EXHIBITION 100 MOULD-BREAKING BRITISH FILMS
There hasn’t been a whole lot to celebrate in the UK of late, unless you happen to harbour a profound fondness for tinpot totalitarian spud-fuckers and welocme the prospect of a future tinted in depressingly dim hues of red, white and blue. Joanna Hogg’s extraordinary fourth feature, The Souvenir – our inspiration for this issue – has moved us to try and quell the apathy and depression and, instead, gather up 30 of our brilliant, passionate contributors to celebrate a century-plus of mould-breaking cinematic innovation.
Our self-determined remit was to limit our selections to one film per director, and in many cases we’ve opted for their debut. The films are sequenced in chronological order rather than subject to an arbitrary ranking system, because this way they tell a story when consumed collectively.
We have pointedly avoided some titles which have already had their day in the sun. The traditional canon is calcifying, so what would be the function (or fun?) in simply reaffirming what you already know? Stanley Kubrick’s celestial 1968 opus, 2001: A Space Odyssey, may be conspicuous by its absence, yet in its place is an odyssey of a different stripe: David Larcher’s mind-melting Mare’s Tale, which plays like the ‘star gate’ sequence from Kubrick’s film across an entire feature. Jack Clayton’s 1959 film Room at the Top reps for the ‘kitchen sink’ movement. Documentary, animation and shorts have not been ignored. This is an inventory of innovators rather than a subjective treatise of which films are better than others.
We have named this list ‘Exhibition’ for three reasons: firstly, as a namecheck to Hogg’s 2013 film of the same name; secondly, because we would like you to wander through this feature as you would a gallery, with every film consumed and processed as though it were a work of high art; and lastly, down to the fact that we have included a selection of illustrations that will spring to life when combined with your LWLies image decoder (see page two for full instructions). We sincerely hope you enjoy this reading this feature as much as we enjoyed making it.
THE WRITERS
MA — Mark Asch
AB — Abbey Bender
APB — Anton Bitel
KC — Kambole Campbell
MC — Meg Christopher
JC — Jake Cole
PC — Phil Concannon
LC — Lillian Crawford
RG — Rogan Graham
CG — Caroline Golum
TH — Tom Huddleston
DJ — David Jenkins
TJ — Trevor Johnston
EK — Ella Kemp
AK — Aimee Knight
EL — Elena Lazic
ML — Manuela Lazic
MJL — Michael Leader
MM — Mike McCahill
IM — Iana Murray
CN — Christina Newland
CQ — Caitlin Quinlan
RS — Roxanne Sancto
JS — Justine Smith
NS — Nathan Smith
PS — Philippa Snow
MT — Matt Thrift
MLT — Matt Turner
HW — Hannah Woodhead
AW — Adam Woodward
THE FILMS
л Available to stream
Δ Available on physical format
1. Rescued by Rover л
2. The '?' Motorist л Δ
3. The Birth of a Flower л
4. The Lodger л Δ
5. A Cottage On Dartmoor л Δ
6. Piccadilly л Δ
7. Borderline л Δ
8. A Crofter's Life in the Shetlands л
9. A Colour Box л Δ
10. Listen To Britain л Δ
11. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp л Δ
12. Animal Farm л Δ
13. Hell Drivers Δ
14. The Curse of Frankenstein л Δ
15. Room at the Top л Δ
16. We Are the Lambeth Boys л
17. Peeping Tom л Δ
18. Victim л Δ
19. The Day the Earth Caught Fire л Δ
20. The Damned Δ
21. Where I Am Is Here л
22. It Happened Here л Δ
23. A Hard Day's Night л Δ
24. Culloden Δ
25. Blow-Up Δ
26. Herostratus л Δ
27. Mare's Tail
28. Witchfinder General л Δ
29. Separation Δ
30. Bronco Bullfrog л Δ
31. Performance л Δ
32. Sunday, Bloody Sunday Δ
33. Melody Δ
34. The Devils Δ
35. Pulp Δ
36. My Childhood л Δ
37. O Lucky Man! Δ
38. Skinflicker л
39. The Nightcleaners Δ
40. The Moon Over the Alley л Δ
41. Pressure л Δ
42. Central Bazaar л Δ
43. The Girl Chewing Gum л Δ
44. Riddles of the Sphinx л Δ
45. Nighthawks л Δ
46. The Shout л Δ
47. Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair Δ
48. Radio On л Δ
49. Babylon Δ
50. Sir Henry at Rawlinson End л Δ
51. Burning an Illusion Δ
52. The Hit л Δ
53. The Company of Wolves л Δ
54. Street of Crocodiles л Δ
55. When the Wind Blows л Δ
56. Road Δ
57. Handsworth Songs
58. The Last of England л Δ
59. Play Me Something л
60. The Cook, The Thief,
His Wife & Her Lover л
61. Looking for Langston л
62. Hardware л Δ
63. Cowboys л
64. The Long Day Closes л Δ
65. Orlando л Δ
66. Naked Δ
67. Welcome II the
Terrordome л
68. Gallivant л Δ
69. Trainspotting л Δ
70. Robinson in Space л Δ
71. Divorce Iranian Style л
72. Tina Goes Shopping
73. Following л Δ
74. Wonderland Δ
75. A Room for Romeo Brass Δ
76. Morvern Callar Δ
77. The Power of Nightmares л
78. I For India Δ
79. Red Road л Δ
80. Unrelated л Δ
81. Helen л Δ
82. Sleep Furiously л Δ
83. Hunger л Δ
84. Perestroika Δ
85. The First Movie л Δ
86. The Arbor л Δ
87. Four Lions л Δ
88. Two Years at Sea л Δ
89. Weekend л Δ
90. Dreams of a Life л Δ
91. Under the Skin л Δ
92. A Field In England л Δ
93. Second Coming л Δ
94.Catch Me Daddy л Δ
95. The Duke of Burgundy л Δ
96. Abandoned Goods
97. Lady Macbeth л Δ
98. The Levelling л Δ
99. London Symphony л Δ
100. Ray & Liz л Δ
1 RESCUED BY ROVER
1905
CECIL HEPWORTH
Cecil Hepworth’s six-minute silent film about a nefarious kidnapping and a heroic hound was a landmark achievement for the pioneering filmmaker, and is widely considered to be the first major British fiction film. A true family affair, Rescued By Rover was written by Hepworth’s wife Margaret, who also plays the role of the mother in the film. Cecil plays the father, while their infant daughter Barbara is the baby kidnapped by a beggar woman while out for a stroll with their nanny. The film is credited as the first to use paid actors, and made a star of the Hepworth family dog, Blair, who plays the titular role. Made for £6 and 17 shillings (£600 in modern money), the film was reprinted so many times that the negatives wore out, and Hepworth had to reshoot the entire film twice to meet demand. By today’s standards it may seem simplistic, but Hepworth’s ambitious use of multiple shots and arc lights to convey a dangerous setting established him as a visionary within the burgeoning British film industry. HW
2 THE ‘?’ MOTORIST
1906
WR BOOTH
This Georges Méliès-referencing slice of early cinema alchemy is the work of one Walter R Booth, a porcelain painter turned magician turned film artist. He was an innovator in special effects and an early adopter of film techniques that would soon become stock-and-trade, including superimpositions, jump and match cuts, and the use of scale models. 1906’s The ‘?’ Motorist begins as a fairly standard bit of silent comedy, with two unruly drivers pursued by a bumbling policeman. Their car speeds into a wall, but instead of crashing they ascend to the heavens. The pair, along with their steel steed, climb through clouds and star clusters before passing the Man in the Moon and circling the rings of Saturn. Booth never achieved the name recognition of Méliès, but his career lasted much longer than that of his French counterpart – in the 1930s, he found a home for his talents in the ad industry producing celebrated commercial work for Cadbury Chocolate. NS
3 THE BIRTH OF A FLOWER
1910
F PERCY SMITH
The naturalist and early cinema pioneer F Percy Smith caused sensations with his trick shorts of insects juggling tiny objects, and this time-lapse bouquet. In close-up, a garden anemone bud opens, layer upon layer of petals fanning outwards like Busby Berkeley chorines in a kaleidoscopic overhead shot; a lily bulb’s concert-pianist fingers peel backwards, revealing stamens and filaments which sway like antennae; roses flourish in a sudden burst, and then begin to wilt and dry out under the weight of their own lushness. When my friend tried to convince his girlfriend that they should buy a 4K TV for Blue Planet II, he was honoring a cinematic tradition as old as the Lumière actualités: technological innovation showcases scientific discovery, and vice versa. Smith is part of this lineage, but also that of Georges Méliès and the Surrealists who explored moving image photography’s expressive superiority to mere reality. His improvised techniques compress time, making it liquid and lysergic. MA
4 THE LODGER: A STORY OF THE LONDON FOG
1927
ALFRED HITCHCOCK
Alfred Hitchcock’s German apprenticeship is on free display in his first classic, the Jack the Ripper-inspired paranoid thriller The Lodger. Its first images, of a blonde screaming in terror amid shots of neon marquees advertising showgirls, are the bedrock upon which the Master of Suspense built his church – bewildering, terrifying and cynically funny all at once. The focus on mob mentality is an outlier in Hitchcock’s more psychologically oriented filmography, but you can already see that more insular approach on display in the director’s synecdochical framing of characters, from the feet of pedestrians who walk by the family home where most of the movie takes place, to the pale hand of the possible killer as he grips the handrail while walking down some stairs. The Bunting home, filmed at expressionistic angles that warp its modest dimensions, showcases Hitchcock’s innate understanding for mapping, then distorting, the spaces his characters occupy. JC
5 A COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR
1929
ANTHONY ASQUITH
“Will you come. She responds with a dismissive shake of the head. Anthony Asquith was sceptical about the motion picture industry’s transition to sound, which was already underway when he began his directorial career, and this late silent film feels like the work of a man determined to re-emphasise the primacy of purely visual storytelling. Every scene in this tale of love and jealousy contains examples of Asquith’s prowess: haunting close-ups, imaginative composition, sharp editing and dynamic camerawork. It’s a work of remarkable sophistication and expressiveness, and a masterclass in building tension. Watch the way Asquith shifts to a darker tone in the cinema sequence, or escalates Joe's violent thoughts through a series of rapid cuts before a shocking flash of red fills the screen. His contemporary Alfred Hitchcock – who bridged the silent and sound eras that same year with – was surely impressed.
