What’s coming soon to Arrow UK in April 2021?
David Farnor | On 31, Mar 2021
Arrow is a streaming service curated by members of the Arrow Video team, bringing together new horror, cult classics, cutting edge cinema, international favourites and more – from Lars von Trier to Park Chan-wook, plus TV shows such as The Bridge and Gomorrah.
April is only Arrow’s third month, but it’s already carving out a distinctive space in the streaming landscape with the exclusive premiere of Clapboard Jungle, a spotlight on Takeshi Kitano and Jia Zhangke, plus Season 3 of an Italian crime gem, a dose of film noir and work from Denis Villeneuve, David Cronenberg and Yorgos Lanthimos.
Here’s what’s coming soon to Arrow in April 2021:
Film Noir Classics – 1st April
Dark urban locales, sultry femme fatales, doomed protagonists and a brooding atmosphere of danger, cynicism and anxiety. These quintessential aspects of film noir are strikingly demonstrated by the four consummate examples of the genre presented in this collection. In The Dark Mirror (1946), directed by Robert Siodmak, a man is murdered and there’s an obvious suspect, but she has an identical twin sister (both played by Olivia de Havilland, Gone with the Wind), and one of them has a cast-iron alibi; In Secret Beyond the Door (1947), Fritz Lang (The Big Heat) adapts the Bluebeard legend with a dash of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca; In Abraham Polonsky’s Force of Evil (1948), an unscrupulous lawyer (John Garfield, The Postman Always Rings Twice) scents a personal fortune when he concocts a plan to merge New York City’s numbers rackets into a single powerful and unbreakable operation; and in Joseph H. Lewis’s ultra-stylish The Big Combo (1955), Lieutenant Diamond (Cornel Wilde, The Naked Prey) is determined to bring down mob boss Mr Brown (Richard Conte, Thieves’ Highway), even if it means jeopardising his own career.
Gomorrah: Season 3 – 1st April
Gomorrah shows the inside story of the Naples mafia from the point of view of Ciro, the obedient right-hand man of the clan’s godfather. Gritty and realistic, it’s based on Robert Saviano’s book, which previously inspired the 2008 film of the same name.
Enemy – 1st April
Denis Villeneuve blends art-house cinema and mainstream thrills in this beautifully strange drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
Switchblade Sisters – 1st April
Jack Hill’s 70s action flick detailing the lives of high school-aged female gang members blends subversive gender politics with exploitation cinema.
Alps – 1st April
Yorgos Lanthimos directs this odd drama in which a group of people start a company where they impersonate the dead to help customers through the grieving process.
Keeping It Real – 9th April
Digging into the stories behind everything from George A. Romero’s game-changing NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, the enduring popularity of VHS and an extreme shock-rocker. Sit back and get real as we take a peek behind the cracked and bloody lens to see what lurks beneath…
Jia Zhangke Collection – 9th April
Jia Zhangke has become widely regarded as one of world cinema’s most accomplished filmmakers, and a leading figure of the Sixth Generation movement of Chinese cinema. This collection includes 24 CITY (2008), that records the social impact of transforming a military hardware factory into a complex of luxury flats; Cannes prize-winner A TOUCH OF SIN (2013), focusing on four people living across China who are driven to acts of violence; and Jia’s eighth feature film, MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART (2015), an intimate and moving drama spanning several decades which charts the impact of China’s capitalist experiment on the lives of one family.
Takeshi Kitano Collection – 16th April
Six films from the enormously talented Japanese director Takeshi Kitano, including the downbeat and brutal crime thriller Hana Bi, directed, written by and starring Kitano; the bizarre, over the top and absurd comedy Getting Any? full of slapstick silliness and never ending gags; Dolls, featuring stories about a failed suicide, an ageing yazuka and a disfigured pop star; Kikujiro, about a young man’s search for his long-lost mother; A Scene at the Sea, a heart-rending masterpiece that has a sharp eye for human frailties and a love for the courage of the underdog; and Kids Return, another underdog story about the lives of two school friends, one who becomes a boxer, the other a gangster.
Clapboard Jungle – 19th April
A warts-and-all exploration of what it takes to get a film made and released, CLAPBOARD JUNGLE follows five years in the life and career of independent filmmaker Justin McConnell (Lifechanger). This fascinating documentary features interviews with a range of industry luminaries – including Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak), Tom Holland (Fright Night) and George A. Romero (The Crazies), alongside a host of others. The feature will be accompanied by a wealth of over 50 exclusive ARROW Stories including commentaries, and almost 30 extended interviews! A collection of 8 short films by filmmaker Justin McConnell will also be showcased throughout the month of April.
Battle Royale Collection – 26th April
Presenting an alternate dystopian vision of turn-of-the-millennium Japan, the shocking and highly influential BATTLE ROYALE follows the 42 junior high school students who are dispatched to a remote island, each given individual weapons and ordered to go out and kill one other – an extreme method of addressing concerns about juvenile delinquency. Overseeing the carnage is ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano (Sonatine, Hana-bi, Zatoichi). In the thrilling sequel, BATTLE ROYALE II, a new class of delinquents are recruited by the government to hunt down the survivor of the deadly games of the first film. Both films will be presented with alternative cuts and the collection will be joined by a host of ARROW Stories including behind the scenes featurettes, interviews and more.
Also coming to Arrow UK in April 2021
1st April
Skull World
Death Has Blue Eyes
Ashes of Time
The Dark Mirror
Secret Beyond the Door
Force of Evil
The Big Combo
9th April
24 City
A Touch of Sin
Mountains May Depart
12th April
Naked Lunch
Ashes of Time
Slaughterhouse
Ending the Eternal
Open Invitation
Eviction
Damned Selfie
Cat Lover
She Haunts Me
16th April
Mirror Mirror
Hana Bi
Getting Any?
Dolls
Kikujiro
A Scene At The Sea
Kids Return
Do You See What I See?
Soul Contact
26th April
Battle Royale (Director’s and Theatrical cuts)
Battle Royale II (Requiem and Revenge cuts)
An Arrow subscription costs £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year. It is available on Roku, Apple TV, Fore TV, iOS and Android devices, as well as through web browsers at arrow-player.com.