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Big screen classics
The timeless films we urge you to see.
May
From Page and Stage to Screen: The Art of Adaptation
Our daily screenings of classic movies continue with our selection of some of the finest – and, occasionally, most imaginative – adaptations. First, further films inspired by books; then, in May, we move to adaptations from the stage.
Geoff Andrew, programmer-at-large
Henry V
Olivier’s acclaimed directorial debut brings glorious Technicolor and a fine William Walton score to Shakespeare’s patriotic play.
The Magic Flute
Bergman’s gleefully theatrical film of Mozart’s opera – sung in Swedish – is vivacious, funny and enthralling.
Pandora’s Box
Louise Brooks dazzles as the iconic showgirl who leaves a trail of destruction in her wake, in one of the great silent films of the Weimar era.
Cabaret
Genuinely subversive in its sexual politics and seedy portrayal of Berlin, Bob Fosse’s take on a doomed love triangle remains as captivating as ever.
Ordet
Dreyer’s meticulous, measured and deeply moving play about a rural family riven by various tensions.
Camille
Garbo is at her radiant best in Cukor’s refined and elegant adaptation of Dumas’s novel and play about a Parisian courtesan.
Camille + intro by Ruby McGuigan, BFI Programme and Acquisitions
Garbo is at her radiant best in Cukor’s refined and elegant adaptation of Dumas’s novel and play about a Parisian courtesan.
A Streetcar Named Desire
Brando is at his electrifying best in Kazan’s hothouse film of Tennessee Williams’ play.
Bluebeard’s Castle
Powell’s film of Bartók’s magnificent one-act opera is remarkable for its vivid colours and expressionist sets.
Bluebeard’s Castle + intro by Alex Prideaux, Marketing and Events Manager – Our Screen Heritage
Powell’s film of Bartók’s magnificent one-act opera is remarkable for its vivid colours and expressionist sets.
Rope
Intellectual arrogance meets cold-blooded violence in Hitchcock’s virtuoso adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s play.
Rope + intro by Bryony Dixon, BFI National Archive Curator
Intellectual arrogance meets cold-blooded violence in Hitchcock’s virtuoso adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s play.
His Girl Friday
Grant and Russell excel as a divorced couple trading barbs and heated glances across the newsroom, as they race to uncover the story of the year.
His Girl Friday + intro by Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-Large
Grant and Russell excel as a divorced couple trading barbs and heated glances across the newsroom, as they race to uncover the story of the year.
Beautiful Thing
Hettie MacDonald and Jonathan Harvey’s acclaimed film version of the latter’s play, a gay romantic comedy set in and around a Thamesmead council estate.
Beautiful Thing + intro by Simon McCallum, BFI National Archive Curator
Hettie MacDonald and Jonathan Harvey’s acclaimed film version of the latter’s play, a gay romantic comedy set in and around a Thamesmead council estate.
Chi-Raq
Spike Lee’s signature flair imbues this tale of the women of Chicago joining in a bipartisan effort to end the violence in their neighborhoods.
June
On the Move…
Movement is integral to all cinema, but for our daily screenings of classic titles in June and July, we focus on films which involve journeys of one kind or another, by road, rail, river, horse, feet, the mind or soul. We begin with some milestone titles featuring travel, before moving on to some more surprising, even wayward landmarks depicting metaphorical or more internal odysseys. Bon voyage!
Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-large
The General
A captivating Keaton embarks on a relentless chase by foot, trolley, bicycle and train across the Civil War-era American South.
It Happened One Night
Opposites attract when spoiled heiress Claudette Colbert runs from her idyllic upper-class life and straight into the arms of a roguish Clark Gable.
Sullivan’s Travels
A Hollywood director disguises himself as an impoverished vagrant, as research for the next great message movie.
The Searchers
John Ford’s acclaimed, troubling western stars John Wayne as a racist army veteran on an obsessive quest to find and kill the Comanche who abducted his niece.
North by Northwest
Alfred Hitchcock’s glossy, witty thriller about an ad man pursued across America by murderous strangers is packed with memorable set-pieces.
Easy Rider
Small-town prejudices and the pressures of conformity greet two free spirits on their journey across America.
Cléo from 5 to 7
1960s Paris is beautifully captured through the eyes of a young woman adrift for an afternoon.
Cléo from 5 to 7 + intro by programmer Jelena Milosavljevic
1960s Paris is beautifully captured through the eyes of a young woman adrift for an afternoon.
Where is the Friend’s House?
Kiarostami’s highly imaginative, deeply moving classic about a young boy determined, despite adult obstacles, to return a notebook to a schoolmate.
Where is the Friend’s House? + intro by Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-Large
Kiarostami’s highly imaginative, deeply moving classic about a young boy determined, despite adult obstacles, to return a notebook to a schoolmate.
Alice in the Cities
Wenders’ lovely road-movie about a writer lumbered with looking after the daughter of a stranger boasts superb camerawork by Robby Müller.
Gun Crazy
Perry Cummins and John Dall are electrifying as the bank-robbing couple in Joseph H. Lewis’s terrific B-movie classic.
Gun Crazy + intro by Josephine Botting, BFI National Archive curator
Perry Cummins and John Dall are electrifying as the bank-robbing couple in Joseph H. Lewis’s terrific B-movie classic.
Badlands
Inspired by a real-life murder spree and featuring magnetic lead performances, Terrence Malick’s debut feature announced a unique new voice in American cinema.
Badlands + intro by Ruby McGuigan, BFI Programme and Acquisitions
Inspired by a real-life murder spree and featuring magnetic lead performances, Terrence Malick’s debut feature announced a unique new voice in American cinema.
The Wages of Fear
Henri Georges Clouzot’s masterly thriller about misfits transporting nitro-glycerine through the South American jungle builds steadily to nail-biting suspense.
Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut
Coppola’s spectacularly extravagant transposition of Heart of Darkness to the Vietnam War boasts unforgettable set-pieces.
July
Wild Strawberries
Bergman’s warmest film – and one of his greatest – about an elderly academic revisiting his past as he travels to receive an award.
Point Blank
Lee Marvin is at his best in Boorman’s landmark thriller about a gangster left for dead seeking revenge and reimbursement from his treacherous partners in crime.
Point Blank + intro by Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-Large
Lee Marvin is at his best in Boorman’s landmark thriller about a gangster left for dead seeking revenge and reimbursement from his treacherous partners in crime.
Pierrot le fou
Godard’s typically iconoclastic gangster movie boasts Belmondo and Karina on top form as lovers on the run.
The Passenger
Jack Nicholson’s world-weary reporter finds escape in assuming a dead stranger’s identity, with life-changing consequences.
Bitter Victory
Richard Burton gives one of his greatest performances as an embittered army officer in Ray’s magnificent Second World War drama set in the Libyan desert.
The English Patient
Passion, politics, grief and betrayal wreak havoc on the beautiful cast of Anthony Minghella’s award-laden epic spanning years and continents.
Daughters of the Dust
A farewell picnic on the beach brings together the Peazant family, facing an eternal question of progress versus tradition.
Daughters of the Dust + intro by Arike Oke, Executive Director of Knowledge, Learning and Collections
A farewell picnic on the beach brings together the Peazant family, facing an eternal question of progress versus tradition.
Theorem
An unnamed stranger visits an Italian family at home, his fleeting presence impacting their lives forever.
Theorem + intro
An unnamed stranger visits an Italian family at home, his fleeting presence impacting their lives forever.
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Dinner is endlessly delayed by funerals, terrorism, sexual escapades and bad manners, in Buñuel’s surreal satirical masterpiece.
Unforgiven
Eastwood’s greatest western centres on a reformed gunman tempted into taking up his weapons once more, and descending into a world of nightmarish violence.
Taxi Driver
De Niro is extraordinary as the increasingly deranged Vietnam veteran in Scorsese’s expressionist portrait of 70s New York.
Taxi Driver + intro by Chantelle Lavel Boyea, BFI Assistant Curator of Television
De Niro is extraordinary as the increasingly deranged Vietnam veteran in Scorsese’s expressionist portrait of 70s New York.
Gloria
A former moll is saddled with protecting a child on the run from the mob, forming an unlikely duo of antagonism and affection.
Au hasard Balthazar
Bresson’s greatest achievement is a heartrendingly beautiful account of a donkey’s odyssey through a life delineated by human folly and cruelty.
Au hasard Balthazar + intro
Bresson’s greatest achievement is a heartrendingly beautiful account of a donkey’s odyssey through a life delineated by human folly and cruelty.
F for Fake
Welles’s late masterpiece is a wonderfully wise and witty mediation on art and authorship, truth and falsehood, film and storytelling.
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