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Ken Russell's The Devils: The Director's Cut
1971 114mins UK (18) LFF
Directed by Ken Russell Starring Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Gemma Jones, Dudley Sutton

Censored for over half a century, Ken Russell’s film returns in a landmark director’s cut reconstruction that reveals the full power of his original vision. 

Inspired by the true story of 17th-century priest Urbain Grandier, accused of bewitching a convent of nuns, The Devils lays bare the collusion of church and state through a searing vision of religious persecution, collective hysteria and institutional corruption. The restoration many believed would never happen reaffirms Russell’s incendiary masterpiece as among the most overwhelming and uncompromising achievements in British cinema.

Assembled from original camera negative, this 4k restoration is Ken Russell’s 2004 preferred edit. Picture and sound restoration by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services, Water Tower Color and Warner Bros. Sound.

Following the sold-out LFF performance on 12th October, Ken Russell's THE DEVILS will screen daily from 30th October. Screenings from both 35mm and Digital. 35mm performances will be noted next to the time. If there is no note next to the time, the performance is Digital.

Haxan
1922 106mins (15) Horror
Directed by Benjamin Christensen Starring Benjamin Christensen, Ella La Cour, Emmy Schønfeld

This performance will feature a live score performed by Hugo Max

Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan must to be seen to be believed. Playing out as a lecture on witchcraft ‘made flesh’, the film foreshadows the found footage horror genre and features many of the most imaginatively realised and grotesque visuals of silent cinema history. My viola takes on the voice of the occult-obsessed lecturer(/director), possessed by the alluring darkness of the subject, wrestling with the film’s message of hierarchal corruption and its prevailing controversies.

Please view this YouTube video for a sample of Hugo's work.

In the Realm of the Senses
1976 102mins Japan (18) Psychological Drama
Directed by Nagisa Oshima Starring Eiko Matsuda, Tatsuya Fuji, Aoi Nakajima, Taiji Tonoyama

Still censored in its own country, In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no corrida), by Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, remains one of the most controversial films of all time. A graphic portrayal of insatiable sexual desire, Oshima’s film, set in 1936 and based on a true incident, depicts a man and a woman (Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda) consumed by a transcendent, destructive love while living in an era of ever-escalating imperialism and governmental control. Less a work of pornography than of politics, In the Realm of the Senses is a brave, taboo-breaking milestone.

Content Warning: This film contains scenes of graphic sex and violence. Further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com, as well as through general internet searches.

Eyes Wide Shut
1999 159mins UK, USA (18) Thriller / Mystery
Directed by Stanley Kubrick Starring Todd Field, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack

Stanley Kubrick's daring last film is many things. It is a compelling psychosexual journey. A haunting dreamscape. A riveting tale of suspense. A major milestone in the careers of stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. And "a worthy final chapter to a great director's career" (Roger Ebert).

Cruise plays Dr William Hartford, who plunges into an erotic foray that threatens his marriage - and may even ensnare him in a lurid murder mystery - after his wife's (Kidman) admission of sexual longings. As the story sweeps from doubt and fear to self-discovery and reconciliation, Kubrick orchestrates it with masterful flourishes. Graceful tracking shots, controlled pacing, rich colours, startling images: bravura traits that make Kubrick a filmmaker for the ages are here to keep everyone's eyes wide shut.

Antichrist
2009 108mins Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden (18) Horror / Mystery
Directed by Lars von Trier Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm, Willem Dafoe

While a married couple (Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg) is having sex, their infant son in a nearby room falls out a window to his death. She becomes distraught and is hospitalized, but her husband, who is a psychiatrist, attempts to treat her. Deciding that she needs to face her fears, he takes her to a cabin in the woods where she spent a previous summer with the boy. Once they are there, she becomes more unhinged and starts perpetrating sexual violence on her husband and herself.

Black Narcissus
1947 101mins UK (U) Psychological Drama
Directed by Michael Powell|Emeric Pressburger Starring Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, Flora Robson, David Farrar

This explosive work about the conflict between the spirit and the flesh is the epitome of the sensuous style of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. A group of nuns—played by some of Britain's finest actresses, including Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, and Flora Robson—struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad. A darkly grand film that won Oscars for Alfred Junge's art direction and Jack Cardiff's cinematography, Black Narcissus is one of the greatest achievements by two of cinema's true visionaries.

Dogtooth [Kynodontas]
2009 97mins Greece (18) Psychological Drama
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos Starring Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley, Angeliki Papoulia

Newly restored in 4K, DOGTOOTH follows a controlling, manipulative father who locks his three adult children in a state of perpetual childhood by keeping them prisoner within the sprawling family compound.

The Last Temptation of Christ
1988 164mins USA (15) Drama
Directed by Martin Scorsese Starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey

Jesus, a humble Judean carpenter beginning to see that he is the son of God, is drawn into revolutionary action against the Roman occupiers by Judas - despite his protestations that love, not violence, is the path to salvation. The burden of being the saviour of mankind torments Jesus throughout his life, leading him to doubt. As he is put to death on the cross, Jesus is tempted by visions of an ordinary life married to Mary Magdalene.

Salo, Or The 120 Days of Sodom
1975 117mins France, Italy (18) Arthouse Horror
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini Starring Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Uberto Paolo Quintavalle, Aldo Valletti, Caterina Boratto, Elsa De Giorgi

Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.

Ms. 45
1981 80mins USA (18) Thriller
Directed by Abel Ferrara Starring Zoë Tamerlis, Steve Singer, Jack Thibeau, Peter Yellen

Eerie and unforgettable, MS. 45 is an essential snapshot of New York City in the early 1980s from Abel Ferrara (DRILLER KILLER, THE ADDICTION)—one of the greatest and most unique living filmmakers on the planet. Thana (Zoë Tamerlis) is a garment worker who’s had the ultimate bad day, as she’s assaulted twice in visceral fashion. Shocked to her core, Thana's nights become consumed by vengeful prowls through the city, which result in men winding up on the wrong end of a bullet. Knocking the DEATH WISH rip-off subgenre into a new stratosphere, MS. 45 showcases a haunting performance from Tamerlis and Ferrara's knack for transforming limited resources into genre revolutions.

Content Warning: Contains scenes of sexual assault that some viewers may find distressing. Further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com, as well as through general internet searches.

Benedetta
2021 131mins France, Netherlands (18) Film
Directed by Paul Verhoeven Starring Virginie Efira, Lambert Wilson, Daphne Patakia, Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Olivier

With this orgiastic immersion in the mystic reveries of a real-life historical figure, the king of the erotic thriller Paul Verhoeven gives the nunsploitation flick a high-art makeover. Elegant, perverse, and teasingly scandalous, Benedetta critiques religious hypocrisy with an impish grin.