Supported by Wiltshire Council’s Future High Streets Fund
The Best in Classic & Independent Cinema
Programme
Friday 21st March at 8pm​
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ONE LIFE (2023) Cert 12
Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter, Romola Garai. Directed by James Hawes. 1hr 45m
Anthony Hopkins delivers another powerhouse performance in the extraordinary true story of Nicholas Winton. The so-called "British Schindler", he rescued 669 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the brink of World War II, bringing them to safety in Britain. Yet he never sought recognition for this monumental accomplishment, and for more than 40 years tried almost to bury it, haunted by thoughts of all those children he hadn't been able to save. It wasn't until the 1980s that details of his tireless efforts began to become publicly known, not least when Esther Rantzen's BBC TV show That's Life arranged a deeply moving televised reunion between Winton and dozens of the children - now adults - whose lives he had saved. The film alternates between scenes of the modern-day Winton, played by Hopkins, and flashbacks to the late 1930s as Johnny Flynn, as his younger self, battles to arrange visas and find homes in Britain for his young refugees. Yet despite the horrors of wartime Czechoslovakia, it is the modern-day scenes that have the greatest power, especially the deeply moving televised reunion, as the elderly Winton comes to terms with the enormous emotional significance of what he has achieved. The man who never thought himself as good enough finally realises that he’s far better than most.
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Why not make the evening complete and join us for a delicious dinner before the movie?
Friday 28th March at 8pm​
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TWIGGY (2024) Cert 12A
Twiggy, Dustin Hoffman, Joanna Lumley, Paul McCartney. Directed by Sadie Frost.
Twiggy is a 1960s icon who needs virtually no introduction. But the story of her extraordinary rise from working class obscurity in Neasden to become quite literally the face of the 1960s remains fascinating and inspiring. (It was Twiggy too who unwittingly pioneered the concept of the single-word mononym two decades before the likes of Madonna and Prince). Actress and filmmaker Sadie Frost has already crafted one superb documentary about another icon of the 60s, Mary Quant (which we screened last year). Now she brings the same bright and bubbly observational approach to Twiggy's incredible story, aided immeasurably by the eponymous subject who shares her own views on her career with typical warmth and charm. Strong support comes from a stellar line-up of famous faces who crossed her path. The result is an immensely likeable trip down memory lane that will leave you with a smile on your face and a glow in your heart.
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Why not make the evening complete and join us for a delicious dinner before the movie?
Friday 11th April at 8pm​
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A REAL PAIN (2024) Cert 15
Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey. Directed by Jesse Eisenberg.
This poignant, often humorous gem about pain, suffering, and the complexities of family bonds has won well-deserved praise for actor-writer-director Jesse Eisenberg. However, the real star of the show is Kieran Culkin, an Oscar-winning force of nature as the exuberant, free-spirited but also infuriating drifter Benji. Culkin and Eisenberg are cousins, once close as children but now living very different lives in different cities in the US. They reunite for the first time in months for a memorial pilgrimage to the birthplace of their beloved Jewish grandmother in Poland, where other members of their family perished in the camps. The cousins couldn't be more dissimilar: Eisenberg is consumed by social embarrassment and jittery discomfort while Culkin is warm-hearted, unfiltered and open to every experience. Yet, at its core, the film argues that the path to happiness and fulfillment is not as easy as it first appears. Eisenberg’s masterful direction strikes a delicate balance between irreverence and raw emotion, mixing rapid-fire comedy with moments where the weight of history and the burden of the past feel almost unbearable.
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