Harrogate Film Society

Synopsis

Plan 75 (15) | Dir. Chie Hayakawa | 2022 | JAPAN | IMDb 7.8 | 113 mins | Subtitles

Japan in the not-too-distant future where Euthanasia is legal and encouraged for a rapidly ageing population. This understated, thought-provoking drama follows the fortunes of 3 people, Michi an elderly Japanese resident, Maria a Filipino care worker and Himorou, a Plan 75 salesman. Set in a dystopian future, this debut film is grounded in the very possible here and now.

With a nod to the fabled Japanese practice of oyasute, which itself was rooted in Buddhist teachings, the film conjures a mythical modern Japan where an aging society has devised a plan to re-balance itself economically by informing its citizens older than seventy-five of the option of euthanasia. A 78-year-old woman faces the question of whether she should carry on or seemingly serve her society through self-sacrifice.

Trivia

Official submission of Japan for the 'Best International Feature Film' category of the 95th Academy Awards in 2023.

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK - THE TOURING YEARS | 2016 | Dir. Ron Howard | 12A | Music Documentary |106 mins | Bilton Club on Skipton Road | Friday 24 January @ 7pm

Presented by Harrogate Film Society - non-members are welcome. from 7pm (the film will start approx 7.30pm)

A compilation of found footage featuring music, interviews and stories of The Beatles' 250 concerts from 1963 to 1966.

In the 1960s, the Beatles exploded onto the public scene seemingly out of nowhere, as the band's formative years of constant performing at home and in Hamburg, and Brian Epstein's grooming, finally paid off beyond their wildest dreams. Accompanying new interviews of the remaining Beatles, their associates and fans as well as archival interviews of the late ones, this film features footage of the heady concert years of 1963 to 1966 when the band became a worldwide cultural phenomena topping them all. It also follows how the Fab Four began to change and grow while the excitement of Beatlemania began to sour their lives into an intolerable slog they needed to escape from to become more than what their fans wanted.

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Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

Fallen Leaves (12A) | Dir. Aki Kaurismaki | 2023 | FINLAND | IMDb 7.3 | 81 mins | Subtitles

You will find yourself rooting for Ansa and Holappa, two lonely souls who must overcome a series of obstacles in their search for love and happiness. Set in modern-day Helsinki, HFS favourite, Aki Kaurismäki, has crafted a delightful film in his own inimitable style that charmed Cannes to win the 2023 Jury Prize. Love will find a way!

Trivia
The film Ansa and Holappa see in the cinema is The Dead Don't Die (2019), which was directed by Jim Jarmusch. Jarmusch has said he has been influenced by Kaurismäki, appearing in Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989) and set part of his own film Night on Earth (1991) in Finland, where he used several of Kaurismäki's regular actors.

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

The Seventh Seal | 1957 | PG | Dir. Ingmar Bergman | Sweden | 92 mins | IMDb 8.1 | Subtitled | B&W

Presented by HARROGATE FILM SOCIETY - open to non-members.

The 1957 classic of Swedish Art House Cinema is Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. Rich with iconic imagery of Max Von Sydow as the knight returning from the crusades who challenges death to a game of chess. The Seventh Seal, (Det Sjunde Inseglet) although rooted in themes of mortality also celebrates the simple pleasures of life, personified by the luminous Bibi Andersson as Mary.

The crisp black and white cinematography is captivating throughout. Characters of all moods are present in the picture. The period details may not be appropriate, but the gloomy aura is finely captured. And comfortably steering the film past the finish line are the sturdy performances, led by Max von Sydow who plays a knight locked in a game with Death itself, latter personified by Bengt Ekerot. And the scenes between the two are easy standouts.

Trivia
Ingmar Bergman credited the film with helping him overcome his crippling fear of death. Because the film dealt so overtly with the subject, he found it a highly cathartic experience.

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

The Zone of Interest (12A) | Dir. Jonathan Glazer | 2023 | UK/POLAND | IMDb 7.4 | 105 mins | Subtitles

German-occupied Poland, summer of 1943. More than anything, Hedwig, an indefatigable mother of five, wants to keep her well-organised life as is. After all, she has worked her fingers to the bone to create a fragrant slice of paradise to raise her children, and nothing will change that. If only her husband, the distinguished SS officer and Auschwitz commander Rudolf Hoess, weren't always burdened by his duties. But perfection is a fleeting illusion. As the oblivious life of the commandant's wife unravels in cloudless bliss, Rudolf finds himself swamped with work, saddled with testing a new ventilation design and overseeing the installation of a highly effective Topf and Sons multi-muffle, non-stop incineration oven system. Indeed, it's hard to imagine that just a hair's breadth away from the peaceful and idyllic Höss household, the unimaginable horrors of the Final Solution were unfolding in full swing. And as noisome fumes and muffled, blood-curdling noises blemish Hedwig's fragrant utopia, a question emerges. When evil becomes banal and apathy requires no effort, what separates man from beast? Uncomfortable but essential viewing.

Trivia
Mrs. Höss describes to her friends getting a coat from "Canada" while mocking another woman who thought she meant the sovereign country; Kanada was in fact the name given in Auschwitz to the vast storehouse of goods confiscated from the prisoners.

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

Copa 71 (PG) | Dirs. James Erskine/Rachel Ramsey | Documentary | 2023 | UK | IMDb 7.5 | 90 mins | Some subtitles

The greatest story never told! Erased from history by FIFA for over 50 years, now you can see the incredible story of the first Women’s Football World Cup in all its glory on the big screen! The players recount their experiences alongside amazing highlights from the matches. Their legacy is the current success and upward trajectory of the Women’s game. You won’t forget the story of the Women of ’71! Ninety minutes of pure drama!

Trivia

Carol Wilson, who played was the England captain in the tournament, was only 19 years old at the time. Three of her teammates, Leah Caleb (age 13), Gill Sayell (14) and Chris Lockwood (15) were still schoolgirls when they played in the tournament.

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

The Day The Earth Stood Still | U | 1951 | Dir. Robert Wise | US | 92 mins | IMDb 7.7 | B&W

Presented by HARROGATE FILM SOCIETY - open to non-members.

Our third Classic Cinema film, on the 12th March starring Harrogate-connected Michael Rennie as the alien, Klaatu is the groundbreaking sci fi The Day The Earth Stood Still . Directed by Robert Wise, this 1951 classic spreads an anti-war message, with Michael Rennie visiting Earth and finding that hope for humanity lies with Patricia Neal. Beautifully filmed and with a futuristic score by Bernard Herman, this cult classic is not to be missed!

This screening will include an in-person introduction from Michael’s son David Rennie, who will be visiting to see his father’s film screened in Harrogate.

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

Anatomy of a Fall (15) | Dir. Justine Triet | 2023 | FRANCE | IMDb 7.7 | 151 mins | Subtitles

When her husband Samuel is mysteriously found dead in the snow below their secluded chalet, Sandra becomes the main suspect when the police begin to question whether he fell or was pushed. The trial soon becomes a psychological journey into the depths of Sandra and Samuel’s complicated marriage. Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2023.
Trivia

For his role as Snoop, border collie Messi was awarded the Palm Dog at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

High Noon | PG | 1952 | Dir. Fred Zinnemann | US | 85 mins | IMDb 7.9 | B&W

Presented by HARROGATE FILM SOCIETY - open to non-members.

Our Classic Cinema season concludes with a Western as requested by one of last year’s Classic Season attendees. Fred Zinnerman’s 1952 High Noon, sees the action take place in real time in an isolated frontier town where Marshall Will Kane played by Gary Cooper has to hold the fort in the knowledge that a released killer, seeking vengeance, is riding the noon train back into town. Events take place on the morning of Kanes wedding. Grace Kelly is his young, pacifist Quaker bride in her first major film role.

High Noon is widely considered to be one of the most influential westerns of the decade.

Meaningful in its implications, it is loaded with interest and suspense. Not a frame is wasted in this taut, superbly directed, masterfully acted film, the first so-called "adult Western".

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

Wild Men (15) | Dir. Thomas Daneskov | 2021 | DENMARK | IMDb 6.5 | 104 mins | Subtitles

A mid-life crisis can manifest itself in many ways. Martin, a Danish office worker, feels the urge to escape his home and family and live as a hunter gatherer in the Norwegian mountains. There, he meets a petty criminal and is pursued by his wife and children, their rabbit, a world-weary detective, and drug smugglers. By turns funny, heartwarming, and occasionally violent, the film takes its characters and their emotions seriously, supported by a wonderful cast and set in gorgeous scenery.

Trivia

The Danish release was delayed after the incident in Norway on 13 October 2021 in which a Danish national shot and killed several people with arrows after an altercation in a grocery store. The film is about a Danish man in Norway, and the poster showed him standing in a grocery store with a bow and arrows on his back.

Additional Info

Location

Harrogate Film Society, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Synopsis

The Night of the Hunter | 1955 | 12 | Dir. Charles Laughton | 92 mins | IMDb 8 | US | B&W |

Presented by HARROGATE FILM SOCIETY - open to non-members.

It's the Great Depression. In the process of robbing a bank of $10,000, Ben Harper kills two people. Before he is captured, he is able to convince his son John and his daughter Pearl not to tell anyone, including their mother Willa, where he hid the money, namely in Pearl's favorite toy, a doll that she carries everywhere with her. Ben, who is captured, tried and convicted, is sentenced to death. But before he is executed, Ben is in the state penitentiary with a cell mate, a man by the name of Harry Powell, a self-professed man of the cloth, who is really a con man and murderer, swindling lonely women, primarily rich widows, of their money before he kills them. Harry does whatever he can, unsuccessfully, to find out the location of the $10,000 from Ben.

After Ben's execution, Harry decides that Willa will be his next mark, figuring that someone in the family knows where the money is hidden. Despite vowing not to remarry, Willa ends up being prey for Harry's outward evangelicalism; she is a pious woman who feels she needs to atone for her sins which led to Ben doing what he did, especially as Harry presents himself as the preacher who worked at the prison and provided salvation to Ben before his death. Harry quickly figures out that John and Pearl know where the money is.
John doesn't trust Harry. John tries not to show Harry that he indeed does know where the money is and then has to constantly remind a more-trusting Pearl of their promise to their now-deceased father. With Willa devoted to her new husband, John and Pearl become more desperate in evading Harry's veiled threats.

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