Reviews on the Best UK Movies of All Time
Top British Films
Director: James Ivory 15 | 2h 20min | Drama, Romance | 18 September 1987 (USA) RATING: ★★★★☆ Merchant Ivory’s award-winning adaptation of E.M. Forster’s autobiographical novel, will open at BFI Southbank and selected cinemas UK-wide from 27 July 2018. This handsome-looking Merchant Ivory British drama is getting a 4K digital re-release this August courtesy of […]
Director: Kevin Brownlow PG | 1h 33min | Drama, Fantasy, War | 12 May 1966 (UK) Screening at the BFI 23 July and out now on remastered bluray This week the Smoke Screen caught a special BFI re-release of the chilling and provocative counterfactual WWII Brit thriller It Happened Here, the work of director Kevin […]
The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have sparked an industry wide conversation and actions in response to widespread harassment and abuse of power. Not a bad time for the BFI to be hosting a summit titled “Woman with a Movie Camera” then. The Smoke Screen dipped into one of the panel discussions – “Before and After […]
Director: G.W.Pabst Germany 1929| 129m| U RATING: ★★★★★ Find out more about the reissue at the BFI website. Here we have a sumptuously shot and deliriously melodramatic Weimar-era silent film from G.W. Pabst, that is a superb showcase for the luminous 22-year old star Louise Brooks, who plays a call girl and chanteuse called Lulu […]
Picturehouse Central 31 May-3 June. See Picturehouse Central Sundance website for details
At a special event held at BFI Southbank in London with comedian Gina Yashere and DJ Norman Jay MBE, the BFI today launched what is being billed as the UK’s biggest ever season of film and television dedicated to celebrating black talent: BLACK STAR. Appropriately, this launch coincides with the UK premiere of Amma Asante’s London […]
UK-USA 1995 Directed by Richard Loncraine 103 min Digital 15 Playing in the BFI’s Shakespeare on Film Season. RATING: ★★★★★ Back on the big screen in a new Park Circus digital restoration, and part of the BFI Shakespeare on Film Season, Richard III is looking mighty fine at age 21. A bombastic and zippily-paced adaption […]
This year marks 400 years since the Bard shuffled off this mortal coil, and there are a batch of film events around the capital to mark the date from April onwards, many being found at the BFI and Barbican and other cultural centres. THe entire project is part of Shakespeare Lives, organised by the British […]
See BFI Southbank website for full details. April 2016 Highlights: Big Screen Classics strand begins: Aprils sees the BFI launching a new regular strand in its programming. Big Screen Classics aims to keep landmark films screening on a regular basis alongside the themed seasons and special events. Among the offerings this month are Chinatown, The […]
London Calling short Breathe, from director James Doherty, is one of five films you can watch for free as part of #FiveFilms4Freedom, the British Council and BFI Flare’s celebration of LGBT cinema. The films are available to watch around the world from 16-27 March 2016. Check it out here on the BFI site. See […]