The Weekly MUBI Digest | 10th February 2018
David Farnor | On 10, Feb 2018
MUBI moves into awards season this week, beginning a run of prize winners that ranges from Duncan Jones’ Moon to MUBI’s own On Body and Soul, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year at this year’s Oscars. Recent festival favourite Untitled, the unfinished final film from the late Michael Glawogger, joins them, along with a selection from this year’s My French Film Festival, as the month-long collection of new and old French cinema continues.
What’s new, coming soon and leaving soon on the subscription service? This is your weekly MUBI Digest:
This week on MUBI
An Education – 10th February
Carey Mulligan stole a nation’s heart with her superb performance in this coming-of-age drama. which sees young Oxbridge candidate Jenny whisked away into a world of glamorous possibilities by the Peter Sarsgaard’s older man, David. Watch out for a scene-stealing turn by Rosamund Pike. Read our review
The Lost Weekend – 11th February
The most daring portrayal of alcoholism of its time, this 4 time Academy Award winner (including Best Picture!) has aged gracefully by way of its sharp wisdom provided by one of the greatest directors of Hollywood’s golden age, Billy Wilder. An unflinching examination of the throes of addiction.
The Constant Factor – 15th February
MUBI’s Krzysztof Zanussi retrospective moves into the 1980s with one of his most acclaimed films and the winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Through its hero’s eyes—and the travails of a righteous and honest man—we see, at the end of the 1970s, what’s become of the Communist dream.
Other new releases on MUBI
Special Discovery: Untitled
“The most beautiful film I could imagine is one which would never come to rest,” said Michael Glawogger of this epic, free-floating documentary project — but malaria struck him down during shooting. Monica Willi, his and Haneke’s editor, crafted the final, global vision, made of extraordinary footage. Read our review
Birdy
Two friends arrive back from Vietnam, scarred in different ways. One has physical injuries, the other has mental problems that make him yearn to be a bird, a subject he has always been fascinated with. Nic Cage and Matthew Modine star in Alan Parker’s nuanced 1984 drama.
Sullivan’s Banks
This film shows the last eight buildings Louis H. Sullivan designed and furnished at the end of his career. From one building to the next, both inside and out, he varied and perfected his modular ornamental design in brick, steel, terracotta, glass, ceramics, mosaic, marble, and many more materials.
Maillard’s Bridges
This film explores 14 works that the Swiss artist, civil engineer and legendary bridge builder Robert Maillart designed between 1910 and 1935. Maillart revolutionized with his functional reduction of material the work of bridge building and created his own world of forms.
Six Shooter
With Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri receiving no fewer than seven Oscar nominations, go back to Martin McDonagh’s debut, a deliciously dark short film. Brendan Gleeson delivers a hulkingly sad performance as a man who goes to see the body of his recently deceased wife, then takes the train back home. Sincerity, profound tragedy and a wicked sense of humour? This is McDonagh distilled into a concentrated shot of brilliance.
Dazed and Confused
Among the best teen films ever made, Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused eavesdrops on a group of seniors-to-be and incoming freshmen. A launching pad for a number of future stars, Linklater’s first studio effort also features endlessly quotable dialogue and a rocking rock and roll soundtrack. Read our review
Camouflage
In the cinema of Krzysztof Zanussi, livingly embodied & taut with the internal debates of a transforming society, the clash of Polish generations reaches its pinnacle in this richly erudite drama of debate. His usual university-educated protagonists are under his microscope — a microcosm of a nation.
Sampha: Process
Set for release on March 17, the accompanying film of the new Sampha’s album PROCESS is directed by Lemonade’s Kahlil Joseph. (Pictured above.)
Illumination
Krzysztof Zanussi’s groundbreaking film chronicles a decade in the life of a young physics student whose absolute faith in the primacy of rationality and science is shaken by tragedy and affairs of the heart.
Dead Slow Ahead
The hypnotic rhythm of a freighter’s pace reveals the continuous movement of the machinery devouring its workers. Perhaps it is a boat adrift, or maybe just the last example of an endangered species with engines still running, unstoppable.
A MUBI Release: Lover for a Day
MUBI exclusively premieres Philippe Garrel’s new film. After a bad breakup, the only place 23-year-old Jeanne has to stay in Paris is the flat of her father. But when Jeanne arrives, she finds that his new girlfriend has moved in too: Arianne, a young woman her own age. Each is looking for their own kind of love in a city filled with possibilities. Read our full review.
Not One Less
Set in the People’s Republic of China during the 1990s, the film centers on a 13-year-old substitute teacher, Wei Minzhi, in the Chinese countryside. Called in to substitute for a village teacher for one month, Wei is told not to lose any students…
The Road Home
Zhang Yimou offers a romanticism both complicated and affectionate in this study of the role of love in rural working class life. An essential transitional work despite compromise by state censors.
Family Life
This intense chamber drama centers on an ambitious young industrial designer who is summoned home to help his father and sister. Both the aristocratic family he fled in shame and scorn, and their dilapidated country estate, bathed in an oppressively nostalgic light, prove ultimately inescapable.
A Decent Woman
A housemaid working in an exclusive gated community on the outskirts of Buenos Aires embarks on a journey of sexual and mental liberation in a nudist swinger-club boarding the high security walls.
MyFrenchFilmFestival: In Bed With Victoria
While the American tradition of the romantic comedy has waned in recent years, Justine Triet’s portrait of a woman at a crossroads in the courtroom and bedroom proves the beloved genre is alive and well in France. A feminist revision of the rom-com—proving the familiar can still be unpredictable. Read our full review.
MyFrenchFilmFestival: Before Summer Ends
Halfway between fiction and documentary, this is an astute, warm portrait of masculinity by Goormaghtigh—also the film’s cinematographer—shedding a new light on the Iranian male and the buddy movie tropes. Read our full review.
MyFrenchFilmFestival: Struggle for Life
Mark Chestnut, intern at the Ministry of the Standard, is sent to Guyana to the compliance with EU standards of construction GUYANEIGE: Amazon first indoor ski slope intended to boost tourism in Guyana. Also, he’s gonna have to work with a teammate. Bad luck she’s a pin-up. Worse, she has character.
MyFrenchFilmFestival: Man Bites Dog
Belgian cinema has always been overshadowed by their French neighbours’ remarkable film tradition, but Man Bites Dog is one of the most surprising films of the 90s. Highly controversial at the time of release, its shocking take on violence and unwavering dark humour have earned it cult status.
MyFrenchFilmFestival: Willy 1er
In collaboration with My French Film Festival, throwing a spotlight on new French cinema, MUBI presents this inspired Gallic version of an indie movie. It’s a simple but eloquent character study, starring non-professional playing (almost) himself, and strikes a sweet, deadpan, oft-melancholic tone.
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Last chance to stream: Titles leaving MUBI soon
Self-Criticism of a Bourgeois Dog
Available until end of: 10th February
Drive, He Said
Available until end of: 11th February
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Available until end of: 12th February
The Crimson Kimono
Available until end of: 13th February
Dyketactics
Available until end of: 14th February
Superdyke Meets Madame X
Available until end of: 15th February
The Structure of Crystal
Available until end of: 16th February
Struggle for Life
Available until end of: 17th February
Blue Collar
Available until end of: 18th February
Cat People
Available until end of: 19th February