Autumn films at Plymouth Arts Centre
September October 2015 Films at Plymouth Arts Centre
Iris (12A)
Tues 15, 6pm
Wed 16, 2.30 and 6pm
Thurs 17, 8.30pm
Dir. Albert Maysles, US, 2015, 80 mins.
The last film from legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimmie Shelter) is a bittersweet documentary about Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style expert who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in Iris' dotage, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. Iris portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life's sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment.
Marshland (15)
Tues 15, 8.30pm
Thurs 17, 6pm
Sat 19, 5.30pm
Tues 22, 8.30pm
Wed 23, 6pm
Dir. Alberto Rodriguez, Spain, 2014, 104 mins, subtitled.
Cast. Javier Gutierrez, Raul Arevalo, Antonio de la Torre.
An absolutely breath-taking thriller which swept the boards at this year’s Goyas (the Spanish Oscars). Set amongst a community in the wetlands of Andalusia Spain in 1980, struggling to emerge from the shadow of Franco’s regime, the film follows two detectives who must overcome their personal differences to examine the suspicious disappearance of two teenage girls amongst this deeply divided community.
With comparisons to The Secret in Their Eyes, True Detective, and permeated with an air of noir mystery, Marshland combines social commentary with noir-esque mystery.
Diary of a Teenage Girl (18)
Wed 16, 8.30pm
Fri 18,6pm
Sat 19, 8pm
Wed 23, 8.30pm
Thurs 24 (Baby Friendly), 11am & 6pm
Dir. Marielle Heller, US, 2015, 102 mins.
Cast. Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Kristen Wiig.
The film that has everyone talking, this hilarious, bold and eccentric portrait of a 15 year-old teenager from her candid point of view in 1970’s San Francisco was a huge hit at the Sundance Film Festival. Adapted from the award-winning book of the same name it tells the story of Minnie as she finds herself caught up in a surge of sexual experiences and emotions as she embarks on an affair with her mother Charlotte’s (Wiig) new boyfriend Monroe (Skarsgard).
A Dartmoor Killing ( cert tbc)
Fri 18, 8pm with Q & A with Director, Peter Nicholson and case
Sat 19, 2.30pm
Tues 22, 6pm
Wed 23, 2.30pm
Thurs 24, 8.30pm
Dir. Peter Nicholson, UK, 2014, 94 mins.
Cast. Gemma-Leah Deveraux, Rebecca Night, Callum Blue, David Heyman.
Susan and Becky are inseparable friends but both have secrets. On a trip to Dartmoor they encounter the charismatic Chris and are led into a web of mind games, sexual deceit and betrayal.
This feature film - a web of mind games, sexual deceit and betrayal - is co-written and directed by BAFTA-winner Peter Nicholson, who grew up in Dartington, puts the cinematic landscape of Dartmoor centre stage and Dartmoor Killing debuts two young South West actors, Lewis Peek and Victoria Lucie.
Mistress America (15)
Fri 25 September, 6pm
Sat 26, 2.30pm & 8pm
Tues 29, 6pm
Wed 30, 8.30pm
Dir. Noah Baumbach, US, 2015, 84 mins.
Cast. Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke.
Baumbach’s second film this year (after While We’re Young) is a fantastically refreshing tale of female friendship, a great mix of old school Hollywood screwball comedy and John Hughes-esque romp. At its heart is Tracy (Kirke), a college freshman with a new life in New York. Lonely and unpopular, the aspiring writer reaches out to her future stepsister, Brooke (Gerwig), a confident restaurateur/designer/musician/fitness instructor who is all self esteem, opinions and talk. Light, funny and stuffed with so many quotable one liners they’ll be rattling around inside your head for days, this is brilliant stuff from Baumbach.
Gemma Bovery (15)
Fri 25 September, 8.30pm
Sat 26, 5.30pm
Tues 29, 8.30pm
Wed 30, 2.30pm, 6pm
Thurs 1 (Dementia Friendly), 2.30pm & 8.30pm
Dir. Anne Fontaine, France/UK, 2015, 99 mins.
Cast. Gemma Arterton, Fabrice Luchini, Jason Flemyng, Isabelle Candelier.
In this sexy and lighthearted re-imagining of Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel, Arterton stars as an earthy beauty who stirs passions in the male inhabitants of a Normandy village when she moves there with her husband. Martin (Luchini), the baker and resident Flaubert fan, can’t believe these new neighbours seem to be replicating the behaviour of his favourite fictional characters. As reality sets in on the Bovery’s fantasy of rural French domesticity, their marriage begins to fray and life imitates art when Gemma becomes attracted to a dashing aristocrat. Anne Fontaine has combined cheeky literary mash-up, sensuous romance and witty feminist commentary to create a heady celebration of French provincial life.
52 Tuesdays (15)
Fri 2, 6pm
Sat 3, 8pm
Tues 6, 6pm
Wed 7 8.30pm
Thurs 8 (Baby Friendly), 11am & 6pm
Dir. Sophie Hyde, Australia, 2014, 114 mins.
Cast. Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Del Herbert-Jane.
This remarkable and enthralling experiment in storytelling takes its cue from the title: Sundance winner Hyde shot chronologically, on every Tuesday for a year. Her story focuses on 16-year old Billie, whose reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans to transition from female to male. Needing to focus, Billie is sent to live with her father, and their together is limited to Tuesday afternoons. So begins a year of major changes for both of them. A delicate and touching drama, it explores – with great sensitivity and depth – the complexities of both sexual and gender identity and, moreover, the importance of family – whether it’s traditional or not.
45 Years (15)
Fri 2, 8.30pm
Sat 3, 2.30pm & 5.30pm
Tues 6, 8.30pm
Wed 7, 2.30pm & 6pm
Thurs 8, 8.30pm
Dir. Andrew Haigh, UK, 2015, 95 mins.
Cast. Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay, Geraldine James.
Courtenay and Rampling are magnificent in this absorbing look at ageing romance. With just one week until Kate and Geoff’s 45th wedding anniversary, the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for Geoff explaining that the body of his first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. Five days later with the party upon them, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate. This is a subtly devastating film about love, time and memory. The film keeps questions alive until the very last shot in this haunting and troubled look at marriage and what it means to love someone over many years. It is without doubt one of the best British films of the year.
Pasolini (18)
Fri 9, 6pm
Sat 10, 5.30pm
Tues 13, 6pm
Wed 14, 2.30pm & 8.30pm
Thurs 15, 6pm
Dir. Abel Ferrara, France/Italy, 2015, 84 mins.
Cast. Willem Dafoe, Maria de Medeiros, Riccardo Scamarcio.
In 1975 outspoken filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini was found dead, arousing suspicions that continue to this day. Director Abel Ferrara offers a kaleidoscopic view of the last day in the artist’s life. A film that neither accuses nor investigates; this engaging biopic celebrates Pasolini’s fearlessness and creativity.
Miss Julie (12A)
Fri 9, 8.15pm
Sat 10, 2pm & 8pm
Tues 13, 8.15pm
Wed 14, 5.45pm
Thurs 15, 8.15pm
Dir. Liv Ullmann, UK, 2015, 130 mins.
Cast. Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton.
A country estate in Ireland in the 1880s. Over the course of one midsummer night, in an atmosphere of wild revelry and loosened social constraints, Miss Julie (Chastain) and John (Farrell), her father’s valet, dance and drink, charm and manipulate each other. By turns seductive and bullying, savage and tender, their intimacy leads to desperate plans and vision of a life together... Unsure if the morning brings hope or hopelessness, Julie and John find their escape in a final act as sublime and horrific as anything in Greek tragedy. Miss Julie depicts a fierce battle for power and dominance, enacted through a cruel and compulsive game of seduction and repulsion.
President (15)
Fri 16, 6pm
Sat 17, 5.30pm
Tues 20, 8.30pm
Wed 21, 2.30pm & 6pm
Thurs 22, 8.30pm
Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, UK/Georgia/France, 2014, 105 mins, subtitled.
Cast. Misha Gomiashvili, Dachi Orvelashvilli, Guja Burduli.
Makhmalbaf’s morality tale about a fallen autocrat and his innocent grandson forced to flee revolutionaries hell bent on vengeance is a disquieting parable about cycles of violence. In an unnamed country, the president interrupts his work signing execution warrants to spend time playing with his grandson. To demonstrate the power he wields, he playfully orders the lights of the city to be turned off, plunging his people into darkness. But the game turns sour when the lights fail to come back on again and he inadvertently sparks the fuse of rebellion and civil unrest. Forced to flee with his grandson, he attempts to shield him from danger with elaborate games of pretense that can’t disguise the harsh consequences of his regime.
A Walk in the Woods (15)
Fri 16, 8.30pm
Sat 17, 2.30pm & 8pm
Tues 20, 6pm
Wed 21, 8.30pm
Thurs 22, 6pm
Dir. Ken Kwapis, US, 2015, mins.
Cast. Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson.
Celebrated travel writer, Bill Bryson (Redford), instead of retiring to enjoy his large and happy family, challenges himself to hike the Appalachian Trail - 2,200 miles of America's most unspoiled and rugged countryside from Georgia to Maine. The peace and tranquility he hopes to find is anything but, once he agrees to being accompanied by the only person he can find willing to join him on the trek - his friend Katz (Nolte) who, after a lifetime of relying on his charm and wits to keep one step ahead of the law – sees the trip as a way to sneak out of paying some debts and have one last adventure. The trouble is, the two have a completely different definition of the word, "adventure".
Singin’ In the Rain (U)
Dementia Friendly Screening
Thurs 22 October 2.30pm
Dir. Stanley Donen, US, 1952, 98 mins.
Cast. Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen.
Widely considered the greatest ever Hollywood musical, possessing all the magic ingredients of star quality in Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds with the most amazing dance sequences, memorable songs, story line and laugh out loud comedy. The setting is 1927 Hollywood during the transition from silent movies to talkies with Don Lockwood (Kelly) the darling of the silent silver screen. With the advent of sound in motion pictures, it is decided to turn Don's new film into a talkie and a musical at that. The only problem is his co-star Lena's voice, which could shatter glass. Don's brainwave to get bright newcomer Kathy (Reynolds) to dub over Lena's speaking and singing voice in secret, but soon romance gets in the way.
Irrational Man (cert tbc)
Fri 23, 6pm
Sat 24, 8pm
Tues 27, 6pm
Wed 28, 2.30pm & 8.30pm
Thurs 29, 6pm
Dir. Woody Allen, US, 2015, 96 mins.
Cast. Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey.
Philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Phoenix) is at rock bottom, unable to find any meaning or joy in life. He feels that everything he’s tried to do, from political activism to teaching, hasn’t made any difference. Soon after arriving to teach at a small town college, Abe gets involved with two women: Rita, a lonely professor who wants him to rescue her from her unhappy marriage; and Jill, his best student. While Jill loves her boyfriend Roy, she finds Abe’s tortured, artistic personality and exotic past irresistible. Irrational Man proves that Allen is anything but a spent force and is still capable of producing the kind of intelligent, funny, delicately crafted films we have always loved him for.
Tangerines (cert tbc)
Fri 23, 8.30pm
Sat 24, 2.30pm & 5.30pm
Tues 27, 8.30pm
Wed 28, 6pm
Thurs 29, 8.30pm
Dir. Zaza Urushadze, Estonia, 2014, 113 mins, subtitled.
Cast. Lembit Ulfsak, Elmo Nuganen, Giorgi Nakashidze.
This Oscar nominated film is set in 1992, during the growing conflict between Georgia and Abkhazian separatists in the wake of the Soviet Union’s dissolution, this compassionate story focuses on two Estonian immigrant farmers who decide to remain in Georgia long enough to harvest their tangerine crop. When the fighting arrives at their doorsteps, Ivo (played by legendary Estonian actor Lembit Ulfsak) along with friend Margus (Elmo Nüganen), treat two wounded soldiers from opposite sides, Ahmed and Niko. During their extended period of convalescence under the administration of Ivo, they are forced not only to confront the reasons that fuel their hatred for each other, but also the conflict which rages around them.
Buttercup Bill (cert tbc)
Fri 30, 6pm
Sat 31, 6pm
Tues 3 Nov, 6pm
Wed 4, 8.30pm
Thurs 5, 6pm
Dir. Remy Richard-Froozan/Remy Bennett, UK/US, 2015, 95 mins.
Cast. Remy Bennett, Evan Louison, Pauly Lingerfelt.
Buttercup Bill is a love story of sorts, about the long-lost soulmates and their surreal relationship with a mischievous imaginary childhood friend. The psychosexual drama follows Pernilla as she dares to reconnect with Patrick, with whom she shared a tainted childhood. As they collide after years of separation, we are hauled through images of their past and present.
Macbeth (cert tbc)
Fri 30, 8.30pm
Sat 31, 2.30pm & 8pm
Tues 3, 8.30pm
Wed 4, 2.30pm & 6pm
Thurs 5, 8.30pm
Dir. Justin Kurzel, UK, 2015, 113 mins.
Cast. Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Paddy Considine, David Thewlis.
This extraordinary retelling of Shakespeare’s story of a king driven to murder and madness is the first big screen adaptation since Polanski’s 1971 film. Snowtown director Justin Kurzel's stunning, epic Shakespeare adaptation stars Michael Fassbender (in a role he was born to play) and Marion Cotillard as the married couple who seize the throne. It's a savage interpretation that is surely bound to be a frontrunner come Oscar season.
Plymouth Arts Centre, 38 Looe Street, Plymouth PL4 0EB
01752 206114, www.plymouthartscentre.org.uk
Box Office, open Tuesday-Saturday 1-8.30pm. Tickets from £5.50.
For further information, contact Kate Foster at kate.foster@plymouthartscentre.org
Ticket prices from £5.50. All film information can also be found by downloading Artory, Plymouth’s app for culture from the App Store, Google Play or from www.artory.co.uk
