New releases and coming soon to MUBI UK (4th March 2017)
David Farnor | On 04, Mar 2017
As March gets underway, MUBI celebrates International Women’s Day by dedicating a week to female directors. Here’s what’s new, coming soon and leaving soon to the subscription streaming service:
This week on MUBI
VIVA – 7th March
As The Love Witch arrives in UK cinemas, MUBI takes us back to Anna Biller’s 2007 film, which sees a suburban housewife in 1972, abandoned by her husband, go out to find herself in the middle of the swinging Playboy-era sexual revolution. Looking for love and adventure, she explores nudist colonies, orgies, prostitution, bisexuality, and bohemia.
Midnight Express – 4th March
Alan Parker’s prison break classic follows Billy Hayes, an American college student, who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey in 1970 and thrown into prison. Written by Oliver Stone, the show also features an appearance by the late, great John Hurt.
Tomboy – 5th March
Céline Sciamma’s 2011 drama follows Laure, who’s 10 years old and a tomboy. On her arrival in a new neighborhood, she lets Lisa and her crowd believe that she is a boy. Truth or dare?
The Trouble With Angels – 6th March
Ida Lupino’s 1966 comedy follows Mary and Rachel, two high-spirited young students at St. Francis Academy For Girls, who keep outsmarting the challenged Mother Superior and her staff of bewildered Sisters.
Tomorrow We Move – 8th March
When Charlotte (Sylvie Testud) takes her widowed mother (Aurore Clément) into her apartment, the ensuing clutter drives her to distraction. Chantal Akerman’s 2004 comedy won the Lumières Award for Best French-Language Film in 2005.
For Ellen – 9th March
A quiet, moving film, For Ellen follows Joby’s (Paul Dano) attempt to connect with his daughter, Ellen (Shaylena Mandigo), before he loses her completely. So Yong Kim keeps things moving at a slow pace, giving her enough time to draw out a intensely delicate performance from Dano.
Cleo From 5 to 7 – 10th March
Over the course of two hours, a beautiful singer best known by her stage name Cléo Victoire tries to occupy her time around the city of Paris while waiting for test results from her doctor. Agnès Varda’s 1962 film includes cameos from Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.
Tiny Furniture – 11th March
Girls creator Lena Dunham’s feature film debut is an authentic, incisive portrait of a young woman at a crossroads.
Other new releases on MUBI
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Ang Lee’s 2000 martial arts flick (about a thief stealing a treasured sword) is more tender character piece than breathtaking action, something that makes his introduction to the wuxia genre for western audiences all the more dazzling. An epic of whispered poetry, its wirework and nighttime sequences are unlike anything many had seen before, always using its stunts to further its characters, with each blow from veteran warriors Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) and Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) a gesture of unspoken emotion.
Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait
“1001 images of Syria, shot by 1001 Syrians,” says Mohammed, an exile in Paris following the traces of his country’s war found online. Later, Kurdish director Wiam Simav Bedirxan sends him footage from Homs. An immensely powerful and moving correspondence between exile and home, images and reality.
Play It Again, Sam
Woody Allen’s cute comedy, based on his own play, sees a hapless writer given romantic advice by a guardian angel in the form of Casablanca’s Humphrey Bogart.
Angele & Tony
Winning the Venice Silver Lion for Best Short Film put Delaporte’s name on the international radar. Her feature debut, Angèle & Toni, is a peculiar, soulful and ultimately life-affirming invitation to believe in second chances, set against the raw beauty of the Normandy coast.
As Good As It Gets
Jack Nicholson is on cantankerous form in James L Brooks’ 1997 rom-com. The film follows misanthropic writer Melvin Udall, who, after his homosexual neighbour is brutally beaten, is entrusted with the care of their dog – and, on top of everything, finds himself falling for Carol (Helen Hunt), a single mother and waitress with whom he has a difficult relationship. Both stars took home acting awards at the Oscars.
Branded to Kill
MUBI pays tribute to the late Japanese director Seijun Suzuki with his 1967 classic. A hitman, with a fetish for sniffing boiling rice, fumbles his latest job, putting him into conflict with his treacherous wife, with a mysterious woman eager for death and with the phantom-like hit-man known only as Number One. The result is a cool slice of yakuza action, which influenced such directors as Tarantino and Jarmusch.
The Man Who Would Be King
John Huston’s adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s famous short story tells the story of Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan, two ex-soldiers in India when it was under British rule. They decide that the country is too small for them, so they head off to Kafiristan in order to become Kings in their own right.
Sense and Sensibility
Ang Lee’s take on Sense and Sensibility features a stellar script from Emma Thompson, who also joins an impressive cast that includes Kate Winslet, Tom Wilinson, Hugh Grant and – most importantly – Alan Rickman in a hat as Colonel Brandon.
Shampoo
Lovers undo a hairdresser from Beverly Hills around 1968 Election Eve in Hal Ashby’s 1975 comedy. The young and beautiful Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn, with the late Carrie Fisher appearing in her first screen role. The result is a hilarious sex farce, with Beatty on gorgeous form. “I don’t fuck anybody for money,” he says at one point. “I do it for the fun.”
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Last chance to stream: Titles leaving MUBI soon
Blockade
Available until end of: 4th March
The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears
Available until end of: 5th March
Deep Red
Available until end of: 6th March
Letter
Available until end of: 7th March
Thumbsucker
Available until end of: 8th March
An Investigation on the Night That Won’t Forget
Available until end of: 9th March
The Wounded Angel
Available until end of: 10th March
Le Parc
Available until end of: 11th March
Shampoo
Available until end of: 12th March
The King of Escape
Available until end of: 13th March