Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 162: Thu Jun 11

Zama (Martel, 2017): Garden Cinema, 8pm

This film, part of the Argentinian film season at the Garden Cinema, also screens on June 2nd. Tonight's presentation will be introduced by Dr Alma Prelec.

Chicago Reader review:
After a hiatus of nearly a decade, the brilliant Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel (The Holy Girl, The Headless Woman) returns with an entrancing 17th-century period drama. The title character, a magistrate in rural Argentina, longs to return to his native Spain so he can be reunited with his wife and children; waiting on his deliverance, he idles away his time with native women and petty political squabbles until he’s sent into the jungle on a suicide mission to capture a violent bandit. As always with Martel, the story is opaque but the atmosphere is rich and immersive, with meticulously designed frames that balance one’s attention between the principal characters and marginalized individuals (in this case women, slaves, and Native Americans). The soundtrack is also characteristically vibrant, as Martel conjures up a vivid world beyond the frame.
Ben Sachs

Here (and above) is the trailer.

Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 161: Wed Jun 10

Barren Lives (Santos, 1963): BFI Southbank, NFT1, 6.10pm

This film, part of the Brazilian film season at BFI Southbank, is introduced by Dr Tiago de Luca, University of Warwick, and is also screened on June 2nd (details here). 

BFI introduction:
A migrant family and their dog cross the drought-stricken arid Sertão region in a desperate bid to survive. Pereira dos Santos adapts Graciliano Ramos’ acclaimed 1938 novel, one of Brazil’s key literary works, employing stark landscapes and non-professional performances to stunning effect. It is regarded as a foundational Cinema Novo work – a devastating yet deeply humane portrait of poverty, endurance and cyclical displacement.

Here (and above) is an extract. 

Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 160: Tue Jun 9

 Latin Quarter (Sewell, 1945): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 6.10pm

This 35mm screening is part of the 'Projecting the Archive' strand at BFI Southbank. There will be an introduction by Jason Morell, actor and son of Joan Greenwood.

BFI introduction:
When a young dancer has her career cut short by illness, she marries an eminent sculptor whose cruelty drives her into the arms of another man. This early role for Joan Greenwood sees her perfectly cast as the fragile ballerina trapped in an abusive relationship. Sewell’s atmospheric evocation of the fin de siècle decadence of bohemian Paris is enhanced by the camerawork of silent horror veteran Günther Krampf. Based on a French play, which the director adapted four times across his career, this macabre tale exploring jealousy and spiritualism serves up a shocking final twist.

Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 159: Mon Jun 8

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hawks, 1953): BFI Southbank, NFT1, 6.10pm

This film, part of the Marilyn Monroe season at BFI Southbank, also screens on June 25th. Details here.
Tonight's screening features and introduction by BFI Film Programmer Rógan Graham.

Chicago Reader review:
Howard Hawks's grand, brassy 1953 musical about two girls from Little Rock—Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell—gone gold digging in Paris. The male sex is represented by a bespectacled nerd (Tommy Noonan), a dirty old man (Charles Coburn), and a 12-year-old voyeur (the unforgettable George "Foghorn" Winslow), all of whom deserve what they get. The opening shot—Russell and Monroe in sequins standing against a screaming red drape—is enough to knock you out of your seat, and the audacity barely lets up from there, as Russell romances the entire U.S. Olympic team to the tune of "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?" and Hawks keeps topping perversity with perversity. A landmark encounter in the battle of the sexes.
Dave Kehr

Here (and above) is the trailer.

Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 158: Sun Jun 7

Ugetsu (Mizoguchi, 1953): Prince Charles Cinema, 3.15pm

Chicago Reader review:
The mood of Kenji Mizoguchi’s 1953 masterpiece is evoked by the English translation most often given to its title, “Tales of the Pale and Silvery Moon After the Rain.” Based on two 16th-century ghost stories, the film is less a study of the supernatural than a sublime embodiment of Mizoguchi’s eternal theme, the generosity of women and the selfishness of men. Densely plotted but as emotionally subtle as its name, Ugetsu is one of the great experiences of cinema.
Dave Kehr

Here (and above) is the trailer.

Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 157: Sat Jun 6

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Hill, 1969): BFI Southbank, NFT1, 6pm

This film, which also screens on June 1st and 26th, is in the Big Screen Classics strand at BFI Southbank. Full details here.

Chicago Reader review:
George Roy Hill’s 1969 film moves with steady, stupid grace from oozy sentimentality to nihilistic violence; you have to admire the craft and assurance of the thing even as its artificiality hits you in the face. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are the romantic couple of the title; Katharine Ross is the interloper. With Strother Martin, Jeff Corey, Cloris Leachman, and Henry Jones.
Dave Kehr

Here (and above) is the trailer.

Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 156: Fri Jun 5

The Misfits (Huston, 1961): BFI Southbank, 2.30pm; 6pm & 8.35pm

This film, the centrepiece of the Marilyn Monroe season at BFI Southbank, is on an extended run at the cinema. Details here.

Time Out review:
Rarely has a film’s content been as overshadowed by its context as 1961’s ‘The Misfits’, re-released this week as part of a Marilyn Monroe retrospective at BFI Southbank. Director John Huston drank his way through the production, falling asleep repeatedly during filming. As her marriage to screenwriter Arthur Miller collapsed, leading lady Monroe checked herself into rehab: her recovery was so rocky that all subsequent close-ups had to be taken in soft focus. Two days after the film wrapped, star Clark Gable died of a heart attack. Monroe would follow 18 months later, having loathed the film and her performance in it. Third lead Montgomery Clift survived for five more drink-fuelled years: his final words, to a friend who asked him if he felt like catching a late-night TV showing of ‘The Misfits’, were ‘absolutely not! 'The tale of a down-on-her-luck divorcée (Monroe) who shacks up with a grizzled-but-lovable Nevada cowboy (Gable) and his rodeo-riding pal (Clift), ‘The Misfits’ is a problematic but provocative piece of work. Miller’s dialogue is as theatrically fruity as it gets – ‘You’re three dear, sweet, dead men!’ – while his overall treatment of Monroe’s character – dim, dizzy, innocent but oh-so-lively – feels patronising. But there are powerful moments too: Eli Wallach’s performance as Gable’s widowed buddy is pin-sharp, his transformation from pitiable sidekick to soulless creep the most convincing thing in the film. And the climax is simply magnificent, as matters come to a head out at a remote salt flat and Monroe finally gives vent to her frustrations with the entire male gender.
Tom Huddleston

Here (and above) is the trailer.