FILM OF THE WEEK
A Bigger Splash (Thursday 28 May, Film 4, 23.20) was the first English-language feature by Luca Guadagnino, later to find greater acclaim with Call Me by Your Name. Released in 2015, it is an intense, visually stunning film about a privileged foursome playing out their psychodramas around the pool of a Mediterranean villa.
Marianne (an almost mute Tilda Swanton) is a rock star seeking respite from her demanding career. Her boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a filmmaker. Then two disruptive influences arrive: Harry (Ralph Fiennes), an old flame, and Penelope (Dakota Johnson) his youthful daughter. Harry’s insufferable, near-manic bonhomie contrasts with Swanton’s near-silence, yet she is still drawn to him; Paul, meanwhile, is tempted by Penelope.
Filmed in the shimmering colour and light of one of Hockey’s swimming-pool paintings, A Bigger Splash is suffused with sex and intrigue, with a strong element of comedy along the way.
Other World Cinema films of interest in the coming week include an earlier film by Bong Joon Ho, director of the all-conquering Parasite. The ultra-violent Snowpiercer (2013) is an inventive piece of dystopian science fiction that is not for the squeamish. That’s on Sunday (24/5) on Film 4 at 21.00. Then there’s the 2017 documentary Makala, about a man struggling to support his family in the Democratic Republic of Congo by making and selling charcoal. That’s at 01.30 on Monday (25/5) on Film 4.
Some might fancy the absurdist comedy A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) on Thursday (28/5) at 01.50 on Film4. Jee-woon Kim’s The Age of Shadows (2016), a period drama about Korean resistance fighters struggling against the Japanese, is on Sunday morning (24/5) on BBC2 at 00.45.
Not strictly World Cinema, there is another chance to see Slumdog Millionaire (2008) while for those who prefer English-language films BBC2 has a week of classics: Citizen Kane (1941), Great Expectations (1946), She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Top Hat (1935) and King Kong (1933). Dates, times and channels for all the films are in the listings below.
| Day/Date | Time | Channel | Title | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 23/5 | 11.00 | Film 4 | Arthur's Hallowed Ground | Charming cricket comedy |
| 15.15 | BBC2 | Citizen Kane | Welles masterpiece | |
| 21.00 | Sony Movies | Pulp Fiction | Witty and violent Tarantino | |
| 22.35 | BBC4 | Educating Rita | Caine-Walters classic | |
| 23.15 | Channel 4 | Slumdog Millionaire | Dev Patel wants to be one | |
| Sunday 24/5 | 00.05 | Sony Movies | 21 Grams | Iñárritu crime drama |
| 00.45 | BBC2 | The Age of Shadows | Korean period war film | |
| 10.35 | BBC2 | Great Expectations | David Lean masterpiece | |
| 14.05 | Paramount | Attack! | Robert Aldrich WWII drama | |
| 15.35 | BBC2 | She Wore a Yellow Ribbon | John Ford Western classic | |
| 17.45 | ITV1 | Jurassic Park | Dinosaurs run amok | |
| 18.50 | Film 4 | The Madness of King George | From the Alan Bennett play | |
| 19.10 | E4 | Paddington | Bear necessity | |
| 21.00 | Film 4 | Snowpiercer | Class war on an unstoppable train | |
| 23.05 (also Wednesday 23.15) | 5 Star | Scream | Wes Craven comedy slasher | |
| 23.25 | Channel 4 | East is East | Culture-clash humour | |
| Monday 25/5 | 01.15 | Sony Movies | Donnie Brasco | Pacino, Depp, crime |
| 01.25 | Film 4 | Makala | Award-winning doco | |
| 09.10 (also Friday 03.00) | Sony Movies | Moneyball | Brad Pitt baseball drama | |
| 14.50 | BBC2 | Top Hat | Classic Astaire & Rogers | |
| 15.45 (also Wednesday 20.00) | ITV4 | Apollo 13 | True-life space thriller | |
| 18.45 | Film 4 | Super 8 | Nostalgic sci-fi treat | |
| 19.00 | BBC1 | Paddington 2 | Hugh Grant dances! | |
| 22.00 | Talking Pictures | The Naked Civil Servant | Quentin Crisp biopic | |
| Tuesday 26/5 | 01.10 | Sony Movies | Premium Rush | Bike messenger thriller |
| 11.00 | Film 4 | Tiger Bay | Hayley Mills's film debut | |
| 15.05 | BBC2 | The Magnificent Ambersons | Another Welles masterpiece | |
| 21.00 | Film 4 | Arrival | Intelligent sci-fi | |
| 21.00 | ITV4 | Jaws | Shark alert! | |
| 23.20 | Film 4 | Prisoners | Haunting kidnap thriller | |
| Wednesday 27/5 | 11.00 | Film 4 | Stalag 17 | Billy Wilder PoW drama |
| 16.05 | Film 4 | A Night to Remember | Titanic disaster classic | |
| 21.00 | Film 4 | American Made | True drug-trafficking drama | |
| Thursday 28/5 | 01.50 | Film 4 | A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence | Absurdist Swedish comedy |
| 13.10 | Film 4 | Ride Lonesome | Randolph Scott Western | |
| 16.50 | Film 4 | The Man from Laramie | James Stewart Western | |
| 21.00 | Film 4 | Beast (2017) | Atmospheric Brit noir | |
| 23.10 | Film 4 | A Bigger Splash | Ralph Fiennes dances! | |
| Friday 29/5 | 12.40 | Film 4 | The Way to the Stars | WWII RAF drama |
| 14.50 | BBC2 | King Kong | Go ape | |
| 23.15 | BBC1 | Young Adult | US small-town satire | |
| 23.20 | BBC2 | Trumbo | Screenwriter biopic |