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GOHATTO (15) 1.45 (France/UK/Japan 1999) dir. Nagisa Oshima 100m. Subtitles. Digital. Kyoto 1865: Life in a samurai compound is shaken by the arrival of the young and beautiful Sozaburo Kano who quickly becomes an object of desire for all ranks. This mesmerizing film, filled with political and sexual intrigue and set in the last days of the samurai, is a fascinatingly ambiguous exploration of the uncontrollable forces of sexual transgression that equals director Oshima's own IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES. Ryuichi Sakamoto's minimal score perfectly complements an atmospheric and insightful mix of murder and mores. + MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS (15) 3.45 (US 1985) dir. Paul Schrader 120m. Subtitles. Digital. An astonishing account of the life of the iconic Japanese author, playwright and singer Yukio Mishima – whose own life was as sensational and turbulent as the stories he told. Audaciously cutting between the events of 25 November 1970, the day on which Mishima committed ritual suicide, monochrome flashbacks and stylised excerpts from his writings, Paul Schrader's film is a penetrating, exquisitely designed and unique insight into the mind and actions of post-war Japan's most celebrated creative force. £8/£6 Concs
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WOODSTOCK: DIRECTOR'S CUT (15) 2.00 (US 1970) dir. Michael Wadleigh 215m. Digital. The three-day Woodstock music festival in August 1969 has become the iconic event of the 1960s with sounds and images that capture the spirit of an America in transition, a time when the Vietnam War and protests against it were at their peak. Michael Wadleigh's landmark concert film is the definitive record of that milestone of rock 'n' roll history with spellbinding performances from the likes of Hendrix, Sly & The Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Santana, Joe Cocker, Richie Havens, The Who and many more. The filmmakers included a young Martin Scorsese and the movie deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. With it's ground-breaking use of widescreen multi-images , it remains a stunning achievement, but above all, it's a once-in-a-lifetime celebration that captures its era like no other movie before or since. With 15 minute interval £8/£6 Concs |
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Sun 23 Aug • Hitchcock double bill VERTIGO (PG) 12.00 (US 1958) dir. Alfred Hitchcock 132m. Digital. A standard Hitchcock mystery thriller turns into a psychological exploration that is one of the most painful depictions of romantic fatalism in all of cinema. James Stewart is the increasingly confused and consumed detective who descends into a frenzy of obsession and desire as he pursues the mysterious Kim Novak. The glistening San Fransisco locations and a morose music score by Bernard Hermann perfectly complement this most hallucinatory of Hitchcock masterpieces.
(US 1959) dir. Alfred Hitchcock 136m. Hitchcock at his most playfully entertaining. There's action, intrigue, romance, comedy and sex as advertising executive Roger Thornhill pursues the mysterious CIA agent George Kaplan, for whom he has been mistaken by a gang of spies. Cary Grant is the personification of cool and the United Nations, crop-dusting plane and Mount Rushmore finale are bravura pieces of filmmaking that, on this occasion, are simply the icing on the cake. £8/£6 Concs/£5 Under 15’s
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SUGAR (15) 1.30 (US 2008) dirs. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck 114m. 19-year old Miguel 'Sugar' Santos seizes the opportunity to go from Dominican shanty town to American Dream when his baseball talents land him a temporary work permit. But he soon finds himself alone and bewildered in a world unlike any he has known before. With a remarkable performance by Algenis Perez Soto, this is an understated tale of immigration and isolation, in which baseball is not the subject but the backdrop to an original, provocative, memorable and moving story by two of America's most distinctive young filmmakers. (US 2008) dir. Courtney Hunt 97m. Set on the Mohawk reservation that straddles the U.S.-Canadian border, this is the much lauded story of Ray Eddy (the superb Melissa Leo in her Oscar-nominated role), a struggling single mum who sees a way to ensure her family's economic survival by becoming involved in a people smuggling operation with Lila, a Mohawk Indian woman. Courtney Hunt's original and compelling directorial debut is both a thriller and a penetrating character study that is grounded in recognisably real lives and real problems. £8/£6 Concs
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Sun 6 Sep • Cuban Classics double bill MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT (15) 1.45 (Cuba 1968) dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea 97m. Subtitles. Digital. Havana 1961: wealthy aspiring writer Sergio decides to remain in Cuba following the revolution, although his family and friends have fled to Miami, because he wants to observe Castro´s regime at first hand. It's a rich, subtle and fascinating look at the new social order. Much disliked by the Cuban authorities at the time, it is now a major landmark in the history of Latin American Cinema. + STRAWBERRIES AND CHOCOLATE (18) 3.40 (Cuba/Mexico/Spain/US 1994) dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea 110m. The meeting of Diego, a sceptical gay young artist and David, a heterosexual Havana university student dedicated to the communist cause, creates an unlikely pairing that also highlights attitudes and prejudices in a world in which politics can shape lives, opinions and relationships. Hugely controversial in Cuba even now, the film was the first to feature a gay man as the hero while openly criticising the Government and its widespread intolerance. £8/£6 Concs
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Sun 13 Sep • Sci-fi double bill THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (18) 1.15 An hallucinatory mix of science-fiction (without the science), love story, metaphysical mystery, and political satire, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH is the complex and ambiguous tale of a fallen angel. Bowie plays Newton, a humanoid alien who arrives on Earth to obtain water for his dying planet, builds a corporate business empire but becomes increasingly affected by such human concepts as love, greed and corruption. After 30 years, it remains a kaleidoscopically dazzling visual treat.
(UK 2009) dir. Duncan Jones 97m. Working for Lunar Industries, astronaut Sam Bell is finishing his three-year placement on the moon, where he is solely responsible for sending back to Earth the resources that provide pollution-free power. Then an accident during routine checks triggers off a terrifying series of events. With an outstanding performance from Sam Rockwell, this is a welcome return to the enthralling psychological sci-fi thriller of yesteryear, and an accomplished directorial debut from the director formerly known as Zowie Bowie.
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Sun 20 Sep • The South London Gallery and the French Institute present MATHIEU AMALRIC Mathieu Amalric is a three-time César award winning actor and director. He is best known to British audiences for his unforgettable portrayal of the paralysed Jean-Dominique Bauby in THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY and most recently as Dominic Greene, the villain in the Bond film QUANTUM OF SOLACE. His other directorial credits include MANGE TA SOUPE (1997) and LA CHOSE PUBLIQUE (2003).
(France 2002) dir. Mathieu Amalric 70m. Subtitles. Written and directed by Mathieu Amalric and based on the novel by Daniele Del Giudice , LE STADE DE WIMBLEDON is an hallucinatory mystery story. A young French woman's fascination for a highly regarded literary editor, a writer who never published his own work, takes her first to the Italian city of Trieste and then to London SW19. Through libraries and bookshops she tries to reconstruct the life of a man whose legend she has herself created. Finally, she meets the woman who may have known him best. With a fascinating performance from Jeanne Balibar, this is a rich layering of opposing perspectives that are mirrored and scattered to ultimately form a recognisable portrait of the unknowable. + MALUS, UN FILM POST-SCRIPTUM SUR LE STADE DE WIMBLEDON (15) Followed by a Q&A with Mathieu Amalric £8/£6 Concs This programme is part of 'Neighbours', a film programme curated by Pascale Cassagnau, exploring the crossed relationships which bind together contemporary art, cinema and documentary. 'Neighbours' also includes screenings at Ciné Lumière. For full listing of the programme please visit the Ciné Lumière website: www.institut-francais.org.uk See also: www.southlondongallery.org
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Sun 27 Sep • The South London Gallery and the French Institute present BERTRAND BONELLO CINDY, THE DOLL IS MINE (15) 1.30 (France 2005) dir. Bertrand Bonello 15m. Digital. A short film inspired by a photograph by American artist Cindy Sherman. A brunette takes a photograph of a blonde and, with the two characters both played by Asia Argento, Bonello continues the theme of ambiguity and doubling.
(France 2008) dir. Bertrand Bonello. 130m. Subtitles. Mathieu Amalric is Bernard a film director whose research for his latest film includes asking an undertaker if he can stay in his funeral parlour overnight. Accidental incarceration in a coffin proves to be a life changing experience. A meeting with a mysterious man leads him to a country mansion, ruled over by an androgynous Asia Argento, where investigations into true, unfiltered spiritual, mental, and physical pleasure are the principal activity. As he dives deeper into his psyche, people come to take him “home,” people dance, people swim naked, people wear masks and people get shot... Inspired by Georges Bataille's writings and by Carl von Clausewitz's war strategies ("Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult."), the film is a subtle but complex tapestry that reflects Bertrand Bonello's fascination with doubling, metamorphosis and ellipsis. Followed by a Q&A with Bertrand Bonello £8/£6 Concs This programme is part of 'Neighbours', a film programme curated by Pascale Cassagnau, exploring the crossed relationships which bind together contemporary art, cinema and documentary. 'Neighbours' also includes screenings at Ciné Lumière. For full listing of the programme please visit the Ciné Lumière website: www.institut-francais.org.uk See also: www.southlondongallery.org
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Sun 9 Aug • Japanese Passions double bill
Sun 16 Aug • 40th Anniversary of Woodstock
+ NORTH BY NORTHWEST (PG) 2.30
+ FROZEN RIVER (15) 3.50 
+ MOON (15) 3.50
LE STADE DE WIMBLEDON (15) 2.30
+ DE LA GUERRE (On War) (18)
107
Kingsland High Street E8
(corner John Campbell Road)
Tel 020 7241 9410
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