MUBI Selects - Friday 3rd April 2015

It's time to relax as the Easter weekend  has arrived 2(or 3) days of relaxation, it's time for bliss and  chill out after the hard slog of the week.It's time to refuel your brain with sophistication and MUBI Selects.

In our latest weekly 'Mubi Selects' we've teamed with MUBI the purveyors of great cinema online curating a great selection of cult, classic, independent, and award-winning movies. It's an international community discovering wonderful intelligent thought provoking films MUBI is your passport to those great films.

MUBI unleash great new films every week and in our MUBI Selects we've picked  a selection of those great movies  help you enjoy that lazy weekend you desire...

Code 46 (2003) | Michael Winterbottom

Winterbottom has been an unpredictable filmmaker since day one, you don't know what version will turn up and that's what makes him an exciting director. Code 46 maybe been called an 'Futuristic Brief Ecounter', the dystopian totalitarian society that hits the bone. The love story is simple a story one that is doomed thanks genetic incompatibility.A cold story backed by a mesmerizing performance by Samantha Morton.


Reprise (2006) | Joachim Trier

The directorial feature debut for Joachim Trier (nephew of  Lars Von Trier) a film that gained critical acclaim around the festival circuit. Joachim has developed a style which is satirical drenched in realism , truly poetic blessed with  beautifully framed cinematography. Reprise is call to arms for all ambitious writers struggling in a fun character study of the writers and the pitfuls they face.


F For Fake (1973) | Orson Welles

"Are you watching carefully?" Orson Welles who he was and what he did needs no explanation he was a legend in hos own right, a film auteur on every level. F For Fake showcases Welles as the perfect master of ceremonies. Welles is a magician and the journey he takes us on is like the magic's slight of hand , part documentary, part essay, a playful journey that exposes the fakers. Let the legend that's Orson Welles frauds, fakes, and hoaxes.


Let Me In (2010) | Matt Reeves

Last Week we selected Let The Right One In and like many great European/Non English films they get the now expected Hollywood remake.Skeptics jump on every inevitable remakes however Reeves created a version that's comfortably adapted into American way of life , the South West to be precise.Let Me In is an story of a bullied young boy  who befriends a young girl who becomes his neighbour and just happens to be a vampire


Why not give up on those expensive chain coffoees once a wee, toenjoy the weekend and every day great films at MUBI? click below to get more info on the other fantastic films on offer...

The Best Father-Daughter Relationships in Film (The Look Of Love)

The Look of Love documents the life of Soho’s king, Paul Raymond – the one time richest man in Britain, self made millionaire, property owner, publisher, nightclub order, husband, lover and father. Raymond’s reputation as a ladies’ man may precede him, but despite his flaws it is undeniable that relationship with his daughter Debbie was the most important aspect of his multifaceted life. She was not only his heir and undoubtedly the apple of his eye, and his motivation. The Look of Love stars Steve Coogan, Anna Friel and Imogen Poots and to mark it’s release, here’s a countdown of the best father-daughter relationships on the big screen.

Matt King in The Descendants (2012)

George Clooney plays a father whose wife is left in a coma after an accident. Although he had never been hands-on dad, he is left to take care of his two young daughters, the eldest of which is a rebellious teenager. When shocking secrets about his wife’s life come to light, the family are forced to pull together, re-examining the past and embracing their new future together whilst Matt has to make the difficult decision regarding his family’s ancestral land.

Doctor Poulain in Amelie (2001)

Amelie was never close to her father. A stern army doctor, the only time she was ever close to him was during her annual check up – something so exciting that it caused her heart to pound and led her perents to believe that she has a defect! A recluse since the death of Amelie’s mother, he spent his autumn years collecting garden ornaments and making shrines to his wife, until, in a bid to bring some colour into his life, Amelie secretly gives her father’s favourite gnome to her air hostess, who takes him on her travels, sending back pictures of the cheery fellow in various exotic locations, to his bemusement.

George Banks in Father of The Bride (1991)

Steve Martin plays a father struggling with the idea of giving his daughter away, wracked with the idea that her future husband is now taking the place of the most important man in her life. However, in the end he realises that she is always going to need him, and that he will always be there for her no matter what.

Daddy Warbucks in Annie (1982)

Oliver ‘Daddy’ Wharbucks was a self-proclaimed bachelor – he never wanted children or anyone to share his millions with. That was until Annie, the feisty red-headed orphan came into her life. Initially she was nothing more than a photo opportunity for Wharbucks, staying in his mansion for a week in a bid to boost his image. However, he is soon won over by her charm and intelligence, rescuing her from the orphanage and adopting her as his own.

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

The southern lawyer is a single father who brings his daughters up with compassion and kindness, teaching his children to treat all people with equality and respect – valuable life lessons with gems such as: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Wink in Beasts of the Southern Wild (2013)

The young hushpuppy’s relationship with her hot-headed father is strained at times, but when melting ice-claps flood her ramshackle community ‘The Bathtub’ and unleash ancient creatures, Wink goes to extreme efforts to solidify his daughter’s independence despite his ailing health.

Mose in Paper Moon (1973)

When travelling con-man stumbles across a funeral, the striking resemblance between himself and the orphaned child of the dead woman means that he is reluctantly persuaded that the pair are somehow related, and he is charged with delivering the her back to her aunt’s in Missouri. The intelligent Addie soon realises that Mose is not the wandering preacher that he professes himself to be, and the pair become a fantastic team – making money in every dishonest way imaginable, meeting a variety of colourful characters along the way.

Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (2013)

Fantine, a worker in Valjean’s factory is unceremoniously cast into the street on the discovery that she has an illegitimate child, and subsequently forced into a life of prostitution in order to provide for her, which leads to her death. On discovering this, Valjean is wracked with guilt and vows to become little Cosette’s protector, rescuing her from her abusive step-parents and treating her like a daughter – she becomes the centre of his world.


The Look of Love comes is out now in UK cinemas Read our review

Sundance London 2013:The Look Of Love Review

Scorcese had DeNiro, Tim Burton has Johnny Depp and back in blighty Michal Winterbottom has Steve Coogan. The Look of Love is the pair’s fourth collaborative piece having stumbled upon a beneficial creative partnership on the set of 24 Hour Party People back in 2002. Coogan however will always be tied to a far greater partner, one that infects a number of his roles with or without his directorial mentor – Alan Partridge. We’ll have to wait until August to see his alter-ego’s first foray into the film world but the shadow of Norfolk’s number one DJ looms large over his incarnation of notorious Soho sex-industry king, Paul Raymond.

It’s a criticism often levelled at Coogan and one that can equally be taken as a compliment. So invested was he with his comic creation that he carries the traits, mannerisms and quirks into much of his own life, often spilling out onto screen. Fortunately here it is more appropriate than usual – Paul Raymond shared Partridge’s fondness for an innuendo, an inappropriate remark and a certain pronunciation.

We meet him towards the end of his life, facing questions from the assembled press outside an inquest for daughter Debbie’s fatal overdose in 1992. From there we travel back through Raymond’s ‘world of erotica’, taking in the humble beginnings of a lion taming/ strip show hybrid and knickers removed by dolphins, winding up at the acquisition of the Soho Revue Bar.

Endlessly pushing the boundaries of acceptability, his empire grew to encompass magazines – Men Only, Escort, Mayfair – venues, and no small number of Soho property establishing him as Britain’s wealthiest man. Peering through the glitter curtain, we bear witness to Raymond’s natural charisma - a born entertainer able to hold court with all comers, proving handy with the press and the fairer sex.

The camera invites us to glimpse the coming and goings of various partners, all approved by his understanding wife Jean (ably portrayed by Anna Friel) and his inevitable dalliance with class A’s – a habit he passes on to his much loved daughter, perfectly played by Imogen Poots, breathing life into her poor little rich girl role.

There are familiar faces everywhere, all sourced from the television comedy world; David Walliams as a seedy priest, his comedic partner Matt Lucas as a stage performer, the geeky one from The Inbetweners not exactly stretching himself as Debbie’s boyfriend and The Thick of It’s Chris Addison playing Raymond’s long-standing business partner.

The script itself comes from more British talent, Control scribe Matt Greenhalgh who overreaches in his ambition, stretching the 100 minute running time to take in 50 years of action, meaning years pass in montage form and details are lost in a blur of cocaine and orgies. A keener edit may’ve ironed out some of the slack and delivered a tighter, more focused finish to this tale of hedonism and dubious familial values.

As it is we are offered an interesting look at London through the ages, held up by a commanding performance by Coogan hinting at man at times plagued by, and indebted to his working class roots in equal measure. It’s a tale tailor made for the screen and with Winterbottom at the helm is one that should have soared. Sadly it didn’t, delivering a worthy but unspectacular biopic of a man and an industry who defined a neighbourhood.

★★★☆☆

Matthew Walsh

Rating: 15
UK Release Date: 26th April 2013 (festival date 25th April 2013)
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Stephen Fry, Tamsin Egerton

Michael Winterbottom Retrospective (The Look Of Love)

This indisputably underestimated Blackburn-born filmmaker has packed in a lot in a fifteen-year career. Looking at Michael Winterbottom’s folio, no genre goes uncharted: spanning everything from spoof documentary, eerie thriller to engaging realism.

In UK cinemas on 26th April, The Look of Love sees Winterbottom collaborating with Steve Coogan yet again, this time in a irreverent look at the life of Paul Raymond, controversial entrepreneur, nightclub owner and one-time richest man in Britain. The film co-stars Anna Friel, Tamsin Egerton and Imogen Poots, along with Stephen Fry and David Walliams.

To mark the release of the newest addition to his oeuvre, here’s a look at some of his best work…

Trishna (2011)

With Trishna, Winterbottom took Hardy’s Tess of d’Urbevilles and embedded it in modern India, using the narrative to document the tragic relationship between the son of a property developer and the daughter of a rickshaw owner. The story was shot in the Indian cities of Jaipur and Mumbai and stars the beautiful Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed as its leads.

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

Based on a 1952 novel by Jim Thompson, the film follows the pillor of a small community, Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford, beneath whose calm and rational exterior is a violent sociopath harbouring a dark past. Despite scenes of extreme violence shocking audiences, the film is a stylishly shot and a gripping, intelligent take on classic film noir, starring Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba.

The Trip (2012)

Winterbottom created an improvised six-episode comedy series filmed in the Lake District, in which a dissatisfied actor agrees to write a series of reviews for the Observer newspaper in order to impress his girlfriend, who unceremoniously dumps him at the start of the series. The episodes take place over a sequence of gourmet meals and stars Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan in a ferociously hilarious double act.

Genova (2008)

This little known gem is impeccably acted and full of subtle moments of beauty. The story is about a father (played by Colin Firth), who, following the death of his wife decides to start anew, moving to Italy to teach English at Geneva University, accompanied by his two adolescent daughters. Crammed together in a cosy but chaotic flat, the family of three learn lessons about love, life, death and family through the events which ensue, all set against the beautiful backdrop of the beautiful streets of Geneva.

A Mighty Hart (2007)

The brilliant, suspense filled docu-drama was based on the memoirs of Mariane Pearl and produced by Brad Pitt. It documents Marlene, played by Angelina Jolie, on the frantic search to locate her husband, missing journalist Daniel Pearle, who was kidnapped and murdered whist on an assignment in Pakistan. Jolie was critically acclaimed for her emotionally charged performance.

The Road To Guantanamo (2006)

This British docu-drama focuses on the Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslims who were captured in Afghanistan and held in Guantanamo Bay for two years until they were released without charge. The reception to the film was mixed due to the controversial subject matter and it’s portrayal of interrogation and torture techniques used the US Army. Nevertheless, Winterbottom won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival, and the film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature at the Sundance Film Festival.

A Cock and Bull Story (2005)

Winterbottom’s adaptation of Laurence Sterne’s 18th century novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy is a film-within-a-film. It features Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing themselves as egotistical actors during the making of a screen adaptation of the novel. The book is about a man unable to write a novel, and the film quite aptly mirrors this in the men’s inability to make a film.

9 Songs (2004)

9 Songs revisits sex and rock n’ roll – two of Winterbottom’s favourite themes. The film charts the extremely full on, sexual relationship between an American college student and a British glaciologist, which sees the two lovers attending rock concerts in-between their intense physical encounters.

24 Hour Party People (2002)

This classic mock-u-mentary documents the 90’s ‘Madchester’ music scene. The narrative follows the career of Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan), a news reporter for Granada and head of Factory records. The film dramatises a combination of real events, rumours and urban legends to hilarious result, and features a fantastic Brit rock soundtrack featuring The Sex Pistols, Happy Mondays and Joy Division.

Jude (1996)

Featuring pre-Titanic Kate Winslet alongside the also relatively unknown Christopher Ecclestone. The film is another adaptation of a much loved Hardy novel, Jude the Obscure which is the well known tale of a working class man who dreams of becoming an academic, scandalising his small west country village by leaving his wife for his beautiful cousin. Critically acclaimed as an amazingly powerful and dark film.



The Look of Love opens in UK cinemas Today, 26th April

Trishna - Riz Ahmed Interview

This Monday 9th July will see the release of Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna on DVD and Blu Ray which is a modern adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic Tess of the d’Ubervilles moving from bleak 19th Century Industrial England to modern day Rajahstan, India. To promote the film’s release on July 9th on DVD & Blu-Ray our good friends at Artificial Eye have sent a very interesting in depth interview with the British Actor. Yesterday was Frieda Pinto and you can read her interview here, fancy winning the film on DVD? We have 5 copies of the film to give away enter here!

Q: How did you get involved in the project? We know you’ve worked with Michael before, take us through the process and tell us why you wanted to be a part of it?
A: Michael randomly got in touch and invited me for lunch and a catch up and told me he had adapted ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ and that he wanted to set it in modern India, crossing classes and cultures. In his usual informal relaxed way, he offered me the role and I said yes of course!

Q: Who is Jay? What sort of background does he come from? What motivates him? Is his privilege and lack of ‘hunger’ his curse?
A: He’s the youngest son of a rich Indian businessman. He’s in his mid-20s and he hasn’t managed to step out of his father’s shadow and really make his own way or make a success of his life on his own terms. He suffers from the lost rich kid syndrome. He’s on this trip to India from Britain with his friends as a last kind of blow out before he stays on in India to run some of his father’s newly acquired hotels in Rajasthan. He’s frustrated because he has to slot into that role rather than have his own projects and that both haunts and drives him as a character and ultimately the project he finds and latches onto is Trishna herself. He seeks her out and tries to develop her, to satisfy his own needs and make something his own.

In some ways you could say his privilege is a curse in the sense that he’s got a lot to live up to. But in other ways, he does try to break away in his own direction when he goes to Bombay. He’s only able to do that and have that financial independence because of his wealth. It’s more that he fails in that and it’s more about the family and where he’s coming from being bigger than him. I feel a major theme in the film is about where you’re coming from. It explores that magnetic and gravitational pull and the momentum you can try and drum up of your own accord. Trishna’s background is something she can never really get away from. Similarly for Jay, his position of minor heir to the business means that he gets sucked back into it and responsibility comes knocking at his door. That’s the start of his decline and when he realizes he’s failed to strike out in his own direction, Trishna becomes this kind of toy and symbol of his failure every time he sees her.

Q: Does he really fall in love with Trishna?
A: Yes, but I guess we’ve been talking from the point of view of the macro themes and where he’s coming from means there’s a tragic outcome to the relationship. But, on a personal level, there is something there and he’s completely bewitched by Trishna. She represents the ideal of an innocent woman for him – the virgin maid and it is a kind of love. When they’re in Bombay they are in love, but the limitations in the relationship come from the gap between them being so vast.

There’s only so much they can talk about – their world views only overlap to a certain extent. At the point where they’re talking about the abortion that’s something that really frustrates Jay, because Trishna didn’t make her own mind up about that and she kept it from him. I guess honour trumps honestly and openness for Trishna. There is love between them but as with every relationship, what makes up that love is lots of different things. Maybe for Jay at the beginning, he almost over-idealizes her, he sees her as a way of re-connecting with his ethnic background and to reconnect with something pure and innocent and something that’s his own. The limitations of all those things in the relationship start emerging and he feels he’s failed in his own life.

Q: Did you read Tess of the D’Urbervilles before embarking on this film?
A: After Michael told me about the film, that was when I read the book but I hadn’t read it previous to that. At first I thought it was kind of daunting to try and combine two great characters from literature but what became clear was that it wasn’t going to be a literal adaptation of Hardy’s novel. Angel’s love for Tess is pure whilst Alec’s is a more selfish love. In the novel they’re never really on the scene at the same time so that meant we could take on the spirit or psychology of one character and then at different stages in the story, introduce the other. To begin with, Jay idealizes Trishna in the same way that Angel idealizes Tess. He sees her as a pure woman and views the experience as a return to a natural way and all that is good and pure. When Jay is at the hotel with his friends, he spots this girl from the village and this real obsessive but full-blooded love emerges and at this point we see Angel’s spirit of his affection for her, but what we start to get is a gradual decline into Alec. Having a novel to base the characters and ideas on gives you a rich armoury for you to draw on. If we’d have been too faithful to the novel, we’d have all gone mad!

Q: There are strong similarities between Hardy’s England and what’s happening in India right now. Can we explore that?
A: Yes, that’s a very interesting thing to draw on. India is changing at break- neck speed with modernization, industrialization and mass migration from the countryside into more urban centres and we explore how the old world and new world are rubbing up against each other. The idea of morality is very pertinent because it’s very important to point out that some western audiences may find themselves slightly confused as to why Trishna feels embarrassed about sleeping with Jay and why she feels she needs to run away and why she feels mortified at having had the abortion. This is all a big deal for her. The issue is about traditional morality and that’s what it’s like in large swathes of the world to this day, where sex before marriage and having children out of wedlock is still a huge deal and that shame can destroy a family in terms of their public standing. Maybe people need to realize that’s a reality when they’re watching the film.

Q: You filmed in India with a small crew, on real locations and there was a lot of improvisation. What were the challenges and what were the joys of that?
A: Working with Michael, there’s always a very small crew, it’s a very intimate and very informal experience. Michael never calls action or cut. It’s a very relaxed, gentle, natural process in term of the atmosphere created for the actors. For the production crew I guess it’s not so relaxed – it’s crazy that’s because there’s so much that’s being achieved and Michael has very high standards and he’s a real stickler for authenticity. The burden of that kind of pressure probably falls on the production but for the actors it’s a really unique experience. There’s no right or wrong – you just have to embrace the fact that you don’t know what the hell’s going happen because there isn’t really a script and you’ve got a very basic idea and you just jump into it and that’s the whole nature of improvising and the nature of working with Michael.

Q: What was it like taking on your first romantic lead?
A: I guess I’d never really thought about it being a romantic lead. It’s a romantic story but also a tragedy and a drama. From my point of view I try to make the characters I play as complicated for myself as possible so I don’t have to have a very clear grip on who they are day-to-day on set, so you get a fuller picture of them at the end of the film. That’s also part of how it is working with Michael – not having a rigid, fixed view of the characters. We had a lot of long conversations and you can build up this very intricate back story to the character – what books he might read, what music he’d like to listen to, how growing up was for him and you concoct this back story but in terms of how the character would be at the end of the journey you can’t really control that kind of thing. So, I guess that’s a very long way of saying I never really thought of it as a romantic lead!

Q: What was it like working with Freida?
A: A lot of fun – she’s a very cool girl. I think she’s an incredibly instinctive and natural actress. She’s very generous and there’s minimal fuss with her. Working with her is one of the easiest processes because she’s incredibly self-sufficient. She’s generous about giving you space and time to develop your character. For me it’s ideal to work with someone like that, particularly when you’re working with Michael and the process is one where things change and evolve and everything’s very flexible. Michael wants you to be natural and that creates a really nice atmosphere on set.

Q: Trishna is more complex than Jay gives her credit for. How does he view her?
A: Yeah, it’s not that he judges her but it’s almost like at certain points he feels that he has to give up. Because of the different cultures they’re coming from, he feels that her mind is unknowable. If he presses her on why she didn’t tell him about certain things or why certain things happened, she won’t speak her mind in an articulate way to allow him to understand her. There’s an extent to which Jay feels really frustrated with that – especially how passive she can be. I don’t think Jay thinks Trishna is simple-minded, he just feels she’s hard to get to grips with and it’s hard to know what’s really going on in her head. He gets more and more frustrated at how passive she is and how she won’t complain and won’t stand her ground. She won’t challenge him on why he left her in Bombay and she won’t say why she didn’t tell him about the abortion. On a personal level he’s frustrated with how passive she is so he tries to provoke her out of her passivity. He wants to know what she really thinks. On another level he’s just really frustrated at how things have turned out for him and he’s deeply wounded by that. He’s had this lifestyle of entitlement but he starts lashing out at her. Ultimately he does provoke her and it destroys both of them – he takes it too far and I don’t think that’s what he had in mind.

Win TRISHNA On DVD

"How Far Would You Go For Love?"

Based on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, TRISHNA is a beautifully shot, classic tale of love and tragedy set across modern day rural Rajasthan and the thriving metropolis of Mumbai. Starring Frieda Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Riz Ahmed (Four Lions, The Road to Guantanamo) and directed by acclaimed British director Michael Winterbottom (9 Songs, 24 Hour Party People) TRISHNA comes to DVD & Blu-ray 9 July. To celebrate the release courtesy of Artificial Eye Film with 5 copies of the film to be won on DVD opened to all The Peoples Movies and Cinehouse readers.

Trishna (Freida Pinto) meets a wealthy young British businessman, Jay Singh (Riz Ahmed), who has come to India to work in his father's hotel business. After an accident destroys her father's Jeep, Trishna goes to work for Jay, and they fall in love. But despite their feelings for each other, their relationship must remain a secret due to the conflicting pressures of a rural society which is changing rapidly through industrialisation, urbanisation and, above all, education.Their problems seem to be solved when Jay takes Trishna to an exciting new world of dance, vibrant life and possibilities - Mumbai. But Trishna harbours a dark secret that threatens the very heart of their love affair, and inequalities remain at the centre of their relationship that will lead her to question Jay's intentions towards her.

To be in with a chance of winning, answer the below question:

Q.Michael Winterbottom has adapted Thomas Hardy Novels Before Which of these did he adapt last?

a. The Claim
b. The Woodlanders
c. The Scarlett Tunic

 Send your answer , name, address, to have your email to win [at] thepeoplesmovies [dot] com header As ‘Trishna’. Deadline:July 22nd, 2012 (2359hrs) . Follow us at our Facebook Page if you haven’t done it already, double entry! If your entering via cinehouse please take note of the email to enter by.  
Terms and Conditions

• This prize is non-transferable.
• No cash alternatives apply.
• UK & Irish entries only The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse and Artificial Eye Films have the right to alter, delay or cancel this competition without any notice
• The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse,Artificial Eye Films employees
• This competition is promoted on behalf of Artificial Eye Films
• The Prize is to win Trishna on DVD, 5 winners
• To enter this competition you must send in your answer, name, address only, Deadline July 22nd, 2012 (2359hrs)
• Will only accept entries sent to the correct email (win [at] thepeoplesmovies [dot] com), any other entry via any other email will be void.
• The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes
• The competition is opened to Aged 16 and over
• Unless Stated Please Do Not Include Telephone Numbers, we don’t need them
• The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email
• By sending your entry for this competition you are confirming you have read and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.

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UK Trailer For Michael Winterbottom's TRISHNA

See the breathtaking trailer for Michael Winterbottom's Trishna