You could hardly call it his most suspenseful work, or his most accomplished, or even his most interesting - but after more than 60 years it still holds up well and remains very entertaining. Armed with a brace of glamorous leads and a range of opulent locations, he takes a simple premise and carries us on a wave of light-hearted mischief throughout the film's running time. ![]() To Catch A Thief fits firmly into the latter category, being an example of Hitchcock having fun, pure and simple. His astounding technical skill, coupled with his burgeoning reputation and ability to attract big-name stars, would produce some of the most iconic films of the mid-20th century, from obsessive character studies like Vertigo and Strangers on a Train to gripping thrill-rides like North by Northwest. Selznick, he was finally free to make the films he wanted to make, exactly the way he wanted to make them. Having been freed from the shackles of his early work in Hollywood, including his tempestuous run with David O. NB.The 1950s found Alfred Hitchcock in his prime. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover is screening late on Monday, July 17. Keen-eyed viewers might also spot British character actors including Roger Lloyd-Pack and Ron Cook as well as a young Alex Kingston, and you can even spot Ian Dury in a rare acting role as well. Where the Cook comes into this is one of the twisted delights I’ll leave you to discover if you’ve not seen it, but the real chef here is Greenaway, who cooks up an artwork of a film – shot like a play and imitating Renaissance and Baroque paintings - with music by Michael Nyman, costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier and food cooked by chef Giorgio Locatelli. Michael Gambon is The Thief, who takes over a French restaurant that provides the setting for this tale of excess, while Helen Mirren is The Wife, forced to attend the restaurant regularly and who then begins an affair with one of its customers, Michael (Alan Howard). The season of late-night screenings continues with the chance to revisit one of the most famous films from one of Britain’s most distinctive filmmakers, Peter Greenaway. Ziggy Stardust 50th Anniversary is screening on Monday, July 3 and Tuesday, July 11.īlue Monday: The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover The changes for this anniversary release also include three tracks featuring Jeff Beck that were cut from the original release and has received a full sound and vision overhaul thanks to the heroes who’ve made this re-release possible, showing what made Bowie such a star, man. It features a selection of songs from Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album, as well as other hits including Oh! You Pretty Things and covers such as All The Young Dudes. The film itself took several years to be released, and was directed by D A Pennebaker, who’d also made films about Bob Dylan and Little Richard prior to capturing Bowie. The tour with the character and the Spiders From Mars band helped to make him a global superstar, but – never one to rest on his laurels – Bowie retired the character after a legendary performance at the Hammersmith Odeon.įifty years to the day after that final performance (unless you’re watching the repeat), the film of that event is returning to cinemas to mark the golden anniversary. Surely none was more iconic than Ziggy Stardust, the alien sent to the Earth that he feared was facing impending destruction. On the pie-chart of life, I suspect the largest sector of my waking moments would be taken up by my time in cinemas, while the lure of bookshops would probably see my many hours spent perusing the shelves taking a reasonable second place. It’s a compelling study of masculinity that feels both dreamlike and fiercely real by turns, and where better to catch it than on the big screen once more?īeau Travail is screening on Saturday, June 24. Denis also makes use of music and movement, utilising some of the score of Benjamin Britten’s opera Billy Budd as the men of the unit conduct their drills to create an almost balletic quality. Galoup seems to take an almost instant and irrational dislike to the squad’s new member, and tensions between the two escalate quickly.ĭenis conjures up a world that is both hostile and compelling, with cinematographer Agnès Godard capturing both the harshness and beauty of the remote setting. It sees Foreign Legion officer Galoup (the always reliable Denis Lavant) reflecting on his life in charge of the troops there, when their simple and structured life is upset by the arrival of an easy-going new recruit, Sentain (Grégoire Colin). ![]() Denis takes her inspiration from Herman Melville’s novella Billy Budd, with the location translated to an outpost on the coast of Djibouti.
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