Screen Gems is our monthly film club for older people, showing an eclectic range of bona fide classics and a selection of outstanding films which perhaps haven’t received the credit and distribution they deserve. Typically taking in films featuring strong roles for older characters, Screen Gems offers an informal discussion group after the screening, with film notes provided. As always, the Lexi bar is open, serving teas, coffee, wines, beers, snacks and soft drinks. Join us for fun, fans, and fabulous films!
Know someone who might want to join us for a matinee screening on the last Wednesday of every month? Fancy coming along yourself? Check out the latest news below…
This is a user review. I am using it because I think it is a very balanced impression of this oddball movie from director David Lynch, and because I feel that, in some strange way, the tone of the review reflects the tone of this movie!
“A truly nice story with a moral about brotherly love” describes this odd David Lynch film. This was especially “odd” because it wasn’t the kind of film Lynch had been putting out in the last 15 -20 years. Those were dark and shocking films (Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, Mulholland Drive) and this is the opposite. I know it disappointed a lot of his fans. Others were delighted by it. Count me as one of the latter, and I own all three of those “dark” films, too.
“This was another supposed-true life story, here detailing an elderly man’s trip in a seated lawnmower from western Iowa all the way to Wisconsin to see his ailing brother who he hasn’t talked to in years but wants to see before the latter dies. Well, I guess that premise – an old man driving a lawn mower 400 miles – still makes this an “odd” film of sorts, so Lynch stays in character with that!
“Richard Farnsworth plays the title role. [Just out of interest, John Hurt and Gregory Peck were also offered the role.] He is the type of guy, face-wise, voice-wise, low-key personality-wise, that just about everyone likes. The wrinkles on his face tell many a story. It was so sad to hear what happened to him in real life a year after this film was released. [He died.]
“The first 25 minutes of this film isn’t much, and not always pleasant as it shows the main character’s adult and mentally-challenged child (Sissy Spacek) and her tragic past, but once Alvin Straight (Farnsworth) begins his trip, the story picks up. I played this for several friends and they thought the film NEVER picked up, but I am more generous with it. I think it’s a hidden gem. To them, it was a sleeping pill.
“I found his trip pretty fascinating but you have to realize in advance this is NOT going to be a suspenseful Lynch crime story. It IS slow and if that’s okay with you, you might like this. Charm enters the picture in some of people Alvin meets along the way, such as a wayward young girl running away and some nice town folks who help the old man out when he gets in trouble. (Henry Cada as “Daniel Riordan, is a standout in that regard.) Harry Dean Stanton gets third billing, but that’s a joke: he’s only in the final few minutes of the movie!
“The Iowa scenery is pleasant. I lived there for several years and can attest to the rolling hills and the rich soil. It’s a nice state with nice people….like this movie.”
Wed 28 Mar, 13:30 a Screen Gems screening, tickets £5
Caramel was distributed in over 40 countries, easily becoming the most internationally acclaimed and exposed Lebanese film to date. It is the first feature film from Lebanese actor/director Nadine Labaki, and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
The story focuses on the lives of five Lebanese women dealing with issues such as forbidden love, binding traditions, repressed sexuality, the struggle to accept the natural process of age, and duty vs. desire. Labaki’s film is unique for not showcasing a war-ravaged Beirut but rather a warm and inviting locale where people deal with universal issues.
The title Caramel refers to an epilation method that consists of heating sugar, water and lemon juice. Labaki also symbolically implies the “idea of sweet and salt, sweet and sour” and showcases that everyday relations can sometimes be sticky but ultimately the sisterhood shared between the central female characters prevails.
Join is for guided discussion – and good company – afterwards.
Weds 22 Feb. 13:30, a Screen Gems screening, tickets £5
Our Screen Gems screenings showcase classic cinema, providing guided discussion in good company afterwards. And there is also a selection of fine teas on offer!
Pather Panchali (Father Panchali), Indian director Satyajit Ray’s first feature film, relates the story of an impoverished Bengalese family. When the father (Karuna Bannerjee) leaves for the city to pursue a writing career, the mother (Karuna Banerji) is left with the responsibility of caring for the rest of the brood. Gradually, the film’s true central character emerges: Apu (Subir Banerji), the family’s son. Though excruciatingly realistic at times, Pather Panchali takes occasional timeout to dwell on the purely cinematic. For example, when the mother receives a postcard bearing good news, Ray dissolves to a pond, where a pair of water skates scamper about. The music by Ravi Shankar at first seems to be at odds with the action; soon, however, we come to accept the music as a logical outgrowth of the events at hand. The scene where the children encounter a train while playing in the fields is legendary and so are many others. Simple because of its evocation of the author’s nostalgia for a childhood in harmony with the rhythms of nature. Complex because much of it has the sinister charm of a lullaby about princes, witches and demons. A multiple award winner, Pather Panchali was the first of Ray’s celebrated “Apu Trilogy” (the other two entries were 1956′s Aparajito and 1959′s The World of Apu).
The Lady Vanishes was Alfred Hitchcock’s penultimate English film, filmed largely at studios in Islington and Shepherd’s Bush, in fact! It was voted “Best Film of 1938,” and for many the story of the missing train passenger is one his most resonant. With Margaret Lockwood (relatively unknown at the time) and Michael Redgrave (already a renowned stage actor but established as an international screen idol by this), its memorable performances and outstanding script will provide plenty to discuss after the screening. Stay afterwards for stimulating guided discussion, good company and a selection of fine teas!
“It is one of the most frightening of movies, with one of the most unforgettable of villains, and on both of those scores it holds up … well after four decades.” Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun Times
This is the stuff of nightmares! The story concerns evil preying on innocents, with Robert Mitchum as the murderous preacher who must elicit from 2 young children where the proceeds of a robbery have been hidden. Charles Laughton never directed again after the movie was very poorly received on release but history has decreed it an enduring masterpiece. The distincive expressionistic style (filmed in black and white, with bizarre shadows, stylized dialogue, distorted perspectives, surreal sets, and odd camera angles) is key to its enduring power, leading to it featuring in a list of “100 Scariest Movies” as well as ranking number 2 in a Cahiers du Cinema list of “The Most Beautiful Films”.
Join us for good company and the chance to share thoughts about the movie afterwards in guided discussion.
Wed 18 May, 13:30 – a Screen Gems screening, with film notes and discussion
The Queen of Spades is truly a lost gem of British cinema from much admired director Thorold Dickinson (Gaslight, High Command).
It is 1806, Imperial Russia and St Petersburg is in the grip of gambling fever. No card strikes more fear in to the hearts of the soldiers than the evil Queen of Spades. Captain Herman Suvorin (Anton Walbrook) is a lowly German engineer: an outsider obsessed with making his fortune, whose peculiar manner isolates him from the revelries of the other bawdy soldiers. He is intrigued, though, by the soldiers’ gossip that tells of the legend of an ancient Countess (Dame Edith Evans), who supposedly sold her soul to the devil years before in exchange for the secret of success at the card game de jour: Faro.
The Queen of Spades is a wonderfully evocative and sinister drama, made at Ealing Studios by one of the most underrated of British directors: Thorold Dickinson, who throughout his career refused to compromise his artistic integrity in the face of commercial pressures. A raft of memorable performances are crowned by Anton Walbrook, as the soldier driven insane by his lust for success and fortune, and Dame Edith Evans as the bitter and twisted old Countess who gave away her soul for a short-lived salvation.
Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese is one of the film’s most vociferous supporters and he has kindly recorded a brief introduction to the film which will be seen by audiences before each screening of the film during its theatrical run.
Almodovar brings out the best in his muse, Penelope Cruz, in this multi-layered story of the power of a mother’s love. This magical tragicomic melodrama may be Almodovar’s most restrained work to date but it still features his trademarks: a strong attention to color and detail, a celebration of the trials and tribulations of women, and, of course, the inestimable Carmen Maura. The lovely Penelope Cruz hasn’t shone more brightly as she does here.
Join us afterwards for good company and guided discussion of the film.
A literary classic, and this, a cinematic classic. Adapted by David Lean from the beloved Dickens novel, this is a miracle of invention, economy and detail. Pip, Pocket, Joe, Mr. Jaggers, Magwitch and—unforgettably—Miss Havisham, are all here and all ready to move, amuse, frighten and entertain anyone willing to spend time with them.
Stay behind afterwards for tea and good company, complete with guided discussion of the film.
This popular Hindi film tells the story of devoted parents Raj and Pooja Malhotra who have labored hard to provide well for the their four sons, also opening their hearts and home along the way to orphaned Alok. When the couple retire they cherish the expectation of spending more time with their family, but the sons split the couple up to minimise the burden of caring for them. After separation and heartache the couple’s plight comes to the attention of Alok, who repays their devotion by installing them at the heart of his own young family. When Raj becomes unexpectedly wealthy, their sons have cause to repent and reconsider.
This was a popular award-winning film when it was released in 2003, with universal themes and the glamour of Bollywood, and now our Cinema Gems strand provides a chance to revisit such classics, supported by film notes and guided discussion afterwards.
“Depardieu’s the best he’s been for years, while 95-year-old Casadesus is a sheer delight. Only the French could get away with such an old-fashioned charmer.“ Philip Kemp, Total Film
Germain Chazes (Gerard Depardieu) is a middle-aged loner who lives in a van outside his mother’s home and does odd jobs for a living. When he meets Marguerite (Gisele Casadeus), a highly cultured and well-read elderly woman living in a nearby retirement home, she introduces him to her passion for literature. As Germain’s desire to learn to read is ignited, a deep bond develops between the unlikely pair.
This gentle gem is a companion piece to writer/director Jean Becker’s Conversations With My Gardener. It continues the line of films, such as My Dinner With Andre, which are overtly – and satisfyingly – concerned with ideas. This has the added bonus of two commanding performances; Depardieu taking himself seriously (and allowing us to), while co-star Casadeus’ performance shows the experience of her venerable 80 years in film.
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