Capital Celluloid 2019 - Day 198: Wed Jul 17

Bleak Moments (Leigh, 1971): Phoenix Cinema, 7.30pm


Mike Leigh will be at the Phoenix for a special Q&A after the 35mm screening, along with Florence Keith-Roach, who will also be screening her first short film A Family Affair.

The event is hosted by The First Film Club, who specialise in presenting directorial debuts, showcasing the films that kickstart careers. TFFC was created by a professional team of women working in the film industry, Hanna Flint (film critic and host), Natalie Gothelf (film producer) and Tolu Akisanya (film publicist).

Chicago Reader review:
Mike Leigh's auspicious first feature focuses on the painful gaps in communication between a lonely accountant's clerk (Anne Raitt) and an uptight schoolteacher she halfheartedly tries to seduce. Kitchen-sink realism with a vengeance, punctuated by painful and awkward silences, this was made before Leigh formed a fully coherent social and political view of his material, but his feeling for the characters never falters. One can find a glancing relationship with John Cassavetes's first feature, Shadows, but the style and milieu is English to the core. This might seem overlong, and the drabness and emotional constipation may drive you slightly batty, but the film leaves a powerful aftertaste.
Jonathan Rosenbaum

Here (and above) is an extract.



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