Here in London, it’s fair to say we have an embarrassment of riches for film fans – as well as Dolby Cinemas, and huge digital IMAX screens we also have two of the country’s three venues that can show IMAX 70mm film, namely the London Science Museum IMAX and the BFI IMAX, which are currently being put to their ideal use by projecting Christopher Nolan’s new epic, Oppenheimer.
The latter is the flagship screen of the British Film Institute, a cultural charity known for supporting film in all its forms. This is demonstrated well by the new BFI September program, most of which will be shown at the BFI Southbank, a complex that takes its name from the banks of the Thames River along which it runs.
The schedule is extensive and wide-ranging, but a few highlights caught my eye this month. The headline film is a showing of a restored 70th-anniversary re-release of Tokyo Story, the classic 1953 masterpiece from Yasujirô Ozu, the famed Japanese director, whose influence remains strong to this day. This is being shown in 4K digital in select cinemas nationwide from 1 September, and there will be a special screening at BFI IMAX on 24 September at 11:30 am.
Film fans might then be able to rush straight from this to the NFT1 screen on the Southbank where the BFI is screening Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 classic Barry Lyndon in 35mm film (it is being shown digitally the evening before). Kubrick’s film, now widely considered a masterpiece, is known for its painterly look of its framing and the chance to see it projected on film is a rare treat.
Film buffs might also want to catch the 1945 film Mildred Pierce, which is being projected on its; original 78-year-old nitrate film stock. Nitrate is the original material used for photographic film from the invention of the form until the 1950s. However, as it is highly flammable it is considered dangerous, and its use was discontinued in the 1950s. It is also highly susceptible to decomposition, so showings of original nitrate films are rare. (You can read more about nitrate film in this BFI blog post). Nitrate is very difficult to screen, and the BFI itself had a failed attempt at showing Mildred Pierce at its ‘Film on Film’ festival earlier this year, so this is a second attempt.
From nearly octogenarian prints back to state-of-the-art, the BFI is showing the horror classic, The Exorcist, which has received a 4K Digital remaster for its 50th anniversary. This new edition of the film has an introduction by film critic Mark Kermode, and, I can exclusively reveal here, (as he’s absolutely never mentioned it before on any of his podcasts with Simon Mayo over the last 20 years – oh no, not even once, ever, love the show Steve, etc.) is his favorite movie.
Moving on from that incredible revelation, the end of September has the debut of the new science-fiction movie The Creator. Starring John David Washington (Tenet), the director is Gareth Edwards, whose most recent directorial work was in 2016, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is arguably the third-best Star Wars film ever made. The trailer looks spectacular so hopes are high this is another classic in the making.
The full September program can be downloaded on this page, and if you’re a fan of films projected on film keep an eye on this page for all 16mm, 35mm, and 70m screenings at the BFI.
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