The Keeper of Lost Causes - Sunday 2nd November 5pm

Over the last few years there has been a new item on the far end of the cinematic colour chart – Scandi Noir and The Keeper of Lost Causes ensures that the noir remains undiluted.

Drawing on the formidable Danish repertory company that has delivered hugely successful films on both small and big screens, The Keeper boasts Direction from Mikkel Norgaard (Borgen) plus numerous faces that will be familiar from 'The Killing'. 'A Royal Affair', 'The Hunt', 'The Idiots' and 'Accused'.

The Keeper of Lost Causes is based on the novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen, which is a new take on the now familiar theme of the cold case. A new Team, Department Q, is set up to look into unsolved crimes and their first case involves the disappearance of a young and charismatic politician.

The novel is a page turner in the best style of Mankell or Nesbo and the movie manages to capture the tension that builds as the narrative unfolds.

The Australian liked it "There's a Hitchcockian element to the film's suspense. It's a formula for an unnerving thriller that, for the most part, has succeeded thanks to supple direction and eerie, muted photography by Eric Kress." As did the Express:

"The Keeper of Lost Causes is familiar stuff and could almost be the pilot for a new television series but it remains an intriguing, cleverly plotted nightmare thriller that builds to a nailbiter of a climax."

KFC At Rheged, Sunday 9th November - Beyond The Edge

We head to Rheged on 9th November, for Beyond the Edge, which promises to be a stunning visual treat - the Conquest of Everest in 3D! As usual there will be the opportunity to dine after the film, with a limited choice menu at £10 per head for two courses.:

The menu is-

Main
Italian style chicken and fennel ragu served with garlic and rosemary potatoes and an root vegetable slaw
or
Melenzanna, aubergine, basil and mozzarella bake served with the above

Dessert
Home made tiramisu served with biscotti
or
Lakeland Sticky toffee pudding served with vanilla ice-cream and a salts caramel sauce

There are two ways to book:

1. Email us with your choice of the meat or vegetarian option and then pay on the night.

2. you can ring Rheged on 01768 868 000 and pre-book your tickets at the same time. Let them know if you are a club member (£3.50) or a non-member (£4.50) or a season ticket holder (£0.00) and if you want the meal or not (see below). You will need a credit or debit card for this. On the night, your tickets will be ready for you in a separate queue - bring your club card with you.

Under The Skin - Sunday 26th October 5pm

This week we come to the first of our two 'films that nearly got away'; Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin was released earlier in the year but missed our Spring season. We didn't feel we should miss it altogether. A film that has had the critics struggling to even define its genre, this is not going to be a straightforward watch. Basically, Scarlett Johansson wanders the streets of Glasgow, picking up men, but why she is doing this, and what happens to the men is much stranger...

Expect a beautiful film ("Amid its scorching, fractured images, one certainty is brought into crisp focus. This is, very simply and straightforwardly, a masterpiece" –Robbie Collin, Telegraph). Expect the unexpected ("An intoxicating marvel, strange and sublime" – Dave Calhoun, Time Out) and even some horror ("The result is visually stunning and deeply disturbing: very freaky, very scary and very erotic" – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian). I also expect some debate afterwards! ''Under the Skin gets under the skin. It is an experience that has as much to do with hypnosis as with cinema" – Ryan Gilbey, New Statesman or "Johansson is phenomenal in every sense of the word. She joins Glazer in creating a brave experiment in cinema that richly rewards the demands it makes. The result is an amazement, a film of beauty and shocking gravity" – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone)

Ilo Ilo - Sunday 19th October 5pm

In KFC’s world tour of cinema, Sunday's film will be the first ever stopover in Singapore. And indeed a stopover is possibly the only context in which many of us will have encountered the place. Ilo Ilo promises to be an intriguing glimpse into the city-state and has gathered universal praise from critics from around the world.

"Perhaps surprisingly given its status as an economic powerhouse, Singapore has never really registered on the world cinema scene. Only a handful of movies produced by the city-state have ever made it on to the major festival circuit, let alone to arthouse screens. But if Anthony Chen's Ilo Ilo is anything to go by, we could be seeing the start of a cinematic movement to rival the ones recently seen emerging in Taiwan and South Korea.

The winner of the coveted Cameěra d'Or — awarded to first-time feature directors — at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Ilo Ilo is a semi-autobiographical story set at the height of the Asian financial crisis of 1997." (Little White Lies)

And from Flick Philosopher:
"The lovely, intimate Ilo Ilo — Singapore’s official submission to the 2014 Oscars in the Foreign Language category — is part intriguing peek into middle-class life in that city-state, something most viewers will be unfamiliar with either firsthand or onscreen, and part illustration of the frustrations and indignities of foreign domestic workers that appear to be universal wherever women leave their own homes to go work in someone else's."

New Directors Day: 2 Films & Guests - Sunday 12th October 5pm

We come to one of our favourite weeks of the season; our attempt to support new British directors and give you the chance to meet people behind the films. This Sunday we start at 2.00pm with the documentary Next Goal Wins, which follows the attempts of ‘the world’s worst football team’ to improve before the last world cup. Not standard Keswick fare, true, but before you decide it is not for you either, take a look at these reviews:-

‘A triumph-of-the-underdog documentary so amusing and inspirational you'll have to Google events to ensure it's not a mockumentary’  (Jamie Graham, Total Film)

 ‘I could not possibly care less about football, and I fell hopelessly in love with this movie, and with the can-do amateur team it introduces us to’ (MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher)

 ‘Even if you have no interest in football, you will be swept along by the emotional pull of this story, willing the team on to experience the joy of scoring their first goal never mind winning a match’ (Allan Hunter, Daily Express).

Overall, it scored a very rare 100% for all critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which made us think it had to be worth seeing! Unfortunately for us, on the back of this film, the directors have now got another movie to make so cannot attend our showing, but they are recording an ‘interview’ for us from their location in Iceland (!), which we will show after the film.

We’ll then have a free glass of wine to take us to 5.00pm, when we will show Here and Now. This returns to more traditional Keswick fare -  town girl meets country boy and they both discover there is more to the world than they thought. The director, Lisle Turner and one of the stars will be here to discuss the film afterwards.

We have had some very different films in this spot in the past and we hope these two add to our understanding of what drives new people to make a film. PLUS you get all this for the price of one film! See you there!