Films opening at HOME this week:
The Killing of a Sacred Dear
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos – Rated 15
Steven (Farrell), an eminent cardiothoracic surgeon is married to Anna (Kidman), a respected ophthalmologist. They are well off and live a happy and healthy family life with their two children, Kim and Bob.
Their lives take a darker turn when Martin (Keoghan), a fatherless youth with whom Steven has a strained friendship ingratiates himself further into the lives of the family.
Lanthimos’s follow-up to The Lobster is a brilliantly realised, Kubrickian look at human behaviour.
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78/52
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe – Rated 15
In 78 setups and 52 cuts, the deliriously choreographed two-minute shower sequence in Psycho ripped apart cinema’s definition of horror.
With a shocking combination of exploitation and high art, Alfred Hitchcock upended his own acclaimed narrative structure by violently killing off a heroine a third of the way through his film, without explanation, justification, or higher purpose.
Psycho played out like a horrific prank, forcing audiences to recognise that even the banalest domestic spaces were now fair game for unspeakable mayhem.
With black-and-white film-geek reverence, director Alexandre O. Philippe breaks down this most notorious and essential scene shot for shot, enlisting the help of film buffs and filmmakers alike—including Guillermo del Toro, Bret Easton Ellis, Karyn Kusama, Eli Roth, and Peter Bogdanovich.
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Sorcerer
Directed by William Friedkin – Rated 15
William Friedkin’s remake of Clouzot’s Wages of Fear has acquired a sizeable reputation after having been marginalised on release.
Four desperate renegades, led by Roy Scheider, reuniting with the director after a public falling out following not being cast in The Exorcist, from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous South American jungle.
The equal of the original, the film has been restored for its 40th anniversary and, augmented by the Tangerine Dream score, is essential big screen viewing.
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Films continuing this week:
The Death of Stalin
Directed by Armando Iannucci – Rated 15
Based on the graphic novel The Death Of Stalin by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, writer and director Armando Iannucci’s (Veep, The Thick of It) acerbic satire is set in the days following the Russian leader’s stroke in 1953 as his core team of ministers tussle for control. An all-star cast includes Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, and Olga Kurylenko.
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Call Me By Your Name
Directed by Luca Guadagnino — Rated 15
It’s the summer of 1983 in northern Italy, and Elio Perlman (Chalamet), a 17-year-old American-Italian, spends his days in his family’s seventeenth-century villa lazily transcribing music and flirting with his friend, Marzia.
One day Oliver (Armie Hammer, Free Fire), a charming, 24-year-old American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father (Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor.
Amid the sun-drenched splendour of this sensual setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a fateful summer. The latest film by Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love) is sensuously adapted from the novel by André Aciman.
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Breathe
Directed by Andy Serkis — Rated 12A
Handsome, adventurous and brilliant, Robin (Andrew Garfield) has his whole life ahead of him when he is paralysed by polio. Against all advice, Robin’s wife Diana (Claire Foy) brings him home, where her devotion, intimacy and witty determination transcend his disability and set him free.
The directorial debut of Andy Serkis and the opening film of the 61st London Film Festival, Breathe offers a celebration of human possibility.
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The Party
Directed by Sally Potter – Rated 15
Sally Potter’s (Orlando) latest feature is a comedy wrapped around a tragedy which unfolds in real time in an upmarket London house.
Janet is hosting an intimate gathering of friends to celebrate her promotion to Shadow Minister of Health in the party of opposition. Her husband, Bill, seems preoccupied.
As their friends arrive, the soirée gradually unravels. As people’s illusions about themselves and each other go up in smoke — along with the canapés — The Party becomes a night that began with champagne but ends with blood on the floor.
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Loving Vincent
Directed by Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman – Rated 12A
Co-directors Kobiela and Welchman explore Vincent van Gogh’s most inspirational paintings to tell the story of his remarkable work, career, and his untimely and controversial demise. A synthesis of painting and cinema, this is a lovingly crafted, intelligent, and informative work.
Loving Vincent will also be screening as part of Manchester Animation Festival on 15 Nov 20:15.
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Special Events this week:
November 4th – Z + Intro
Directed by Costa-Gavras – Rated 15
Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1970, after also having been nominated for Best Picture, Z remains one of the most influential political thrillers of all time.
Jean-Louis Trintignant plays a magistrate assigned to investigate the supposed accidental death of a left-wing politician, memorably played by Yves Montand. In the course of his work, he uncovers a series of deceits and lies that attempt to hide the real political motivation of the killing.
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November 5th – The Mattei Affair + Post-screening Discussion
Directed by Francesco Rosi – Rated U
A key title in the development of Francesco Rosi’s style of investigative thriller, The Mattei Affair focuses on the death of Enrico Mattei, an influential businessman who made enemies in the mafia.
His story is interspersed with Rosi’s investigation into the disappearance of his friend, journalist Mauro De Mauro, who was undertaking research for the film. Driven by a thoughtful performance from Gian Maria Volontè, The Mattei Affair is one of Rosi’s finest works.
This screening will be followed by an informal post-screening discussion led by Adalgisa Serio, Italian Language Tutor CDLCI and Freelance Language Consultant.
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November 6th – Homeless Film Festival + Post-screening Discussion
Directed by Dana Flor, Toby Oppenheimer – Rating CTBA
Check It is a feature-length documentary about a black gay gang struggling to survive in one of Washington D.C.’s most violent neighbourhoods.
This screening will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Esther Lisa-Carew, freelance film moderator, on the themes of homelessness within the LGBT+ and black communities.
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November 7th – The Orchard + Q&A
Directed by Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett – Rated PG
Filmed in real time over one weekend, The Orchard is an experimental drama feature owing as much to Godard for its reflexivity and the Danish Dogme movement for its visual aesthetic as it does to Chekhov and Pirandello for its form and content.
We will be joined by directors Clive Myer and Lynda Myer-Bennett for a Q&A following this screening.
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November 8th – Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion + Intro
Directed by Elio Petri – Rated 18
In Elio Petri’s visually stunning and beautifully composed film, a corrupt police official decides to show how untouchable he is by creating a murder scene where the evidence can only lead investigators to him.
Starring the iconic left-wing actor Gian Maria Volontè who provides a mesmerising performance, this is a sly and slick condemnation of the state and the police from one of Italy’s major political filmmakers of the 1960s and 1970s.
This screening will be introduced by Adalgisa Serio, Italian Language Tutor CDLCI and Freelance Language Consultant, author of Collana Cinema Italia and Italiano al cinema.
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