James R | On 09, Mar 2018

As Amazon’s You Were Never Really Here hits UK cinemas, director Lynne Ramsay is launching a takeover of MUBI.

The trailblazing filmmaker, whose work includes Ratcatcher and We Need to Talk About Kevin, is handpicking her favourite films from the subscription streaming service’s catalogue for release this month.

From cult classics to award-winning masterpieces, forgotten gems to festival-fresh independent releases, MUBI releases a new film every day, with each one available for 30 days – a rolling carousel of curated cinema. MUBI is currently showing Lynne’s second film Morvern Caller to audiences in the UK as part of a month-long celebration of female filmmaking.

Starting today, Lynne has selected three titles, from ‎The Battle of Algiers to The Last Picture Show. She talks about her choices below:

Meshes in the Afternoon – From 9th March

My tutor at Napier College showed me this when I was studying photography. A 14 minute silent movie made at home, and I was blown away by its imagination. The strange, disturbing atmosphere, the camera moves and edits to make impossible dream time and space, the hooded figure with mirror face, the dreaming woman at the window who becomes three! I felt like I was in a house of ghosts. As a photographer it connected with me deeply and inspired me to go to film school.

The Last Picture Show – From 14th March

That feeling of burgeoning awkward teenage sexuality and being stuck in a dead-end town is brilliant. It’s the seminal film evocation of that. Cybill Shepherd undressing on the diving board. Cloris Leachman’s sex scene with Timothy Bottoms to the sound of the creaking bed, and her emotional explosion to him at the end really affected me. Such an amazing sense of place created by Polly Platt’s production design and costumes.

‎The Battle of Algiers – From 18th March

It’s amazing how contemporary and relevant this looks and feels. Like it was made last week, not in 1965. The style might seem familiar now, but this was the first, and way ahead of its time. It doesn’t judge and the ideas are complex. To call its style ‘reportage’ is a simplification. Not a frame of it feels inauthentic but there’s very sophisticated craft in the cinematography, editing, sound design, music, casting, and locations. The sound in particular is incredible. It’s a cinematic masterpiece.

 

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