New releases and coming soon to MUBI UK (10th June 2017)
David Farnor | On 10, Jun 2017
MUBI’s retrospective of Ingmar Begman’s career heads straight to classic territory with the arrival of The Seventh Seal this week. For more modern gems, though, MUBI has a diverse week lined up, from Abel Ferrara’s King of New York to Moneyball.
What’s new, coming soon and leaving soon on the subscription streaming service? This is your weekly MUBI Digest:
This week on MUBI
The Warriors – 10th June
Walter Hill’s cult classic is a vivid re-invention of action cinema and one of the great New York movies. A loose interpretation of the Greek epic Anabasis proves that one movie can be an ecstatic combination of literary influences, brutal action, and aesthetic grace.
Moneyball – 11th June
Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill are on excellent form in this drama about unsuccessful baseball prodigy Billy Beane (Pitt), who becomes the manager of the Oakland A’s – and comes up with a radical way to build a better team using maths.
From What Is Before – 12th June
MUBI’s epic Lav Diaz retrospective just keeps on going, with this 2014 drama about a remote town in the Philippines under the Marcos dictatorship in the 1970s
The Boy from Geita – 13th June
Vic Sarin’s 2014 documentary charts the tale of Adam, a young Tanzanian boy persecuted because of his albinism, who finds a kindred spirit in Peter, a Canadian man with the same condition.
Les Gouffres – 14th June
MUBI favourite Mathieu Amalric stars in Antoine Barraud’s 2012 drama (translated title: The Sinkholes), about a professor’s wife, who becomes overwhelmed when she nears a void.
The Seventh Seal – 15th June
Disillusioned and exhausted after a decade of battling in the Crusades, a knight (Max von Sydow) encounters Death on a desolate beach and challenges him to a fateful game of chess. Much studied, imitated, even parodied, but never outdone, Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece is a stunning allegory of man’s search for meaning.
King of New York – 16th June
Christopher Walken is on fine form in Abel Ferrara’s 1990s New York film, as a ruthless drug lord, who is released from prison and wants to redeem his past by using his drug profits to build a hospital for underprivileged kids. He challenges his fellow criminals to participate, but when they refuse, he has to do things the hard way…
Other new releases on MUBI
Summer with Monika
MUBI kicks off a Ingmar Bergman retrospective season with 1953’s Summer with Monika. Inspired by the earthy eroticism of his muse Harriet Andersson, in the first of her many roles for him, the director had a major international breakthrough with this ravaging, sensual tale of young love.
The Reckless Moment
After discovering the dead body of Bea Harper’s lover, Bea’s mother, Lucia, hides the body under the assumption that it was her daughter who killed the man. MUBI continues its American Noir season with this 1949 thriller from German director Max Ophul.
Taxi Driver
Robert De Niro stars as Travis Bickle, an unstable Vietnam war veteran working as cabbie in New York, where the sleazy nightlife drives him to try and save a young prostitute (Jodie Foster). Scorsese’s iconic tracking shot highlights the violence of Bickle’s mind, but it’s Bernard Herrmann’s soundtrack that gives the film its power, as a mournful sax sings notes of false romance and redemption – and true alienation.
Wild Innocence
MUBI’s Philippe Garrell retrospective continues with Wild Innocence, which follows a director who wants to make an anti-drug film because his wife died of a heroin overdose. He’s planned the lead for a young actress with whom he’s in love. One day, a man becomes interested in the story and offers the director a vast sum of money—if he’ll smuggle heroin in a suitcase across the border.
A Bay of Blood
An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes in Mario Bava’s 1971 horror. What ensues is an all-out murder spree, as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field—complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out for fun in a dilapidated building on the estate.
North Sea Texas
Bavo Defurne’s 2011 Belgian drama follows Young Pim and his mother, Yvette, who live in the countryside with their dog, Mirza. The mother, a lonely divorcee, plays a piano accordion, and patronises a local bar called Texas. One day Pim and his mother attend a fair where they meet a traveling carny named Zoltan – and Pim is infatuated.
Oleg and the Rare Arts
MUBI’s latest Special Discovery is Oleg and the Rare Arts, Andrés Duque’s award-winning film that follows the extraordinary Russian pianist and composer Oleg Karavaychuk. The film also has a premiere on the same day in London in partnership with the Calvert 22 Foundation and The New Social.
Gilda
“Gilda, are you decent?” A woman’s face appears from the bottom of the screen, throwing her hair back. “Me? Sure. I’m decent.” It’s one of the most memorable entrances an actress could ask for, and boy, did Rita Hayward know how to use it. When Charles Vidor’s film noir was first released in 1946, the posters rushed to proclaim that there was no other woman like her. And they were right. A classic femme fatale, she smouldered like no one else in what is quite possibly the sexiest film ever made. Read our full review.
The Hitch-Hiker
Actress-turned-director Ida Lupino helms this indie thriller about two middle-aged travellers, who make the mistake of their lives when they pick up a mysterious and psychotic hitch-hiker who never closes his right eye — even when he sleeps. One of the era’s most shocking renegade thrillers, is this the first major noir directed by a woman?
Nightfall
Jacques Tourneur’s 1957 film noir follows Jim Vanning, who is hiding out in Los Angeles while waiting for the Wyoming snow to melt. The previous winter, Vanning and a friend were camping in the Tetons and encountered a pair of fleeing bank robbers who killed Vanning’s friend. They fled, leaving their loot behind and believing Vanning to be dead.
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki is a portrait of real life Finnish boxer Olli Maki, which won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes 2016. That should give you a hint that this isn’t your usual boxing movie – and not just because it’s in Finnish and black-and-white. Jarkko Lahti is fantastic as the fighter, his face channeling both optimism and failure, while director Juho Kuosman shoots in monochrome 16mm, giving everything the feel of a newsreel. Laugh-out-loud funny and shot through with the romance of defeat, this is truly knock-out stuff. Read our full review.
A monthly subscription to MUBI costs £5.99 a month, with a 30-day free trial.
Last chance to stream: Titles leaving MUBI soon
John From
Available until end of: 10th June
Rififi
Available until end of: 11th June
Hellboy
Available until end of: 12th June
Les Hautes Solitudes
Available until end of: 13th June
The Professionals
Available until end of: 14th June
Dear Diary
Available until end of: 15th June
Aliyah
Available until end of: 16th June
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki
Available until end of: 17th June
Tip Top
Available until end of: 18th June
The Taste of Money
Available until end of: 19th June
The Birth of Love
Available until end of: 20th June