Ilkley Film Society
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
15
119 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
Subtitles
France
Country:
Celine Sciamma
Cannes winner for best screenplay and visually sumptuous. Set in France in 1760 we see painter Marianne surreptitiously painting Héloïse, a young woman who has just left a convent and is a reluctant bride-to-be. Marianne arrives under the guise of companion, observing Héloïse closely by day and painting her by firelight at night. As the two women orbit one another, intimacy and attraction grow as they share Héloïse’s first moments of freedom. Héloïse’s portrait soon becomes a collaborative act of and testament to their love. The titular fire is figurative, but also real.
Late Night
15
102 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
USA
Country:
Nisha Ganatra
A late-night talk show host's (Emma Thompson’s) world is turned upside down when she hires her first and only female staff writer (Mindy Kaling, who also wrote the screenplay and co-produced the film). Originally intended to smooth over diversity concerns, her decision brings about unexpectedly hilarious consequences as the two women who are separated by culture and generation become united by their love of a biting punchline, whilst operating with all male support staff.
The Chambermaid
15
102 min
Age:
Runtime:
2018
Release Date:
Subtitles
Mexico
Country:
Lila Aviles
Eva is a chambermaid working long hours in a luxury hotel in Mexico City, her aspirations limited to achieving promotion to a more exclusive floor and being granted possession of a dress left behind by a guest. When another guest persuades her to act as a child-minder (Eva has a child of her own to care for) and hints at the possibility of employing her in Argentina, Eva is faced with a clash between hope and reality. Mexico's entry for the 2020 Academy Awards.
Bait
15
89 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
UK
Country:
Mark Jenkin
An adventure in zero-budget analogue cinema, a black-and-white film and hypnotically strange. What might be a hackneyed theme of tourists ruining Cornwall becomes a bizarre expressionist melodrama. Martin Ward, a gloweringly aggressive fisherman resents the incomers who have invaded his village. Fishing is in decline. It once used bait to catch fish, now the community and beautiful landscape are used as bait to catch tourists. An intriguing and unexpectedly watchable film. Bait is an experiment – and a successful one.
Bacurau
18
131 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
Subtitles
Brazil
Country:
Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho,
Bacurau, a small settlement in Brazil's remote backcountry, is shaken by the death of its elderly matriarch. But something strange is happening in the village, and there's little time for mourning. The water supply has been cut off, animals are stampeding through the streets, and empty coffins are turning up on the roadside. One morning, the villagers wake up to find their settlement has disappeared from satellite maps completely. Under threat from an unknown enemy, Bacurau braces itself for a bloody, brutal fight for survival. (Note: strong bloody violence, gore.)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
PG
107 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
USA
Country:
Marielle Heller
Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is an investigative journalist who receives an assignment to profile children’s television entertainer, Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers (Tom Hanks). He approaches the interview with scepticism, as he finds it hard to believe that anyone can have such a good nature. Roger's empathy, kindness and decency soon chip away at Vogel's jaded outlook on life, forcing the reporter to reconcile with his own painful past.
And Then We Danced
15
113 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
Subtitles
Georgia
Country:
Levan Akin
A male-female couple should not look at each other since ‘There is no sexuality in Georgian dance’. A new dancer, Irakli catches the eye of Merab. Worryingly a gay male troupe member had been kicked out previously, indicating seriously retrograde ideas about human relations. Merab has a socially unacceptable new love and his family is struggling in poverty. All the cast perform with conviction, and the movie catches fire in its final scene, when Merab expresses rebellion through dance.
Queen and Slim
12A
132 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
USA
Country:
Melina Matsoukas
A couple’s first date takes an unexpected turn when a police officer pulls them over… they then set off on a romantic road crime trip. The young couple on the run are Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya). This film is very topical with Black Lives Matter connections and looks at themes of trust, betrayal and community, with a hint of the Underground Railroad. We watch the relationship develop from mutual annoyance… Queen and Slim is simultaneously beautiful and troubling.
Les Misérables
15
104 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
Subtitles
France
Country:
Ladj Ly
Very much not the musical! A cop from the provinces moves to Paris to join the Anti-Crime Brigade in Montfermeil, discovering a world with much tension between the different groups. The film opens with live coverage of France’s 2018 World Cup win, with everyone united, celebrating the multi-cultural team, but we quickly move into the marginalised suburbs. This is the debut feature film of this director who wrote and set it in the same suburb as Victor Hugo wrote and partially set his novel.
Babyteeth
15
118 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
Australia
Country:
Shannon Murphy
Milla, a seriously ill teenager, falls in love with an older drug dealer, Moses, who is her parents’ worst nightmare. A directorial first feature, this is a surprising and beautifully acted exploration of the pain and absurdity of young love. The prospective viewer might approach this scenario of terminal illness with some scepticism, but this is not a traditional Hollywood story, and the film captures the humanity of suffering without sentiment or mawkishness. Quirky but not annoying, all the performances are exceptionally good.
El Reino (The Candidate)
15
132 min
Age:
Runtime:
2018
Release Date:
Subtitles
Spain
Country:
Rodrigo Sorogoyen
A riveting political thriller in which a corrupt politician threatens to bring down his own party after a newspaper exposes the illegal deals which finance his high-flying lifestyle. Winner of seven prizes at the Goya Awards (Spain's Oscars) and never granted a UK cinema release, the film vanished from British screens after inclusion in the London and Leeds Film Festivals. Don't miss what may be your only chance to see it!
The Nightingale
18
136 min
Age:
Runtime:
2018
Release Date:
Australia
Country:
Jennifer Kent
In 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of sexual violence he committed against her family (the starting point of the film). On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past. The film received numerous international awards. Jennifer Kent, on her directorial debut, received seven awards, including an Australian ‘Oscar’ and the Venice Festival Special Jury Prize. (Note: sexual violence, strong bloody violence, very strong language.)
La Belle Epoque
15
115 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
Subtitles
Belgium
Country:
Nicolas Bedos
The Photograph
12A
107 min
Age:
Runtime:
2019
Release Date:
USA
Country:
Stella Meghier