Big screen classics

The timeless films we urge you to see.

Tickets for these screenings are only £8

May

The Tarnished Angels

Black-and-white Sirk adaptation of Faulkner’s novel Pylon.
Written on the Wind

Hudson and Bacall star in Sirk’s melodrama about a Texan oil dynasty.
Bande à part

Anna Karina stars in Godard’s heist movie with a playful approach to genre.
Au hasard Balthasar

Bresson’s heartbreaking story of a donkey’s harsh life in rural France.
Au hasard Balthasar + intro by Geoff Andrew, BFI Programmer-at-large

Bresson’s heartbreaking story of a donkey’s harsh life in rural France.
The Women

An astonishing cast are on top form in George Cukor’s wonderfully gossipy talkfest.
Mildred Pierce

Joan Crawford is the upwardly mobile waitress/restaurant owner in Curtiz’s adaptation of James M Cain.
The Blue Angel

Fall in love again with Dietrich’s unforgettable Lola in Von Sternberg’s story of obsession.
The Blue Angel + intro by Andrea Rinke, Kingston University

Fall in love again with Dietrich’s unforgettable Lola in Von Sternberg’s story of obsession.
Lola Montès

Ringmaster Ustinov recounts the events of Montès’s life in one of Fassbinder’s top ten movies.
Sunset Boulevard

Gloria Swanson shines as an embittered former movie star in Wilder’s classic.
Sunset Boulevard + intro by Lucy Bolton, Queen Mary, University of London

Gloria Swanson shines as an embittered former movie star in Wilder’s classic.
The Night of the Hunter

Robert Mitchum is an unnervingly sinister presence in Laughton’s sole outing as director.
The Night of the Hunter + intro by Anna Bogutskaya, BFI Events Programmer

Robert Mitchum is an unnervingly sinister presence in Laughton’s sole outing as director.
Dishonored

Von Sternberg’s erotically charged WWI espionage romance with Marlene Dietrich.
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Pasolini’s controversial adaptation of the Marquis de Sade’s novel, relocated to Mussolini’s fascist republic.

June

Citizen Kane

As a media tycoon (Orson Welles) lies dying he wonders how he’ll be remembered.
Point Blank

Lee Marvin’s gangster seeks revenge on those who left him to die.
French Cancan + intro

Renoir’s 1954 classic, about an impresario trying to revive the cancan in the Moulin Rouge.
French Cancan

Renoir’s 1954 classic, about an impresario trying to revive the cancan in the Moulin Rouge.
Rebel Without a Cause

James Dean plays a troubled young man with much to prove in this iconic film.
The Long Goodbye

Robert Altman’s masterly adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s novel tells of betrayal, murder and moral codes.
Last Year in Marienbad

In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they’ve met before.
L’Eclisse + intro

Antonioni’s film charts the hot and cold relationship of a young couple in bustling Rome.
L’Eclisse

Antonioni’s film charts the hot and cold relationship of a young couple in bustling Rome.
Playtime

Jacques Tati directs and stars in this fun account of the bumbling M Hulot’s day in Paris.
My Winnipeg + intro

Dreamlike, fantastic and often extremely funny, Guy Maddin’s essay-film is a delight.
My Winnipeg

Dreamlike, fantastic and often extremely funny, Guy Maddin’s essay-film is a delight.
Of Time and the City

Terence Davies’ filmic, music-filled homage to Liverpool, the city he grew up in.
London + intro

Paul Scofield narrates this humorous and insightful odyssey around our capital city.
London

Paul Scofield narrates this humorous and insightful odyssey around our capital city.
Metropolis + intro by Professor Erica Carter, King’s College London

Fritz Lang’s stunning sci-fi epic about the conflict between capital and labour is still a treat on the big screen.
Metropolis

Fritz Lang’s stunning sci-fi epic about the conflict between capital and labour is still a treat on the big screen.