1945 - Sunday 3rd February 5pm

Another Member's Choice this week, 1945, a thriller which appears to be a mix between 'Once Upon a Time in the West' and a Hungarian holocaust movie - this time looking at the complicity of the locals rather than the Nazis themselves.

A train pulls into town and two men dressed in black get out,  with two large crates. In the summer heat, they begin their long, slow walk into town...If there was music in the background by Ennio Morricone, you might think this was a American western, but instead the music is by Tibor Szemzö and we are in Hungary in August '1945'. The two men are Orthodox Jews: Where are they heading? Have they come to exact their revenge on the town for its betrayal of Jewish residents during the Nazi occupation? Many in the town soon think so.

"The filmmakers appear to be aiming for something mythic or tragic as the Jewish men walk toward their mystery destination and as their presence results in dramatic events...the stellar movie succeeds as a portrait of cowardice and collective complicity in vile times" - Anita Katz, San Francisco Examiner.

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Anchor and Hope - Sunday 27th January 5PM

We're back in the UK for Anchor and Hope this Sunday (although the film is actually Spanish). Two women, Eva and Kat, are living an idyllic bohemian life on a canal boat in London. What happens when Eva decides she wants a baby and Kat disagrees? Maybe nothing, but when Kat’s best friend Roger turns up and agrees to be the father, and then moves in too, it is fair to expect some problems arise! This comedy drama follows the events set in the cramped space of the canal boat where the (now) threesome try to work out what they want while they plan for the fourth to arrive.

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Columbus - Sunday 20th January 5pm

We have another film voted for by the members this week - the intriguing Columbus. John Cho plays Jin, in Columbus against his will as his father has been taken ill.  Haley Lu Richardson is Casey, who has been unable to leave town as she feels she has to look after her mother, a recovering addict. These problems, and their differing reactions to them,  bring them together as they wander around town discussing life...and…architecture! "Architecture has never been more romantic than in 'Columbus', single-name director Kogonada's stunningly beautiful film" - Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic. Casey - a would be architect - keeps trying to show Jin the beauty of the buildings; Jin is hard to impress.

Kogonada, influenced by Japanese director Ozu Yasujiro, has previously worked on 'video essays' of other directors, and he uses all the knowledge he has built up to make this beautiful film, where the buildings become the third star. As A. A. Dowd says in the AV Club: "Come for the breath taking architectural scenery, stay for the likable pair staring up at it." John Cho is one of those actors who seems to demand your attention.

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The Wild Pear Tree - Sunday 13th January 4:30pm

We have another classic Nuri Bilge Ceylan film for you this week. It will be no surprise to his fans to know it is as long as usual (and therefore an earlier start of 4:30pm), nor that it is as beautiful as ever. If there is a surprise it is that the usual thought-provoking dialogue contains much humour this time around:

‘I never thought I’d laugh this much during a Nuri Bilge Ceylan film...Ceylan delivers what might be his funniest, most politically poignant work yet. It also happens to be achingly personal’ - Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice.  

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Remember the film starts at 4.30pm (it's 188 minutes long - back to usual time after this week).

The Guardians - Sunday 6th January 5:30pm

Happy New Year! We hope you have a fantastic 2019 and that the club films help you enjoy it all the more.

Our first film this season is The Guardians, from France (screening later than usual at 5:30pm).  A French film is nothing new for us, but this time it is one chosen by the members in our 20th Year vote. Directed by Xavier Beauvois, who brought us the magnificent ‘Of Gods and Men’ in 2010, The Guardians tells the story of the women left to run a farm in France when the men have been taken to fight in 1915. Hortense, finding there is too much work for her and her daughter Solange to cope with, takes on local girl Francine to help.