Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 339: Thu Dec 12

Tere Mere Sapne (Ananad, 1971): BFI Southbank, NFT3, 6.30pm

This film is screening as part of the 'Film Wallahs' strand at BFI Southbank showcasing new South Asian and world cinema. Full details here.

BFI introduction:
In this adaptation of AJ Cronin’s The Citadel, we follow a young, idealistic doctor as he moves to a small village with intentions of making a difference. But life soon finds him compromising his values. When a tragedy befalls him and his new bride, the bitterness in the doctor exacerbates his pursuit of wealth and power. But it comes at a price. We are delighted to welcome Vijay Anand’s son to introduce the restored version of this riveting classic.

Here (and above) is an extract.

Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 338: Wed Dec 11

The Shop Around the Corner (Lubitsch, 1940): Prince Charles Cinema, 6.15pm

This is part of the Christmas season at the Prince Charles Cinema and is also being screened on December 17th. Details here.

Chicago Reader review:
There are no Art Deco nightclubs, shimmering silk gowns, or slamming bedroom doors to be seen, but this 1940 film is one of Ernst Lubitsch's finest and most enduring works, a romantic comedy of dazzling range that takes place almost entirely within the four walls of a leather-goods store in prewar Budapest. James Stewart is the earnest, slightly awkward young manager; Margaret Sullavan is the new sales clerk who gets on his nerves—and neither realizes that they are partners in a passionate romance being carried out through the mails. Interwoven with subplots centered on the other members of the shop's little family, the romance proceeds through Lubitsch's brilliant deployment of point of view, allowing the audience to enter the perceptions of each individual character at exactly the right moment to develop maximum sympathy and suspense. With Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, and Felix Bressart.
Dave Kehr

Here (and above) is the trailer.

Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 337: Tue Dec 10

Die Bad (Ryoo Seung-wan, 2000): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 6.10pm

This film is part of the Golden Age of Korean Films season and also screens on December 27th. Full details here.

Time Out review:
Sparky indie feature in four chapters, two previously shown as shorts in their own right. The chapters are deliberately varied in style (ciné-vérité, horror-noir, etc), but linked into a loose narrative. Seok-Hwan (Ryoo himself) provokes a pool hall fight between rival student gangs in which one guy dies. Seven years later he's become a cop and his kid brother is drifting into crime. Meanwhile the accidental murderer Sung-Bin (Park) is released from jail and universally ostracised. Haunted by the ghost of the boy he killed, he becomes a crimelord's enforcer and eventually revenges himself on Seok-Hwan by putting his brother in danger. By the end everyone is dead, dying or merely irredeemable. Basically an excuse for Ryoo and friends to show off their stunt action skills, it says all the obvious things about macho values and delinquency, but comes up fresh and watchable thanks to its play with form. A version trimmed by 3 to 4 minutes was a surprise hit in Korea.
Tony Rayns

Here (and above) is an extract.

 

Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 336: Mon Dec 9

A Bloodthirsty Killer (Lee Yong-min, 1965): BFI Southbank, NFT3, 8.40pm

This film is part of the Golden Age of Korean Films season and also screens on December 14th. Full details here. Tonight's screening will be introduced by Professor Jinhee Choi, King’s College London.

BFI introduction:
A murdered daughter-in-law returns as a vengeful spirit. While the film adheres to the classic Korean horror tropes, it also absorbs influences from Hollywood and Japanese horror. Lee Yong-min’s distinctive style deftly captures the tension between Western modernity and pre-modern Korean traditions, coexisting and interacting in the shifting space of a rapidly changing society.

Here (and above) is an extract.

Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 335: Sun Dec 8

The Big Parade (Kaige, 1986): ICA Cinema, 7pm

The film, part of the Celluloid Sunday strand at the cinema, is presented on a 35mm print from the ICA Archives.

ICA introdcution:
The sophomore feature by Chen Kaife (King of Children, Farewell My Concubine, Killing Me Softly), regarded as one of China’s most important directors and a leading filmmaker of the Fifth Generation of Chinese cinema, follows a group of military cadets on a grueling training programme to prepare for a parade celebrating the 35th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. Criticized both by the anti-military youth, in which they saw the glorification of the martial spirit, and by the Chinese authorities, which banned it after completion, the film was presented at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 1988 from a heavily cut and censored version, and remains rarely seen on the big screen to this day.

Here (and above) is an extract.

Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 334: Sat Dec 7

The Seashore Village (Soo-yong, 1965): BFI Southbank, NFT3, 8.50pm

This film is part of the Golden Age of Korean Films season and also screens on December 21st. Full details here.

BFI introduction:
When newlywed Hae-soon loses her fisherman husband to the sea, she joins the company of villagers left widowed by the forces of nature. But when she becomes the target of an aggressive courtship, Hae-soon is forced to leave her home. Adapted from the novel by Oh Yeong-su, Kim Soo-yong’s drama deftly captures the rhythms of rural life, the communal bond between women and human resilience in the face of an unforgiving natural world.

Here (and above) is the trailer.

Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 333: Fri Dec 6

The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (Hong Sang-soo, 1996): BFI Southbank, NFT1, 8.40pm

This film is part of the Golden Age of Korean Films season and also screens on December 20th. Full details here.

Time Out review:
No pigs or wells in sight in Hong Sang-soo's justly acclaimed first feature, which looks at the lives of five very recognisable urban types as if all of them were witnesses at the scene of some freak accident. These men and women make mistakes and suffer frustrations in the ways we all do: a failed novelist blames everyone but himself for his inability to keep a relationship going; a woman dreams of divorcing her husband and pins her hopes on a lover who has already moved on; a generally faithful husband impulsively rents a hooker while on a business trip and catches an STD. Part of the pleasure here comes from the skill with which Hong interweaves these seemingly unconnected lives; the rest comes from the excellence of the images, sounds and performances and from Hong's warm but unsentimental engagement with his characters.
Tony Rayns

Here (and above) is the trailer.