Sponsored feature | Our film critic, Mark Walsh, looks at what’s coming to the big screen at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Originally titled simply Furiosa, this latest entry in George Miller’s continuing magnum opus has picked up a slightly clunky subtitle, proclaiming this to be part of the Mad Max Saga. Saga is the correct word, though, for the series of films following the adventures of antihero Max Rockatansky in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world. After Mel Gibson’s trilogy as Max, a 30-year gap ensued before Tom Hardy took on the role in Mad Max: Fury Road. Miller’s combination of outlandish characters, stunning action and frenetic pacing took the series to a new high, winning six Oscars and receiving nominations for best director for Miller as well as best picture.
The director and his co-writer Nick Lauthoris spent over a decade coming up with backstories for the characters, and have now turned one of those key characters into her own prequel. Anya Taylor-Joy replaces Charlize Theron as Furiosa, set fifteen years before the most recent sequel with Furiosa on a Homerian journey of her own, battling for her future while war rages for control of the Citadel. Taking on villain duties, and cast against type, is Chris Hemsworth, relishing the chance to ham it up in a way that makes even his portrayal of Thor look slightly subdued.
Other than that it should be more of the same, with Miller again serving up incredible action sequences set in stark but beautiful desert vistas. The whole saga has provided increasingly outlandish entertainment but Fury Road still stands as one of the best action movies of the last decade, and if Furiosa captures even a fraction of that energy and excitement, we should be in for an exhilarating ride.
Furiosa: A Max Max Saga opens on Friday, 24 May.
Lawrence of Arabia
I’m a great believer that cinema at its best is a transformative experience, and one of the greatest I’ve had at the Arts Picturehouse was watching a re-release of Lawrence Of Arabia a few years ago.
Despite a few artefacts that feel now historically uncomfortable – most notably Alec Guinness in blackface to play Arab chieftain Prince Faisal – the mixture of David Lean’s stunning widescreen framing, Maurice Jarre’s sweeping score and Peter O’Toole’s majestic, career-defining performance as Army officer and adventurer T E Lawrence are a truly intoxicating cinematic event, and I would rate it in my all-time favourite films after experiencing it on screen at the Arts.
The two-part film tracks Lawrence’s time during the First World War where he managed to unite diverse, conflicted Arab tribes in their fight against the Turks, with a stellar cast that also includes Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins and Omar Sharif. It won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, and remains one of the best representations of the art of cinema ever created.
The screening, the first in a Scope series which will bring widescreen classics back to where they belong, will be from a restored cut made in 1988 by the director and original editor Anne Coates, and will screen in its original format, with the opening overture, an intermission, entr’acte and exit music. There are also no ads or trailers, so don’t be late for this glorious opportunity to witness an all-time classic!
Lawrence Of Arabia is screening on Saturday, 18 May.
Blue Monday - Tommy
The Who’s fourth album was an attempt to get away from the constricting nature of the standard pop single, and Tommy, written mainly by guitarist Pete Townshend, became a double album that graced stages from the Isle Of Wight Festival to Woodstock and was turned into a ballet, an opera and a Broadway musical. In 1975 a film adaptation from Ken Russell brought Tommy’s story to the silver screen, and it’s the latest film to grace the series of late night screenings on Mondays at the Arts.
Young Tommy witnesses a murder and descends into a catatonic state, but it turns out that deaf, dumb and blind kid can sure play a mean pinball. Roger Daltrey is the sensorially-challenged lad with unique skills, and the cast includes Ann-Margaret and Oliver Reed as his mother and her boyfriend, and appearances from Elton John, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and The Who. Russell cranks everything up, like the score on one of Tommy’s pinball games, and Townshend also picked up an Academy Award nomination for his work in adapting the music for the screen. It’s a visual treat that might have you scouring Cambridge for a pinball table come Tuesday morning…
Tommy is screening on Monday, 20 May.
Comic Strip Presents Evening
The arrival of Channel 4 had a significant effect on the cultural landscape of Britain, from teatime quizzes to challenging documentaries. It also provided a platform for the country’s best comedians from the nascent alternative comedy scene, one of the most memorable contributions coming from the Comic Strip group who had performed on stage in London and toured Australia, with the first episode of The Comic Strip Presents… - in this case a parody of The Famous Five called Five Go Mad In Dorset – airing on the very first evening of Channel 4 in November 1982.
The series, which has aired on both Channel 4 and BBC at various points in its history, now numbers over forty episodes. The original series, which included communists invading Britain and the tale of heavy metal band Bad News which later saw the group play live, featured the likes of Adrian Edmonson and Rik Mayall, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, as well as Robbie Coltrane and Nigel Planer. They were joined in later years by other famous names including Keith Allen, Harry Enfield and Stephen Mangan.
An evening of celebration of the series’ history will include clips from the series’ best episodes, followed by a screening of the Bad News episode and the 2011 episode The Hunt For Tony Blair, where Stephen Mangan played the former Prime Minister in a spoof Fifties noir shot in black and white.
The evening at the Arts Picturehouse will be hosted by the BFI’s Justin Johnson (BFI) with Comic Strip founder Peter Richardson, along with Stephen Mangan and Nigel Planer.
The Comic Strip Presents evening is on Saturday, 8 June.
