Seasons and festivals are a major part of our usual film programme, so while we’re closed we’re putting together some specially-curated collections for you to enjoy at home.
We’ve been delving into the treasure trove that is BBC iPlayer, and have picked five fascinating but under-seen documentaries – all free to watch now.
Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler’s gem of a documentary screened at London Film Festival to a rapturous reception. When America’s last remaining roller rinks are threatened with closure, a community of thousands battles in a racially charged environment to save an underground subculture that has remained undiscovered by the mainstream for generations, yet has given rise to some of the world’s greatest musical talent.
Between 2009 and 2013, England’s cricket team rose from the depths of the rankings to become the first and only English side to reach world number one. Compelling, funny and emotional, Barney Douglas’s film tells the story of a special band of brothers’ rise to the top, their unmatched achievements and the huge toll it would take. The Edge is the rollercoaster story of a team that went above and beyond the call of duty.
Charlie Lyne’s 2015 documentary takes viewers on a journey through fear and cinema, and asks whether horror movies know us better than we know ourselves. Encouraging viewers to interrogate a diverse range of images and sounds sampled from 100 years of cinema, Fear Itself informs and unnerves in equal measure, changing the way you watch horror movies for good.
First- time filmmaker Bing Liu’s sublime Oscar nominated documentary is the coming-of-age saga of three skateboarding friends in their Rust Belt hometown. Trying to piece together how they ended up where they are in their lives, Bing has assembled all his skating home-video footage, cut with present day interviews. As the film unfolds, Bing is thrust into the middle of his friends’ relationships, addictions, their dreams and struggles. A devastating, uplifting and honest portrayal of growing up in recession hit America.
The bombing of Hiroshima 75 years ago showed the appalling destructive power of the atomic bomb. Mark Cousins’s bold documentary looks at death in the atomic age, but life too. Using only archive film and a musical score by the band Mogwai, the film presents an impressionistic kaleidoscope of our nuclear times – protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima – but also the sublime beauty of the atomic world, and how x-rays and MRI scans have improved human lives. As Cousins himself advises, the film is best played LOUD.
Though his feature length film Last and First Men debuts on BFI player this week, Jóhann Jóhannsson was mainly known for his work as a composer. Discover more of his work with our mini-season of movies featuring soundtracks by this Icelandic genius, who received Oscar nominations for his work on The Theory of Everything and Sicario.
Based on Olaf Stapledon’s cult science fiction novel, Last and First Men is the first and only feature-length film directed by Jóhannsson. Two billion years ahead of us, a future race of humans finds itself on the verge of extinction. Almost all that’s left in the world are lone and surreal monuments, beaming their message into the wilderness…
It’s 1983. Lumberjack Red (Nicolas Cage) lives in a secluded cabin in the woods with his artist girlfriend Mandy. When Mandy catches the eye of a crazed cult leader who conjures a group of motorcycle-riding demons to kidnap her, Red – armed with a crossbow and custom axe – will stop at nothing to get her back. Jóhannsson created a dread-filled electronic score for Panos Cosmatos’ blood-soaked horror.
Jóhannsson’s soundtrack to Denis Villeneuve’s blistering thriller secured him his second Oscar nomination. Emily Blunt stars as Kate Macer, an FBI agent caught up in the chaos of fighting Mexican drug cartels. After a tragic incident during a raid, Kate is seconded to a mysterious unit where, faced with the utter ruthlessness of the gangs, she finds that the line between good and evil disappears.
James Marsh’s powerful biopic of Stephen Hawking follows the young scientist from his days studying theoretical physics at Cambridge to meeting and falling in love with literature student Jane, and their subsequent struggles dealing with his diagnosis of motor neurone disease. Refusing to revel in sadness, it’s an inspiring tale of love and courage in the face of adversity, and the film’s score saw Jóhannsson receive his first Oscar nomination.
Denis Villeneuve’s lean and gripping thriller stars Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover, a father who takes matters into his own hands when his daughter is kidnapped and the investigation stalls. Abducting the man he believes is responsible in order to torture him for information, Dover must work behind the back of detective Loki (a brilliantly twitchy Jake Gyllenhaal) who is determined to crack the case. Jóhannsson’s surprising and hypnotic soundtrack effectively heightens the tension.
Our New British Cinema season started with a mini-season of films from director Ben Wheatley, one of the UK’s “most dazzling and prolific cinematic talents” (bfi.org.uk).
The next instalment is a trio of films from BAFTA winning screenwriter and director Amma Asante. Born in London to Ghanaian parents, Amma began her screen career in front of the camera as a child actor BBC’s Grange Hill before moving into writing at the age of 23. She made her directorial debut in 2004 with A Way of Life, and has gone on to win numerous awards. In 2017 Amma was awarded an MBE for services to film.
“★★★★ – a raw and immensely moving drama” – bbc.co.uk. 17-year-old single mother Leigh-Anne is struggling to care for her baby in a dilapidated Welsh council flat, surrounded by crime, racism and poverty. Fearing that her Turkish neighbour Hassan has reported her to social services, she enlists the help of three friends to teach him a lesson, with devastating consequences. A gritty, and at times brutal, social-realist drama for which Amma won the Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer at the 2005 BAFTAs.
★★★★ – Observer. Amma’s second feature is based on the remarkable true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay, the illegitimate daughter of a Royal Navy captain and an enslaved African woman in the West Indies. Growing up in the household of her great-uncle Lord William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Dido (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) enjoys certain privileges but the colour of her skin prevents her from entering 18th century aristocratic society. Meeting an idealistic young man seeking change, Dido plays a key role in the abolition of slavery in England.
“★★★★ – finds personal moments amid the political storms” – Empire. Making it into Mark Kermode’s top ten films of 2016, Asante’s sweeping drama is based on the incredible real-life events surrounding the marriage of the future king of Botswana to a London office worker in 1947. Finishing his law studies in the UK, Prince Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) falls in love with Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike). But their marriage is challenged by their families, and also the British and South African governments.
“★★★★ – chilling and transgressive” – Guardian. Much to the annoyance of her manipulative mother, introvert Tina (Alice Lowe) and her new caravan-enthusiast boyfriend Chris (Steve Oram) embark on a round-Britain touring holiday, in Wheatley’s oh-so-black comedy of manners. But thanks to litterbugs, noisy teenagers, and other holidaymakers, it quickly turns into a cagoule-clad killing spree.
★★★★ – Empire. Evoking both classic British horror and Werner Herzog’s brand of metaphysical arthouse cinema, Wheatley’s “grisly slice of English civil-war psychedelia” (Guardian) sees a group of deserting soldiers forced into a search for magical treasure by a sinister and sadistic necromancer (Michael Smiley) they encounter as they flee the battle ground.
★★★★ – Financial Times. Premiering at the 2018 London Film Festival, Wheatley’s perfectly observed tragicomedy was picked up by the BBC and consequently never released in cinemas. The Bursteads have rented a swanky mansion for a big New Year get-together with 18 of their nearest and dearest. But when Colin’s (Neil Maskell) estranged brother arrives, long held resentment and bitterness surfaces.
Following the phenomenal success of Parasite, which became the first foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we’ve put together a special “lockdown” season of six must-see South Korean films from some of the best directors in the business.
★★★★★ – Time Out. South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho will forever be part of the cultural zeitgeist thanks to the history-making Oscars success of Parasite earlier this year. Kim Ki-teak’s family are all unemployed and living in a squalid basement. When his son gets a tutoring job for the wealthy Park family, the Kims gradually infiltrate the lavish home.
“★★★★★ – A beautifully blood-spattered modern classic” – Guardian. An undisputable must-see, the middle of Park Chan-wook’s ‘Vengeance Trilogy’ weaves a web of conspiracy and violence, offering a breath of fresh air from formulaic Hollywood thrillers. Years before Parasite, Oldboy set the benchmark for South Korean cinema.
“★★★★★ – A superlative thriller and a deeply erotic character study” – Empire. A milestone of LGBT cinema in ultra-conservative South Korea, Park Chan-wook’s acclaimed erotic psychological thriller is a tale of deceit and desire set in the 1930s. When a pair of petty criminals attempt to con a Japanese heiress, feelings start to get in the way and it’s unclear exactly who is being conned.
“★★★★★ – a daring study of class conflict and sexual longing that blazes with mystery” – Telegraph. Director Lee Chang-dong explores toxic masculinity in this incendiary thriller. Budding writer Jong-soo is a loner, but he begins a relationship with old school friend Hae-mi. When Hae-mi returns from a trip away with Ben (Steven Yeun) in tow, Jong-soo’s suspicions spiral into paranoia and delusion.
“★★★★★ – Giant Korean pig plus Tilda Swinton equals glorious family adventure” – Guardian. Young Mija has been caring for her gigantic hippo-like pet Okja for 10 years, at her idyllic mountain home. But the hard-hearted CEO of a food tech conglomerate (Tilda Swinton) has big plans for the creature.
“The defining monster movie of the 21st century” – IndieWire. Lauded by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, The Host broke all box office records in South Korea on its release. The government appears powerless when, after toxic waste is dumped into the Han River, a squid-like mutant emerges from its depths and begins to attack people.
While participating venues remain closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the landmark BFI Japan 2020 season has been launched online on BFI Player. Over the coming weeks we’ll share our pick of Japan 2020’s archive rarities, contemporary works and cult classics.
“★★★★★ – Visually and dramatically breathtaking” – Observer. An epic reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear set in 16th century Japan, Ran is Akira Kurosawa’s final masterpiece. Featuring incredible colour and sweeping scale, the director of Seven Samurai delivers a feast for the senses in this enduring tale of power, corruption and betrayal.
Nagisa Ôshima’s (In the Realm of the Senses, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence) stinging excoriation of 1960s youth culture focuses on the exploitative relationship between a pretty high-school pupil and her university student boyfriend who uses her as bait in his increasingly ruthless blackmail schemes to make easy money.
★★★★★ – Slant Magazine. Mikio Naruse’s undisputed masterpiece follows the turbulent love affair between Yukiko, who is seeking to carve out a new identity amid the devastation of post-war Japan, and her lover Tomioka, who craves a more socially conventional life in the newly democratised country. A heartbreaking study of memory and loss.
★★★★ – the stomach-turning birth of J-horror” – Guardian. Takashi Miike’s chilling, bloody vengeance tale is credited with launching an entire film genre at the turn of the millennium. Seeking a new wife, a widower decides to ‘audition’ candidates and becomes enchanted by a young woman, with deadly consequences.
★★★★ – Empire. With humour and tenderness, acclaimed director Hirokazu Kore-eda challenges the viewer to reflect on what makes a life worth living in this lyrical fantasy. A group of people who have recently died find themselves in limbo where, with the help of trained counsellors, they have just one week to choose a single memory to take with them into the afterlife and keep for eternity.
★★★★ – Empire. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Masaki Kobayashi’s stunning anthology of Japanese ghost stories features some of the most ravishing imagery in Japanese cinema.
★★★★★ – Empire. Akira Kurosawa’s humanist classic reflects on mortality and how the inevitability of death affects an individual. When a bureaucrat (Takashi Shimura) is diagnosed with terminal cancer he is forced to take stock of his life and seek some way to give it meaning.
“★★★★★ – as subtle and exquisite as anything he ever made” – Guardian. A group of businessmen decide to match-make for the daughter and beautiful widow of their friend. Though seemingly well-intentioned, their meddling has unintended consequences. Yasujiro Ozu’s tender examination of familial upheaval expertly blends comedy and pathos.
★★★★★ – Guardian. Yasujiro Ozu’s masterpiece is a timeless exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. An elderly couple’s visit to see their grown-up children – who are too busy to look after them – contrasts the measured dignity of age with the hurried insensitivity of a younger generation.
★★★★ – Slant Magazine. Disillusioned with the constant chatter of their elders, two brothers take a vow of silence when their parents refuse to buy them a TV. Yasujiro Ozu’s cheerful comedy simultaneously mocks seemingly meaningless chit-chat whilst gently acknowledging its fundamental role in daily life.
★★★★★ – Empire. Topping the world cinema charts, Akira Kurasawa’s groundbreaking 1954 masterpiece was a blockbuster in every sense and continues to be a major influence on today’s action films. A village under threat from marauding bandits calls upon a group of samurais to protect them.
Akira Kurasawa’s first colour film is a joyous, tragic and transcendent study of slum life in Tokyo. We meet a young disabled boy who lives in a fantasy world, neglected housewives who swap places unnoticed by their husbands, a homeless father and son picturing their dream house: each is barely scraping by, but each finds reasons to carry on.
“One of the most arresting and haunting films you will ever see” – Mark Kermode. Kaneto Shindo’s erotic horror about an impoverised and murderous mother and daughter-in-law who sell the belongings of their victims to buy food. When a messenger brings news of her son’s death, the mother fears she will be left alone and attempts to scare her daughter-in-law into staying.
★★★★ – Empire. The Sound of Music meets Dawn of the Dead in Takashi Miike’s bizarre horror-comedy, with stop-motion animation, musical numbers and zombies aplenty. The Katakuri family run a country inn popular with hikers, but when their guests keep dying they decide to bury the bodies to save their reputation.
Wim Wenders’ fascinating and moving portrait of his cinematic hero, Yasujiro Ozu, celebrates the work of a director whose films dealt with life itself. Twenty years after Ozu’s death, Wenders travels to Tokyo hoping to find the spirit of the director still present. Saddened by what he finds, and accepting that cinema itself has changed over the intervening decades, Wenders transforms his film into a treatise on the nature of recording everyday life.
