The folks at Hammer could hardly have known what they were starting when they decided to revive Dr Frankenstein and his monster a decade after Universal had sent the characters into movie oblivion (via the obligatory meet-up with Abbott and Costello). Our screening this Friday of the newly revived (no pun intended) The Curse of Frankenstein reminds us how it all began back in 1957. In stark contrast, on Thursday we present Aki Kaurismaki’s utterly charming cult classic Le Havre.
Looking Ahead
No.6 is excited to participate in BFI’s Too Much: Melodrama On Film season. If the word ‘melodrama’ just makes you think ‘weepies’, then think again. As the BFI website says, “Cinema is, by nature, melodramatic. Beautiful people perform impossible stories, hearts on sleeves as they dance through an artificial world.” Cinema’s across the country are showing many of the very best examples and we’re proud to be bringing the season to Portsmouth, kicking off with the timeless Sunset Boulevard on Thursday 27th November and many others to follow, including the master himself, Douglas Sirk. If you’re a melodrama fan already, don’t miss out, and if you’re not, come along and sample - you’ll be surprised.
Here’s the schedule for this week. The Eldon Cafe opens at 6pm for a prompt 7pm start to the screenings.
Le Harve
Thursday 6th November at 7pm (prompt)
The 2011 comedy-drama Le Havre stands as the finest work from the great Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. Marcel is a former bohemian author retired to a simpler life in the French coastal town when he finds a new purpose in helping Idrissa, an underaged and undocumented immigrant, hide from the police. Beautiful location shooting and a low key, deftly handled plot shows the influences of Carné, Melville and Bresson, and it’s unsurprising to find the film was an award winner at Cannes in 2009 and listed for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. With a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Le Havre is one of the subtle delights of modern cinema.
The Curse of Frankenstein
Friday 7th November at 7pm
The Curse of Frankenstein gives us the first classic Peter Cushing-Christopher Lee pairing that came to characterise all the best Hammer films. Of course, Lee as the monster is a far cry from his suave Dracula, but this 1957 classic kick started Gothic horror as a unique genre and is an unmissable landmark in British cinema. Fun facts: Melvin Hayes plays the young Frankenstein, while Bernard Breslaw, two inches taller than Lee, was the original choice for the monster! With blood and guts in vivid colour, what more recommendation do you need than the Tribune’s outraged opinion on release that the film is, “Depressing and degrading for anyone who loves the cinema!”. That’s what we want to hear.
Up Next Week:
No, that’s not another Trump reference - next week we have Sean Baker’s remarkable and hugely acclaimed slice of modern LA life, Tangerine, on Thursday 13th November. Then on Friday 14th, we offer a tribute to Richard Burton on the centenary of his birth with the British gangster classic Villain; a London-based counterpart to Get Carter and every bit as gripping.
Coming Soon:
Tickets are already selling for the first of this year’s splendiferous National Theatre Live presentations, Inter Alia on 4th December, so grab a bit of genuine theatre culture and book your tickets now. And don’t forget, just when you thought it was safe to go back to the cinema, on Thursday 20th November we have a 50th anniversary showing of the evergreen Jaws.
