Cancelled - The Screen at Contemporary: 24 Frames

This season, our film programme, The Screen at Contemporary, presents 24 Frames: the films and influences of Martin Scorsese.

Wed 12 Feb, 6.30pm
Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese, 2010 (15)

We kick off the season with Shutter Island – one of Scorsese’s underrated offerings. Two US Marshalls arrive at a mental institute, Shutter Island, to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients. Memory, dreams, grief and perception are intertwined in this compelling cinematic treat.

Influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, we will also be screening Shadow of a Doubt on Wed 19 Feb, 6.30pm – a thriller similarly exploring the many faces of man.

£5 per ticket, or any five tickets for £20


Wed 19 Feb, 6.30pm
Shadow of a Doubt
Alfred Hitchcock, 1943 (PG)

Young Charlie is bored in her quiet small town until her namesake uncle turns up out of the blue to her delight. However, she begins to suspect that he is not the man she thought… but a murderer.

This was Hitchcock’s favorite film of his own, and Scorsese has said that Hitchcock films are part of his DNA. Also exploring internal and external perceptions of man, we will be screening Scorsese’s Shutter Island on Wed 12 Feb, 6.30pm.

Wed 26 Feb, 6.30pm
After Hours
Martin Scorsese, 1985 (15)

In Scorsese’s black comedy, we follow a New Yorker over the course of a night, that goes from dark to absurd and back again. This was Scorsese return to more paired down filmmaking after bigger budget films – it’s a rare chance to see 1980s downtown New York in its grubby glory. With influences ranging from Keaton, Fellini and early Kubrick, this is one to relish.

Also following a single character over the space of a few hours, through their own personal odyssey, we will be screening Cleo from 5 to 7 on Wed 11 Mar, 6.30pm.

Wed 11 Mar, 6.30pm
Cleo From 5 to 7
Agnes Varda, 1962 (PG)

A singer is anxiously awaiting medical results as she walks the streets of Paris from 5-7pm, the hours lovers supposedly meet. A beautiful, nuanced, stylish and subtle slice of French New Wave cinema, this film makes you feel like you’re inhabiting a world that is both filmic and human all at once.

Scorsese was continually inspired by Varda, calling her “one of the Gods” – and we agree. This film is paired with After Hours, which we will screen on Wed 26 Feb, 6.30pm.

Wed 18 Mar, 6.30pm
Raging Bull
Martin Scorsese, 1980 (18)

We follow boxer Jake LaMotta over a series of years, though torments on and off the ring. A saga that moves balletically through themes of masculinity, paranoia, catholic guilt, class and redemption. Considered Scorsese’s masterpiece, it’s both brutal in its observation of human fragility and pure cinematic alchemy.

Exploring how the boxing ring shares similarities the ballet stage, we will be screening Scorsese’s favourite film, The Red Shoes on Wed 1 Apr, 6.30pm, and.

Wed 1 Apr, 6.30pm
The Red Shoes
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948 (U)

A young ballerina is torn between her career and marriage. Part romantic fantasy, part dark psychological fever dream, Scorsese said that this is the film that “plays in his heart”. Shot in sumptuous technicolour, this is one you need to see on the big screen – where it belongs.

Paired with Raging Bull, both films explore obsessive characters who sacrifice their bodies for art. We will be screening Raging Bull, Wed 18 Mar, 6.30pm.

Wed 8 Apr, 6.30pm
Goodfellas
Martin Scorsese, 1990 (18)

We follow the true-life story of Henry Hill through his assent and descent in the world of the Mafia. The glamour and the filth of mid-century America is punctuated with a heady 1960s soundtrack. Goodfellas shows the world of wise guys, both enchanting and repulsive, in this dizzying portrait of loyalty and the American Dream.

Also exploring a fall from grace and evaporating identities, we will be screening an influence of Scorsese, A Streetcar Named Desire, on Wed 15 Apr, 6.30pm.

Wed 15 Apr, 6.30pm
A Streetcar Named Desire
Elia Kazan, 1951 (12A)


Based on the Tennessee Williams play, the now infamous tale follows Blanche Dubois, an ageing Southern Belle, when she visits her sister and meets her animalistic husband Stanley. Marlon Brandon and Vivien Leigh give two of the best performances in cinema history. The film uncovers themes of guilt, sex and fear, and the horror that can be revealed when masks slip.

Elia Kazan was Scorsese’s most revered filmmaker. A Streetcar Named Desire is paired with Goodfellas, which we will screen on Wed 8 Apr, 6.30pm.

Wed 22 Apr, 6.30pm
Mean Streets
Martin Scorsese, 1973 (18)

Early films for Scorsese, Harvey Keitel and Robert DeNiro, Mean Streets follows a small crime gang in Little Italy. It marked Scorsese’s arrival as a true cinematic voice, and strong themes of sin, good and evil are here in abundance. Interesting references to dream, cinema and guilt are all at play, subtly implying the presence of priest, psychoanalyst and filmmaker. These preoccupations would weave their way through most his films.

A huge influence on this film - this is paired with I Vitelloni, which we will screen on Wed 29 Apr, 6.30pm.

Wed 29 Apr, 6.30pm
I Vitelloni
Federico Fellini, 1953 (PG)

A classic of Italian Neo-Realism, I Vitelloni, “the guys”, follows a group of young men loitering around a small town in Italy. After watching this film, Scorsese said, “the humor of it, it was very much the type of street humor I grew up with” and inspired him to make Mean Streets. You can see the absurdity and nuanced portrayal of the human spirit that permeates Fellini’s works in Scorsese film until today. It is fitting we close the season on this beloved genius.

We will be screening Mean Streets on Wed 22 Apr, 6.30pm.

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