This week’s new releases on BFI Player+ (1st October)
David Farnor | On 01, Oct 2016
Heard of BFI Player? Well, there’s also BFI Player+, a subscription service that offers an all-you-can-eat selection of hand-picked classics.
Every Friday, Mark Kermode highlights one of the collection’s titles with a video introduction. This week, it’s Dogtooth.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ scary, witty tale of a dysfunctional Greek family is hailed by Mark as both daring and brilliant – and, while its study of parent-child relationships is still relevant today, carries an “enduring influence at the heart of the Greek ‘weird wave'”.
What else is available to stream? Every week, we bring you a round-up of the latest titles on BFI Player+:
The Nude Vampire
Jean Rollin’s second vampire film, 1969’s The Nude Vampire is a typically surreal, sensual affair.
The Arbor
Despite already being featured as Kermode’s Film of the Week, the BFI lists The Arbor as a new arrival this week. Nonetheless, it’s a film worth mentioning more than once: Clio Barnard’s remarkable debut, which paved the way for the equally excellent The Selfish Giant, is an ambitious, experimental docudrama about playwright Andrea Dunbar.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
So good he made it twice, Hitchcock’s thriller follows an English couple who are roped into a espionage conspiracy, which climaxes in a fantastically tense opera-based set piece that has influenced countless films over the decades – including himself 20 years later. While the remake boasts James Stewart and Doris Day, it’s hard to get much better than the original’s Peter Lorre.
The Draughtsman’s Contract
Peter Greenaway’s 1982 erotic murder mystery put the indie director on the global map, not to mention soundtrack composer Michael Nyman. Art, sex, death and gardening. What’s not to like?
We Once Were Tide
Jason Bradbury’s 2011 short follows a tender romance on the Isle of Wight, as Anthony and Kyle spend their last night together.
What Can I Do with a Male Nude?
Ron Peck pushes the boundary between pornography and art in this 1985 short.
Young and Innocent
This 1937 Hitchcock flick is a trend-setting piece for the director, as he establishes his man-on-the-run motif with the story of a witness to a murder, who is accused of the crime, leading him to evade arrest to find the real culprit.
A BFI Player+ subscription costs £4.99 a month with a 30-day free trial. For more information, visit http://player.bfi.org.uk.