Capital Celluloid 2018 - Day 262: Sat Sep 29

After Hours (Scorsese, 1985): Genesis Cinema, 6.30pm



As a finale to Scalarama 2018 in London, Genesis Whitechapel and Elanfest are presenting a weekend of 18 films in the tradition of midnight movies and the Scala’s legendary all-nighters, selected by critic Kim Newman, director Edgar Wright and programmer Julia Marchese. This 35mm screening is one of Wright's choices. 

Wright writes: “Someone once wrote that ‘Edgar Wright must have learned everything he knows from the direction in ‘After Hours’.’ That’s not totally true, but it isn’t too far off. This film is one that beguiled me as a teen and continues to dazzle. It’s amazing to see Scorcese at the peak of his powers direct the hell out of a small all-in-one-night comedy. Fun fact: 2nd camera assistant, David Dunlap went on to be my Director Of Photography on ‘Shaun Of The Dead’.” 

You can find details of all the Scalarama events in the capital during September here.

Chicago Reader review:
Martin Scorsese transforms a debilitating convention of 80s comedy—absurd underreaction to increasingly bizarre and threatening situations—into a rich, wincingly funny metaphysical farce. A lonely computer programmer (Griffin Dunne) is lured from the workday security of midtown Manhattan to an expressionistic late-night SoHo by the vague promise of casual sex with a mysterious blonde (Rosanna Arquette). But she turns out to be a sinister kook whose erratic behavior plunges Dunne into a series of increasingly strange, devastating incidents, including encounters with three more treacherous blondes (Verna Bloom, Teri Garr, and Catherine O'Hara) and culminating in a run-in with a bloodthirsty mob of vigilantes led by a Mr. Softee truck. Scorsese's orchestration of thematic development, narrative structure, and visual style is stunning in its detail and fullness; this 1985 feature reestablished him as one of the very few contemporary masters of filmmaking.
Dave Kehr


Here (and above) is the trailer.


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