FILM OF THE WEEK
The most remarkable World Cinema film showing this week is White God, directed by Kornél Mundruczó. Released in 2014, it follows 13-year-old Lili as she struggles to protect her dog Hagen. As a mixed-breed animal, Hagen is subject to a special tax imposed by the Hungarian government, so Lili’s father dumps him. Lili sets out to find the dog and save him. Meanwhile, the city’s dog shelters are filled to over-capacity and a terrible pressure builds up. A powerful racial and political allegory as well as a riveting animal story, White God is a brutal but brilliantly directed film that includes scenes of (simulated) animal cruelty that may upset some viewers. It is showing on Film 4 on Sunday morning (17/5) at 00.50.
Meanwhile, Film 4 also has The Warrior (2001), the breakthrough film for the late Irrfan Khan, on Monday (18/5) at 23.15. Channel 4 is showing François Ozon’s creepy twins mystery L’amant double (2017) on Monday morning (18/5) at 01.55. Thomas Vinterberg’s The Commune, about life in a Danish collective house in the 1970s, is on Sunday morning (17/5) at 00.00 on BBC2. Then there’s Hun Jang’s feature A Taxi Driver (2017) about a widowed driver who takes a German reporter from Seoul to Gwangju to cover the uprising there that happened in 1980. That’s on Film 4 on Tuesday morning (19/5) at 01.00.
Notable English-language films include Wes Anderson’s visual feast The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) on Film 4 on Tuesday (19/5) at 21.00 and Spotlight (2015), the true story of journalistic investigation into clerical child-abuse in Boston, on BBC2 on Friday (22/5) at 23.20.
Other film-related items include a repeat of a 2012 documentary, John Le Mesurier: It’s All Been Rather Lovely, on BBC2 on Saturday (16/5) at 18.45 and the final part of David Stratton’s excellent Stories of Australian Cinema on BBC4 on Sunday (17/5) at 21.00.
Some other films of interest in the week ahead:
| Day/Date | Time | Channel | Title | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 16/5 | 01.45 | Talking Pictures | Outcast of the Islands | Carol Reed imperialism drama |
| 09.00 | Sony Movies | Moneyball | Brad Pitt baseball movie | |
| 11.30 | BBC2 | Frankenweenie | Tim Burton animation | |
| 15.35 | BBC2 | South Pacific | Rodgers & Hammerstein musical | |
| 16.30 | Channel 5 | The Addams Family Movie | Comedy horror | |
| 16.55 | Sony Movies | Dances With Wolves | Kevin Costner tames wild canines | |
| 21.00 (also Wednesday 21.00) | Paramount | Hacksaw Ridge | Mel Gibson WWII film | |
| 22.30 | BBC4 | Made in Dagenham | Ford strike comedy | |
| Sunday 17/5 | 00.00 | BBC2 | The Commune | Danish collective-house struggles |
| 00.50 | Film4 | White God | Dogs run amok | |
| 18.50 | Talking Pictures | Hobson's choice | David Lean comedy/drama | |
| 23.05 | Film4 | Rush | Formula One rivalry | |
| Monday 18/5 | 00.35 | 5 Select | On Golden Pond | Hepburn/Fonda weepie |
| 01.25 | Film4 | Good Kill | A drone pilot with a conscience | |
| 01.55 | Channel 4 | L'amant double | Psychological drama | |
| 15.05 | BBC2 | Wagon Master | John Ford Western | |
| 15.40 | Talking Pictures | Burma Victory | Roy Boulting documentary | |
| 21.00 (also Thursday 22.50) | Sony Movies | Pulp Fiction | Early Tarantino | |
| 22.00 | Talking Pictures | The Go-Between | Losey direction, Pinter script | |
| 23.15 | Film4 | The Warrior | Reformed enforcer becomes prey | |
| Tuesday 19/5 | 01.00 | Film4 | A Taxi Driver | South Korean drama |
| 12.00 | Talking Pictures | The Proud Valley | Paul Robeson in Wales | |
| 14.25 | Film4 | Tiger Bay | Hayley Mills thriller | |
| 21.00 | Film4 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Surreal Hungarian fun | |
| 22.00 | Paramount | No Country for Old Men | Coen Brothers thriller | |
| Wednesday 20/5 | 01.10 | Film4 | Mona Lisa | British movie with a twist |
| 11.00 | Film4 | The Professionals | Burt Lancaster Western | |
| 13.25 | Film4 | How Green Was My Valley | John Ford coal-mining classic | |
| 14.30 | Talking Pictures | Carve Her Name With Pride | True story of WWII female spy | |
| 15.00 | BBC2 | Vivacious Lady | James Stewart and Ginger Rogers | |
| 15.55 | Film4 | Gallipoli | Aussies in WWII | |
| 18.10 | Film4 | A Beautiful Mind | Frail maths genius John Nash | |
| 17.30 | Talking Pictures | Kipps | From the H.G. Wells novel | |
| 21.00 | Film4 | The Martian | Stranded Matt Damon | |
| 23.05 | Sony Movies | Donnie Brasco | Pacino mob movie | |
| Thursday 21/5 | 02.45 | Horror Channel | Witchfinder General | Vincent Price in the Civil War |
| 03.35 | Sony Movies | Julia & Julia | Two chefs bond | |
| 12.50 | Film4 | The Spy in Black | WW1 submarine drama | |
| 18.55 | Talking Pictures | Spring and Port Wine | James Mason family drama | |
| Friday 22/5 | 11.00 | Film4 | Sorry Wrong Number | Burt Lancaster noir |
| 15.05 | BBC2 | Carefree | Astaire & Rogers romcom | |
| 21.00 | Film5 | Heat (1995) | Pacino/De Niro heist movie | |
| 23.10 | Sony Movies | Premium Rush | Bike messenger thriller | |
| 23.20 | BBC2 | Spotlight | Child-abuse investigation |