Films normally start at 7.30pm in The Guildhall of St George, King Street. Members and their guests can sign in from approx 7pm.
Forthcoming Film Dates for your Diary
▓ Special Events
▓ We are delighted to once again be working in partnership with the King’s Lynn Festival and have arranged these films as part of the Festival. Tickets for these films will be £4 for members and £5 for the public and will be available from the Corn Exchange. Details will be sent to you on how to purchase at the reduced rate.
▓ Saturday 16th November 2.30pm — WOMAN AT WAR
Thursday 12th December — THE APARTMENT
Thursday 9th January — BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
▓ Sunday 26th January 3pm — ALL IS TRUE
Thursday 27th February — ONLY YOU
Thursday 12th March — THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON
▓ Friday 13th March 2.30pm — THE WHITE CROW
▓ Thursday 26th March — BAIT
Thursday 16th April — THE FAREWELL
Partnership with The King’s Lynn Festival
This film is in partnership with the King’s Lynn Winter Festival. Tickets are £5 but film club members and their guests can purchase them for £4 through the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange Box Office using the password which has been sent to all our members.
Saturday 16thNovember 2.30pm
WOMAN AT WAR
Comedy Eco-Thriller — (2018) — 100 mins — Cert 12A
infrequent moderate injury detail
Director: Benedikt Erlingsson
Cast includes Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Jóhann Sigurðarson, Juan Camillo Roman Estrada, Jörundur Ragnarsson, Sólveig Arnarsdóttir, Gunnar Bersi Björnsson
Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) is angry. Angry at Rio Tinto whose smelter is damaging the pristine environment of Iceland. So she takes direct action, sabotaging electricity pylons, cutting off power to the smelter. There is more than just the smelter involved though. Halla’s actions are putting at stake a resources exploitation deal between China and Iceland. Halla’s gets inside information from a senior civil servant, Baldvin (Jörundur Ragnarsson), Baldvin is now worried that Halla will be caught, a satellite will be used to track her, and tries to persuade her to just issue a manifesto. Halla has another reason to reconsider her actions: she has been approved to adopt a girl.
Thursday 12thDecember 6.30pm
PRE-FILM CHRISTMAS DRINK IN CROFTERS
Thursday 12thDecember 7.30pm
THE APARTMENT
Comedy Romance — (1960) — 125 mins — Cert PG
Contains mild sex references, violence and suicide attempt
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast includes Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White, Edie Adams, Dorothy Abbott, Benny Burt, Mason Curry, Frances Weintraub Lax, David Macklin, Hal Smith
Bud Baxter is a go-getting office worker who dreams of climbing the corporate ladder. His means of attempting to do so see him loaning his shabby little apartment to his colleagues for their romantic trysts. Things become complicated for Baxter when the woman of his affection, Fran Kubelik, just so happens to be the girlfriend of his heartless boss, Jeff Sheldrake.
TRIVIA
Billy Wilder originally thought of the idea for the film after seeing Brief Encounter (1945) and wondering about the plight of a character unseen in that film. Shirley MacLaine was only given forty pages of the script because Wilder didn’t want her to know how the story would turn out. She thought it was because the script wasn’t finished.
To create the effect of a vast sea of faces labouring grimly and impersonally at their desks in the huge insurance company office, designers Alexandre Trauner and Edward G. Boyle devised an interesting technique. Full-sized actors sat at the desks in the front and children dressed in suits were used at tiny desks toward the rear, followed by even smaller desks with cut-out figures operated by wires. It gave the effect of a much larger space than could have been achieved in the limited studio space.
The office Christmas party scene was actually filmed on December 23, 1959, so as to catch everybody in the proper holiday mood. Billy Wilder filmed almost all of it on the first take, stating to an observer, “I wish it were always this easy. Today, I can just shout ‘action’ and stand back.”
Thursday 9thJanuary 7.30pm
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
Musical, Drama, Comedy — (2019) — 117 mins — Cert 12A
Contains racist language and behaviour, moderate bad language
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Cast includes Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Aaron Phagura, Dean-Charles Chapman, Nikita Mehta
In 1987 Britain, Javed Khan is a British-Pakistani college arts student in Luton in a family with a domineering father. Depressed by his oppressive family life and feeling he has no future in a hostile community, a newfound friend introduces Javed to the music of Bruce Springsteen. Touched by the rock star’s powerfully eloquent affinity of his own feelings, Javed is inspired to reach out for his own dreams with his own talents. However, although Javed finds friends he never expected in this personal quest, he also finds himself butting heads with his newly unemployed father who stubbornly refuses to understand his son’s new aspirations. In this conflict of values in a troubled time, Javed must decide what is truly important to him while his family struggles to understand what has changed and what remains with a new generation feeling born to run.
TRIVIA
The song “Blinded by the Light” was originally written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen for his debut album “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” (1973). Springsteen himself states that the most important lyric of the song is the final line: “Mama told me not to look into the sights of the sun, but mama that’s where the fun is.”
The movie is inspired by the life of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and his love of the works of Bruce Springsteen. It is based on Manzoor’s memoir “Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll”.
Rob Brydon, who plays Matt’s Dad, is a Bruce Springsteen fan in real life and in January 2018 surprised regulars at the Half Moon in Putney by singing a version of “Thunder Road” with singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph.
Filmed in many locations in and around Luton.
Sunday 26thJanuary 3pm
ALL IS TRUE
Drama — (2018) — 99 mins — Cert 12A
Contains infrequent strong language, moderate sex references
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench,
Kathryn Wilder, Lolita Chakrabarti, Michael Rouse
The year is 1613, Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer of the age. But disaster strikes when his renowned Globe Theatre burns to the ground, and devastated, Shakespeare returns to Stratford, where he must face a troubled past and a neglected family. Haunted by the death of his only son Hamnet, he struggles to mend the broken relationships with his wife and daughters. In so doing, he is ruthlessly forced to examine his own failings as husband and father. His very personal search for the truth uncovers secrets and lies within a family at war.
TRIVIA
In one of his scenes with Dame Judi Dench, Sir Kenneth Branagh was supposed to directly cite lines from Shakespeare’s work, but he got it slightly wrong, so Dame Judi started to laugh at the mistake. In retort, Sir Kenneth quipped “You can probably finish it!”, which she promptly did. All of this was obviously not scripted, but nonetheless kept for the finished movie.
Director Sir Kenneth Branagh said the cinematography for the interior scenes was done using only candlelight.
Not long after filming this movie, Sir Kenneth Branagh made a guest appearance in the third season finale of Upstart Crow (2016), a sitcom that also focuses on the life of William Shakespeare.
The original English title of this movie, “All Is True”, was taken from the Shakespeare play “Henry VIII”, for which it was an early alternative title.
Thursday 27thFebruary 7.30pm
ONLY YOU
Romance, Drama — (2018) —118 mins — Cert 15
Contains very strong language, strong sex
Director: Harry Wootliff
Cast includes Natalie Arle-Toyne, Isabelle Barth, Tam Dean Burn, Daniel Campbell, Joe Cassidy, Laia Costa
Elena, 35, and Jake, 26, meet by chance on New Years Eve, arguing for the same taxi. But, instead of going their separate ways after sharing a ride, they start a passionate relationship. Within weeks they are living together, and not long after they talk about starting a family. But, as the seasons pass, reality catches up with them. Falling in love was the easy part. Can they remain in love when life doesn’t give them everything they hoped for?
Thursday 12thMarch 7.30pm
THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON
Adventure, Comedy, Drama — (2019) — 97 mins — Cert 12A
Contains moderate violence, threat, discrimination, infrequent strong language
Directors: Tyler Nilson, Mike Schwartz
Cast includes Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, Zack Gottsagen, John Hawkes, Thomas Haden Church, Bruce Dern
The Peanut Butter Falcon is an adventure story set in the world of a modern Mark Twain that begins when Zak (22), a young man with Down syndrome, runs away from the nursing home where he lives to chase his dream of becoming a professional wrestler by attending the wrestling school The Salt Water Redneck. Through circumstances beyond their control Tyler (32), a small-time outlaw on the run, becomes Zak’s unlikely coach and ally. Together they wind through deltas, elude capture, drink whisky, find God, catch fish, and convince Eleanor (28), a kind nursing home employee with a story of her own, to join them on their journey.
TRIVIA
The movie came about because the directors met star Zack Gottsagen at a camp for disabled and non-disabled people and he expressed his desire to be a movie star. So the directors wrote the script around him and Zacks hopes and dreams that bled into the script and people they knew who would allow them to film for free and without permits.
On 30th July, 2019, the Ruderman Family Foundation honoured The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) feature film with its Seal of Authentic Representation for accurate depictions of people with disabilities.
One of Bruce Dern’s earliest roles was in Marnie, opposite Dakota Johnson’s grandmother, Tippi Hedren. He also appeared in Mulholland Falls with her mother Melanie Griffith and in Django Unchained with her father Don Johnson.
In the scene where Zak, Tyler, and Eleanor jump off the oil rig in the rope, the respective actors were the ones who swung on the rope; no stunt doubles were used.
Partnership with The King’s Lynn Festival
This film is in partnership with the King’s Lynn Winter Festival. Tickets are £5 but film club members and their guests can purchase them for £4 through the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange Box Office using the password which has been sent to all our members.
Friday 13thMarch 2.30pm
THE WHITE CROW
Drama — (2018) — 124 mins — Cert 12A
infrequent strong language, moderate sex, nudity
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Cast includes Oleg Ivenko, Ralph Fiennes, Louis Hofmann, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Sergei Polunin, Olivier Rabourdin
Director Ralph Fiennes captures the raw physicality and brilliance of Rudolf Nureyev, whose escape to the West stunned the world at the height of the Cold War. With his magnetic presence, Nureyev emerged as ballet’s most famous star, a wild and beautiful dancer limited by the world of 1950s Leningrad. His flirtation with Western artists and ideas led him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the KGB.
TRIVIA
When interviewed in 1961 about why he wanted to flee Russia, Nureyev said, “it is a life of bullying, for the artist as for everyone else, but most of all for the artist. When I was a student at ballet school, I was told what to think, what to read, how to spend my spare time, and who could be my friends. . . . Private life in the Soviet Union is impossible.”
Ralph Fiennes originally did not want to be in the movie, knowing from experience how difficult it could be to both direct and act. But as he tried to get financing for the film he kept being asked if he was going to be in it, and when he said no, “I could see the light fading behind their eyes,” because there were no other major names in it, “so finally I folded.”
On 7th September 2017, Serbia, where much of the movie was filmed, granted citizenship to Ralph Fiennes.
Thursday 26thMarch 7.30pm
BAIT
Drama — (2019) — 89 mins — Cert 15
Contains very strong language, strong bloody images, sex references
Director: Mark Jenkin
Cast includes Ed Rowe, Mary Woodvine, Giles Smith, Simon Shepherd
Martin Ward is a cove fisherman, without a boat. His brother Steven has re-purposed their father’s vessel as a tourist tripper, driving a wedge between the brothers. With their childhood home now a get-away for London money, Martin is displaced to the estate above the picturesque harbour. As his struggle to restore the family to their traditional place creates increasing friction with tourists and locals alike, a tragedy at the heart of the family changes his world.
TRIVIA
Much of the film was shot in the Admiral Benbow, Penzance. This pub, opened in 1959, houses thousands of artefacts salvaged from ships wrecked of the Cornish coast and the Isles of Scilly.
Since the film was shot on a wind-up bolex (16mm movie camera), sound couldn’t be recorded on set. All the dialogue was then dubbed in post.
Director Mark Jenkin processed the 16mm film himself. He used unorthodox processing methods such as using vitamin powder.
Thursday 16thApril 7.30pm
THE FAREWELL
Drama, Comedy — (2019) — 100 mins — Cert PG
Contains mild bad language, sex references
Director: Lulu Wang
Cast includes Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Jim Liu, Shuzhen Zhou, Gil Perez-Abraham
The film follows a Chinese family who, when they discover their beloved Grandmother has only a short while left to live, decide to keep her in the dark and schedule an impromptu wedding to gather before she passes. Billi, feeling like a fish out of water in her home country, struggles with the family’s decision to hide the truth from her grandmother.
TRIVIA
In addition to writing and directing, Lulu Wang also plays piano on the film’s soundtrack.
The joke about the cat dying and “mum is on the roof” told around the dinner table is the same joke told by astronaut Peter Willis to himself as he is climbing up a desert cliff in the 1977 movie Capricorn One (1977). Seconds later, he is ambushed and killed by government helicopters.
Little Nai Nai plays herself in the movie.
