My BFI May Calendar

'Lonesome Cowboy' Pierre Lauret on The Searchers
Mon 20 May 18:20 NFT3

"In the latest in our series exploring film through a philosophical lens, Pierre Lauret (Professor of Philosophy at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris) presents a screening of The Searchers, and then considers the troubling absence of 'home' in John Ford's Western masterpiece through an insightful talk. Lauret identifies a void at the heart of this tale of a Civil War veteran doggedly hunting the Comanches who have kidnapped his niece: where will he return with her upon victory? The Comanches have burnt her home out, and have killed the rest of the family. The hero who protects the family and the community, has no family and no community, just like his charge. He must, in the end, return to the desert, as Ulysses returns to the land of the dead."

BAFTA Masterclass: Film Make-up with Lois Burwell 

Thu 23 May 18:10 NFT3

"Having recently wowed audiences by transforming  in Daniel Day-Lewis Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln, Lois Burwell received her third BAFTA nomination, following those of Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. Her expertise in her craft has seen her as head of the make-up department on the Fifth Element, Almost Famous, Mission: Impossible, Catch Me If You Can and The Green Mile, to name just a few of her illustrious credits. This will be a rare opportunity for an audience to hear first-hand how some of these iconic looks have been created."

The King of Marvin Gardens

Fri 24 May 

"Nicholson plays David Staebler, a retiring type getting by in Philly by relating wry confessional stories over the radio, until he's suddenly summoned to Atlantic City by his younger brother Jason (Bruce Dern, all gloriously ratty panache). It's not just that Jason needs to get out of jail; he wants a partner for his get-rich-quick scheme in Hawaii. So David lingers on, with Jason, his ragdoll lover (Ellen Burstyn) and her spaced-out stepdaughter, in the fading, maybe dangerous grandeur of a resort whose streets once inspired the Monopoly board... Rafelson's witty, compassionate study of a sibling relationship awkwardly rooted in childhood dreams and adult rivalries is as rich, resonant and unpredictable as a good novel; from its superb opening soliloquy to a quietly affecting coda, the film grips like a vice. Lent terrific support by Julia Anne Robinson, Scatman Crothers and John Ryan, the three leads are magnificent, while Làszlò Kovàcs' camerawork is marvellously evocative of life on, above and under the boardwalk. A killer movie."

Missing Believed Wiped Special: An Evening with John Henshall

Tue 28 May 18:30 NFT1

 

" To celebrate 20 years of the BFI's Missing Believed Wiped initiative we are mounting a series of MissingBelieved Wiped specials throughout 2013, highlighting the most recent finds and revisiting some old favourites. One of the great finds of the last few years has been the sensational footage of David Bowie performing "The Jean Genie" from a 1973 edition of Top of the Pops. The footage was recovered from the collection of John Henshall, a television cameraman and director of photography who had made the special lens used for the Bowie performance. John has had a long career in the TV industry and was found to have hundreds of tapes of rare and missing bits of television within his collection and these are being catalogued by our colleagues at Kaleidoscope, the classic television organisation. Tonight John will join us on stage to share some of those gems with us and regale us with the fascinating - often hilarious - stories behind the productions. Expect more magical moments of missing music, segments of lost dramas, rare pop video footage and other unmissable examples of the flotsam and jetsam of British television."

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell

Wed 29 May 18:30 NFT1

"When Dr Simon Helder is committed to an asylum after being caught experimentating on stolen cadavers, he finds himself in the company of fellow re-animator Baron Frankenstein, who is physician there. The two join forces to continue their research but Helder gradually realises that a fine line separates the inmates from those apparently in charge. This was Terence Fisher's last film and the final instalment in Hammer's exploration of the Frankenstein story. Here, Peter Cushing's Baron raches his most degenerate, his gaunt yet distinguished appearance giving little inkling of the menace just beneath the surface. To mark the centenary of Cushing's birth, we are showing Hammer's new high-definition restoration of his final portrayal of the character that brought him international fame: Baron Frankenstein." 

The screening will be additionally introduced by Madeline Smith, the film's co-star, and Joyce Broughton, Cushing's secretary for 35 years.