JEAN-LUC GODARD: 1930-2022

Alphaville

One of Godard’s most sheerly enjoyable movies: a dazzling amalgam of film noir and science fiction.

Booking Ref

Thu 17 Aug 18:45 – Studio

Fri 18 Aug 14:00 – Pic Palace

The plot is not unlike that of ‘1984,’ with Eddie Constantine playing Lemmy Caution, a spy sent to eliminate the creator of a “Big Brother” computer called “Alpha 60” which controls the lives, thoughts and actions of the Alphaville metropolis. Lemmy assumes the identity of a reporter, then meets up and falls in love with Anna Karina’s Natasha Von Braun (the daughter of the dictator of Alphaville who Lemmy is there to assassinate). The cinematography, direction and editing of ‘Alphaville’ is mesmerising; every image is full of movement, inventive camera angles and surreal imagery. (Subtitles)

FRANCE 1965 JEAN-LUC GODARD 100M

Weekend

Booking Ref

Mon 14 Aug 18:15 – Pic Palace

Wed 16 Aug 20:45 – Studio

A surreal tale of a couple going on a road trip to visit the wife’s parents with the intention of killing them for the inheritance. A breakthrough in narrative cinema. ‘Weekend’ remains one of the most legendary, audacious and acclaimed films of Godard’s distinguished career. It follows a bickering, scheming, bourgeois couple who leave Paris for the French countryside to claim an inheritance by nefarious means. Famed for its virtuoso cinematography, Godard’s dystopian road movie is a ferocious attack on consumerism. A towering and exhilarating piece of cinema that seems to embody the social upheaval of the 1960s in one bracing, often shocking, cinematic experience. (Subtitles)

FRANCE 1967 JEAN-LUC GODARD 105M

Slow Motion

SAUVE QUI PEUT (LA VIE)

An examination of sexual relationships in which the lives of a man, a woman and a prostitute intersect. Godard dubbed this his “Second First Film”.

Sat 19 Aug 20:45 – Studio

Sun 20 Aug 18:00 – Pic Palace

A film about three people whose lives are all at a turning point: a country girl turned city prostitute (Isabelle Huppert), a city woman who moves to the country (Nathalie Baye), and a washed-up television director falling into despair (Jacques Dutronc). The film exhibits familiar Godard traits such as attentiveness to the rhythm and textures of city life and the innovative approach to sound. An amazingly dense and complex film – almost every scene is full of visual & audio innovation, most obviously in the use of slow motion and stop-motion to create striking images of everyday actions.

FRANCE 1980 JEAN-LUC GODARD 87M

Mon 14 Aug 13:30 – Studio Inc. ‘Godard: History: Passion’ short

GODARD’S REPUTATION AND THE MAP OF CINEMA

An illustrated talk by Ian Christie plus short documentary on Godard by Ian Christie. When Jean-Luc Godard died last year, the response divided along generational lines. Many older cinephiles found themselves thinking back to their youth and recalling the impact of his early work. But what did he mean to those who had grown up in the age of video or streaming? The first half-dozen films have become classics, and many of his later works seem to anticipate what are now called ‘essay films’. Indeed, Godard often spoke of making films as an alternative form of writing novels or essays. It’s certainly much too early to attempt any definitive verdict on his career – except to say there will never be another like it in the history of cinema, since cinema itself has changed irrevocably. But maybe we can use Godard’s vast output, and his fluctuating reputation across the decades, to map what may prove to be the final half-century of that institution? 90M

GODARD: HISTORY: PASSION

‘Visions’ was an innovative early Channel Four series about cinema. In 1983 it was commissioned to make a programme introducing a ‘Godard evening’ on C4 –something hard to imagine on today’s TV, but indicative of the regard in which Godard was still held.

For this, Keith Griffiths and I interviewed a cross-section of people who had all been strongly influenced by Godard in different ways – critics and filmmakers who recalled the controversy around his early work, and with contrasting opinions about his continued relevance. Among the interviewees were Nina Hibbin, then director of the Tyneside Cinema, novelist Angela Carter, critics Tom Milne and Chris Auty, and producers Mark Shivas and Peter Sainsbury. Unfortunately this isn’t a high-quality recording of the programme, but it makes for an intriguing and historic time capsule.

– Ian Christie

UK 1983 KEITH GRIFFITHS / IAN CHRISTIE 30M

Opening Times

February 10.00 am to 4.00 pm

March to October 10.00 am to 5.00 pm

November 10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Loving Highsmith

With the excellent new documentary on Patricia Highsmith, we are supporting this with four films adapted from her novels, and an illustrated talk. This strand includes Eva Vitija’s new documentary about the American author whose books inspired so many memorable films, together with screenings of four film adaptations and a richly illustrated talk.

Ever since Alfred Hitchcock’s memorable adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel, ‘Strangers on a Train,’ her dark, disturbing yet often grimly hilarious work has proved a magnet for filmmakers. Among the work by those in Europe who took over the baton from Hitchcock were the first two adaptations of the Ripley novels, her pentalogy about the sophisticated serial killer. Perhaps the best is Wim Wenders’ radical reimagining of Ripley #3, ‘Ripley’s Game’, retitled ‘The American Friend’, with Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz. The success of Anthony Minghella’s all-star version of ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’, with Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett, rekindled the interest of filmmakers in Highsmith, resulting in a number of further adaptations in the 21st century. Outstanding among these is ‘Carol’, Todd Haynes’s striking period lesbian romance based on her second novel and also featuring Blanchett. To complement the screening of the four feature films we are excited to present Eva Vitija’s new documentary, ‘Loving Highsmith’, and ‘The Dark Angel on Screen’, a talk reflecting on the entire range of film and TV adaptations of the novelist’s work, which will include clips from 20 different film and TV versions. – Patrick Hargood

Tue 15 Aug 18:00 – Studio

Wed 23 Aug 20:30 – Studio

Strangers On A Train

Is there someone in your life who would be better off dead? Bruno has the answer to your problem in Hitchcock’s wickedly funny adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel. On its release in 1951 this was an adaptation of a story by a young unknown, made by a director whose career was on the wane after a series of flops; it also lacked any major stars. But ‘Strangers on a Train’ revived the career of Alfred Hitchcock and set him on the path to his most successful period in the 1950s and early ’60s, while launching the career of Patricia Highsmith. Hitchcock may have taken some liberties with the beautifully constructed plot (some of them forced on him by the censors), but he delivered a masterpiece of black comedy with a superlative performance from Robert Walker as Highsmith’s prototype psychopath Bruno Antony. A chance meeting on a train with tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) offers Bruno the opportunity to inveigle Guy into his scheme to swap murders. Highsmith has rarely been so well served on screen.

USA 1951 ALFRED HITCHCOCK 101M