MARCH - APRIL 2019 ISSUE 73
NATALIE PORTMAN IN
VOX LUXA PORTRAIT OF A POP STAR
MARCH - APRIL 2019 ISSUE 73
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The Curzon spring news that I’m most excited about is our launch of Voyager, a new touring programme of regular special screenings across our venues. We’re creating a film club for the intrepid Curzon customer – a journey around the world that explores the best new releases and reissues in foreign language, independent and cult cinema.
The digitalisation of cinema has heralded an explosion of creativity in film. As a result, we have a record number of titles released each week. Last year, there was an average of 13 titles released every Friday. As you can imagine, given that most of our venues have three screens or less, this creates an enormous challenge for the Curzon programming team in our efforts to play all the films that we’d love you to see. That’s where Voyager comes in. The Curzon team will handpick every film, offering a showcase that extends beyond our main programme. We also have plans to include speakers, preview titles and special events. Voyager is being launched in partnership with Curzon Home Cinema, to emphasise that our digital streaming service has no such screen restrictions and offers access to a wide range of our favourite films, whatever the time and wherever you may be.
The first Voyager events will include Maggie Gyllenhaal’s career best performance in The Kindergarten Teacher (p.20). We’d also love you to check out the astonishing Oscar- nominated documentary Minding the Gap (p.30), as well as the big screen re-release of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. And on Curzon Home Cinema you can catch Samuel Maoz’s excellent Foxtrot (p.18).
There’ll be more information on Voyager in the next issue, but start by visiting www.curzon.com/voyager or signing up for the Curzon newsletter.
CINEMAS 6
MEMBERSHIP 8
CURZON ON DEMAND 12
CURZON SELECTOR 14
BERTHA DOCHOUSE 16
NEW RELEASES 18
EVENTS 46
FEATURES 50
CONTENTS
EditorIan Haydn Smith
DesignerHannah Attwell
Contributors: Kate Gerova | Wendy Ide | Carol Morley | Leigh Singer | Nicole Taylor
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CURZON12 As we teeter ever closer to exiting the EU, Curzon12 offers a reminder of what we have in common as people, through a selection of insightful, scintillating, moving and richly satisfying films. We don’t want to reveal the whole selection now, but they will include such brilliant films as Jacques Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped (itself a remake of the 1978 classic Fingers), Michael Haneke’s deconstruction of family values, The Seventh Continent, Aki Kaurismäki’s sublime Ariel and Claire Denis’ intoxicating Beau Travail.
The Seventh Continent
Ariel
The Seventh Continent
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
Beau Travail
START STREAMINGIf you’re a Curzon cinema member and you’ve collected your card, you can access all the titles on Curzon12 for free by adding your membership number to your Curzon Home Cinema account. The collection of 12 films refreshes on the 12th of every month.
Find out more at CURZONCINEMAS.COM/CURZON12
MEMB
ERS
MEMBERS’ PREVIEWSTHE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER 12A
Date: Sun 3 Mar | 11:00 Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Oxford Sheffield Soho WimbledonSee page 20 for synopsis.
SORRY ANGEL TBC
Date: Sat 16 Mar | 11:00 Where: BloomsburyDate: Sun 17 Mar | 11:00 Where: Aldgate Soho See page 26 for synopsis.
AT ETERNITY’S GATE TBC
Date: Sat 16 Mar | 11:00 Where: Oxford Ripon Soho Victoria WimbledonDate: Sun 17 Mar | 11:00 Where: Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Sheffield
Date: Sun 24 Mar | 11:00 Where: Aldgate BloomsburySee page 32 for synopsis.
LORO 18Date: Sat 13 Apr | 11:00 Where: Mayfair Ripon Soho Date: Sun 14 Apr | 11:00 Where: Aldgate Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Oxford Richmond Sheffield Victoria WimbledonSee page 38 for synopsis.
STUDENT FILM FANS! You can now sign up for FREE cinema membership.
Join Curzon Student at your local venue or online at
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LOOKING FOR A TREAT FOR FILM LOVERS? WE HAVE GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE IN OUR CINEMAS WHICH CAN BE USED TOWARDS MEMBERSHIPS + ALSO TICKETS, FOOD + DRINK
The Kindergarten Teacher
B A S E D O N T H E I N C R E D I B L E T R U E S T O R Y O F R U D O L F N U R E Y E V
“ P R O V O C A T I V E A N D E V O C A T I V E …S U P E R B L Y D I R E C T E D B Y R A L P H F I E N N E S ”
“ G U A R A N T E E D T O L E A V E Y O U I N S P I R E D ”
T O D A N C E Y O U M U S T B E F R E E
B A S E D O N T H E I N C R E D I B L E T R U E S T O R Y O F R U D O L F N U R E Y E V
“ P R O V O C A T I V E A N D E V O C A T I V E …S U P E R B L Y D I R E C T E D B Y R A L P H F I E N N E S ”
B a z B a m i g b o y e , D A I L Y M A I L
“ G U A R A N T E E D T O L E A V E Y O U I N S P I R E D ”E L L E
“ F E R O C I O U S L YE X C I T I N G ”
T A T L E R
“ T E R R I F I C A L L YT E N S E ”
W e n d y I d e , S C R E E N D A I L Y
T O D A N C E Y O U M U S T B E F R E E
A F I L M B Y R A L P H F I E N N E S
IN CINEMAS MARCH 22
SPECIAL PREVIEWS & LIVE Q&AWITH RALPH FIENNES & GUESTS - MARCH 12
TheWhiteCrowFilm.co.uk
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O N D E M A N D
RECOMMENDED
WILDLIFE 11 MAR
Paul Dano’s feature debut as director, co-adapted with his wife and fellow actor Zoe Kazan from Richard Ford’s novel, is a stately relationship drama set in 1950s rural US. Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan play a married couple whose relationship is viewed through the eyes of their son (a superb Ed Oxenbould). As a forest fire rages through their state, the couple’s domestic life proves no less combustible and Dano’s sharp eye – his compositions are beautifully understated – draws out the nuances of their life.
COMING SOON:COLLECTION: PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST 27 MARLIZZIE 8 APRCOLLECTION: BEST OF PAOLO SORRENTINO 19 APR
IN CINEMAS. ON DEMANDFilms that appear on Curzon Home Cinema the same day that they are released in cinemas – allowing you to watch them your way.
AT ETERNITY’S GATE 29 MAR Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) delivers a late portrait of Vincent Van Gogh that the great Dutch painter deserves. And Willem Dafoe is on magnificent, Oscar-nominated form in the role. Like Loving Vincent, Schnabel’s film recreates the last period in Van Gogh’s life, but does so in close-up, creating a world that reflects the artist’s state of torment. It’s a ravishing work of art in itself.
ALSO ON DEMAND:FOXTROT 1 MAR | See page 18 for synopsis
LORO 19 APR | See page 38 for synopsis
VOX LUX 3 MAY | Go to page 54 for details
At Eternity’s Gate
GIRL Director: Lukas Dhont Starring: Victor Polster, Arieh Worthalter, Oliver Bodart, Tijmen Govaerts, Katelijne Damen, Valentijn Dhaenens, Magali Elali, Alice de Broqueville
Director Lukas Dhont’s extraordinarily assured feature debut dives to the heart of current discussions regarding gender. In a sublime performance, Victor Polster plays Lara, a young dancer desperate to attend a top ballet school. What potentially holds her back is not a lack of skill, drive or ambition, but her body. Sensitively told and beautifully shot, Girl is a moving and thoughtful drama.
15 MARCH ON CURZONHOMECINEMA.COM
ON D
EMAN
D
DISCOVER Gems not to be missed
SHOPLIFTERS 25 MAR Winner of the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, master Japanese filmmaker Koreeda Hirokazu’s drama once again returns to the subject of unconventional families. In this case, a small group who live with an ageing grandmother in a small house and who supplement their small income by stealing. However, when the father and son encounter a young girl on the street, their lives are irrevocably changed.
Wildlife
Girl
NT LIVE: ALL ABOUT EVE ADVISED 16
Following her acclaimed performances in A Doll’s House at the Donmar and A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic, Gillian Anderson returns to the London stage as Margo Channing in this adaptation of the 1950 Hollywood classic. Directed by Ivo Van Hove, she stars opposite Lily James (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again), who plays the ambitious Eve Harrington. See page 48
HAPPY AS LAZZARO TBC
Alice Rohrwacher has cemented her position as one of the most compelling European filmmakers to emerge in the last decade. Both Corpo Celeste and The Wonders are original and captivating. But her latest is a huge leap forward. The director’s sister Alba once again takes a key role in a film that is full of surprises, playing with reality in order to shine a light on social injustice. See page 36
CURZON SELECTORMEMBERS OF THE CURZON TEAM PICK THEIR FAVOURITES FROM THE UPCOMING RELEASES
Eighth Grade, 2018
EIGHTH GRADE 15
Bo Burnham’s feature debut is a portrait of a young student as she finishes out her last week of classes before graduating to high school. The film smartly relates universal issues that all of us will remember from our time at school, along with more specific concerns of Generation Z. It’s a smartly written and understated comedy drama, bolstered by a truly knockout performance from Elsie Fisher. See page 42
MID90s TBC
Jonah Hill has long since graduated from the frat-boy antics of Superbad. (Well, okay, there was 2016’s Sausage Party.) But here he returns to his youth for his feature debut as writer-director. The resulting film exudes a verité style as we follow Sunny Suljic (who was so good in The Killing of a Sacred Deer) as he attempts to escape a crappy home life and have some fun.See page 36
AVENGERS: ENDGAME TBC
It all comes to this. Since the first appearance of Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been gradually expanding outwards. Infinity War saw the superheroes numbers depleted. But with the arrival of Captain Marvel, Thanos may have found his match. Suffice to say the 22nd entry in this hugely popular series will be one of the year’s blockbuster highlights. See page 42
19
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S FOXTROT 15
Director: Samuel MaozStarring: Lior Ashkenazi, Sarah Adler, Yonathon Shiray, Shira Haas, Dekel Adin, Yehuda Almagor, Shaul Amir
Israel, Switzerland, Germany, France 2017 | 113 mins+ CURZON HOME CINEMA
An Israeli family are informed by a military envoy that their son has been killed on active duty. They are devastated. But all is not what it seems in the second feature by the award-winning director of Lebanon. With its dramatic shifts in tone, between high drama and absurdist comedy, Foxtrot is one of the more original films to tackle the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
OPENS: FRI 1 MARCH
THE AFTERMATH TBC
Director: James KentStarring: Keira Knightley, Alexander Skarsgård, Jason Clarke, Martin Compston, Kate Phillips, Fionn O’Shea, Jannik Schümann, Alexander Scheer
UK, US, Germany 2019 | TBC mins
A woman joins her husband, a British officer, as he oversees the rebuilding of Hamburg in the wake of the Second World War. They move into a mansion that’s still occupied by its owner, a young German widower. And with the officer away, the two find themselves drawn to each other. James Marsh’s stately drama profits from fine performances by its leads and is an impressive evocation of a bygone era.
OPENS: FRI 1 MARCH
SAUVAGE 18
Director: Camille Vidal-NaquetStarring: Félix Maritaud, Eric Bernard, Nicolas Dibla, Philippe Ohrel, Pavle Dragas, Mehdi Boudina, Azir Mustafic, Hassim Mohamed Saleh
France 2018 | 100 minsFrench with English subtitles
Leo earns his living by selling his body. It’s a tough, precarious existence and he wants out. Desperate to find a connection, he decides to hit the road in hope of a better life. Camille Vidal-Naquet’s powerful debut is a raw and unvarnished portrait of his subject, which profits from Félix Maritaud’s searing performance.
OPENS: FRI 1 MARCH
HANNAH TBC
Director: Andrea PallaoroStarring: Charlotte Rampling, André Wilms, Stéphanie Van Vyve, Simon Bisschop, Jessica Fanhan, Fatou Traoré,
Italy, France, Belgium 2017 | 95 mins | English + French with English subtitles
Hannah, who lives in a small Belgium town, finds her life turned upside down when her husband is incarcerated. Spending most of her time alone, she slips in and out of reality, increasingly unsure of the world around her. Charlotte Rampling is once again outstanding in Andrea Pallaoro’s quietly devastating character study.
OPENS: FRI 1 MARCH
THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND TBC
Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor Starring: Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lily Banda, Noma Dumezweni, Joseph Marcell, Aïssa Maïga, Beatus Ble Msamange, Kelvin Maxwell Ngoma
UK 2019 | 113 mins
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s heartfelt directorial debut tells the inspirational true story of William Kakwamba. As a young boy living in rural Malawi, he excels at school. But with the threat of a famine on the way, he has to forego his studies to help his family. However, he thinks he has found a way to bring water to the region.
OPENS: FRI 1 MARCH
N E W R E L E A S E S
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CAPTAIN MARVEL TBC
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan FleckStarring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Gemma Chan
US 2019 | 128 mins
The latest Marvel instalment breaks a few glass ceilings: it features the first female Marvel lead in the titular character and is the first Marvel blockbuster to be directed by a woman, Anna Boden. She takes the reigns with her co-director Ryan Fleck to tell the origin story of the ultimate galactic crusader.
OPENS: FRI 8 MARCH
THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER 12A
Director: Sara ColangeloStarring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Parker Sevak, Gael García Bernal, Ato Blankson-Wood, Libya Pugh, Michael Chernus, Carter Kojima, Jillian Panlilio
US 2018 | 96 mins
Lisa Spinelli is a jaded kindergarten teacher. But when she encounters Jimmy, a prodigiously gifted young boy, she feels the need to become more involved in his life. But what is the line between enthusiastic help and unhealthy obsession? Sara Colangelo’s drama is dominated by Maggie Gyllenhaal’s superb performance.
OPENS: FRI 8 MARCH
FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY 12A
Director: Stephen MerchantStarring: Florence Pugh, Leana Headley, Nick Frost, Vince Vaughn, Jack Lowden, Dwayne Johnson, Stephen Merchant, Kim Matula
UK, USA 2018 | 108 mins
Based on a true story, Stephen Merchant’s comedy follows Raya Knight, a young British girl who decides to take a chance on making it big as a professional wrestler in the US. The British cast are game, as is the Rock, Dwayne Johnson. But the film’s trump card is Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth), who gives a body-slam of a performance as Raya.
OPENS: FRI 1 MARCH
N E W R E L E A S E S
22 23
There are few on-screen pairings as captivating as Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. And this, the latest suspense drama from Asghar Farhadi (The Salesman, A Separation), is their best collaboration since 1992’s Jamón, Jamón. They’re former lovers reunited for a gathering of family and friends, during which a young guest goes missing. Farhadi is an elegant filmmaker and his drama simmers with tension as temperatures rise and accusations are hurled.
OPENS: FRI 8 MARCH
Director: Asghar FarhadiStarring: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín, Eduard Fernández, Bárbara Lennie, Inma Cuesta, Elvira Mínguez, Ramón Barea, Carla Campra
Spain, France, Italy 2018 | 132 mins
EVERYBODY KNOWS TBC
BEN IS BACK TBC
Director: Peter HedgesStarring: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance, Kathryn Newton, Rachel Bay Jones, David Zaldivar, Alexandra Park, Michael Esper, Tim Guinee
US 2018 | 103 mins
Holly Burns is surprised but delighted when her son Ben returns home for the holidays. Other family members and friends remains less enthusiastic, not convinced that he has kicked his drug habit and reformed his ways. And as Ben faces his past, Holly has to reconcile her love for her son with the reality of his situation.
OPENS: FRI 15 MARCH
BORDER 15
Director: Ali Abbasi Starring: Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Jörgen Thorsson, Ann Petrén, Sten Ljunggren, Kjell Wilhelmsen, Rakel Wärmländer, Andreas Kundler
Sweden, Denmark 2018 | 110 mins | Swedish with English subtitles
Tina has an extraordinary sense of smell. It may be connected to her unusual appearance. But it does make her a perfect detective at a border post. When she encounters a man who appears similar to her, it opens up a mystery about her past. Ali Abbasi’s unique film and quite unlike anything you’ll likely see this year.
OPENS: FRI 8 MARCH
RAY & LIZ 15
Director: Richard BillinghamStarring: Richard Ashton, Michelle Bonnard, James Eeles, Sam Gittins, James Hinton, Andrew Jefferson- Tierney, Patrick Romer, Justin Salinger
UK 2018 | 108 mins
Inspired by his photographs that featured in the controversial 1990s ‘Sensations’ exhibition, Richard Billingham transforms the astonishingly intimate portraits of his family into an uncompromising drama. Capturing his life growing up, Billingham’s gaze is unblinking. But what ultimately emerges is a compassionate account of family life
OPENS: FRI 8 MARCH
N E W R E L E A S E S
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N E W R E L E A S E SN E W R E L E A S E S
FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS TBC
Director: Chris FogginStarring: James Purefoy, Tuppence Middleton, Jade Anouka, David Hayman, Daniel Mays, Christian Brassington, Noel Clarke, Christopher Villiers
UK 2019 | TBC mins
Resembling the classic Ealing 1950s comedies Passport to Pimlico and Whiskey Galore, Chris Foggin’s comedy- drama finds a fish-out-of-water music manager encountering a group of singing fishermen whilst on a trip to Cornwall. But when he tries to convince them to take their hobby seriously, he gets more than he bargained for.
OPENS: FRI 15 MARCH
BENJAMIN 15
Director: Simon AmstellStarring: Colin Morgan, Anna Chancellor, Phénix Brossard, Joel Fry, Jack Rowan, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Ellie Kendrick, Michèle Belgrand
UK 2018 | 83 mins+ CURZON HOME CINEMA
Benjamin has just completed his new film and tentatively awaits its premiere. At the same time, he has met someone. One of these things would make him feel vulnerable. But together, they’re creating an emotional whirlwind. Simon Amstell’s second feature is a savvy comedy and a refreshing take on starting out in a relationship.
OPENS: FRI 15 MARCH
GIRL 15
Director: Lukas DhontStarring: Victor Polster, Arieh Worthalter, Oliver Bodart, Tijmen Govaerts
Belgium, Netherlands 2018 | 106 mins | French, English + Flemish with English subtitles+ CURZON HOME CINEMA
Lara (an extraordinary Victor Polster) is desperate to succeed as a ballet dancer. Enrolled at a prestigious dance school, her commitment is total. The only thing holding her back is her developing body. Lukas Dhont’s topical drama explores one individual’s journey towards gender transition. It’s a beautifully shot, deeply sensitive film.
OPENS: FRI 15 MARCH
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N E W R E L E A S E S
US TBC
Director: Jordan PeeleStarring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Anna Diop, Kara Hayward, Elisabeth Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
US 2019 | 120 mins
If you’ve seen the trailer, you have some idea of what lies in store in Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his brilliant runaway hit Get Out. While on holiday, an African American family come face-to-face with demonic doppelgangers intent on killing them. But it’s clear that Peele has more in mind than mere entertainment and Us will likely prove to be one of the year’s more provocative box office successes.
OPENS: FRI 22 MARCH
THE WHITE CROW TBC
Director: Ralph FiennesStarring: Oleg Ivenko, Ralph Fiennes, Louis Hofmann, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Sergei Polunin, Olivier Rabourdin, Raphaël Personnaz
UK, France 2019 | 122 mins | Russian, English + French with English subtitles
Adapted by David Hare from Julie Kavanagh’s acclaimed book ‘Rudolf Nureyev: The Life’, Ralph Fiennes third film as director chronicles the period when the beloved Russian ballet dancer decided to defect to the West. Fiennes’ film is a rapturous paean to ballet – the dance sequences are breathtaking – and an intriguing portrait of an enigmatic icon during one of the most tumultuous periods in his life.
OPENS: FRI 22 MARCH
THE HIGHWAYMEN TBC
Director: John Lee HancockStarring: Woody Harrelson, Kevin Costner, Kathy Bates, Kim Dickens, John Carroll Lynch, Thomas Mann, W. Earl Brown, David Furr
US 2019 | TBC mins
Cinema has long been fascinated with the legend of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. But what of the men who caught them? Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson) and Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) were retired law enforcement officers when they were commissioned to bring the Barrow Gang to justice. John Lee Hancock’s drama plays out like a 1930s-era Western as it chronicles the men’s pursuit of the outlaws.
OPENS: FRI 22 MARCH
SORRY ANGEL TBC
Director: Christophe HonoréStarring: Vincent Lacoste, Pierre Deladonchamps, Denis Podalydès, Adèle Wismes, Thomas Gonzalez
France 2019 | 132 mins | French with English subtitles
Jacques and Arthur are very different individuals. One is facing the real prospect of his own mortality, while the other is just starting out in life. But they share a common bond that draws them together. Christophe Honoré’s film is a beautifully nuanced queer romance whose charm is bolstered by genuine emotional depth and the wonderful performances of Pierre Deladonchamps and Vincent Lacoste.
OPENS: FRI 22 MARCH
N E W R E L E A S E S
WATCH YOURSELF
A N E W N I G H T M A R E F R O M T H E M I N D O F A C A D E M Y A W A R D ® W I N N E R
JOR DAN PEELE W R I T E R / D I R E C T O R O F G E T O U T
IN CINEMAS MARCH 22UsMovie.co.uk
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N E W R E L E A S E S
Disney continues its live-action updates of animated classics with Tim Burton’s re-envisioning of the beloved 1941 circus fantasy. This being a Burton film, it takes on a darker tinge than either Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book. It also features some of the director’s regular actors. And the story has been expanded, giving greater depth to the tale of the elephant that can fly.
OPENS: FRI 29 MARCH
Director: Tim BurtonStarring: Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Alan Arkin, Deobia Oparei, Lucy DeVito, Sandy Martin, Joseph Gatt
US 2019 | 130 mins
DUMBO TBC
MINDING THE GAP TBC
Director: Bing LiuFeaturing: Kiere Johnson, Bing Liu, Zack Mulligan
US 2018 | 93 mins
Bing Liu’s powerful documentary charts his tough life, along with that of his two friends, who saw skateboarding as their only form of uninhibited expression. Not so much another entry in the skateboarding genre as an intimate portrait of damaged lives, Minding the Gap succeeds because of its time span – it was shot over 12 years – which allows us to witness the boys’ journey to adulthood.
OPENS: FRI 22 MARCH
OUT OF BLUE TBC
Director: Carol MorleyStarring: Patricia Clarkson, Mamie Gummer, Jacki Weaver, James Caan, Toby Jones, Aaron Tveit, Alyshia Ochse, Jonathan Majors, Gary Grubbs
UK, US 2018 | 110 mins
A loose adaptation of Martin Amis’ Night Train, Carol Morley’s (The Falling) first US-set film is a metaphysical thriller that finds Patricia Clarkson’s detective Mike Hoolihan investigating the mysterious death of a wealthy heiress. But the deeper she goes, the more Mike finds herself the subject of her enquiries. This enigmatic Big Easy-set noir oozes atmosphere and intrigue in equal measure.
OPENS: FRI 22 MARCH
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3 FACES TBC
Director: Jafar PanahiStarring: Behnaz Jafari, Jafar Panahi, Marziyeh Rezaei, Maedeh Erteghaei, Narges Delaram
Iran 2019 | 100 minsPersian + Azerbaijani with English subtitles
A young girl sends a video recording to a well-known actress, which suggests that her inability to pursue her career has led to a tragic decision. Distraught, the actress convinces a director friend to accompany her to the girl’s village, to find her. Jafar Panahi’s drama, in which he stars as the director alongside Behnaz Jafari, articulately explores the limitations placed on women in contemporary Iran.
OPENS: FRI 29 MARCH
AT ETERNITY’S GATE TBC
Director: Julian SchnabelStarring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaac, Rupert Friend, Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Niels Arestrup
Switzerland, Ireland, UK, France, US 2018 | 111 mins | English + French with English subtitles+ CURZON HOME CINEMA
By the end of his life, Vincent Van Gogh had succumbed to madness. But his creative impulse still flowed through him. In his visually intoxicating portrait of the painter, Julian Schnabel once again hits the artistic high of his earlier The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It’s an impassioned, expressionistic chronicle of epiphany and despair.
OPENS: FRI 29 MARCH
N E W R E L E A S E S
© 2018 Annapurna Productions, LLC. and Why Not Productions. All Rights Reserved.
I N C I N E M A S A P R I L 5#TheSistersBrothers
“PHOENIX AND REILLY ARE THE WESTERN DOUBLE ACT YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED”
HHHHKEVIN MAHER, THE TIMES
“SHARPLY INTELLIGENT& EXTREMELY FUNNY”
HHHHJOHN BLEASDALE, CINEVUE
HHHHPETER BRADSHAW, THE GUARDIAN
HHHHRAPHAEL ABRAHAM, FINANCIAL TIMES
HHHHTIME OUT
HHHHNIKKI BAUGHAN, THE LIST
HHHHPETER TRAVERS, ROLLING STONE
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Following on from his Cannes-winning Dheepan, Jacques Audiard changes course once again with his hugely entertaining adaptation of Patrick DeWitt’s revisionist Western. The Sisters Brothers are sibling assassins working for the mysterious Commodore, who commissions them to hunt down a man who has come up with a new method for finding gold. But their mission doesn’t go quite to plan. It’s another thrilling ride from the director of A Prophet.
OPENS: FRI 5 APRIL
Director: Jacques AudiardStarring: John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Rebecca Root, Allison Tollman, Rutger Hauer, Carol Kane, Patrice Cossonneau
France, Spain, Romania, US, Belgium 2018 | 121 mins
THE SISTERS BROTHERS TBC
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HAPPY AS LAZZARO TBC
Director: Alice RohrwacherStarring: Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Luca Chikovani, Alba Rohrwacher, Sergi López, Natalino Balasso
Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany 2018 | 125 mins Italian with English subtitles
The third feature by Alice Rohrwacher (The Wonders) confirms her status as a major filmmaker. Blending social drama with magical realism, the film deals with the exploitation of workers by a landowner. However, whatever you think you know at first is soon challenged as this compelling film progresses.
OPENS: FRI 5 APRIL
MID90s TBC
Director: Jonah HillStarring: Sunny Suljic, Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin, Alexa Demie, Fig Camila Abner
US 2018 | 85 mins
Stevie’s family life sucks, particularly with a bullying brother making his life hell. So, it’s no surprise that his attempts to escape find him falling in with four tearaways he encounters causing trouble at a skate shop. Jonah Hill’s superb feature debut as writer-director is a refreshing take on the coming-of-age drama.
OPENS: FRI 12 APRIL
HELLBOY TBC
Director: Neil MarshallStarring: David Harbour, Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich, Alistair Petrie, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, Thomas Haden Church, Penelope Mitchell, Sophie Okenodo
US 2018 | TBC mins
He came from Hell but that’s not where his heart lies. And with Earth threatened by an evil sorceress, Hellboy (David Harbour) is humanity’s only hope of redemption. British director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent) enters the superhero genre with this riotous cinematic reboot of Mike Mignola’s popular graphic novels.
OPENS: FRI 12 APRIL
N E W R E L E A S E S
THE HILARIOUS TRUE STORY OF A BRITISH GIRL WHO WRESTLED HER WAY TO THE TOP
IN CINEMAS FEB 27
FLORENCEPUGH
LENAHEADEY
NICKFROST
JACKLOWDEN
DWAYNEJOHNSON
ANDVINCEVAUGHN
WITH
PRODUCED BY DWAYNE JOHNSON WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY STEPHEN MERCHANT
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SING YOUROWN SONG
JESSIE BUCKLEY JULIE WALTERSACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE
“IRRESISTIBLE…IN JESSIE BUCKLEY,
A TRUE STAR IS BORN”TIM ROBEY, THE TELEGRAPH
“A MUST-SEE FUNNY, MOVING &
BRILLIANTLY UPLIFTING”STYLIST
IN CINEMAS APRIL 12
SOUNDTRACK FEATURING ORIGINAL RECORDING
“GLASGOW” AND CLASSICS “COUNTRY GIRL”,
“BORN TO RUN” AND
“ANGEL FROM MONTGOMERY”
0577 Wild Rose | Curzon ad_FP_AW_02.indd 1 06/02/2019 12:25
N E W R E L E A S E S
WILD ROSE TBC
Director: Tom HarperStarring: Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okenodo, Craig Parkinson, Jamie Sieves, Gemma McElhinney, Ashley Shelton, James Harkness
UK 2018 | 101 mins
Rose-Lynn, who has recently been released from prison, is reunited with her children and finds a job as a cleaner. But true her desire is to sing in Nashville. Nicole Taylor’s beautifully written screenplay soars in the hands of Jesse Buckley (Beast). And Tom Harper’s (The War Book) film moves and entertains in equal measure.
OPENS: FRI 12 APRIL
LORO TBC
Director: Paolo SorrentinoStarring: Toni Servillo, Riccardo Scarmacio, Elena Sofia Ricci, Kasia Smutniak, Euridice Axen, Fabrizio Bentivoglio
Italy, France 2018 | 111 minsItalian with English subtitles+ CURZON HOME CINEMA
Who is Silvio Berlusconi? In Paolo Sorrentino’s blistering portrait, he is a seedy manipulator with an oversized ego. As with his deconstruction of Rome’s cognoscenti in The Great Beauty, Loro finds Sorrentino taking a scalpel to the former Italian Prime Minister’s vast entourage. The result is both exhilarating and chilling.
OPENS: FRI 19 APRIL
DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE TBC
Director: S. Craig ZahlerStarring: Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Laurie Holden, Don Johnson, Jai Michael White, Udo Kier, Thomas Kretschmann, Tory Kittles
Canada 2018 | 159 mins
Having proven his exploitation movie credentials with the brutal Western Bone Tomahawk and visceral prison drama Brawl in Cell Block 99, S. Craig Zahler delivers the ultimate grindhouse cop thriller with Dragged Across Concrete. But be warned, this bone-crunching, politically incorrect epic is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
OPENS: FRI 19 APRIL
SOPHIE COOKSON STEPHEN CAMPBELL MOORESTEPHEN CAMPBELL MOORE TOM HUGHES AND JUDI DENCHACADEMY AWARD® & BAFTA AWARD® WINNER
D I R E C T E D B Y
T R E V O R N U N N
F R O M T H E P R O D U C E R O F
S H A K E S P E A R E I N L O V E
I N S P I R E D B Y T R U E E V E N T S
I N C I N E M A S A P R I L 19
REDJOAN
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N E W R E L E A S E S
RED JOAN TBC
Director: Trevor NunnStarring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Alfie Allen, Kim Allen, Stephen Boxer, Olivia Buckland, Stephen Campbell Moore, Kevin Fuller
UK 2018 | 110 mins
The Cambridge spies may have done more damage to the British establishment, but Joan Stanley proved to be the most long-standing spy in British history. Recruited whilst at university, she succeeded in working under the radar until she retired. Trevor Nunn’s drama finds Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson playing the young and old Joan to powerful effect.
OPENS: FRI 19 APRIL
EIGHTH GRADE TBC
Director: Bo BurnhamStarring: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger, Imani Lewis, Luke Prael, Catherine Oliviere
US 2018 | 93 mins
It’s the last week of her worst year. Kayla has almost survived the eighth grade. But a lot can happen in five days. Bo Burnham’s film captures one girl’s first tentative steps towards adulthood and acknowledges that 13-year-olds are capable of the most casual cruelty. It’s funny, moving and quite an achievement for a debut filmmaker.
OPENS: FRI 26 APRIL
AVENGERS: ENDGAME TBC
Directos: Anthony Russo, Joe RussoStarring: Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, Brie Larson, Scarlet Johansson, Chris Evans, Josh Brolin
US 2018 | TBC mins
At the end of Avengers: Infinity War, demigod Thanos achieved his aim and transformed the universe into a vast crematorium. But before turning to ash, did Doctor Strange find that one path to possible victory over him? And what about Captain Marvel? Expect some big surprises from the 22nd entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series.
OPENS: FRI 26 APRIL
ELSIE FISHER
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY BO BURNHAM
EIGHTHGRADE
“EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO WATCH THIS MOVIE”
★★★★★
Robert Kojder
★★★★★“CHARMING, POIGNANT, HILARIOUS”
★★★★★
“A FILM THAT SHOULD BE A RITE OF PASSAGE FOR ALL, NO MATTER THE AGE”
★★★★Benjamin Lee -
★★★★ - -
#EIGHTHGRADE/EIGHTHGRADEMOVIE
15 STRONG LANGUAGE, SEX REFERENCES
AT APRIL 26
The DrawProlific doesn’t quite encompass the industrious output of Sebatián Lelio over the last two years. After the Oscar success of A Fantastic Woman (2017), his character study of a trans woman fighting prejudice in Chile, he changed climate and culture with Disobedience (2017), set within a north London orthodox Jewish community. He then travelled to the US to capture Julianne Moore as a woman seeking happiness in Gloria Bell.
Riffing on a ThemeLelio’s latest is less a remake than a re-imagining of his successful 2013 drama Gloria. It’s an ebullient, frequently hilarious portrait of a 50-something professional attempting to forge her own life while dealing with family issues and a new relationship. Moore is fantastic – the scene of her dancing near the film’s end is one of the few moments of pure joy in recent cinema – while John Turturro offers strong support in a role that has been expanded from the original. Add to this the lightness of touch that Lelio brings to the film and you have one of the must-see films of the season.
OPENS 7 JUNE
GLORIA BELL TBC
COMING UP
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EVEN
TSE V E N T S
DOCDAYSH IS FOR HARRY ADVISED 15+ Q&A WITH FILMMAKERS EDWARD OWLES &
JAIME TAYLORDate: Thu 7 Mar | 18:30 Where: SohoDate: Thu 28 Mar | 18:30 Where: OxfordUK 2018 | 80 mins
Detailing a young boy’s attempts to overcome illiteracy with the help of a dedicated teacher, this compassionate portrait highlights social inequality in the UK.
CHILDREN OF THE SNOW LAND ADVISED 15+ Q&A WITH DIRECTORS ZARA BALFOUR &
MARCUS STEPHENSONDate: Thu 14 Mar | 18:30 Where: SohoUK, Nepal 2018 | 93 mins | + CURZON HOME CINEMA
This moving documentary follows a group of teenagers as they return home to their rural Nepalese village after a ten-year absence.
A MOTHER BRINGS HER SON TO BE SHOT ADVISED 15+ JOURNALIST GAVIN ESLER WILL INTERVIEW
DIRECTOR SINÉAD O’SHEA AFTER THE SCREENINGDate: Wed 13 Mar | 18:30 Where: SohoIreland 2017 | 84 mins
An extraordinary account of the paramilitary activity that still exists in Northern Ireland.
1000 LONDONERS – GOODBYE EUROPE ADVISED 15SHORTS PROGRAMME + Q&A WITH GUESTSDate: Thu 28 Feb | 18:30 Where: SohoUK 2018 | 70 mins
Films by Londoners who are originally from the 28 nations of the EU make up this compelling portrait of our city and its uncertain future.
SAUVAGE 18+ INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR CAMILLE VIDAL-NAQUETDate: Fri 1 Mar | 18:30 Where: BloomsburyGo to page 19 for synopsis.
BENJAMIN 15+ INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR SIMON AMSTELLDate: Fri 8 Mar | 18:30 Where: SohoGo to page 24 for synopsis.
THE WHITE CROW TBC+ INTERVIEW WITH RALPH FIENNES LIVE BY SATELLITE
AFTER THE SCREENINGDate: Fri 12 Mar | 18:45 Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield VictoriaGo to page 27 for synopsis.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK GO TO CURZON.COM
CURZON Q&As
MAIDEN 12A+ INTERVIEW WITH
TRACY EDWARDS LIVEBY SATELLITE AFTERTHE SCREENING
Date: Fri 7 Mar | 18:00Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Oxford Richmond Ripon SheffieldDirector: Alex HolmesUK 2018 | 97 mins
This riveting documentary follows Tracy Edwards, skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race, in 1989.
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L I V E E V E N T S L I V E E V E N T S
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE
Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
IVO VAN HOVE’S ALL ABOUT EVEDate: Thu 11 Apr | 19:00 | 130mins Acclaimed director Ivo van Hove directs Gillian Anderson and Lily James in his adaptation of the film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
AS YOU LIKE ITDate: Wed 17 Apr | 19:00 | 210 mins
Director Kimberley Sykes presents a vibrant production with Lucy Phelps starring as Rosalind, one of Shakespeare’s most charismatic characters.
All About Eve, National Theatre Live
SPECIAL EVENTS
THE GREAT ESCAPE: GALA SCREENINGDate: Sun 24 Mar | 17:45 | 270 minsWhere: Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
Broadcast live from the O2 Apollo, Dan Snow hosts a variety of guests to discuss the real-life events that inspired John Sturges’ classic film, before a screening of The Great Escape. This anniversary event supports the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund in its centenary year.
DIANA ROSS: HER LIFE, LOVE + LEGACYDate: Tue 26 Mar | Time TBC | 120 mins Where: Soho
Diana Ross celebrates her 75th birthday this year. Why not join in the party and watch her historic 1983 performance in New York’s Central Park, where she played to 1.2 million people over the course of two days.
2018 - 2019
BOLSHOI BALLET
Where: Knutsford Oxford Ripon Victoria
TCHAIKOVSKY’S’
SLEEPING BEAUTYDate: Sun 10 Mar | 15:00 | 210 mins
Arguably Tchaikovsky’s most popular and breathtaking ballet, this production is choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich and features Olga Smirnova as Princess Aurora.
SHOSTAKOVICH’S’
THE GOLDEN AGEDate: Sun 7 Apr | 15:00 | 210 mins
A love triangle between a fisherman, a gangster and a cabaret dancer forms the basis of this wonderful ballet, with Shostakovich’s jazz- inspired score adding heart to the drama.
La Fille du Régiment, Metropolitan Opera
EXHIBITION ON SCREEN
REMBRANDTDate: Tue 9 Apr | 18:30 | 85 mins Where: Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria
Date: Sun 14 Apr | 11:00 Where: Mayfair
Another chance to see this fascinating portrait of one of art history’s great portrait painters, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, returns marking the 350th anniversary of his death.
METROPOLITAN OPERA
Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
DONIZETTI’S
LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT Date: Sat 2 Mar | 17:55 | 175 mins
Bel canto stars Pretty Yende and Javier Camarena draw out the wit and invention of this operatic delight in Laurent Pelly’s resplendent production.
WAGNER’S
DIE WALKÜREDate: Sat 30 Mar | 17:00 | 240 mins approx
The second part of Wagner’s epic exploring Teutonic myth features arguable the cycle’s most famous piece, Ride of the Valkyries. This is opera at its grandest
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon
VERDI’S LA FORZA DEL DESTINODate: Tue 2 Apr | 18:15 | 255 mins Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Netrebko, two charismatic stars at the height of their careers, perform in a drama of raging passion and bitter revenge.
GOUNOD’S
FAUSTDate: Tue 30 Apr | 18:45 | 225 mins
David McVicar’s production, set in 1870s Paris, is the perfect setting for this classic tale of the titular character (Michael Fabiano) who sells his soul to the devil (Erwin Schrott).
TAIWAN FILM FESTIVAL UKDate: 3-14 April Where: Bloomsbury
Curzon is delighted to welcome the inaugural Taiwan Film Festival, celebrating Taiwan’s long history and diverse cultural heritage. We’ll be announcing the full programme shortly, but we can confirm it will include a screening of the 4K restored print of King Hu’s classic Wuxia epic Dragon Inn.
Rose-Lynn Harlan roared into my mind, fully-formed and singing, sometime around 2009. I wrote hundreds of drafts of the script, but what came out of Rose-Lynn’s mouth barely changed from first draft to final cut. Rose-Lynn was always Rose-Lynn.
Like her, I’m from Glasgow and country music is my passion. My teenage years were spent watching endless hours of Country Music Television; going to gigs of Nashville stars who occasionally came to Glasgow and hanging about stage doors. On Saturday nights, I’d go to the replica Grand Ole Opry, which features in the film.
All of this was very much ‘BT’ – Before Taylor (Swift) – when country was so desperately uncool; the love that dare not speak its name. I didn’t care. For me, it was pure catharsis; the antidote to a very Glaswegian culture of people not talking about their emotions. Country did for me what it does for Rose-Lynn in the film – it gets what’s in there out.
I was writing early drafts of Wild Rose at the same time as the first flush of The X Factor’s popularity. What interested me was not the wish-fulfilment narrative but the reality behind the dreams. What must it be like to have an extraordinary talent, to be fished out from ordinary life for a few short weeks, then chucked back in again? What did it feel like to go back to Newcastle or Motherwell or Doncaster and be expected to just ‘get about your business’, as we say in Glasgow?
One week, a girl came on who was so good I was cheering for her from my couch. Then came the ‘reveal’: she had a history of jail time and her kids were in care. Suddenly, I found myself wondering what to want for her. What did it mean, that she had kids? Should she quit dreaming and ‘get about her business’? Or should a talent like hers be allowed to trump everything else?
FEAT
URES
INTO THE HEARTLANDScreenwriter Nicole Taylor recalls the genesis of Wild Rose
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The Iron Lady
I was already many drafts in by this time, not sure if anyone would be interested in this story but me, but that episode of the The X Factor crystallised something for me and I felt even greater conviction that I needed to keep going, that I had the basis for good drama – a question without an answer, an argument with right on both sides.
The biggest challenge was always going to be casting Rose-Lynn. Years went by when it seemed impossible. A nice voice just wouldn’t cut it. It was goose bumps or nothing. Then director Tom Harper read the script and he knew who he was going to cast from the very first page: Jessie Buckley, a RADA-trained actress with a background in musical theatre, who’s been singing and playing since before she could speak. For me, it was love at first listen.
Jessie and I started writing country songs together once filming was finished. Every couple of Fridays, she would come round to my house. My wee boy Guthrie would sit on her knee as she sang. I think it was a way for both me and Jessie to draw out the experience – neither of us was yet up for letting Rose-Lynn go. Four of our songs wound up on the film’s soundtrack.
In the nearly ten years since I started writing, I’ve got married, become a mum and, I suppose, grown up. But I share enough of the DNA of Rose-Lynn that this film will always be a record of who I was at a certain time of my life. Getting to share her with Jessie has been a relief and a joy. I don’t think there will ever be a character who means as much to me. And she chats away to me still.
WILD ROSE opens 12 April
www.modernfilms.com/lazzaro
FILMS PRODUCTIONS SA
“PURE CINEMATIC MAGIC”SIGHT & SOUND
“AS SUBLIME AS IT IS BEAUTIFUL”TIME OUT
IN CINEMAS APRIL 5
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Five years ago, Brady Corbet was an actor best known for playing a victim of sexual abuse in Mysterious Skin (2004), one of the killers in Michael Haneke’s estimable US remake of his own Funny Games (2007) and the titular sociopath in Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer (2012). But then came Childhood of a Leader (2015), winning both Best Director and Best Debut Film at the Venice Film Festival, which announced Corbet as one of the more intriguing filmmakers to emerge from the US in recent years.
His second feature Vox Lux appears to unfold in a different universe from the claustrophobic atmosphere of Childhood’s pre-First World War Europe. A portrait of a young girl’s emergence as a pop sensation and her development as both an icon and global brand, it is light to Childhood’s brooding darkness. While tension was underpinned by an air of grim foreboding in Corbet’s debut, Vox Lux’s glitz is undercut by the venality of the showbiz world. And the air of fatalism that runs through the film is compounded by Willem Dafoe’s lugubrious commentary. Just as Stanley Kubrick made the most of Michael Hordern’s narration for Barry Lyndon (1975) and Lars von Trier utilised the sonorous tones of John Hurt to presage the events unfolding in Dogville (2003) and Manderlay (2005), Corbet employs Dafoe’s voiceover to add gravity to his protagonist’s transformation from small town schoolgirl to international star.
Vox Lux might play out in the constant glare of celebrity culture, but it opens in the shadow of horror, with a terrible event whose fallout ironically catapults young Celeste into the spotlight. However, it’s in the sequence that precedes the awful, yet nowadays all-too-common, tragedy that Corbet’s skill as a filmmaker shines through. Like Jeremy Saulnier, whose Hold the Dark was one of the overlooked gems of last year, Corbet’s ability to create mood in the most innocuous of moments is striking. The film opens with a vehicle pulling into a side street. The camera movement is minimal but it underpins an air of unease which augurs the event that follows. And the subsequent scene proves to be so chilling because of the glacial distance Corbet employs in chronicling the atrocity.
Vox Lux is the tortured sibling of Bradley Cooper’s recent rags to riches drama; if A Star is Born is about winning someone’s heart, Vox Lux is about losing one’s soul. Corbet creates a world that tears away at Celeste (played to the max, first by Raffey Cassidy and then Natalie Portman) until she is little more than the image her fans project on to her, her words on stage as vacuous as the life that has been constructed for her. Perhaps it’s not so different to Childhood of a Leader after all.
VOX LUX opens 3 MayAlso available on CURZON HOME CINEMA
THE X FACTORVox Lux explores the cost of fame By Ian Haydn Smith
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In his incendiary Oscar-winning feature debut Get Out, Jordan Peele has a liberal, middle-class white father ingratiating himself with his daughter’s new black boyfriend. He tells him, “By the way, I would have voted for Obama for a third term, if I could”. That film, which finds a young photographer visiting a lavish suburban home in an overwhelmingly WASP-ish neighbourhood, may start with ‘woke’ solidarity, but it ends in a waking nightmare where the entire community is out to steal his mind and body for its own designs. Peele’s brilliant allegory, disguised as a drum-tight thriller, is an unnerving, highly original skewering of racial prejudice and social divides in contemporary America. His much- anticipated follow-up, Us, promises more of the same while upping the supernatural terror.
In Us, the Wilson family – Adelaide (Lupita Nyongo’o), Gabe (Winston Duke), Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) – are besieged in a holiday home by four demonic doppelgangers. But the reason for the assault, which intensifies every time the real Wilsons succeed in repelling their otherworldly trespassers, remains unknown. What is clear is that if Get Out gradually removed the masks of a seemingly normal white liberal family to reveal their monstrous inner selves, Us is more direct in the horror it purveys; in this case, a new mythology with ‘the Tethered’. Peele’s conceit of ‘The Sunken Place’ in Get Out quickly became a
pop-culture metaphor for systemic oppression and exploitation. The Tethered might swiftly join it, as shorthand for our duality and how we can so easily be our own worst enemies.
Racial politics were front and centre in Get Out. With Us, Peele is adamant that simply by casting black actors as the film’s protagonists he is making an equally telling statement. It allows him to concentrate on a wider deconstruction of western culture’s notion of the nuclear family, which has previously been grist for the mill of horror classics, from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977) to The Shining (1980), Poltergeist (1982) and Hereditary (2018).
Admittedly, Peele no longer has the element of surprise. After all, before Get Out he was best known as one half of the highly successful comedy sketch show Key & Peele, not the purveyor of top-draw frights. Yet in retrospect, that show’s deft satirical take-downs of socio-cultural mores are clearly the flipside to what Peele is now exploring in his films. Comedy and horror employ visceral surprise, either to produce an involuntary shudder of fear or a jolt of laughter. Peele’s skill lies in his ability to wield both as he casts an eye across the political and cultural landscape of the US.
US opens 22 March
DOUBLE THREATFormer comedy star Jordan Peele follows up his smash-hit thriller Get Out with the deeply unsettling Us
By Leigh Singer
Willem Dafoe doesn’t do ordinary. Or, at least, his ordinary is imbued with the extraordinary. Take his performance as Bobby, the worn-down caretaker of the run-down motel in The Florida Project (2017). He’s a kindly soul, who is probably too indulgent with his residents. But an encounter with an ageing paedophile reveals his steel. Jump back almost 30 years to David Lynch’s Wild at Heart (1990) and we find Dafoe playing another Bobby (Peru), no less a rat than the
scene stealing character he voices in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), albeit one whose approach to seducing woman has much in common with Donald Trump. It’s a chilling turn.
Dafoe is equally at ease playing saints and sinners. He might be a star, one who cancommand the role of villain in a comic book adaptation (2002’s SpiderMan), but he is also a committed character actor, more fascinated by the allure of a challenging role than the draw of the box office.
SAINT + SINNERby Ian Haydn Smith
Playing Vincent Van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate, Willem Dafoe once again exhibits his extraordinary versatility.
F E A T U R E
If the years have imbued his face with a rugged handsomeness – a quality emphasised by filmmakers Theo Angelopoulos and Daniel Nettheim in their respective collaborations with him on The Dust of Time (2008) and The Hunter (2011) – in his youth Dafoe was unconventionally beautiful. In contrast to Richard Gere’s tanned Adonis in American Gigolo (1980), Dafoe’s paleness in the biker drama The Loveless (1981) was the antithesis of the era’s Armani-inspired, power dressing trend. Fitted out in black leather – as he subsequently was as the villains in the rollicking rock musical Streets of Fire (1984) and neo-noir masterpiece To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) – it’s impossible to look away from him.
Dafoe achieved wider recognition playing the Christ-like Sgt. Elias in Platoon (1986). He went on to play the virtuous FBI Agent Ward in Mississippi Burning and Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ (both 1988). Even as the
son of God, he ground his performance in the struggles of everyday life. It’s why he’s so good in Light Sleeper (1992), Tom & Viv (1994), Affliction (1997), Antichrist (2009) and Pasolini (2014). (His commitment to a role has made him a go-to actor for directors as diverse as Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara and Wes Anderson.)
That same approach is present in At Eternity’s Gate. As Van Gogh, Dafoe draws us into the artist’s internal life - his struggle to maintain a grip on reality and the torment his troubled mind endures. It’s an extraordinary performance; not because of its showiness, but because Dafoe presents us with a man who desperately wants to live an ordinary life, but is everything but that.
AT ETERNITY’S GATE opens 29 MarchAlso available on CURZON HOME CINEMA
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LORO opens 19 April Also available on CURZON HOME CINEMA
Sex and power. They’re subjects that Paolo Sorrentino returns to time and again. Loro, his eighth feature, adds another dimension to his mosaic of Italian political and cultural life that began with Il Divo (2008), his stunning take-down of Guilio Andreotti and continued with The Great Beauty (2013), his dissection of Rome’s cognoscenti. With his latest film, he journeys into the dark recesses of the Bunga Bunga club to detail the richly decadent life of Silvio Berlusconi, the country’s preeminent billionaire political playboy – if an 82-year-old pensioner can be called that.
Once again, Sorrentino calls on the skills of the chameleon-like Toni Servillo to play the Italian tycoon. If he portrayed Andreotti as a crepuscular, Max Schreck-like figure, Servillo’s Berlusconi is leathery lounge lizard, wallowing in wealth but bereft of class or charm. (He’s matched by Riccardo Scamarcio’s Sergio Morra, a younger, no less lecherous pimp who also passes himself off as a businessman.)
Like he did with The Great Beauty, Sorrentino finds a perfect balance in exploring these worlds and excoriating them. And as the title – which translates as ‘Them’ – indicates, the ex-PM isn’t the only person in the filmmaker’s sights. Berlusconi might be the figurehead, but around him is an entire culture that has revelled in the debasement of the Italian state.
JOIN THE
CLUBPaolo Sorrentino returns with an epic portrait of Italy’s longest-serving post-war Prime Minister
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VIOLENT FEMMESWith Marvel ready to launch their first female action hero franchise with Captain Marvel, Wendy Ide looks back to earlier characters that took no prisoners
There are generally two types of female action hero. There’s those who co-opt the male approach, with its forthright aggressive physicality. Sigourney Weaver’s formidable, shaven-headed Ripley in the Alien series is a prime example of that. Then there are those who weaponise their femininity – Gal Gadot’s empathetic Wonder Woman being a case in point. We can only speculate as to which approach Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel will favour in her eponymous outing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or whether she’ll inhabit the Venn diagram intersection between the two. But what’s interesting, superficially at least, is her non-gendered character name – unusual for the superhero genre, which tends to be rigidly binary in the way that it identifies key characters (Iron Man, Cat woman, Black Widow, Ant Man).
It’s tempting to assume that the ‘feminine’ action hero is a relatively new approach. Stereotypical male traits were, and arguably still are, the ones that are most closely linked to the warrior figure that is the dominant action hero archetype. However, that’s not quite the case. Take Myrna Loy in The Thin Man (1934). She might not be the first person one thinks of as an action hero, given that her preferred actions are shopping, drinking martinis, competitive banter and recovering from epic hangovers. But as one half of a husband and wife crime-fighting duo, she brought wealth, wit and ingenuity to the battle against the bad guys, along with a fabulous wardrobe.
In the 1940s and 1950s, actual female action performances of any stripe were thin on the ground. Exceptions tended to cast the female as a novelty or an anomaly in a traditionally male role: Barbara Stanwyck as
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The Thin Man, 1934
Forty Guns, 1957
Alien, 1979 Captain Marvel, 2018
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What to knowOne of the most admired filmmakers to emerge from the second generation of the Iranian New Wave, Jafar Panahi began his career as assistant director to Abbas Kiarostami. His films The White Balloon (1995), The Mirror (1997) and The Circle (2000) all won him acclaim. He broke through to an even larger international audience with Offside (2006), his account of a group of girls attempting to gain access to a World Cup qualifying match to support their national team.
JAFAR PANAHI
MEET THE FILMMAKER
An Outspoken CriticNever one to shy away from criticism of the Iranian State, particularly its treatment of women, in 2010 Panahi was arrested and sentenced to six years imprisonment, which was commuted to house arrest. He was also given a 20-year ban on making films or giving media appearances. That hasn’t stopped him. Starting with the ironically titled This is Not a Film (2011), Panahi has made four films since his arrest, including the hugely popular Taxi Tehran (2015).
Coming upPanahi’s new film 3 Faces returns to the subject of women in contemporary Iranian society, but also plays with the boundary between drama and reality. His 2003 thriller Crimson Gold, written by Kiarostami, had previously shown his skill at building suspense. But it pales compared with the tension – and invention – of 3 Faces’ thrilling opening sequence, setting up the drama and potential tragedy of what is to follow. Once again, Panahi not only writes and directs, but appears in his film. He plays alongside acclaimed actor Behnaz Jafari, best known internationally for her breakthrough performance in Samira Makhmalbaf’s Blackboards (2000). They travel through the Iranian countryside in search of a missing girl, only to see how gender divisions curtail women’s freedoms and, if they choose to rebel against them, forever tarnish their reputation. Panahi’s drama is deceptively simple, frequently very funny and always on point with the message it so articulately conveys.
3 FACES opens 29 March
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a cattle rancher in Forty Guns (1957) and Maureen O’Hara as a pirate captain in Against All Flags (1952). All that changed in the 1960s, although the prevailing winds of feminism were slow to filter through that most male of bastions: Hollywood. The female action hero used sex as her weapon of choice – she was a cartoon representation of femininity rather than a fully developed character. Think Monica Vitti as an extravagantly bewigged comic book spy in Modesty Blaise (1966) or Jane Fonda as astronaut Barbarella (1968), drifting around space, shedding clothes and shagging aliens.
It was not until the 1970s and 1980s that we started to see the kind of kick-ass female action star who became the template for more recent characters. The obvious example is Sigourney Weaver in the Alien series, her character’s gender irrelevant to the job that she does, or her survival against the alien foe. Ripley was originally intended to be male; the decision to switch to a female protagonist created one of the most iconic characters in sci-fi cinema.
This era also introduced Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor to audiences. Like Ripley, she is forced by circumstances to become a warrior in the Terminator films. But unlike Ripley, the future fact of her motherhood is what makes her a target in the first place.
The rise in popularity of comic book movies has arguably lead to an increase in fairly uninteresting female action characters – the superhero, after all, is defined by an extraordinary skill or ability which in some instances all but overshadows their personality. Not just femininity but humanity and even fallibility are the traits that crop up in the more interesting female action performances – Jennifer Lawrence’s defiantly altruistic Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games series and the endlessly inventive and determined Special Forces soldier played by Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow.
So how will Captain Marvel measure up? Will she be defined by the fact she can blast photons from her fist or by the fact that she’s a woman who has battled not just to match but to exceed all competition in a male dominated world? Either way, weaponised femininity is probably unnecessary for a character who can blow stuff up using just her eyes.
CAPTAIN MARVEL opens 8 March
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Edge of Tomorrow, 2014
The Hunger Games, 2012
The Terminator, 1985
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THE FILMS THAT MADE USCURZON STAFF MEMBERS AND FRIENDS WRITE ABOUT THE FILMS THAT INSPIRE THEM
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her gaze that we see everything, not in a literal sense - the camera doesn’t follow her, or reproduce an ‘I’ camera effect - but there is nothing ever in the frame that she isn’t responsible for us seeing. Chinatown is completely obsessed with looking and the gaze. There’s the glasses in the pond – one of the film’s major clues – and we often see Jake using binoculars. Out of Blue opens with the line “You can tell a lot by looking’ and it is a challenge to really look at what is about to unfold, and to take on the female gaze.
The most exciting part of all noirs for me is the complex web of characters. They are usually hiding something and lost in the past. Chinatown is a murder mystery, but it’s also a psychological unravelling, and this was very inspirational for Out of Blue. Ultimately though, I was interested in shifting beyond the traditional noir staple of the femme fatale - the manipulative woman who ensnares the male hero - and instead make Mike her own femme fatale. She becomes caught up in herself, a self- detecting detective.
Over the years, I have seen Chinatown so many times that it has become part of me. But every time watch the film, it offers up something new. I love how layered it is. I’m in awe of it. Like Brian De Palma’s Sisters (1972) – another inspiration of mine – which is in part an homage to Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Psycho, Out of Blue is my humble homage to Chinatown.
OUT OF BLUE opens 29 MarchCarol Morley is the director of Out of Blue, The Falling and Dreams of a Life.
There were a number of influences on my film Out of Blue. But the most important inspiration was Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974). It’s a period film that looks back at the heyday of Noir, but adds something dystopian tied up to the anxieties of the 1970’s. In Out of Blue, I’m looking back to noir but it is a very modern story tied to the anxieties of our age, of our relationship to the darkness of our past, our minds and the universe.
Chinatown is fascinating in the way that Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) dominates the entire film, and we inhabit his viewpoint as the story unfolds. In Out of Blue, I wanted to create a world where Patricia Clarkson’s character, seasoned detective Mike Hoolihan, is complex, central and dominant. It’s through
Chinatown
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