And Soon the Darkness (Fuest, 1970): Roxy Bar & Screen, London Bridge 7.30pm
Here is the Filmbar70 film club introduction to the evening's entertainment: With the glory days of the sixties fading fast, British genre
filmmakers looked to the contemporary concerns infusing American generic
cinema and further back to the rich vein of psychological dramas
peppering the British celluloid landscape. Uncertain outcomes, social
entropy and a pervading sense of nihilistic despair came to inform the
results – our (and indeed, Europe’s) last wave of concerted genre
filmmaking. Since consigned to nocturnal cathode ray emissions, the
British thrillers of the ‘70s have been largely ignored or dismissed by
our cultural commentators. But we at Filmbar70 love these smouldering
embers of the British film industry. And what better way to celebrate
than to screen one of the best examples – Robert Fuest’s tightly weaved
‘And Soon the Darkness’…
When two young female nurses (Filmbar fave Pamela Franklin and
Michele - “oh Frank” – Dotrice) embark on a cycling holiday around
southern France, nothing had prepared them for the sheer monotony of
their trip. As tempers are tried and bickering flares, the couple decide
to split – an action that leaves them more vulnerable than they could
have ever imagined. For this alien, expansive landscape has a dark
history, a history involving the unsolved abductions of a number of
young women...
An excursion into the very, very eerie, ‘And Soon the Darkness’
wrings incredible suspense from its minimal resources. Dearly departed
arch-stylist Robert Fuest imbues the wide, sunny spaces of the French
countryside with palatable dread and cloying claustrophobia, tightening
the screws of tension to breaking point.
We’ll also be sharing with you our top ten Brit Thrills of the ‘70s.
Prepare to have memories jogged and opinions outraged as we count down
our very favourite films of our very favourite decade… More here.
Here is the Filmbar70 Facebook page for more details.
Here is the trailer.
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