The Weekly MUBI Digest | 30th September
James R | On 30, Sep 2017
A new month might be upon us, but MUBI, thankfully, is continuing its September plans with an ongoing retrospective of Chilean director Pablo Larrain. The filmmaker was snapped up by Hollywood to make the Oscar-nominated biopic Jackie, but has been no stranger to questions of politics, history and identity. Over the coming weeks, MUBI delves into his Chilean films, from his debut, Fuga, to the superb No and the unique Neruda.
Pablo’s in good company, as MUBI also continues its Maurice Pialat retrospective – a love letter to a filmmaker who didn’t want to be loved – and is still streaming its transcendental new Western, Mimosas, after its cinema release. (You can read our interview with Mimosas director Oliver Laxe here – and catch up with his debut below too.)
What’s new, coming soon and leaving soon on the subscription service? This is your weekly MUBI Digest:
This week on MUBI
The Turning – 30th September
A selection of short stories by Tim Winton are interpreted by an expansive and talented team of 17 different Australian filmmakers. Populated by nuanced turns from the likes of Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, and Rose Byrne, this epic of emotion successfully taps into the essence of Winton’s writing.
Post Mortem – 2nd October
MUBB’s Pablo Larraín retrospective continues with his 2010 drama. Mario, 55, works in a morgue typing autopsy reports. In the midst of the 1973 military coup that left Pinochet in charge of Chile, he fantasises about his neighbour Nancy, a cabaret dancer, who mysteriously disappears. Mario begins a frantic search.
My Twentieth Century – 3rd October
Ildikó Enyedi’s 1989 comedy drama follows Dora and Lili, both born on the day Edison invents the light bulb, but separated in childhood. They follow different paths to meet again on the Orient Express, one a pampered courtesan, the other a feminist anarchist.
Van Gogh – 4th October
MUBI’s Maurice Pialat season continues with his look at the last 60 days of Van Gogh’s life. After leaving the asylum, he settles in the home of Doctor Gachet, an art lover and patron. Vincent keeps painting amidst the conflicts with his brother Theo, the torments of his failing mental health, and an affair with Marguerite, his host’s daughter.
La Sirga (The Towrope) – 5th October
Alicia feels lost. The memory of war clings to her mind in a terrifying rumble. Thrown off her land by armed conflict, she tries to build a new life at ‘La Sirga’, a rundown boarding house on the shore of a large lagoon high up in the Andes mountain range. William Vega’s drama from 2012 was nominated for the Golden Camera at Cannes.
Other new releases on MUBI
Fuga
MUBI launches a retrospective of Pablo Larrain’s six films made in Chile with his little-seen debut — a twisted tale of insanity and infernal classical music.
Tony Manero
Santiago de Chile, 1978. In the midst of Pinochet’s dictatorship, Raúl Peralta, a man in his 50s, is obsessed with impersonating John Travolta’s character in Saturday Night Fever. And his dream of being recognised is about to become a reality when the national television announces a contest.
Police
MUBI’s Maurice Pialat season continues with his 1985 drama, which stars Gerard Depardieu as a Parisian cop who specialises in interrogations, using intimidation to the point of sadism. His efforts to bust a Tunisian drug racket go awry, however, when he falls into an affair with a sultry, defiant liar (Sophie Marceau), who is the girl of one of the criminals.
Please Give
Accomplished and unpleasant, Please Give is an engaging and clever study of wealth, charity – and a lack thereof. Read our full review
The Idiot
Made on the heels of his international breakout Rashomon, Kurosawa’s The Idiot stars a who’s who of Japan’s best actors, including Setsuko Hara and Toshiro Mifune.
Mold
Starring Ercan Kesal (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Mold is a noir-like journey into social oppressions experienced in modern Turkey. With the requisite oppressive atmosphere to match, Ali Aydın’s debut film moves with dour yet beguiling rhythms towards a nuanced critique of a troubled society.
Under the Sun of Satan
Two years after Police, Maurice Pialat reunited with Gerard Depardieu for this religious-inflected drama. Despite the encouragement of Dean Menou-Segrais, Father Donissan doubts his vocation. When the young Mouchette, who has killed her lover, turns to him, he condemns her and drives her to suicide. One evening, walking down a country road, he passes a horse dealer in whom he recognises Satan.
The Future Perfect
It’s not very often that a film is smart and modest at the same time. German-born, Argentina-based Nele Wohlatz has made an impossibly humble comedy, unassumingly clever and irresistibly warm, so empathetic in capturing what being a foreigner feels like, that will restore your hope in humanity.
A Nos Amours
In a revelatory film debut, the dynamic, fresh-faced Sandrine Bonnaire plays Suzanne, a fifteen-year-old Parisian who embarks on a sexual rampage in an effort to separate herself from her overbearing, beloved father. À nos amours is one of Maurice Pialat’s greatest achievements, continuing MUBI’s retrospective season.
Hello Destroyer
A young junior hockey player’s life is shattered by an in-game act of violence. In an instant his life is abruptly turned upside down; torn from the fraternity of the team and the coinciding position of prominence, he is cast as a pariah and ostracised from the community.
The Great Wall
The US-Mexico wall might grab all the attention, but aren’t we surrounded by them? MUBI hosts the online premiere of this documentary that looks at the migration crisis in the eye by surfacing the resonance of Kafka’s universe in today’s Europe.
Mimosas
MUBI exclusively presents Mimosas simultaneously with cinemas. Laxe’s latest film finds the director entering genre territory and pushing its boundaries. A spiritual western, a desert odyssey and a daring invitation to jump into the unknown. Read our interview with Oliver Laxe.
Palo Alto
Based on the novel by James Franco, Palo Alto sees Franco play a soccer coach who hits on one of his young students. Gia Coppola’s film, though, opens up the ensemble drama to create an affecting, sincere portrait of youth in California. Read our full review
The Graduation
A plunge into one of today’s most prestigious schools of cinema: La Fémis in Paris.
La Leon
This visually stunning feature debut perfectly captures the misty waterways and solitary lives of a Northern Argentinean community. Armed with sumptuous black-and-white photography and an affectionate and sensual sensibility, Santiago Otheguy’s film is a key work from the New Argentine Cinema.
Stockholm My Love
Fresh from its theatrical release, MUBI presents the first foray into fiction of Mark Cousins, who teams up with cinematographer Christopher Doyle and singer Neneh Cherry for a city symphony that delves into grief and trauma. Read our full review.
La Soledad
MUBI & ICA join forces to release Jorge Thielen Armand’s vibrant and vital film, which captures the lives of real people in Venezuela’s current social and political climate. The movie follows José, a young father who discovers that the dilapidated mansion he occupies is soon to be demolished. Desperate to save his family from homelessness, José begins a search for a cursed treasure that has long said to be buried in the house.
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Last chance to stream: Titles leaving MUBI soon
La Soledad
Available until end of: 30th September
13 Tzameti
Available until end of: 1st October
Stockholm My Love
Available until end of: 2nd October
We Won’t Grow Old Together
Available until end of: 3rd October
La Leon
Available until end of: 4th October
The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afrida and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers
Available until end of: 5th October
Mimosas
Available until end of: 6th October
The End of the Affair
Available until end of: 7th October
The Mouth Agape
Available until end of: 8th October
Palo Alto
Available until end of: 9th October
