lives.
actor and singer’s star was fading in the US,            Judy Garland (born Frances Gumm)
it follows her as she travels to the UK for what    was signed up at age 13 by MGM (the studio
would become one of her most celebrated             that boasted ‘more stars than there are in
series of live performances. With echoes of the     Heaven’) and made half-a-dozen films for
recent Stan & Ollie (2018), which also detailed     them before attaining stardom in The Wizard
the resurgence in popularity of two aged movie      of Oz (1939). Metro had originally wanted her
favourites when they embark on a stage tour         hit number ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’
of the UK, Judy also highlights how different       dropped from the film, feeling it slowed down
this life was for its female stars – particularly   the action. But the role won her a Juvenile
those whose careers blossomed in the Golden         Oscar and from then on she was considered
Age of Hollywood.                                   one of the studio’s prime assets. Even then,
      During that golden age, which spanned         they had her on amphetamines to control
from the 1930s through to the ‘60s, the             her weight fluctuations, along with sleeping
control exercised by the major studios over         pills and pep pills, leading to a lifelong
their stars – especially if they were young and     addiction to prescription drugs. When she
female – could be little short of draconian.        became pregnant during her first marriage,
Not only did they have their names and              to bandleader David Rose, she was
appearances arbitrarily changed and all their       pressured into having an abortion.
clothing chosen for them, largely fictitious             Her shy, unforced charm continued to
backstories would be made up for them by            delight audiences. She made a string of films
studio publicity departments. They would            partnered with Mickey Rooney, and triumphed
be instructed where they could go, who they         in two joyous musicals: Meet Me in St Louis
could be seen with, what likes and dislikes they    (1944), and Easter Parade (1948) with Fred
could express, what they could eat and what         Astaire. But her health and lack of confidence
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