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Big screen classics
The timeless films we urge you to see. Tickets for these films are only £9.50, £4 for under 16s.
June
Like Riding a Bike: Cycling on film
Bicycles are an environmentally friendly and democratic means of transport. Throughout the history of film, the bicycle has served many purposes, from the most noble – a means of employment, dignity and survival – to the most whimsical, providing characters with a precious object of recreation, rebellion and escape, often symbolising freedom and fostering dreams. In celebration of World Bicycle Day (3 June), this collection of films honours the myriad ways this two-wheeled wonder has contributed to cinema.
Diana Cipriano, BFI Programme and Research Coordinator
Bicycle Thieves
Vittorio De Sica’s moving neorealist masterpiece tells the story of a family man in post-Second World War Rome whose livelihood hinders on recovering his stolen bicycle.
Jour de fête
Jacques Tati’s masterful satire of efficiency culture sees a French rural postman trying to compete with American postal speed, despite doing his route on a bicycle.
Late Spring
One of Yasujiro Ozu’s finest works, a quietly devastating drama that tells a story of love, sacrifice and loss between a daughter and a father.
Hiroshima mon amour
Alain Resnais’s masterpiece, one of the defining features of the French New Wave, is a powerful meditation on unspeakable memories and piercing desire.
Une femme est une femme
Full of playful cinematic tricks, dizzying colour and anarchic humour, Jean-Luc Godard’s tribute to and interrogation of the American musical comedy reinvents the romantic triangle.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Paul Newman and Robert Redford are the ultimate outlaw duo in this modern and playful twist on the western genre.
Jour de fête + intro by Diana Cipriano, BFI Programme and Research Coordinator
Jacques Tati’s masterful satire of efficiency culture sees a French rural postman trying to compete with American postal speed, despite doing his route on a bicycle.
Breaking Away
This Academy Award-winning coming-of-age tale sees four endearing young men finding their direction with a little help from a bicycle relay race for the ages.
Breaking Away + pre-recorded intro by Philip Dobson, founder of upCYCLE LDN
This Academy Award-winning coming-of-age tale sees four endearing young men finding their direction with a little help from a bicycle relay race for the ages.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Magic and empathy drip from every frame of Steven Spielberg’s family classic, which sees a little alien and a boy share an unlikely, unforgettable bond.
The Kid with a Bike
A young boy’s parental abandonment sees him taken in by a kind stranger, in this humanist drama from the Dardenne brothers.
Barbara
Christian Petzold’s understated, thrilling drama sees a Berlin doctor forced to relocate to a country hospital in 1980s East Germany after a failed exit visa.
Barbara + intro by Diana Cipriano, BFI Programme and Research Coordinator
Christian Petzold’s understated, thrilling drama sees a Berlin doctor forced to relocate to a country hospital in 1980s East Germany after a failed exit visa.
Wadjda
This Saudi Arabian debut shows the rebellious Wadjda, her eyes set on the bicycle of her dreams, realise that financial independency is the path to freedom.
Wadjda + intro by Sarah Agha, The Arab Film Club curator
This Saudi Arabian debut shows the rebellious Wadjda, her eyes set on the bicycle of her dreams, realise that financial independency is the path to freedom.
Call Me by Your Name
Written for the screen by James Ivory, this gorgeous coming-of-age drama about a young man experiencing first queer desire made Timothée Chalamet into a household name.
July
Road Movies
From its origins in early cinema, the road movie has become synonymous with the image the US has presented to itself and the wider world. But it is not uniquely American, with other national cinemas offering their own take – adapting it to reflect their unique social, political and geographical sensibilities. Whatever its nationality, the road movie has proven an effective genre in confronting and challenging conventions, and offering a glimpse into counter-cultural movements. The destination is less important than the journey, and all, no matter the routes they take, are fascinating metaphors for the vagaries of life.
Jason Wood, Executive Director for Public Programmes and Audiences
The Wizard of Oz
The definitive version of L. Frank Baum’s children’s fantasy sees Dorothy transported to a magical realm terrorised by a wicked witch.
Sullivan’s Travels
In Preston Sturges’s astute comedy, Joel McCrea’s film producer travels the US without money to embrace the themes of his next movie.
North by Northwest
Alfred Hitchcock delivers a series of classic set-pieces in his thriller featuring Cary Grant as an advertising exec who is mistaken for a spy.
Kings of the Road
Wim Wenders’ remarkable road-movie follows two men as they travel through a country in the midst of momentous change.
Radio On
An existential road movie (and thriller with one flat tyre) that ranks among the most influential debuts in British cinema.
Radio On + pre-recorded intro by director Christopher Petit
An existential road movie (and thriller with one flat tyre) that ranks among the most influential debuts in British cinema.
Mad Max 2
Proof that not all sequels are inferior, George Miller’s dystopian classic is a full-throttle race across the Australian Outback.
Stranger Than Paradise
Billed as a new kind of American movie, Jim Jarmusch’s hugely impressive second feature leans into Ozu, Bresson and the avant-garde.
Stranger Than Paradise + intro
Billed as a new kind of American movie, Jim Jarmusch’s hugely impressive second feature leans into Ozu, Bresson and the avant-garde.
Vagabond
Agnès Varda’s tale of what happened to a solitary hitchhiker is told in flashback, through the experiences of those who came into contact with her.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
John Hughes’s much-loved film is a comic addition to the mismatched couple road movie.
Candy Mountain
Scripted and co-directed by Rudy Wurlitzer (Two-Lane Blacktop), this quintessential road movie is a rarely screened gem.
Candy Mountain + intro by Jason Wood, BFI Executive Director for Public Programmes and Audiences
Scripted and co-directed by Rudy Wurlitzer (Two-Lane Blacktop), this quintessential road movie is a rarely screened gem.
My Own Private Idaho
River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves dazzle as male hustlers from opposite sides of the tracks in Gus Van Sant’s Shakespeare-inspired tale.
Bhaji on the Beach
Gurinder Chadha’s tale of British Asian women bonding on a coastal day-trip is an understated gem and a vital portrait of Thatcher’s Britain.
Bhaji on the Beach + intro by Bhavini Goyate, BFI Inclusion Manager
Gurinder Chadha’s tale of British Asian women bonding on a coastal day-trip is an understated gem and a vital portrait of Thatcher’s Britain.
Happy Together
Wong Kar Wai’s emotive and beautifully shot drama about a turbulent relationship makes the most of its Buenos Aires backdrop.
Happy Together + intro by curator and writer Ying-Di Yin
Wong Kar Wai’s emotive and beautifully shot drama about a turbulent relationship makes the most of its Buenos Aires backdrop.
Platform
Zhangke’s sophomore feature is widely considered one of the first masterpieces of 21st-century cinema.
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