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...

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...

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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...

KHARTOUM (1966)

CertificationPG Our Rating

English General Charles George Gordon, a devout Christian, is appointed military governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by Prime Minister Gladstone. Ordered to evacuate Egyptians from the Sudan, General Gordon stays on to protect the people of Khartoum, who are under threat of being conquered by Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi, "the Expected One," the head of the Muslim forces. An out-and-out action spectacle sealed with stunning cinematography. 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...

LEON MORIN, PRETRE (1961)

CertificationPG Our Rating

Barny is a young widow, she is also a militant communist and atheist who one day enters a church, and randomly picks a priest to taunt. Leon Morin is a Catholic priest: he is also young, handsome and unconventional in his religious approach. The two begin a platonic relationship, but soon Barny's admiration for Morin turns to desire and he becomes the object of her romantic obsession... find out more...