David Farnor | On 29, 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 The Phantom of the Opera.

Lon Chaney stars in this first ever screen version of Gaston Leroux’s classic novel. Accompanied by Carl Davis’ 1996 score, performed by the Prague Philarmonic Orchestra, the 1925 horror is a landmark film in the Universal canon, as well as the genre itself.

What else is available to stream? Every week, we bring you a round-up of the latest titles on BFI Player+:

The Lay of the Land

A gay-bashing man walks into a bar – and starts a conversion with a drag queen in this dark 1998 short film.

Dream A40

A young gay couple is put to the test in this short film from 1965, which sees a road trip take a sinister turn.

Young Soul Rebels

Isaac Julien’s directorial debut is a love story-cum-thriller set in London days before the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977. A parade of council estates, city parks and pirate DJs follows, accompanied by a playlist of Funkadelic, Sylvester and the O’Jays.

Straight to Hell

Dennis Hopper, Joe Strummer, Grace Jones and Courtney Love all team up for 1980s spaghetti western from director Alex Cox. Expect anarchy and violence aplenty.

Playing Away

A comedy about cricket? Horace Ove’s 1980s effort may sound like a mishit, but underneath the comedy of manners lies a study of white and black stereotypes.

The Nine Muses

John Akomfrah’s 2010 experimental documentary essay is a meditation on memory, migration and exile, as he explores migration to Britain in the wake of World War II.

The Stuart Hall Project

John Akomfrah’s 2013 film is a portrait of the life and times of the founder of cultural studies and the New Left Experience. Comprised of archive footage, set to the music of Miles Davis.

 

A BFI Player+ subscription costs £4.99 a month with a 30-day free trial. For more information, visit http://player.bfi.org.uk.
 

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