20th Century Flicks, Bristol

Elmer Gantry is a man on a mission, a mission from God, but behind the raging sermons of fire and brimstone there lurks a man whose conscience has long ago deserted him. A hustler par excellence Elmer has no qualms about what he takes and who he may hurt, but when an old flame re-enters his life the carefully constructed world he has created starts to dramatically fall apart. Elmer Gantry is a powerhouse performance from Burt Lancaster who deservedly won an Oscar in a role of awesome intensit find out more...

FRANCESCO GIULLARE DI DIO (1950)

CertificationPG Our Rating

A beautiful and elegantly simple film about the life and works of Francesco Di Assisi, founder of a religious order that expressed Christianity in a form devoid of materialism but rich in compassion; a faith that the orthodox church, by the time of Francesco's birth in the late 12th century, had long dispensed with. Neorealistic in style and obviously close to Rossellini's heart, this is now acknowledged as one of his greatest masterpieces. find out more...

GONE TO EARTH (1950)

CertificationPG Our Rating

Hazel Woods is a beautiful young country girl, living in the hills on the Anglo-Welsh border, whose heart and soul are at one with the country around, she's raised a fox and communes with nature, but her happy and innocent existence is under threat from the local fox-hunting and handsome cad of a squire, who is obsessed with having her, and is a spirit completely at odds with her own kind nature. It's him or the incredibly boring, but well-meaning vicar, that she will chose. Gone To Earth was or find out more...

HAWKS AND SPARROWS (1966)

CertificationPG Our Rating

The two lead characters take dual roles, as a father and son walking thru' a bleak landscape discussing politics and philosophy, and as two disciples of St Francis sent to convert birds to the Christian ideal of universal love. A darkly comic allegory on class conflict with an excellent sound track by Ennio Morricone. find out more...

No Image for I'M ALRIGHT JACK / HEAVENS ABOVE

I'M ALRIGHT JACK / HEAVENS ABOVE (1959)

CertificationPG Our Rating

A roll-call of British comedians star in two gentle satires:"I'm Alright Jack" is a delicious comic drama about the injustices and stupidities of Britain's class system with Ian Carmichael as a bumbling toff trying to make his way amidst the politics of the industrial workplace, where the Stalinist union representative, Fred Kite, played with sublime skill by Sellers, rants and raves at his upper class oppressors. Winner of the BAFTA for best male lead. find out more...

IL BIDONE (1955)

Certification12 Our Rating

In Fellini's sardonically humorous, yet powerfully dramatic, 'Il Bidone' three small-time crooks impersonate priests in Rome to con poor people out of their money. Broderick Crawford is extraordinary as the group's world-weary leader whose chance meeting with his own daughter opens his eyes to his wrongdoing. Too late, he suffers a crisis of conscience in this absorbing tale of hope, desperation and tragedy. find out more...

INHERIT THE WIND (1960)

CertificationU Our Rating

Schoolteacher John Scopes is placed under close arrest for advocating Darwin's theory of evolution to his pupils in violation of a stifling Tennessee law banning anything that 'denies the divine creation of man as taught by the Bible'. The case is taken up by a cynical newspaper-man who takes an interest when the champion of the Fundamentalists and three-time presidential candidate is named prosecutor. A fascinating and absorbing dramatisation of the famous 1925 'Monkey Trial'. find out more...

No Image for JOURNAL D'UN CURE DE CAMPAGNE

JOURNAL D'UN CURE DE CAMPAGNE (1950)

CertificationPG Our Rating

A new priest arrives in the French country village of Ambricourt to attend to his first parish, but the apathetic and hostile rural congregation reject him immediately. Through his diary entries, the physically sick young man relays a crisis of faith that threatens not only to drive him away from the village, but also from God. With this, his fourth film, Bresson began to implement a stylistic philosophy in his film making, stripping away all inessential elements from his compositions, the dialo find out more...

KING OF KINGS (1961)

Certification15 Our Rating

A controversial version of the gospels in which the central conflict is seen in terms of political struggle and betrayal. Detailing the Jews' rebellion against the oppressive power of Rome, it elevates Barabbas to the status of a proto-Zionist nationalist leader, and the dynamics of the narrative are presented as the consequence of wide-ranging historical movements rather than in terms of individuals. When Jesus is born in Bethlehem there are some who recognize him as the future king of the J find out more...

LA VOIE LACTEE (1969)

Certification15 Our Rating

Less accesible Bunuel, but still interesting and witty. We follow two vagrants on their pilgrimage to Spain. Along the way they meet various biblical characters, slip through a time-warp amongst other bizarre digressions. Sometimes the symbolism is a little obvious, but the humour saves it. find out more...