SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2019 ISSUE 76

JULIETTE BINOCHE STARS IN

NON-FICTION

ONLY IN CINEMA S SEPTEMBER 13

“EFFORTLESSLY CHARMING”Baz Bamigboye, Daily Mail

“LUSCIOUSLY FILMED”Kate Green, Country Life

“PERFECT ESCAPISM”Frances Hedges, Harper’s Bazaar

“SENSATIONAL”Sam Taylor, The Lady

ONLY IN CINEMA S SEPTEMBER 13

“FIRST CLASS.A TRUE DELIGHT.”

Marie Claire

THE CINEMATIC EVENT OF THE YEAR

“EFFORTLESSLY CHARMING”Baz Bamigboye, Daily Mail

4

A selection of gems transported from the small to big screen – and back again – celebrate the versatility of modern storytelling and viewing habits in the Curzon early autumn programme. The BAFTA-winning Fleabag originated as a stage show at the Edinburgh Fringe before Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s modernist comic genius was talent-spotted for TV. Waller-Bridge is back on stage with Fleabag (p.21), at the National Theatre, and looks set to break box office records as an NT Live broadcast to Curzon Cinemas. My urgent plea is BOOK NOW! We’ve already sold out many screenings. In fact, such is the high demand, we are hastily scheduling week-long runs of the show in our main programmes. They’ll start at Soho from 17 September and expand to the rest of our circuit from 27th. One-off ‘event cinema’ broadcasts now count for 8% of our admissions, but Fleabag’s exhilarating popularity is a true phenomenon.

Another Emmy and BAFTA-winning TV show, Downton Abbey (p.20), gets the cinematic treatment when it comes to town this autumn. Or should I say, ‘visits the country’, as a royal visitation to the Granthams’ stirs up the house, both upstairs and down. An Academy Award winner for Gosford Park, screenwriter Julian Fellowes takes the writing credit for his creation, with Imelda Staunton and Matthew Goode making their Abbey debuts alongside the regular cast.

Of the films available on both the big and small screen – in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema – two new films from great contemporary French directors stand out. Olivier Assayas’s Non-Fiction (p.32) is a publishing-world sex comedy starring Juliette Binoche. While François Ozon takes on the Catholic Church in By The Grace Of God (p.38), a film being dubbed the ‘French Spotlight’.

Finally, the programming team’s must-sees include heart-warming Sundance prizewinner The Farewell (p.22) and Chris Morris’s war-on-terror satire The Day Shall Come (p.28).

CINEMAS 6

MEMBERSHIP 8

CURZON ON DEMAND 12

CURZON SELECTOR 14

BERTHA DOCHOUSE 16

NEW RELEASES 18

EVENTS 46

FEATURES 52

CONTENTS

EditorIan Haydn Smith

DesignerHannah Attwell

Contributors: Wendy Ide | Philip Kemp | Tricia Tuttle

Operated by CURZON CINEMAS2nd Floor, 20-22 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LR

Participant in the Europa Cinemas/ European Union Media Programme

At the time of going to print every effort was made to ensure the information contained in this programme was correct. However, where circumstances dictate, we reserve the right to make changes.

CURZON CINEMAS Limited 1934. Registered in London: Company no:283280. Est.1934. CURZON and CURZON CINEMAS are registered trade marks, no:2291124 and no.2424017

curzon.cinemas

curzoncinemas

CurzonCinemas

WELCOME

CURZON is taking action against climate change. Winner of Best Creative Group at the Creative Green Awards 2018.

CURZON is proud to be a Living Wage employer.

Damian Spandley | Director of Programme | @damospandley

Printed by Empress Litho. Both the paper manufacturer and the printer are registered to Environmental Management system ISO14001 and are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certified

IN CINEMAS SEPTEMBER 27

#TheGoldfinch @warnerbrosuk @warnerbrosuk @WarnerBrosUK

Goldfinch_AD_148X210.indd 1 13/08/2019 12:25

JOKER_AD_148X210.indd 1 12/08/2019 13:08

LONDON

BLOOMSBURYThe Brunswick, WC1N 1AW

Russell Square

MAYFAIR38 Curzon Street, W1J 7TY

Green Park

RICHMONDWater Lane, Richmond, TW9 1TJ

Richmond

VICTORIA58 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QW

Victoria

SOHO99 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5DY

Leicester Square

WIMBLEDON23 The Broadway, SW19 1RE

Wimbledon

CINE

MAS

REGIONAL

SHEFFIELD16 George Street, Sheffield S1 2PF

Sheffield

Castle Square

BarCafé

Snacks Food

CANTERBURY Westgate Hall Road, CT1 2BT

Canterbury West

KNUTSFORDToft Road, Knutsford, WA16 0PE

Knutsford

OXFORDWestgate Shopping Centre,OX1 1NZ

Oxford

COLCHESTERRoman House, 19 Queen Street,Colchester, CO1 1LD

Colchester Town

RIPON75 North Street, Ripon, HG4 1DP

Harrogate

ALDGATEGoodman’s Fields, 2 Canter Way, E1 8PS

Aldgate East

9

C U R Z O N M E M B E R S

MEMB

ERS MEMBERS’ PREVIEWS

Members’ preview screenings throughout September and October will include

NON-FICTION See page 32 for synopsis

BY THE GRACE OF GOD See page 38 for synopsis

For venues and times, go to: CURZONCINEMAS.COM/MEMBERSPREVIEWS

CURZON MEMBERSHIP CURZON.COM/MEMBERSHIP

To make sure you have access to exclusive members’ previews, priority event cinema booking, free tickets and much more, join Curzon membership. Prices start from only £40. Our standard member benefits are:

4 FREE TICKETS | DISCOUNTED TICKETS | NO BOOKING FEES | DISCOUNTED FOOD + DRINK | DISCOUNTS ON CURZON HOME CINEMA | CURZON12 | PREVIEWS + PRIORITY BOOKINGS | AND MUCH MORE…..

STUDENT FILM FANS CURZON.COM/STUDENT

You can now sign up for FREE cinema membership. Join Curzon Student at your local venue or online at curzon.com/student

START STREAMINGCurzon members can access all the titles on Curzon12 for free. Members automatically have a Curzon cinemas account, so just sign in and the collection will be yours to enjoy.

Find out more at:CURZONCINEMAS.COM/CURZON12

CURZON12The most prestigious event in the UK film calendar, the London Film Festival is with us once again. To celebrate this feast of films and filmmaker events, Curzon Home Cinema will be programming a series of past festival favourites – some well-known titles and other lesser-known gems.

Non-Fiction

We Need to Talk About Kevin

13

RECOMMENDED

MAIDEN 30 SEPT In 1989, Tracy Edwards skippered the first all-female team in the Whitbread around the world yacht race. When she announced her plan, no one thought she could muster up a capable crew or the financing for the venture. She did. When she lined up for the start of the race, the media treated her like a joke. But the last laugh was hers. Alex Holmes’ documentary, an account of the preparations leading up to the race and the race itself, is an engrossing, thrilling and, ultimately, moving portrait of a group of women who refused to accept ‘no’ in response to their dream.

COMING SOON:OUT OF BLUE 2 SEPTBEATS 9 SEPTJOHN WICK CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM 16 SEPTSOMETIMES ALWAYS NEVER 14 OCTSUPPORT THE GIRLS 21 OCT

O N D E M A N D

DISCOVERGems not to be missed

THUNDER ROAD 20 SEPT Jim Arnaud is not having the best day, week, year or even life. Things have not gone to plan for him and they seem likely to get worse. Recently divorced and grieving his deceased mother, the police officer seems to be edging towards a breakdown. All of which might suggest this is a bleak US indie drama. Far from it. Writer-director-star Jim Cummings’ SXSW Film Festival winner is just that – one of the most winning and outrageous character studies you’ll see this or any year. But you’ll definitely come away from it glad that you’re not in Jim Arnaud’s shoes.

IN CINEMAS. ON DEMANDFilms that appear on Curzon Home Cinema the same day that they are released in cinemas – allowing you to watch them your way.

NON-FICTION 18 OCT | See page 32 for synopsis

BY THE GRACE OF GOD Director: François Ozon Starring: Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud, Melvil Poupaud, Éric Caravaca, François Marthouret, Bernard Verley, Josiane Balasko

François Ozon’s 18th feature finds him at his most serious, presenting a powerful, urgent account of a cover-up in the French Catholic church. Denis Ménochet, who was outstanding as the Farmer in the opening chapter of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, is stunning here, playing a man whose demons are barely contained as he decides to join other former victims of abuse in challenging the authority of what should be an institution beyond reproach.

25 OCT ON CURZONHOMECINEMA.COM

ON D

EMAN

D

Maiden

CURZON SELECTORMEMBERS OF THE CURZON TEAM PICK THEIR FAVOURITES FROM THE UPCOMING RELEASES

DOWNTON ABBEY PG

For five years, the residents of the eponymous estate and their staff were a popular fixture on television. No sooner had they departed from our screens than the Windsors took up residence with The Crown. Now, in an aristocratic variation on the WWE celebrity tag-team, this feature-length version of Julian Fellowes’ internationally beloved series has the Granthams playing host to members of the Royal Family. See page 20

THE FAREWELL 12A

This is a must for fans of Crazy Rich Asians. That film cemented Awkwafina’s star status. Here she proves herself to be a skilled actor, playing a young women visiting her grandmother. The old woman is dying but has not been told and Awkwafina’s character is troubled by this secrecy. It’s a sensitive performance and likely to feature prominently come the awards season. See page 24

Ad Astra, 2019

AD ASTRA TBC

Although he’s skirted the fringes of science fiction (Twelve Monkeys, voicing Terrence Malick’s ethereal Voyage of Time), this is Brad Pitt’s first cinematic journey into outer space. And in the hands of James Gray (Little Odessa, The Yards, The Lost City of Z), it’s an epic exploration of the ties that bind families, even across the vast expanse of the universe. See page 22

BILLY CONNOLLY: THE SEX LIFE OF BANDAGES

For those not present at Billy Connolly’s acclaimed and sell-out Australian tour, the title of this film offers up something both mysterious and unpalatable. However, as Connolly is this country’s most beloved and successful comedian, a genius whose unpredictability on stage is part of his appeal, expect nothing less than a riotous and inventive barrage of jokes, observations and, well, bandages. See page 49

JOKER TBC

The Internet has been abuzz with talk about this film since it was announced that Joaquin Phoenix was on board to play the deranged villain. Directed by Todd Philips (the Hangover series, Due Date and political satire War Dogs), this is likely to be a world away from Zac Snyder’s recent DC adaptations, presenting a grittier portrait of how Arthur Fleck became the nemesis of Gotham city. See page 26

NEW

REL

EASE

S

TEHRAN:CITY OF LOVE

FOROUGH GHAJABAGLIMEHDI SAKIAMIR HESSAM BAKHTIARIBEHNAZ JAFARI

IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 2019

“Pitch-perfect deadpan humour helps paint a picture of Tehran as you’ve never seen it before”

Elhum Shakerifar, LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

HHHHH

“A beautifully paced tragicomedy”THE UPCOMING

A FILM BY ALI JABERANSARI

www.newwavefilms.co.uk

BEIJING INTERNATIONALFILM FESTIVALBEST ACTRESS

FOROUGH GHAJABAGLI

BEIJING INTERNATIONAL

FOROUGH GHAJABAGLI

BEIJING INTERNATIONAL

FOROUGH GHAJABAGLI

Tehran City Of Love Curzon ad.indd 1 13/08/2019 17:05

ROJO 15

Director: Benjamín NaishtatStarring: Darío Grandinetti, Andrea Frigerio, Alfredo Castro, Diego Cremonesi

Argentina, Brazil, France, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland 2019 | 109 minsSpanish with English subtitles

Lawyer Claudio carries with him an air of superiority, as evinced in the way he berates a man in a restaurant. But that encounter is soon to have repercussions that threaten to change his life forever. Set just prior to the Argentina’s 1975 coup d’état, Benjamín Naishtat’s drama has all the tension of Pablo Trapero’s The Clan whilst offering a withering satire on masculinity in the style of Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure.

OPENS: FRI 6 SEPT

IT CHAPTER TWO 15

Director: Andy MuschiettiStarring: Finn Wolfhard, Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Sophia Lillis, Jack Dylan Grazer, Bill Hader, James Ransone

US 2019 | 169 mins

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the town once terrorised by a psycho clown… The group of kids who survived the murderous antics of Pennywise realise in adulthood that they hadn’t quite vanquished their clownish foe. Andy Muschietti’s impressive adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved novel ups the ante as Richie, Beverly and their friends attempt to stop Pennywise once and for all.

OPENS: FRI 6 SEPT

20 21

N E W R E L E A S E S N E W R E L E A S E S

FLEABAG 15

Director: Vicky Jones Featuring: Phoebe Waller-Bridge

UK 2019 | 110 mins

Over two BAFTA-winning television series, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, a portrait of a young woman’s travails in everyday life, has become a something of a sensation. This NT Live series screening of Waller-Bridge’s hilarious and fearless one- woman stage show receives extensive encores at our cinemas due to its huge popularity. It offers the chance to see where it all began. It’s a stunning performance in a prescient comedy-drama.

OPENS: TUE 17 SEPT

FOR SAMA 18

Directors: Waad al-Kateab, Edward WattsFeaturing: Waad Al-Kateab, Hamza Al-Kateab

UK 2019 | 100 mins

As the initially peaceful Syrian uprising gained ground in 2011, Waad al-Kateab picked up a camera and documented what happened over the next five years. It included her marriage and the birth of her daughter, to whom the film is dedicated. But it also details life in a city under constant attack from aerial bombings and mortar fire. See page 46 for details of a DocDays event.

OPENS: FRI 13 SEPT

HUSTLERS TBC

Director: Lorene ScarfiaStarring: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Cardi B, Lizzo, Madeline Brewer, Mercedes Ruehl

US 2019 | 107 mins

Fed up with witnessing the greed of fat cat financiers who live off the misery of others, a group of strip club employees decide to play with the system and enact their own form of robbery. Inspired by a New York Magazine article, this all-star-cast – led by Jennifer Lopez – offer up a fast-paced version of a heist movie.

OPENS: FRI 13 SEPT

DOWNTON ABBEY PG

Director: Michael Engler Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Joanne Froggatt, Penelope Wilton, Jim Carter, Matthew Goode

UK 2019 | 122 mins

The cinematic spin-off of the popular TV series reunites us with all our favourite characters at the aristocratic country pile, with the added fizz of a royal visit and all the pomp that that entails. The additional cast is impressive, but they’ll have to hold their own against Maggie Smith’s matriarch and her withering put-downs..

OPENS: FRI 13 SEPT

THE SHINY SHRIMPS 15

Directors: Maxime Govare, Cédric Le GalloStarring: Nicolas Gob, Alban Lenoir, Michaël Abiteboul, David Baïot, Romain Lancry, Roland Menou, Geoffrey Couët

France 2019 | 100 mins French + English with English subtitles

Matthias Le Goff is a French swimming champion. He’s also a homophobe. A tirade caught on camera results in his being ordered to join a gay water polo team as part of a PR exercise. He agrees, but what soon outrages him the most is that the team has no desire to win. It’s a smart set-up for a fun fish-out-of-water comedy.

OPENS: FRI 6 SEPT

PHOENIX 18

Director: Camilla Strøm HenriksenStarring: Ylva Bjørkaas Thedin, Maria Bonnevie, Sverrir Gudnason, Casper Falck-Løvås, Kjersti Sandal, Renate Reinsve, Nils Vogt

Norway 2018 | 100 mins Norwegian with English subtitles

Ylva Bjørkaas Thedin is outstanding as Jill, a teenage girl having to prop up her family in Camilla Strøm Henriksen’s impressive debut. News arrives that the family are to receive a visitor, but it’s unlikely to help their situation. Playing with thriller elements, this unsettling chamber drama creates a compelling atmosphere.

OPENS: FRI 13 SEPT

CARY GRANT Britain’s Greatest Export

ANGELA BASSETT Queen of the Screen

MIDNIGHT COWBOY A new 4k Restoration

BFI MUSICALS! The Greatest Show on Screen

ALSO SHOWING IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER

BFI SOUTHBANKCINEMAS | MEDIATHEQUE | LIBRARY | SHOP | BARS | RESTAURANTS

SB Curzon Ad Sep-Oct 148x210mm v 1.indd 2 14/08/2019 14:29

Roy McBride is working on the upper fringe of the Earth’s atmosphere when an event that becomes known as The Surge affects the entire planet. He discovers that it may be connected to his astronaut father who disappeared years before. Roy is tasked with journeying into space to find the solution and even his father. James Gray (The Lost City of Z) sends us into the darkest corners of the solar system in this existential sci-fi adventure.

OPENS: FRI 18 SEPT

Director: James GrayStarring: Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, John Ortiz, Loren Dean, Greg Bryk, Kimberly Elise

US 2019 | 124 mins

AD ASTRA TBC

24 25

WEREWOLF 15

Director: Adrian PanekStarring: Sonia Mietielica, Kamil Polnisiak, Danuta Stenka, Nicolas Przygoda, Werner Daehn, Jakub Syska, Helena Mazur

Poland, Netherlands, Germany 2018 | 88 mins Polish, German and Russian with English subtitles

Following the liberation of the Concentration Camps, a group of parentless children hole up in a deserted mansion in a forest. But reality and fantasy begin to blur as they eke out an existence. Adrian Panek’s award-winning allegorical tale is a richly rewarding film.

OPENS: FRI 4 0CT

THE THIRD MAN PG

Director: Carol ReedStarring: Joseph Cotton, Orson Welles, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Paul Hörbiger

UK 1949 | 149 mins English, German and Russian with English subtitles

A novelist travels through the occupied streets of post- Second World War Vienna, investigating the death of an old friend. That’s the set-up of this glorious European noir, which is dominated by Orson Welles’ charismatic performance as the mercurial Harry Lime. This is a breathtaking restoration of Carol Reed’s masterpiece..

OPENS: SUN 29 SEPT

HOTEL MUMBAI 15

Director: Anthony MarasStarring: Armie Hammer, Dev Patel, Nazanin Boniadi, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Anupam Kher

India, Australia, US 2018 | 122 mins | Multiple languages with English subtitles

The terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008 is recreated with forensic detail in Anthony Maras’ harrowing drama. Like United 93, the film places us in the middle of the events as they unfold, resulting in a film that exists halfway between drama and documentary. Dev Patel is particularly good as an employee at the besieged hotel.

OPENS: FRI 27 SEPT

N E W R E L E A S E SN E W R E L E A S E SN E W R E L E A S E S

THE FAREWELL 12A

Director: Lulu WangStarring: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong, Jiang Yongbo, Gil Perez-Abraham, Ines Laimins, Han Chen

US 2019 | 100 mins English and Mandarin with English subtitles

Opening with the line ‘Based on an actual lie’, Lulu Wang’s moving drama tells the story of a family who, on hearing that their ageing grandmother has terminal cancer, decide not to tell her. Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians, Ocean’s Eight) is on impressive form as the granddaughter who travels to China to visit her Gran and has mixed feelings about the deception.

OPENS: FRI 20 SEPT

THE GOLDFINCH 15

Director: John CrowleyStarring: Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Aneurin Barnard, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Nicole Kidman

US 2019 | 149 mins

The first of Donna Tartt’s bestselling novels to be adapted for the screen is also one of the major film events of the year. It tells the story of Theodore Decker, whose life is changed following the death of his mother, an event that leads him into a world of crime. Ansel Elgort is impressive in the lead and is supported by a stellar cast, while John Crowley (Brooklyn, Boy A) directs with sensitivity.

OPENS: FRI 27 SEPT

26

“MAGNIFICENT”Nina Nannar, ITV News

“EXCEPTIONAL”Tom Macklin, Harper’s Bazaar

“AMAZING”Psychologies

“DAZZLING”Jason Solomons, BBC

“SENSATIONAL”David Gritten, Saga

★★★★★Little White Lies

★★★★★Attitude

IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 2

GOOD POSTURE TBC

Director: Dolly Wells Featuring: Grace Van Patten, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Timm Sharp, John Early, Emily Mortimer, Nat Wolff, Condola Rashad

US 2019 | 91 mins

Stepping behind the camera after playing the kindly bookseller in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Dolly Wells’ directorial debut is a comedy about friendship set in New York. Grace Van Patten (the hilarious daughter in The Meyerowitz Stories) excels as a bratty but lonely student who ends up living in the house of an irascible writer.

OPENS: FRI 4 OCT

JUDY 12A

Director: Rupert Goold Starring: Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, Bella Ramsey, Finn Wittrock, Andy Nyman, Fenella Woolgar

UK 2019 | 118 mins

It’s 1969. Judy Garland has seen her best years. But a chance to perform in London offers financial support and one final shot in the limelight. Renée Zellweger gives a sensational performance in Rupert Goold’s moving tribute, conveying the iconic Hollywood star’s charisma on stage and her troubled life behind closed doors..

OPENS: FRI 4 OCT

JOKER TBC

Director: Todd PhillipsStarring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Shea Wigham, Brian Tyree Henry, Marc Maron, Bryan Callen

US 2019 | TBC mins

Forget the recent Gotham-set blockbusters. Todd Philips’ re-boot of the Joker story is a super-villain movie by way of early 1970s American cinema, offering up a dark and troubled portrait of damaged soul Arthur Fleck, who transforms into the city’s most outrageous nemesis. And Joaquin Phoenix plays him as a complex, twisted figure.

OPENS: FRI 4 OCT

N E W R E L E A S E S

28

A FILM BY CHRIS MORRIS DIRECTOR OF ‘FOUR LIONS’

“DEVASTATINGLY FUNNY... CHRIS MORRIS’ FINEST WORK”

THE BIG ISSUE

IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 11A COMEDY BASED ON A HUNDRED TRUE STORIES

0679 The Day Shall Come Curzon Mag_AW 13.08.19.indd 1 13/08/2019 13:45

N E W R E L E A S E S

FARMING TBC

Director: Adewale Akinnuoye-AgbajeStarring: Damson Idris, Kate Beckinsale, John Dagleish, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jamie Winstone, Genevieve Nnaji, Zephan Amissah

UK 2018 | 107 mins

‘Farming’ was the term given to a practice in the 1960s and 70s by which recent Nigerian arrivals in the UK would pay for their children to live with white families. It’s what Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje experienced first-hand and his powerful semi-autobiographical film shows how he turned on his own heritage to become the member of an all-white skinhead gang with connections to the National Front.

OPENS: FRI 11 OCT

THE DAY SHALL COME 15

Director: Christopher MorrisStarring: Marchánt Davis, Anna Kendrick, Danielle Brooks, Denis O’Hare, Jim Gaffigan, Miles Robbins, Kayvan Novak, Danielle Brooks

UK, US 2019 | 88 mins

Moses (a star-making turn by Marchánt Davis) wants nothing more than to make the world a better place. To do so he decides to form an army of god, but can only find three conscripts. FBI Kendra Glack (Anna Kendrick) needs to uncover a domestic terrorist plot to please her boss. So she makes Moses the patsy in a conspiracy. Chris Morris (Brass Eye) follows up Four Lions with another sharp satire.

OPENS: FRI 11 OCT

30

N E W R E L E A S E S

GEMINI MAN TBC

Director: Ang LeeStarring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, Theodora Miranne, Douglas Hodge, Ralph Brown, Linda Emond

China, US 2019 | TBC mins

Now past his prime, assassin Henry Brogan finds he’s is no longer at the top of his game. But he has a shock when he discovers who his replacement is, particularly as they’re assigned to kill him. Ang Lee enters the action fray in some style with his state-of-the-art (it’s shot on 4K 3D and at 120 frames per second) cat-and-mouse identity thriller featuring Will Smith and, er, Will Smith.

OPENS: FRI 11 OCT

TEHRAN: CITY OF LOVE TBC

Director: Ali JaberansariStarring: Frough Ghajabagli, Mehdi Saki, Amir Hessam Bakhtiari, Behnaz Jafari

Iran, UK, Netherlands 2018 | 102 mins Persian with English subtitles

Hessam Fazli is champion bodybuilder desperate to act in a film that he thinks will star Louis Garrel. Young Arshia is training to be a bodybuilder and looks up to Hessam. Mina Shamsi is a receptionist at a beauty clinic. What they share is a sense of loneliness in the Iranian capital. Ali Jaberansari’s touching film is a nuanced portrait of the city and three lives that struggle every day in it.

OPENS: FRI 11 OCT

WILL SMITH WILL SMITH

W H O W I L LSAV E YO U

F R O MYO U R S E L F

GeminiManMovie.co.uk /GeminiManUK #GeminiMan

IN , 3D & 2D CINEMASCOMING SOON

GM_CurzonPage.indd 1 08/08/2019 11:12

32

“A POWERFUL & VITAL FILM ABOUT LIE S, DECEPTION & ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT FOR TRUTH”

B A Z B A M I G B O Y E

“KNIGHTLE Y IS SENSATIONAL”T H E T I M E S

IN CINEMA S OCTOBER 18

N E W R E L E A S E S

AMERICAN WOMAN TBC

Director: Jake ScottStarring: Sienna Miller, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Paul, Will Sasso, Pat Healy, Amy Madigan, Sky Ferreira, Macon Blair

UK, US 2018 | 118 mins

When a young woman goes missing, her mother calls on the local community to help, as she tries to hide her anguish from her granddaughter. Jake Scott’s small-town drama finally gives Sienna Miller the role that her talent deserves. It’s a powerhouse performance that grounds this moving film in an all-too-believable reality.

OPENS: FRI 11 OCT

OFFICIAL SECRETS TBC

Director: Gavin HoodStarring: Keira Knightley, MyAnna Buring, Matthew Goode, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans, Matt Smith, Indira Varma, Conleth Hill, Tamsin Grieg

UK, US 2019 | 112 mins

Katherine Gun’s job involved handling top-secret communications. Reading information that goes against the official line on support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, she is faced with a dilemma: keep quiet or speak out and face imprisonment? Gavin Hood’s (Eye in the Sky) film is an impassioned tribute to a woman who risked all for her country.

OPENS: FRI 18 OCT

NON-FICTION 15

Director: Olivier AssayasStarring: Guillaume Canet, Juliette Binoche, Vincent Macaigne, Nora Hamzawi, Christa Théret, Pascal Greggory, Laurent Poitrenaux

France 2018 | 107 mins French with English subtitles + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA

Alain is the director at an esteemed publishing house. Selena is an actor. The couple have been married for years and they lead complex personal lives. They’re also the centre of a cultural circle that this witty, intelligent drama moves around. It’s a film that employs ideas to explore its characters and does so with panache.

OPENS: FRI 18 OCT

36

N E W R E L E A S E STHEY’RE CREEPY AND THEY’RE KOOKY

MYSTERIOUS AND SPOOKY

IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 25

© 2019 METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE ADDAMS FAMILY™ TEE AND CHARLES ADDAMS FOUNDATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TheAddamsFamilyMovie. co.uk

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL TBC

Director: Joachim RønningStarring: Angelina Jolie, Michelle Pfeiffer, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Ed Skrein, Harris Dickinson, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville

US 2019 | TBC mins

Princess Aurora once again attracts the wrath of her mother when she announces she is to be married. Her soon-to-be mother-in-law claims she will protect her, but is Queen Ingrith all she claims to be? One thing’s for certain: there’s a war coming. Angelina Jolie once again dons that fabulous outfit, sharpens those cheekbones and lets rip in glowering style, in this colourful Disney epic.

OPENS: FRI 18 OCT

A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON U

Directors: Will Becher, Richard PhelanVoices: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Kate Harbour

UK 2019 | 86 mins

Everyone’s favourite sheep is back in another animated adventure. An alien has landed on Shaun’s farm and to help it get back home he and the flock are once again going to have to venture beyond their grassy pastures. But they’re pursued by scientists who want to examine Shaun’s new friend. It’s another triumph for the consistently brilliant Aardman animation - a film packed with hilarious visual gags.

OPENS: FRI 18 OCT

38

THE ADDAMS FAMILY TBC

Directors: Greg Tiernan, Conrad VernonVoices: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Bette Midler, Allison Janney

US 2019 | TBC mins

Charles Addams’ beloved kooky family started out as a sardonic comic strip in The New Yorker and now, after the popular TV series and film adaptations, they return to animated form with this ghoulishly enjoyable reincarnation. It finds the Addams pitched against a town that considers itself normal. And when Wednesday befriends a girl at the local High School, things start to get very, very weird.

OPENS: FRI 25 OCT

MONOS TBC

Director: Alejandro LandesStarring: Sofia Buenaventura, Julian Giraldo, Karen Quintero, Laura Castrillón, Deiby Rueda, Paul Cubides, Sneider Castro, Moises Arias

Colombia, Argentina, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Uruguay 2019 | 102 mins

A group of bandits live high in the mountains of South America. They’re savage, ruthless and armed to the teeth. And they’re also teenagers. Alejandro Landes dazzling second feature plays out like Lord of the Flies with guns. The film exudes a near-hallucinatory tone as it takes us on a journey into an amoral world where the leaderless gang bring fear as they move down into the thick jungle.

OPENS: FRI 25 OCT

N E W R E L E A S E S

“TOTALLY UNMISSABLE

CINEMA”

HHHHHThe Hollywood News

“POWERFUL”Variety

HHHHHThe Independent

“BRILLIANT”Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

HHHHHThe Guardian

“UTTERLY ABSORBING”

The Independent

IN CINEMAS NOVEMBER 1ST

40

François Ozon’s film, by turns angry and compassionate, was made with such urgency that the case it details – the Catholic church’s alledged collusion in covering up a priest’s abuse of boys – had not yet been concluded in court. It’s a stark change for the director, but his film is an important record of damaged lives ignored for too long. The cast are superb, particularly the actors playing the victims. This is an urgent and exemplary film by Ozon.

OPENS: FRI 25 OCT

Director: François OzonStarring: Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud, Melvil Poupaud, Éric Caravaca, François Marthouret, Bernard Verley, Josiane Balasko

France, Belgium 2019 | 138 mins | French with English subtitles | + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA

BY THE GRACE OF GOD 15

“A HYPNOTIC COMING-OF-AGE STORY”JONATHAN CHRISTIAN, THE PLAYLIST

“VISUALLY STUNNING”THE UPCOMING

“TRULY REMARKABLE”AESTHETICA MAGAZINE

HHHHEMPIRE

HHHHTIME OUT

HHHHDAILY EXPRESS

HHHHTHE ARTS DESK

HHHHTHE UPCOMING

THE LAST TREEa f i l m b y S H O L A A M O O

I N C I N E M A S 2 7 S E P T E M B E RWWW.THELASTTREE.FILMTheLastTreeFilm #TheLastTreeFilm

BFI DVD Curzon Kore-eda Ad 148x210mm FINAL.indd 1 17/06/2019 11:43

The DrawAs it’s one of the most beloved rite of passage novels, anticipation surrounding this film is high. Firstly, there’s the cast. Previous Hollywood adaptations boasted impressive line-ups. A young Katherine Hepburn headlined George Cuckor’s 1933 version; June Allyson, Margaret O’Brien, Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh featured in Mervyn LeRoy’s 1949 production; and Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst and Claire Danes were siblings in Gillian Anderson’s 1994 production. The new adaptation stars Saoirse Ronan as Jo (the character previously played by Hepburn, Allyson and Ryder), with Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen playing the other March sisters. Alongside them is Meryl Streep as Aunt March, Laura Dern as Marmee March and a supporting cast that

ON YOUR RADAR: LITTLE WOMEN TBC

includes Timothée Chalamet, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Bob Odenkirk and Chris Cooper.

The Female GazeIt takes a filmmaker with some clout to attract so many stars to one project. And Greta Gerwig currently has it. After starting out in a series of low-budget mumblecore films, she attracted acclaim for her performances in Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2012), Mistress America (2015), Jackie and 20th Century Women (both 2016). From there, Gerwig scored a huge hit with critics and audiences alike with her directorial debut Lady Bird (2017). It starred Ronan and their incendiary combination that looks set to continue with this adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s entrancing period tale.

OPENS: 27 DEC 2019

FIVE SEASONS: THE GARDENS OF PIET OUDOLF UDirector: Tom Piper

TRANSIT 12ADirector: Christian Petzold

BAIT 15Director: Mark Jenkin

FOR SAMA 15Directors: Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts

THE THIRD MAN PGDirector: Carol Reed

GOOD POSTURE TBCDirector: Dolly Wells

VOYAGER PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER

FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO: CURZON.COM/VOYAGER

With so many films released each week and only a limited number of screens upon which to show them, there's always a chance that you might miss out on a hidden gem or a title from around the world. That's where Voyager comes in.

Each month, Curzon cinemas around the country will offer you a chance to see a film outside the normal programme – something that will engage, perhaps even provoke, but always entertain.

For September and October, Voyager presents a visionary portrait of our coastline, journeys from Manhattan’s High Line to Brooklyn, imagines contemporary Marseilles as a totalitarian state and witnesses Vienna emerging from war, and in a powerful and intimate documentary we witness a well of humanity in the devastated city of Aleppo.

For more info, tickets and the full programme, please visit: curzoncinemas.com/voyager

47

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

METROPOLITAN OPERA

Where: Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

L I V E E V E N T S

DOCDAYS

QUEERBEE PRESENTS: TRANSWORLD 12A+ PANEL DISCUSSION HOSTED BY INGO CANDO Date: Thu 19 Sept | 18:30 | 87 mins Where: Soho

There are transgender people all around the world and each location has its own challenges and opportunities.Welcome to a screening of eight short films about life, dating, milonga and names we preferred to be called.

FOR SAMA 18+ Q&A WITH DIRECTOR WAAD AL-KHATEAB

AND EDWARD WATTS Date: Mon 2 Sept | 18:30 Where: SohoUK 2019 | 100 mins

We are delighted to welcome the directors of this extraordinary and moving film to Curzon for this screening. See page 23 for synopsis

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK GO TO CURZON.COM

EVEN

TS

BOLSHOI BALLET

Where: Canterbury Knutsford Oxford Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

RAYMONDADate: Sun 27 Oct | 15:00

LE CORSAIREDate: Sun 17 Nov | 15:00

THE NUTCRACKERDate: Sun 15 Dec | 15:00

GISELLEDate: Sun 26 Jan ‘20 | 15:00

SWAN LAKEDate: Sun 23 Feb ‘20 | 15:00

ROMEO AND JULIETDate: Sun 29 Mar ‘20 | 15:00

JEWELSDate: Sun 19 Apr ‘20 | 16:00

2019-2020 SEASONS

TURANDOTDate: Sat 12 Oct | 17:55

MANONDate: Sat 26 Oct | 17:55

MADAME BUTTERFLYDate: Sat 9 Nov | 17:55

AKHNATANDate: Sat 23 Nov | 17:55

WOZZECKDate: Sat 11 Jan ‘20 | 17:55

PORGY AND BESSDate: Sat 1 Feb ‘20 | 17:55

AGRIPPINADate: Sat 29 Feb ‘20 | 17:55

THE FLYING DUTCHMANDate: Sat 14 Mar ‘20 | 16:55

TOSCADate: Sat 11 Apr ‘20 | 17:55

MARY STUARTDate: Sat 9 May ‘20 | 17:55

DON GIOVANNIDate: Thu 8 Oct | 18:45

DON PASQUALEDate: Thu 24 Oct | 19:30

CONCERTO, ENIGMA VARIATIONS & RAYMONDA ACT IIIDate: Tue 5 Nov | 19:15

COPPÉLIADate: Tue 10 Dec | 19:15

THE NUTCRACKERDate: Tue 17 Dec | 19:15

THE SLEEPING BEAUTYDate: Thu 16 Jan ‘20 | 19:15

LA BOHÈMEDate: Wed 29 Jan ‘20 | 19:15

MARSTON & SCARLETTDate: Tue 25 Feb ‘20 | 19:15

FIDELIODate: Tue 17 Mar ‘20 | 19:15

SWAN LAKEDate: Wed 1 Apr ‘20 | 19:15

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA/PAGLIACCIDate: Tue 21 Apr ‘20 | 19:00

THE DANTE PROJECTDate: Thu 28 May ‘20 | 19:15

ELEKTRADate: Thu 18 Jun ‘20 | 19:45

Jewels

48 49

SPECIAL EVENTS

MARGARET ATWOOD: LIVE IN CINEMAS Date: Tue 10 Sept | 19:15 | 110 mins approxWhere: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Oxford Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

To celebrate the publication of The Testaments, her follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood will be in conversation with broadcaster and author Samira Ahmed, live by satellite.

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN

LEONARDO: THE WORKS 90 mins approxDate: Tue 29 Oct | 18:30 Where: Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Oxford Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

Date: Sun 3 Nov | 11:00 Where: Mayfair Richmond

Explore the artworks of the great Italian polymath, screening to coincide with the 500th anniversary of his death.

L I V E E V E N T S

RIGOLETTO ON THE LAKE 140 mins approxDate: Tue 17 Sept | 17:30 Where: Oxford

Date: Tue 17 Sept | 18:00Where: Knutsford Richmond Ripon Victoria

Date: Wed 18 Sept | 18:00Where: Wimbledon

Not just any lake, but the extraordinary stage on Bregenz lake in Austria.

HITSVILLE: THE MAKING OF MOTOWN Date: Mon 30 Sept | 18:15 | 125 minsWhere: Canterbury Knutsford Oxford Richmond Victoria

Date: Mon 30 Sept | 18:00 | 125 mins Where: Ripon

This screening of Benjamin and Gabe’s filmic history of Motown begins with a live broadcast from the red carpet of the film’s premiere.

BILLY CONNOLLY: THE SEX LIFE OF BANDAGES 150 mins approxDate: Thu 10 Oct | 18:00 Where: Oxford Victoria Wimbledon

Date: Thu 10 Oct | 18:15 Where: Canterbury Knutsford Sheffield

This uproarious show, which finds the great Scottish comic firing on all cylinders, captures him on his acclaimed tour of Australia.

ROGER WATERS US + THEMDate: Wed 2 Oct | 21:00 | 135 mins approx Sun 6 Oct | 14:30 | 135 mins approxWhere: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Knutsford Oxford Richmond Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

Ex-Pink Floyd lead and all-round rock icon offers up a truly cinematic filmed recording of the European leg of his monumental Us + Them tour.

WISE CHILDREN 130 mins approxDate: Thu 3 October | 17:30Where: Oxford Richmond Ripon

Date: Thu 3 October | 18:00Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

This is a chance to catch award-winning director Emma Rice’s acclaimed stage adaptation of Angela Carter’s final novel, which was produced at York’s Theatre Royal.

L I V E E V E N T S

NORTHERN BALLET LIVE

Where: Canterbury Knutsford Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

DRACULADate: Thu 31 Oct | 19:00 | 135 mins approx

What better way to spend Halloween than in the company of this magical adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic chiller.

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE

Where: Aldgate Bloomsbury Canterbury Colchester Knutsford Mayfair Oxford Richmond Ripon Sheffield Victoria Wimbledon

ONE MAN TWO GUVNORSDate: Thu 26 Sept | 19:00 | 210 mins

To celebrate ten years of National Theatre Live, we welcome back a screening of one of the most popular productions, a perfectly executed farce starring James Corden.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAMDate: Thu 17 Oct | 19:00 | 180 mins

Gwendoline Christie leads the cast in this Bridge Theatre production, directed by Nicholas Hytner.

One Man Two Guvnors, National Theatre Live

Billy Connolly

Wise Children

DISCOVER THE WORLD’S BEST NEW FILMS AT CURZONDate: Wed 2 Oct - Sun 13 OctWhere: Mayfair Soho

The 63rd BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express returns to Curzon this October.

Featuring the best new features, documentaries, short films and special events, the #LFF is your chance to see the year’s most anticipated films from around the world – right on your doorstep.

50

15th ROMANIAN FILMFESTIVAL

Date: 24-28 October Where: Soho

We are delighted to welcome back the Romanian Film Festival, which will showcase that country’s finest releases from the last year. The full festival line-up will be published shortly, but we can confirm that programme will include Daniel Sandu’s A Step behind the Seraphim, Stere Gulea’s Moromete Family: On the Edge of Time and festival favourite Adina Pintilie’s Touch Me Not.

E V E N T S

ELECTIONS Date: Wed 4 Sept | 18:30 Where: SohoDirector: Alice Riff | Brazil 2018 | 100 mins

MIDNIGHT FAMILY Date: Thu 5 Sept | 18:30 Where: SohoDirector: Luke Lorentzen | US 2019 | 81 mins

TASTE OF HOPE Date: Thu 5 Sept | 20:30 Where: BloomsburyDirector: Laura Coppens | Switzerland, Germany 2019 | 70 mins

THE HOTTEST AUGUSTDate: Fri 6 Sept | 18:30 Where: SohoDirector: Brett Story | US 2019 | 94 mins

CABALLERANGODate: Fri 6 Sept | 18:30 Where: BloomsburyDirector: Brett Story | Mexico 2018 | 61 mins

THE LAST MALE ON EARTHDate: Wed 4 Sept | 15:30 Where: SohoDirector: Floor van der Meulen | Netherlands, Belgium, Germany 2019 | 72 mins

CHEZ JOLIE COIFFUREDate: Sat 7 Sept | 18:30 Where: BloomsburyDirector: Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam | Belgium 2018 | 70 mins

LAURA GRACE FORD PRESENTS: AN ACT OF UNFORGETTINGDate: Sat 7 Sept | 20:40 Where: SohoDirectors: Various | UK | 90 mins

FESTIVALS

OPEN CITY DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL WED 4–TUE 10 SEPT ADV 15

For more details on the films screening, go to www.curzoncinemas.com/opencity Also visit opencitylondon.com/venues/bertha-dochouse/ for details of screenings at Bertha Dochouse.

THE CROSSESDate: Sun 8 Sept | 13:45 Where: BloomsburyDirectors: Teresa Arredondo, Carlos Vásquez Méndez | Chile 2018 | 80 mins

TREASURE ISLANDDate: Sun 8 Sept | 17:15 Where: SohoDirector: Guillaume Brac | France 2018 | 96 mins

BIRTH/MOTHER + EXTENDED CONVERSATION WITH NAOMI KAWASEDate: Mon 9 Sept | 18:30 Where: SohoDirector: Naomi Kawase | Japan, France | 43 mins

SHORTS: ON THE BORDERDate: Mon 9 Sept | 20:30 | 96 minsWhere: Bloomsbury

CURZON WELCOMES THE RETURN OF TWO OF LONDON’S MOST POPULAR FESTIVALS. MOST SCREENINGS WILL FEATURE Q&AS OR PANEL DISCUSSIONS.

53

F E A T U R E

The benchmark of great satire is how close it comes to predicting the truth. And by that measure, Chris Morris, director of The Day Shall Come, has to be one of the sharpest satirists of his generation. His trademark blend of the surreal and the savage was nurtured alongside that of Armando Iannucci on BBC Radio 4 with On the Hour, before moving to television with the current affairs and news parodies The Day Today and Brass Eye. He held up for ridicule the strident ‘info-tainment’ approach to factual television. The jokes hit home even though at the time – the programs were aired in the mid to late-1990s, before the concept of clickbait had taken root – that style of newscasting was not as widespread as it now is.

Morris made the preposterous seem plausible. He skewered the celebrity culture which would whore itself out for insincere endorsements of whatever issue of the day he had invented (the ‘made up’ drug ‘cake’ was most memorable). In a way, he predicted the rise of influencers and professional sell-outs. He mocked the outrage journalism which has now been magnified and has found its natural home on social media. And he tamed seemingly untouchable subjects with comedy. The notorious episode of Brass Eye that dealt with the moral panic around paedophilia remains one of the most complained about programs on British television and prompted the Daily Mail to describe him as ‘the most loathed man on British television’. With Four Lions (2010), his move into feature filmmaking,

HOLY MOSES!

FEAT

URES

By Wendy IdeThe creator of Brass Eye and director of Four Lions returns with an inspired farce that finds conspiracies in everyday US life

Morris took aim at Islamic terrorism, another subject that people had hitherto not been inclined to find amusing.

In the intervening period between Four Lions and Morris’s latest film The Day Shall Come, he worked alongside long-time collaborator Iannucci and directed several episodes of the satirical political series Veep. But as Iannucci observed in 2017, somewhere along the way, reality overtook satire; the Trump administration positioned itself beyond parody; truth became more outlandish than fiction. Which is why, presumably, Morris’s latest film is rooted, he says, in fact. The Day Shall Come, the story of a cynical CIA operation intended to goad a hapless religious crank named Moses into domestic terrorism is based on ‘100 true stories’ of agency manipulation to bolster arrest figures. The humour is typically astringent, and is garnished with an absurdity which finds a kinship with Four Lions.

But what’s unexpected here is the poignancy of the work. The hard edges of Morris’s intellect are as cutting as ever, but there’s empathy for the wrenching plight of the well-meaning doofus at the heart of the story. It’s as though Morris has re-calibrated that well-known equation that states that ‘tragedy plus time equals comedy’ and found that, at this time, comedy and tragedy are pretty much interchangeable.

THE DAY SHALL COME opens 11 October

54 55

film is named and to whom it is dedicated. Shortly after the conflict began, al-Kateab began a relationship with and then married Hamza, a friend and doctor whose decision to stay in Aleppo and work in a makeshift hospital helped save countless lives. She gave birth to Sama in 2016 and the film jumps back and forth in time, allowing us a perspective on how the conflict developed and the devastation it wreaked on the lives of those living in Aleppo. (Aerial drone shots not only show how large the city is, they reveal the full impact of the aerial bombings and ground shelling.)

For Sama is disturbing. And rightly so. From the shock of the bomb blast on a

The uprising in Syria started, like so many uprisings that defined the Arab Spring, with students sensing a moment of change. The wave calling for democracy, the hope that regimes would change through popular and widespread demonstrations, gained traction in late March 2011. For citizen journalist and documentary filmmaker Waad al-Kateab, events in Aleppo, the city she had arrived in to study marketing, started for her with anti-Assad slogans being daubed on a wall. From there, it escalated rapidly. Previously peaceful and hope-filled demonstrations were met with violence by State and pro- Assad forces. Injuries became more severe and deaths soon followed. By 2017, Russian

planes had decimated the city while the Syrian army progressed, street by street, to rout any opposition. ISIS had been a presence, but as al-Kateab notes in her astonishing film For Sama, their atrocities paled against the brutality of the regime that had ruled over Syria for generations.

There have been a glut of documentaries covering the Syrian conflict over the last few years. But few could match the impact and emotional power of al-Kateab’s film. More than an overview of how the uprising began and failed, it is a video diary of the ordinary people affected by the conflict. It is also a record of the first few years in the life of al-Kateab’s daughter Sama, after whom the

F E A T U R E

A RECORD OF HUMANITYAn extraordinary documentary details the personal impact of war and the bravery of people who choose to fight for the lives of those they love

By Ian Haydn Smith

hospital ward in its opening minutes to the bloodied floors of the makeshift operating theatres, the film – which was co-directed by Edward Watts – refuses to shy away from the horror of what took place. But what remains, after the credits have rolled, is a record of the humanity and selflessness displayed by the doctors, engineers and builders; the families who stay to the last because their homes and friends are everything to them; and al-Kateab’s compassionate lens, showing the world happened to the city of Aleppo.

FOR SAMA opens 13 SeptemberGo to page 46 for details of the DocDays event

F E A T U R EF E A T U R E

News reports about the death of the novel may have jumped the gun. Even how we read seems to have reversed. The fervour for e-books appears to have quelled and even ‘serious’ fiction occasionally makes an appearance on booksellers’ lists. These are some of the ideas raised in Olivier Assayas’ latest film Non-Fiction. Essentially a series of discussions between colleagues, friends and lovers – with the lines between those roles frequently blurred – the film focuses primarily on Guillaume Canet’s Alain, the head of a publishing house. Accepting that print and digital worlds are no longer separate entities, Alain hires Laure (Christa Théret) to oversee ‘digital transition’ at the house. This might mean making sacrifices, the first of which is to say no to the latest roman-à-clef by poorly- selling novelist Léonard Spiegel (Vincent Macaigne). Seen together, they are immediately recognisable types – Alain represents the smart, trim cultural elite, while Leonard is the writer as ruffian, a slightly more feral Michel Houellebecq. Selena (Juliette Binoche), Alain’s partner, is an actor who’s unhappy with her ongoing role in an action cop drama on TV. She doesn’t agree with Alain’s decision not to publish Leonard. Then there’s the witty Valérie (Nora Hamzawi), Leonard’s far cleverer partner, the chief aide to an aspiring political candidate. Their group discussions,

alongside those of Alain with his colleagues, revolve around ideas – literary, economic, philosophical and political – but it becomes clear that these are platforms for exploring these character’s identities. Like a novel, Assayas peels away the layers to reveal people far more fragile than they would like to appear and certainly more self-centred and venal than they would ever wish others to know.

Finding the heart of a character underpins the brilliance of Donna Tartt’s fiction. After the breakthrough success of her first novel The Secret History and The Little Friend, Tartt scored one of the critical and commercial literary successes of this decade with The Goldfinch. Her sprawling bildungsroman tells the story of Theodore Decker, who emerges from a terrible event in his childhood a haunted young man with a secret that threatens his life. Tartt has a forensic eye for detail, all in the service of adding colour to her characters and Decker is a fascinating young man who, like the central characters in Non-Fiction – like us all – reveals only part of himself to the world.

Brooklyn director John Crowley is helming the film version of The Goldfinch, with the adaptation written by Peter Straughan. It’s no easy feat bringing an 800-odd page to life, particularly one so rich in detail in both

A NOVEL IDEABy Ian Haydn Smith

Two new films, a stage production and the literary event of the year all highlight that the novel is alive and well

Non-Fiction

The Goldfinch

F E A T U R EF E A T U R E

the main protagonist’s interior life and the world he lives in. However, Straughan’s track record is impressive, having adapted both Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011, with Bridget O’Connor) and Wolf Hall (2015).

An adaptation can bolster the commercial success of a book. Even Non-Fiction’s Leonard, with his belief in art without compromise, might secretly be pleased with the financial boon of the film or TV rights of his work being purchased. Few recent adaptations have attracted such fervour as The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-). Previously adapted as a film by Volker Schlöndorff in 1990, HBO’s take on Margaret Atwood’s sixth novel, originally published in 1985, seems to have hit a note with the times we live in. But like Game of Thrones (2011-19), which outran George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series and forged its own path, so the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale has had to work through an original storyline in order to continue. But now Atwood is back with The Testaments, which catches up with Offred 15 years after the original novel. She’s even embarking on the literary equivalent of a world tour – with a live broadcast of her discussing the new book.

Angela Carter, like Atwood, excelled at drawing out feminist themes from her play with genre elements. And her popularity was bolstered by a screen adaptation of her work. Loosely drawing from her short story collection The Bloody Chamber (1979) and adapting it herself, A Company of Wolves (1984) rightly established Carter as one of our most important writers. The filmed stage adaptation of her magnificent final novel Wise Children (1991) highlights her brilliance as a fabulist. But it also underpins what makes the art of creative writing so unique. As the Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges once noted, humanity has created some extraordinary instruments, from the plough to the telescope. But the book, the art or writing, is the most wondrous. It is ‘an extension of memory and imagination’.

MARGARET ATWOOD: LIVE IN CINEMAS takes place on Tue 10 September

THE GOLDFINCH opens 27 September

WISE CHILDREN screens on 3 October

NON-FICTION opens 18 October + ON CURZON HOME CINEMA

The Handmaid’s Tale

Wise Children

Angela Carter

Margaret Atwood

60 61

community centre and the Oberoi-Trident Hotel lasted three days. The second hotel the terrorists attacked, Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, turned into a four-day siege and became the focus of the world’s media. The events that unfolded there are painstakingly recreated in Anthony Maras’ powerful and harrowing docudrama Mumbai Hotel.

Docudrama has a long history. Not to be mistaken with docufiction which blends documentary and fiction (such as Robert Flaherty’s 1924 film Nanook of the North) docudrama aims to recreate events that actually took place, albeit in dramatic form.

Around 8pm on 26 November 2008, ten men, mostly members of the Pakistani-based Islamic terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, landed at Mumbai waterfront, near the Gateway to India monument. Dividing into two groups, they unleashed a widespread and savagely coordinated attack on locations across the heavily populated metropolis. At the end of the four-day assault, at least 164 people had been killed – including nine of the attackers, with the tenth executed in 2012 – and over 300 injured. Their attack on a railway station, hospital and café was immediate and quick. The assault on a Jewish

F E A T U R E

A CITY UNDER SIEGEIn the UK, Peter Watkins honed this style with Culloden (1964), which employed a modern style of war reporting to examine the disastrous 1746 battle that quelled the Jacobite uprising. Two years later, Gillo Pontecorvo offered up one of the defining examples of the docudrama with The Battle of Algiers (1966), an account of the battle for Algerian independence from France. More recently, Paul Greengrass has become synonymous with the style with his films United 93 (2006), Captain Philips (2013) and July 22 (2018).

Anthony Maras previously made the short The Palace (2011), which focused on a family – a couple, their son and a baby – holed up in an abandoned Ottoman-era palace in Cyprus in 1974, as Turkish troops were advancing through the island. As bullets

by Neal BakerHotel Mumbai recreates the moment in 2008 when the Indian city became yet another victim of a terrorist attack.

and mortar fire pinning the family down, Maras keeps his camera close. He adopts the same style for Hotel Mumbai but on a much larger scale. The sense of dread is palpable (and best conveyed by Dev Patel in an extraordinary and commanding performance as one of the hotel’s employees) and Maras gives balance to all the people fearing for their lives, not just the group of Western tourists. Like United 93, Hotel Mumbai is not an entertainment. It grapples with the kind of event that’s becoming increasingly commonplace. When discussion of politics and ideologies can be obfuscatory, Hotel Mumbai reminds us that when put into practice, extremism exacts a terrible toll.

HOTEL MUMBAI opens 27 September

62

Few Hollywood stars shone as brightly as Judy Garland. Rupert Goold’s Judy is an homage to a supreme entertainer, but also details the cost of such a life on Garland’s personal and family life. Opening in 1969, as the brightness of the actor and singer’s star was fading in the US, it follows her as she travels to the UK for what would become one of her most celebrated series of live performances. With echoes of the recent Stan & Ollie (2018), which also detailed the resurgence in popularity of two aged movie favourites when they embark on a stage tour of the UK, Judy also highlights how different this life was for its female stars – particularly those whose careers blossomed in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

During that golden age, which spanned from the 1930s through to the ‘60s, the control exercised by the major studios over their stars – especially if they were young and female – could be little short of draconian. Not only did they have their names and appearances arbitrarily changed and all their clothing chosen for them, largely fictitious backstories would be made up for them by studio publicity departments. They would be instructed where they could go, who they could be seen with, what likes and dislikes they could express, what they could eat and what

medications they should take. Some of the stronger-minded women, such as Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis, rebelled as much as they could. But others succumbed. And in some cases, it destroyed their lives.

Judy Garland (born Frances Gumm) was signed up at age 13 by MGM (the studio that boasted ‘more stars than there are in Heaven’) and made half-a-dozen films for them before attaining stardom in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Metro had originally wanted her hit number ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ dropped from the film, feeling it slowed down the action. But the role won her a Juvenile Oscar and from then on she was considered one of the studio’s prime assets. Even then, they had her on amphetamines to control her weight fluctuations, along with sleeping pills and pep pills, leading to a lifelong addiction to prescription drugs. When she became pregnant during her first marriage, to bandleader David Rose, she was pressured into having an abortion.

Her shy, unforced charm continued to delight audiences. She made a string of films partnered with Mickey Rooney, and triumphed in two joyous musicals: Meet Me in St Louis (1944), and Easter Parade (1948) with Fred Astaire. But her health and lack of confidence

THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF A HOLLYWOOD STAR

by Philip KempRenée Zellweger steps into the shoes of a beloved but deeply troubled Hollywood icon.

F E A T U R E

65

were starting to damage her career. A Narcotics Commissioner recommended she take a year off to kick morphine; the studio rejected the idea, since ‘we have $14 million tied up in her’. But as her failures to show up on set became more frequent, MGM scrapped her contract.

The rest of her film career involved numerous abortive projects, some disappointments, a well-received support-ing role in Judgement at Nuremberg (1961) and just one major success – still the finest version of A Star Is Born (1954). But the live stage sustained her: in 1951 she appeared at the London Palladium to huge, heartfelt acclaim. She returned there more than once, and topped the bill at Carnegie Hall; and though her insecurities and infirmities were all too evident, onstage and off, and there were occasional debacles, live audiences continued to adore her.

Portraying Garland is no small feat. Previously, Andrea McCardle portrayed a younger version of her in Rainbow (1978);

JUDY opens 4 October

in the ABC miniseries Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir (2001), Carly Alves, Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis played her at two-decade intervals, beginning when she was two. Most recently, Sigrid Thornton had a cameo role in a story about Liza Minnelli’s husband in Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door (2015). All eyes will be on Renée Zellweger with her portrayal. She proved she could steal the show with her roaring song-and-dance routine in Chicago (2002). But this is arguably her most challenging role. Garland died when she was 47. Her life was a rollercoaster of success, failure and a torrent of emotions. By taking on the role, Zellweger not only has to capture the complexity of Garland, but also the essence of what made her. And that’s arguably something that only someone who has experienced the ups and downs of life in the limelight could possibly convey.

F E A T U R E

TheShinyShrimps.film

‘‘A raucous Priscilla-style road movie... in speedos. FABULOUS’’

BOYZ

‘‘Hilarious’’RAdiO TimeS

‘‘Flamboyant Fun’’TOTAL FiLm

‘‘Funny, Uplifting’’PSYcHOLOgieS

LeS imPROdUcTiBLeS & KALY PROdUcTiONS PReSeNT

nicolas

gobalban

lenoirmichaël

abiteboulgeoffrey

couëtdavid

baÏotromain

braufÉliX

martineZromain

lancryroland

menou

a film by cedric le gallo and maxime govare

iN ciNemAS SePT 6

‘‘Wins you over with infectious exuberance’’emPiRe

HHHH ATTiTUde

HHHH BOYZ

HHHH emPiRe

HHHH RAdiO TimeS

A Peccadillo Pictures Release

What to knowThere are few contemporary filmmakers more industrious or prolific than François Ozon. After producing a series of acclaimed short films in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, he directed Sitcom, his brief feature debut, in 1998. Since then, he has directed 17 features, a rate of almost one film per year. Moreover, the quality of his work has been extraordinarily high and remarkably diverse. The genres he has covered range from costume drama (Angel, 2007), kitsch period comedy (Potiche,

FRANÇOIS OZON

MEET THE FILMMAKER

2010) and high-minded satire (In the House, 2012), to psycho-sexual thrillers (Swimming Pool, 2003; L’amant double, 2017), a Fassbinder adaptation (Water Drops on Burning Rocks, 2000), gender-bending comedy (The New Girlfriend, 2014) and a series of female character-driven dramas (Under the Sand, 2000; 8 Women, 2002; Jeune & Jolie, 2013). He has enjoyed the pick of France’s best actors, many of whom have delivered some of their finest performances. And his skills as a writer – and collaborator – are evinced in such powerful dramas as 5x2 (2004), Time to Leave (2005) and Le Refuge (2009). Serious Intent The stunning post-WWI monochrome drama Frantz (2016), a sombre adaptation of Ernst Lubitch’s 1932 film The Man I Killed, found Ozon working in a more serious register than many of his previous productions. But it pales compared with the tone and subject matter of his blistering new feature By the Grace of God. Its ‘straight from the headlines’ topicality notwithstanding, Ozon’s account of the sexual abuse allegations that were woefully mishandled by Philippe Barbarin, the Archbishop of Lyon, is one of the filmmaker’s most impassioned dramas. The trial was only concluded in March of this year, a month after Ozon’s film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. It’s this element, the sense that we are watching events as they unfold, that gives the film so much urgency. Having displayed his mastery over so many styles and genres, By the Grace of God shows that two decades into his career Ozon remains a vital force in contemporary cinema.

BY THE GRACE OF GOD opens 25 October

F E A T U R E

BASED ON THE TRUE STORY OF THE 2008 MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACKS

“Emotionally electrifying”VARIETY

HHHHTHE GUARDIAN

DEVPATEL

ARMIEHAMMER

NAZANINBONIADI

WITH

ANUPAMKHER

AND

JASONISAACS

In cinemas and on Sept 27