The Prince Charles Cinema

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House [Hausu]
1977 87mins Japan (15) Horror / Comedy
Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi Starring Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Ai Matubara, Kumiko Oba

An unforgettable mixture of bubblegum teen melodrama and grisly phantasmagoria, Obayashi’s deranged fairy tale House is one of Japanese cinema’s wildest supernatural ventures and a truly startling debut feature.

Distressed by her widowed father’s plans to remarry, Angel sets off with six of her schoolgirl friends in tow for a summer getaway in her aunt’s isolated mansion. But all is not well – in this house of dormant secrets, long-held emotional traumas have terrifyingly physical embodiments and the girls will have to use all their individual talents if any are to survive.

A rollercoaster ride without brakes, House is by turns sinister, hilarious and curiously touching, with ceaseless cinematic invention and a satirical, full-blooded approach to the horror genre.

In The Mood For Love
2000 98mins Hong Kong (PG) Romance
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Rebecca Pan, Lai Chen, Paulyn Sun

In 1962 Hong Kong, neighbors Su Li-zhen (Mrs. Chan) and Chow Mo-wan (Mr. Chow) discover their spouses are having an affair. As they spend time together, they develop feelings for each other, but their relationship remains chaste and unspoken, reflecting societal constraints and their own moral compass.

Oldboy [Oldeuboi]
2003 120mins South Korea (18) Psychological Horror
Directed by Chan-wook Park Starring Hye-jeong Kang, Ji-tae Yu, Min-sik Choi

Dae-Su is an obnoxious drunk bailed from the police station yet again by a friend. However, he's abducted from the street and wakes up in a cell, where he remains for the next 15 years, drugged unconscious when human contact is unavoidable, otherwise with only the television as company. And then, suddenly released, he is invited to track down his jailor with a denouement that is simply stunning.

Solaris (1972)
1972 167mins Soviet Union (12A) Science Fiction
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky Starring Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet, Natalya Bondarchuk

A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.

Stalker
1979 161mins Soviet Union (PG) Science Fiction
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky Starring Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Alisa Freyndlikh, Anatoliy Solonitsyn

In an unnamed country at an unspecified time, there is a fiercely protected post-apocalyptic wasteland known as The Zone. An illegal guide (Aleksandr Kajdanovsky), whose mutant child suggests unspeakable horrors within The Zone, leads a writer (Anatoliy Solonitsyn) and a scientist (Nikolay Grinko) into the heart of the devastation in search of a mythical place known only as The Room. Anyone who enters The Room will supposedly have any of his earthly desires immediately fulfilled.

The Worst Person in the World
2022 128mins Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden (15) Romance/Comedy
Directed by Joachim Trier Starring Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum, Renate Reinsve

On the verge of turning thirty, Julie is faced with a series of choices that force her to pursue new perspectives on her life in contemporary Oslo. Over the course of four years, she navigates love affairs and existential uncertainty as she starts deciding who she wants to become.

Battle Royale [Batoru rowaiaru]
2000 114mins Japan (18) Action / Thriller
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku Starring Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Tatsuya Fuji, Tatsuya Fujiwara

42 9th graders are sent to a deserted island. They are given a map, food, and various weapons. An explosive collar is fitted around their neck. If they break a rule, the collar explodes. Their mission: kill each other and be the last one standing. The last survivor is allowed to leave the island. If there is more than one survivor, the collars explode and kill them all.

Cure
1997 111mins Japan (15) Horror
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa Starring Kôji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki

A detective starts spiraling out of control when a wave of gruesome murders with seemingly similar bizarre circumstances are sweeping Tokyo.

Yi Yi
2000 173mins Taiwan (15) Drama
Directed by Edward Yang Starring Wu Nien-jen, Elaine Jin, Issey Ogata, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Hsi-Sheng Chen, Su-Yun Ko, Lawrence Ko

The extraordinary, internationally embraced Yi Yi (A One and a Two . . .), directed by the late Taiwanese master Edward Yang, follows a middle-class family in Taipei over the course of one year, beginning with a wedding and ending with a funeral. Whether chronicling middle-age father NJ’s tentative flirtations with an old flame or precocious young son Yang-Yang’s attempts at capturing reality with his beloved camera, the filmmaker deftly imbues every gorgeous frame with a compassionate clarity. Warm, sprawling, and dazzling, this intimate epic is one of the undisputed masterworks of the new century.

4K digital restoration carried out by Pony Canyon Inc., with analog and digital processes provided by Imagica Entertainment Media Services, Inc.

City on Fire
1987 105mins Hong Kong (18) Action / Crime
Directed by Ringo Lam Ling-Tung Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee Sau-Yin, Sun Yueh

Ko Chow is an undercover cop who is under pressure from all sides. His boss, Inspector Lau, wants him to infiltrate a gang of ruthless jewel thieves; his girlfriend wants him to commit to marriage or she will leave Hong Kong with another lover; and he is being pursued by other cops who are unaware that he is a colleague. Chow would rather quit the force, feeling guilty about betraying gang members who have become his friends.

Brand new Restoration courtesy of our friends at Arrow Films.

100 Meters
2025 106mins Japan (18) Anime
Directed by Kenji Iwaisawa Starring Tori Matsuzaka, Shôta Sometani, Koki Uchiyama

100 METERS follows Togashi, a track star who is born to run. As a kid, he is naturally gifted and wins every 100-meter race without effort. But in sixth grade, he meets Komiya, a transfer student who is full of determination but lacks technique. In teaching him, Togashi gives Komiya a new purpose: to win no matter what. Years pass by, and Togashi and Komiya meet again as rivals on the track and reveal their true selves.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
1966 180mins Italy, Spain, USA, West Germany (18) Western
Directed by Sergio Leone Starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach

While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.

Redline
2009 102mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Takeshi Koike Starring Takuya Kimura, Yû Aoi, Tatsuya Gashûin, Yoshinori Okada, Kanji Tsuda

A daredevil driver is determined to compete in Redline, the most popular race in the galaxy. The race only occurs every five years, but in order to participate he must overcome the mafia, the government and even love.

Paris, Texas
1984 145mins France, Germany, UK, USA, West Germany (12A) Drama
Directed by Wim Wenders Starring Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell

A disheveled man who wanders out of the desert, Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) seems to have no idea who he is. When a stranger manages to contact his brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell), Travis is awkwardly reunited with his sibling. Travis has been missing for years, and his presence unsettles Walt and his family, which also includes Travis's own son, Hunter (Hunter Carson). Soon Travis must confront his wife, Jane (Nastassja Kinski), and try to put his life back together.

Playtime
1967 123mins France, Italy (PG) Comedy Genius
Directed by Jacques Tati Starring Barbara Dennek, Jacques Tati, Rita Maiden

Clumsy Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) finds himself perplexed by the intimidating complexity of a gadget-filled Paris. He attempts to meet with a business contact but soon becomes lost. His roundabout journey parallels that of an American tourist (Barbara Dennek), and as they weave through the inventive urban environment, they intermittently meet, developing an interest in one another. They eventually get together at a chaotic restaurant, along with several other quirky characters.

Woman In The Dunes
1965 127mins Japan (15) Psychological Thriller
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara Starring Eiji Okada, Kyoko Kishida

An entomologist misses the last bus home and spends the night sharing a young widow’s desert shack, only to find the next morning that he’s unable to leave. He soon becomes psychologically and erotically entangled in her strange existence, which includes a daily ritual of shovelling away endlessly drifting sand. 

Winner of a Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1964 and nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film and Best Director, the film combines an extremely erotic drama with a terrifically gripping thriller. Adapted from Kobe Abe’s novel by acclaimed director Hiroshi Teshigahara, the film also features startling high-contrast black and white photography from Hiroshi Segawa and a superb minimalist score by Toru Takemitsu.

Possession
1981 124mins France, West Germany (18) Horror
Directed by Andrzej Zulawski Starring Sam Neill, Isabelle Adjani, Margit Carstensen, Sam Neil

After Anna (Isabelle Adjani) reveals to her husband, Mark (Sam Neill), that she is having an affair, she leaves him and their son. Mark is devastated, and seeks out Heinrich (Heinz Bennent), the man who cuckolded him, only to receive a beating. After a series of violent confrontations between Mark and Anna, Mark hires a private investigator to follow her. Anna descends into madness, and it's soon clear that she is hiding a much bigger secret -- one that is both inexplicable and shocking.

Memories of Murder [Salinui chueok]
2003 132mins South Korea (15) Crime / Thriller
Directed by Bong Joon Ho Starring Kang-ho Song, Roe-ha Kim, Sang-kyung Kim

In 1986, Park (Song Kang-ho) and Cho (Kim Roi-ha) are two simple-minded detectives assigned to a double murder investigation in a South Korean province. But when the murderer strikes several more times with the same pattern, the detectives realize that they are chasing the country's first documented serial killer. Relying on only their basic skills and tools, Park and Jo attempt to piece together the clues and solve the case in this thriller based on true events.

Seven Samurai [Shichinin no samurai]
1954 207mins Japan (PG) Western
Directed by Akira Kurosawa Starring Toshi, Keiko Tsushima, Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune

Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.

Perfect Blue
1997 81mins Japan (18) Anime
Directed by Satoshi Kon| Toshi Starring Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji

"THE COLOUR OF ILLUSION IS PERFECT BLUE"

A young Japanese singer is encouraged by her agent to quit singing and pursue an acting career, beginning with a role in a murder mystery TV show.

Come and See
1985 141mins Russia (15) War / Horror
Directed by Elem Klimov Starring Aleksei Kravchenko, Olga Mironova

This widely acclaimed film from Soviet director Elem Klimov is a stunning, senses-shattering plunge into the dehumanizing horrors of war. As Nazi forces encroach on his small village in present-day Belarus, teenage Flyora (Aleksei Kravchenko, in one of the screen’s most searing depictions of anguish since Renée Falconetti’s Joan of Arc) eagerly joins the Soviet resistance. Rather than the adventure and glory he envisioned, what he finds is a waking nightmare of unimaginable carnage and cruelty—rendered with a feverish, otherworldly intensity by Klimov’s subjective camerawork and expressionistic sound design. Nearly suppressed by Soviet censors who took eight years to approve its script, Come and See is perhaps the most visceral, impossible-to-forget antiwar film ever made.

Harakiri
1962 133mins Japan (15) Drama
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin's resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

Ghost in the Shell
1995 89mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Mamoru Oshii Starring Akio Ôtsuka, Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi

In this Japanese animation, cyborg federal agent Maj. Motoko Kusanagi (Mimi Woods) trails "The Puppet Master" (Abe Lasser), who illegally hacks into the computerized minds of cyborg-human hybrids. Her pursuit of a man who can modify the identity of strangers leaves Motoko pondering her own makeup and what life might be like if she had more human traits. With her partner (Richard George), she corners the hacker, but her curiosity about her identity sends the case in an unforeseen direction.

Cinema Paradiso [Nuovo Cinema Paradiso]
1988 124mins Italy (12A) Drama
Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore Starring Antonella Attili, Enzo Cannavale, Philippe Noiret

A winner of awards across the world including Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, 5 BAFTA Awards including Best Actor, Original Screenplay and Score, the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and many more.

Giuseppe Tornatore's loving homage to the cinema tells the story of Salvatore, a successful film director, returning home for the funeral of Alfredo, his old friend who was the projectionist at the local cinema throughout his childhood. Soon memories of his first love affair with the beautiful Elena and all the highs and lows that shaped his life come flooding back, as Salvatore reconnects with the community he left 30 years earlier.

Tokyo Godfathers
2003 88mins Japan (12) Anime
Directed by Satoshi Kon Starring Aya Okamoto, Tory Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki

Middle-aged alcoholic Gin, teenage runaway Miyuki and former drag queen Hana are a trio of homeless people surviving as a makeshift family on the streets of Tokyo. While rummaging in the trash for food on Christmas Eve, they stumble upon an abandoned newborn baby in a trash bin. With only a handful of clues to the baby's identity, the three misfits search the streets of Tokyo for help in returning the baby to its parents.

The Holy Mountain
1973 115mins Mexico (18) Mind F**k
Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky Starring Alejandro Jodorowsky, Horacio Salinas, Zamira Saunders

In a corrupt, greed-fueled world, a powerful alchemist leads a messianic character and seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain, where they hope to achieve enlightenment.

The World of Wong Kar Wai
1994 563mins Hong Kong (18) Movie Marathons
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Faye Wong, Leslie Cheung, Takeshi Kaneshiro

All Nighter Rules & FAQ re: Etiquette, Food, Alcohol etc

Please Note: We will have a late licence on the night, and the bar will close at 2am.

THE ALL-NIGHTER IS DUE TO END APPROX 09:00am.

AS TEARS GO BY (1988): A low-level triad "big brother" has a hot-tempered "little brother" who can't keep out of trouble, and consequently is in constant need of being bailed out by his protector. The "big brother" is super cool, but lacks the ambition to rise in the ranks of the triad societies - and once he meets his cousin frm Kowloon and falls in love with her, he even thinks about leaving "the life"

CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994): The whiplash, double-pronged "Chungking Express" is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by ex-lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wong’s gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” into tokens of romantic longing.

FALLEN ANGELS (1997): Lost souls reach out for human connection amidst the glimmering night world of Hong Kong in Wong Kar Wai’s hallucinatory, neon-soaked nocturne. Originally conceived as a segment of Chungking Express only to spin off on its own woozy axis, this hyper-cool head rush plays like the dark, moody flip side to Wong’s breakout feature as it charts the subtly interlacing fates of a handful of urban loners, including a coolly detached hitman (Leon Lai) looking to go straight, his business partner (Michelle Reis) who secretly yearns for him, and a mute delinquent (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who wreaks mischief by night. Swinging between hardboiled noir and slapstick lunacy with giddy abandon, Fallen Angels is both a dizzying, dazzling city symphony and a poignant meditation on love, loss, and longing in a metropolis that never sleeps.

DAYS OF BEING WILD (1990): Wong Kar Wai’s breakthrough sophomore feature represents the first full flowering of his swooning signature style. The first film in a loosely connected, ongoing cycle that includes In the Mood for Love and 2046, this ravishing existential reverie is a dreamlike drift through the Hong Kong of the 1960s in which a band of wayward twenty-somethings—including a disaffected playboy (Leslie Cheung) searching for his birth mother, a lovelorn woman (Maggie Cheung) hopelessly enamored with him, and a policeman (Andy Lau) caught in the middle of their turbulent relationship—pull together and push apart in a cycle of frustrated desire. The director’s inaugural collaboration with both cinematographer Christopher Doyle, who lends the film its gorgeously gauzy, hallucinatory texture, and actor Tony Leung, who appears briefly in a tantalizing teaser for a never-realized sequel, Days of Being Wild is an exhilarating first expression of Wong’s trademark themes of time, longing, dislocation, and the restless search for human connection.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000): Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are formal and polite—until a discovery about their spouses creates an intimate bond between them. At once delicately mannered and visually extravagant, Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments. With its aching musical soundtrack and exquisitely abstract cinematography by Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin, this film has been a major stylistic influence on the past decade of cinema, and is a milestone in Wong’s redoubtable career.

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NO ALCOHOL PURCHASED FROM OUTSIDE IS PERMITTED IN THE BUILDING!

AGE RESTRICTIONS : This event is strictly 18+

La Haine
1995 98mins France (15) Crime
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz Starring Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui, Vincent Cassel

Hatred breeds hatred...

24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.

My Neighbor Totoro
1988 87mins Japan (U) Anime
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki Starring Toshi, Chika Sakamoto, Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka

Satsuki and Mei's mother has taken ill. In order to be closer to her while she recovers in a rural convalescent hospital, their father moves the two sisters from their home in a city to the countryside. The house they move into is a ramshackle old place in the shadow of an ancient camphor tree, and Satsuki and Mei embark on adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.

Presented in Both Subtitled and Dubbed Performances; see SUB or DUB tags next to film time for performance info.

English Dub Voice Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daley, Pat Caroll, Lea Salonga, Frank Welker and Paul Butcher

Japanese Language Voice Cast: Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi, Sumi Shimamoto, Tanie Kitabayashi, Hitoshi Takagi

Wings of Desire [Der Himmel über Berlin]
1987 128mins France, Germany, West Germany (12A) Drama
Directed by Wim Wenders Starring Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander

Two angels, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander), glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion (Solveig Dommartin), the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds--with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk (playing himself) -- that it might be possible for him to take human form.

Police Story
1985 100mins Hong Kong (15) Action / Crime
Directed by Jackie Chan Starring Brigitte Lin, Charlie Cho, Chor Yuen, Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung

An honest Hong Kong cop protecting a Triad boss's girlfriend-turned-informer, finds himself framed for the murder of a dirty cop and going on the run. The movie mixes slapstick with wild stunts and features some painful outtakes during the final credits.

Le Samourai
1967 105mins France, Italy (PG) Crime
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville Starring Alain Delon, Caty Rosier, François Périer, Jacques Leroy, Michel Boisrond, Nathalie Delon

After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.

Chungking Express
1994 101mins Hong Kong (12) Romance/Drama
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Brigitte Lin, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Valerie Chow

Every day, Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) buys a can of pineapple with an expiration date of May 1, symbolizing the day he'll get over his lost love. He's also got his eye on a mysterious woman in a blond wig (Brigitte Lin), oblivious of the fact she's a drug dealer. Cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is distraught with heartbreak over a breakup. But when his ex drops a spare set of his keys at a local cafe, a waitress (Faye Wong) lets herself into his apartment and spruces up his life.

Princess Mononoke
1997 133mins Japan (PG) Anime
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki Starring Yôji Matsuda, Yûko Tanaka, Yuriko Ishida

As civilization draws ever nearer to their idyllic forest home, a group of mischievous Japanese raccoons try to scare humans away. But they soon discover that man is not their only rival in their struggle for their age-old territory. Released in 1994 as the Japanese economy slumped, but looking back to the sixties construction boom in Tokyo's Tama Hills, Pom Poko questions the money grabbing ethics of yuppie Japan, and mourns the loss of the countryside. Drawing on Japanese myths and legends, writer and director Isao Takahata presents a satirical view of woodland spirits using every available magical ruse to take on modern developers: including transformations sabotage and trickery. Pom Poko is a unique window into Japanese folklore, a comedy of modern failings, and an elegiac tale of unlikely heroes fighting insurmountable odds.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long)
2000 120mins China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA (12) Action/Adventure
Directed by Ang Lee Starring Michelle Yeoh, Yun-Fat Chow, Ziyi Zhang

In 19th century Qing Dynasty China, a warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) gives his sword, Green Destiny, to his lover (Michelle Yeoh) to deliver to safe keeping, but it is stolen, and the chase is on to find it. The search leads to the House of Yu where the story takes on a whole different level.

Rashomon [Rashômon]
1950 88mins Japan (12A) Drama
Directed by Akira Kurosawa Starring Toshi, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Toshirô Mifune

Set in feudal Japan, this film presents an intriguing tale of violent crime in the woods, told from the perspective of four different characters -- a bandit, a woman, her husband and a woodcutter. Only two things about the incident seem to be clear -- the woman was raped and her husband is now dead. However, the other elements radically differ as the four participants and/or witnesses relate their own stories (with the dead man, eerily enough, speaking through a medium). As each account is revealed, what seemed black-and-white turns to various hues of gray, leading to surprising -- and confounding -- revelations.

Persona
1966 85mins Sweden (15) Romance/Drama
Directed by Ingmar Bergman Starring Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook

Famed stage actress Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann) suffers a moment of blankness during a performance and the next day lapses into total silence. Advised by her doctor to take time off to recover from what appears to be an emotional breakdown, Elisabeth goes to a beach house on the Baltic Sea with only Anna (Bibi Andersson), a nurse, as company. Over the next several weeks, as Anna struggles to reach her mute patient, the two women find themselves experiencing a strange emotional convergence.

Pickpocket
1959 74mins France (PG) Crime
Directed by Robert Bresson Starring Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jea Pélégri

Uncomplainingly jobless in late-50s Paris, Michel starts stealing from strangers, for reasons unclear even to himself. He spouts vague theories about exceptional individuals being above the law – but is he lost in another world, as Jeanne, a young woman he halfheartedly befriends, tells him?

Intentionally not a thriller but certainly not without suspense, Robert Bresson’s film is profoundly ambivalent about Michel’s ethics, sexuality (he seems aroused by his thefts), his capacity for compassion and his courtship of suspicion in others. His isolation, however, is undeniable. A riveting morality tale reminiscent of both Hitchcock and Dostoevsky, it’s imbued with the director’s distinctive rigour.

Dreams
1990 120mins Japan, USA (PG) Fantasy
Directed by Akira Kurosawa Starring Toshi, Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baishô, Toshie Negishi

This imaginative Japanese production presents a series of short films by lauded director Akira Kurosawa. In one chapter, a young boy spies on foxes that are holding a wedding ceremony; the following installment features another youth, who witnesses a magical moment in an orchard. In the segment "Crows," an aspiring artist enters the world of a painting and encounters Vincent van Gogh (Martin Scorsese). Many of the films in this inventive movie are tied together by an environmental theme.

Daisies (Sedmikrásky)
1966 76mins Czechoslovakia, Slovakia (15) Comedy
Directed by Vera Chytilová Starring Ivana Karbanová, Jitka Cerhová

After realizing that all world is spoiled, Marie and Marie are committed to be spoiled themselves. They rip off older men, feast in lavish meals and do all kinds of mischief. But what is all this leading to?

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
1975 202mins Belgium, France (15) Drama
Directed by Chantal Akerman Starring Delphine Seyrig, January Decorte, Henri Storck

Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig), the widowed mother of a teenage son, Sylvain (Jan Decorte), ekes out a drab, repetitive existence in her tiny Brussels apartment. Jeanne's days are divided between humdrum domestic chores -- shopping, cooking, housework -- and her job as an occasional prostitute, which keeps her financially afloat. She seems perfectly resigned to her situation until a series of slight interruptions in her routine leads to unexpected and dramatic changes.

La Dolce Vita
1960 174mins Italy (12A) Comedy / Drama
Directed by Federico Fellini Starring Alain Cuny, Anita Ekberg, Annibale Ninc, Anouk Aimée, Lex Barker, Magali Noël, Marcello Mastroianni, Nadia Gray, Yvonne Furneaux

In Federico Fellini's lauded Italian film, restless reporter Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni) drifts through life in Rome. While Marcello contends with the overdose taken by his girlfriend, Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), he also pursues heiress Maddalena (Anouk Aimée) and movie star Sylvia (Anita Ekberg), embracing a carefree approach to living. Despite his hedonistic attitude, Marcello does have moments of quiet reflection, resulting in an intriguing cinematic character study.

As Tears Go By
1988 98mins Hong Kong (18) Romance
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Maggie Cheung

A low-level triad "big brother" has a hot-tempered "little brother" who can't keep out of trouble, and consequently is in constant need of being bailed out by his protector. The "big brother" is super cool, but lacks the ambition to rise in the ranks of the triad societies - and once he meets his cousin from Kowloon and falls in love with her, he even thinks about leaving "the life"

The Wages of Fear [Le Salaire de la peur]
1953 153mins France, Italy (12A) Action / Thriller
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot Starring Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck

In the South American jungle, supplies of nitroglycerine are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense rivalry develops between the two sets of drivers on the rough remote roads where the slightest jolt can result in death.

Taste of Cherry
1997 99mins Iran (PG) Comedy / Drama
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami Starring Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolrahman Bagheri, Safar Ali Moradi

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami’s _Taste of Cherry_ is an emotionally complex meditation on life and death. Middle-aged Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) drives through the hilly outskirts of Tehran—searching for someone to rescue or bury him.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn
2003 83mins Taiwan (PG) Comedy / Drama
Directed by Ming-liang Tsai Starring Chen Shiang-chyi, Kiyonobu Mitamura, Lee Kang-sheng

On a dark, wet night a historic and regal Chinese cinema sees its final film. Together with a small handful of souls they bid "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".

Tokyo Story [Tôkyô monogatari]
1953 135mins Japan (U) Drama
Directed by Yasujirō Ozu Starring Chieko Higashiyama, Chishū Ryū, Sô Yamamura

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, a doctor, and their daughter, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

Paprika
2006 90mins Japan (15) Adventure / Drama
Directed by Toshi|Satoshi Kon Starring Katsunosuke Hori, Megumi Hayashibara, Tôru Emori

When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.

The Ascent [Voskhozhdenie]
1977 111mins Soviet Union (12) War
Directed by Larisa Shepitko Starring Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergey Yakovlev

The crowning triumph of a career cut tragically short, the final film from Larisa Shepitko won the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival and went on to be hailed as one of the finest works of late Soviet cinema. In the darkest days of World War II, two partisans set out for supplies to sustain their beleaguered outfit, braving the blizzard-swept landscape of Nazi-occupied Belorussia. When they fall into the hands of German forces and come face-to-face with death, each must choose between martyrdom and betrayal, in a spiritual ordeal that lifts the film's earthy drama to the plane of religious allegory. With stark, visceral cinematography that pits blinding white snow against pitch-black despair, THE ASCENT finds poetry and transcendence in the harrowing trials of war.

Reprise
2006 106mins Norway (15) Drama
Directed by Joachim Trier Starring Anders Danielsen Lie, Espen Klouman Høiner, Viktoria Winge, Odd-Magnus Williamson, Pål Stokka

The first in Joachim Trier's masterful “Oslo Trilogy” is an electric and affecting dual portrait of two writer friends whose ambitions are challenged by the trials of life. Saturated with punk playfulness, Reprise explores the tantalizing promise—and peril—of fulfilling your creative aspirations.

Your Name [Kimi no Na wa.]
2016 106mins Japan (12A) Anime
Directed by Makoto Shinkai Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi

Two teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.

Fallen Angels
1995 99mins Hong Kong (15) Thriller / Romance
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Karen Mok, Leon Lai, Michele Reis, Takeshi Kaneshiro

An assassin goes through obstacles as he attempts to escape his violent lifestyle despite the opposition of his partner, who is secretly attracted to him.

Flowers of Shanghai [Hai shang hua]
1998 113mins Taiwan (15) Drama
Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Michiko Hada, Carina Lau

An intoxicating, time-bending experience bathed in the golden glow of oil lamps and wreathed in an opium haze, this gorgeous period reverie by Hou Hsiao-hsien traces the romantic intrigue, jealousies, and tensions swirling around four late-nineteenth-century Shanghai “flower houses,” where courtesans live confined to a gilded cage, ensconced in opulent splendor but forced to work to buy back their freedom. Among the regular clients is the taciturn Master Wang (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), whose relationship with his longtime mistress (Michiko Hada) is roiled by a perceived act of betrayal. Composed in a languorous procession of entrancing long takes, Flowers of Shanghai evokes a vanished world of decadence and cruelty, an insular universe where much of the dramatic action remains tantalizingly offscreen—even as its emotional fallout registers with quiet devastation.

Taipei Story
1985 119mins Taiwan (18) Drama
Directed by Edward Yang Starring Chin Tsai, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wu Nien-jen

Edward Yang's second feature is a mournful anatomy of a city caught between the past and the present. Made in collaboration with Yang's fellow New Taiwan Cinema master Hou Hsiao-hsien, TAIPEI STORY chronicles the growing estrangement between a washed-up baseball player (Hou, in a rare on-screen performance) working in his family's textile business and his girlfriend (Tsai Chin), who clings to the upward mobility of her career in property development. As the couple's dreams of marriage and emigration begin to unravel, Yang's gaze illuminates the precariousness of domestic life and the desperation of Taiwan's globalised modernity.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
2000 103mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri Starring Megumi Hayashibara, Kôichi Yamadera, Hideyuki Tanaka

Baron Meier Link is of a dying race, but the vampire doesn't intend to remain lonely much longer. Abducting women in the night is common for his kind, so what's one more? But Charlotte's father has plenty of money, and there's no price he won't pay to get his daughter back. That's why he hires D.

D is a Dunpeal, a breed rarer than that of the vampires - after all, he's half of one. When it comes to hunting those with fangs like his own, he's the best in the business. But that doesn't mean he's the only game in town. The Markus Brothers are on the vampire's trail as well, and they're not about to lose. It's a race, not only between the rival Hunters, but for the vampire and his bride-to-be. But it might be more than just a job to D. Is Charlotte really a captive? Or will another Dunpeal be born to this world?

Beau Travail
1999 93mins France (15) Drama
Directed by Claire Denis Starring Denis Lavant, Gregoire Colin, Michel Subor

Foreign Legion officer Galoup recalls his once glorious life, training troops in the Gulf of Djibouti. His existence there was happy, strict and regimented, until the arrival of a promising young recruit, Sentain, plants the seeds of jealousy in Galoup's mind.

The Handmaiden [Theatrical Cut]
145mins (18) Thriller / Romance
Directed by Park Chan-Wook Starring Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo

In 1930s Korea, a swindler and a young woman pose as a Japanese count and a handmaiden to seduce a Japanese heiress and steal her fortune.

Irma Vep
1996 99mins France (15) Comedy / Drama
Directed by Olivier Assayas| Olivier Starring Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Antoine Basler, Nathalie Richard

Washed-up French director René Vidal (Jean-Pierre Léaud) hopes to turn his career around with an update of "Les Vampires," a silent-era masterpiece about a notorious ring of thieves, led by crafty female crook Irma Vep. René brings in Chinese star Maggie Cheung (Maggie Cheung) to play Vep, but unexpected roadblocks arise on the set. Maggie doesn't know French, she's pursued by obsessive lesbian crew member Zoe (Nathalie Richard) and her character's criminal ways begin to rub off on her.

Aguirre, Wrath of God
1972 95mins Germany (PG) Adventure / Drama
Directed by Werner Herzog Starring Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo

A few decades after the destruction of the Inca Empire, a Spanish expedition led by the infamous Aguirre leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon River in search of the lost city of El Dorado. When great difficulties arise, Aguirre's men start to wonder whether their quest will lead them to prosperity or certain death.

Duck, You Sucker! [aka Once Upon a Time...the Revolution]
1972 138mins Italy (15) Western
Directed by Sergio Leone Starring Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli

At the beginning of the 1913 Mexican Revolution, greedy bandit Juan Miranda and idealist John H. Mallory, an Irish Republican Army explosives expert on the lam from the British, fall in with a band of revolutionaries plotting to strike a national bank. When it turns out that the government has been using the bank as a hiding place for illegally detained political prisoners -- who are freed by the blast -- Miranda becomes a revolutionary hero against his will.

Oslo, August 31st
2011 95mins Norway (15) Drama
Directed by Joachim Trier Starring Anders Danielsen Lie, Hans Olav Brenner, Ingrid Olava, Øystein Røger, Tone B. Mostraum, Renate Reinsve

A reworking of Louis Malle's New Wave classic The Fire Within, Joachim Trier's Cannes hit about a young man's fade-out is a triumph of sensitive insight and observation, a smart, sharp portrait that even finds within its heavy subject matter the chance for warmth.

Tetsuo : The Iron Man
1989 64mins Japan (18) Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto Starring Shinya Tsukamoto, Tomorowo Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka, Naomasa Musaka, Renji Ishibashi

One of the most influential cyberpunk films of all time, Tetsuo The Iron Man chronicles a salaryman's (Tomorowo Taguchi) transformation from man to metal after himself and his girlfriend (Kei Fujiwara) accidentally run down a metal fetishist (Shin’ya Tsukamoto) with their car. Soundtracked by pulsating punk, Tetsuo The Iron Man remains one of the most explosive films.

The Colour of Pomegranates [Sayat Nova]
1969 80mins Soviet Union (PG) Drama
Directed by Sergei Parajanov Starring Melkon Alekyan, Sofiko Chiaureli, Vilen Galstyan

Sergei Parajanov's celebrated masterpiece paints an astonishing portrait of the 18th century Armenian poet Sayat Nova, the 'King of Song'. Parajanov's aim was not a conventional biography but a cinematic expression of his work, resulting in an extraordinary visual poem. Key moments in his subject's life are illustrated through a series of exquisitely orchestrated tableaux filled with rich colour and stunning iconography, each scene a celluloid painting alive with stylised movement.

Certified Copy [Copie conforme]
2010 106mins Belgium, France, Italy (12A) Romance/Drama
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami Starring Juliette Binoche, William Shimell, Jean-Claude Carrière

From acclaimed director Abbis Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us) comes the story of a couple's apparent chance meeting in beautiful Tusccany. He (William Shimell) is a British author in town to talk about his new book. She (Juliette Binoche) is a French gallery owner in search of originality. Together they tour the local galleries, cafes and museums and discover that nothing is quite what it seems and truth, like art, is always open to interpretation. A captivating film, Certified Copy marries post-modern reality games with mature romantic comedy in a single playful and provocative package.

The American Friend [Der amerikanische Freund]
1977 125mins France, Germany, West Germany (15) Drama
Directed by Wim Wenders Starring Bruno Ganz, Dennis Hopper, Lisa Kreuzer

Tom Ripley, who deals in forged art, suggests a picture framer he knows would make a good hit man.

Godzilla Minus One
2023 124mins Japan (12A) Kaiju
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki Starring Hidetaka Yoshioka, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Minami Hamabe, Munetaka Aoki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Sakura Andô, Yuki Yamada

Japan has barely recovered from the Second World War when a gigantic peril emerges off the coast of Tokyo. Koichi, a deserter traumatised by his first confrontation with Godzilla, sees this as an opportunity to redeem his conduct during the war.

Millennium Actress
2001 87mins Japan (PG) Anime
Directed by Satoshi Kon Starring Fumiko Orikasa, Mami Koyama, Miyoko Shôji, Shôzô Îzuka

Filmmaker Genya Tachibana begins work on a documentary about famed Japanese actress Chiyoko Fujiwara. Now well into old age, Chiyoko has become reclusive and shy about any publicity, but she eventually warms up to Tachibana and starts to relate her life story. As the decades pass, Chiyoko is transformed from a teen with big dreams into a full-blown celebrity, while her cinematic characters span various eras, from ancient Japan to the distant future.

Tampopo
1985 114mins Japan (15) Comedy / Western
Directed by Jûzô Itami Starring Ken Watanabe, Nobuko Miyamoto, Tsutomu Yamazaki

The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle-shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe, this rapturous “ramen western” by Japanese director Juzo Itami is an entertaining, genre-bending adventure underpinned by a deft satire of the way social conventions distort the most natural of human urges—our appetites. Interspersing the efforts of Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) and friends to make her café a success with the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster and glimpses of food culture both high and low, the sweet, sexy, and surreal Tampopo is a lavishly inclusive paean to the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.

Pan's Labyrinth [El Laberinto del Fauno]
2006 118mins Spain (15) Fantasy
Directed by Guillermo del Toro Starring Ariadna Gil, Ivana Baquero, Sergi López

It's 1944 and the Allies have invaded Nazi-held Europe. In Spain, a troop of soldiers are sent to a remote forest to flush out the rebels. They are led by Capitan Vidal, a murdering sadist, and with him are his new wife Carmen and her daughter from a previous marriage, 11-year-old Ofelia. Ofelia witnesses her stepfather's sadistic brutality and is drawn into Pan's Labyrinth, a magical world of mythical beings.

Run Lola Run [Lola rennt]
1998 81mins Germany (15) Thriller
Directed by Tom Tykwer Starring Franka Potente, Herbert Knaup, Moritz Bleibtreu

Lola (Franka Potente) answers a red phone the same color as her punk rock hair. It’s her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtru), a small time courier for a big time gangster. He is at a pay phone with a big problem. His boss is coming to pick up 100,000 Deutsche Marks in twenty minutes, and Manni doesn’t have it. Due to an unfortunate series of events, he left it in a bag on a train. While the homeless man who grabbed the money is about to have a really good day, Lola is determined to figure a way out of this for Manni, so it’s not his last.

With Manni’s life on the line, Lola takes off running through the streets of Berlin to reach him and somehow pick up 100,000 marks along the way, making split-second decisions and encountering acquaintances, family, and strangers. She runs down sidewalks, into offices, through traffic and back again. As the clock ticks down, the tiniest choices become life altering (or life-ending) decisions, and the fine line between fate and fortune begins to blur.

Told in three variations with three endings, Run Lola Run is a fast-paced, kinetic exploration of destiny, set to a pumping dance music soundtrack and interspersed with animated interludes, flashbacks, and flashforwards that remind us of life's limitless possibilities.

Purple Noon [Plein soleil]
1960 118mins France, Italy (12) Crime / Thriller
Directed by René Clément Starring Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforêt

Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) travels to Italy to visit his playboy friend Phillippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) and Phillippe's new fiancée, Marge Duval (Marie Laforêt). What Phillippe doesn't know is that his father has paid Tom to convince his son to abandon Europe and return to his family responsibilities in San Francisco. But when Phillippe's family cuts off their funding of Tom's extravagant lifestyle during his covert mission, he discovers another way to maintain his newfound standard of living.

Breathless [À bout de souffle]
1960 90mins France (12A) Neo Noir
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard Starring Daniel Boulanger, Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo

Petty thug Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) considers himself a suave bad guy in the manner of Humphrey Bogart, but panics and impulsively kills a policeman while driving a stolen car. On the lam, he turns to his aspiring journalist girlfriend, Patricia (Jean Seberg), hiding out in her Paris apartment while he tries to pull together enough money to get the pair to Italy. But when Patricia learns that her boyfriend is being investigated for murder, she begins to question her loyalties.

Enter The Void
2009 161mins France (18) Mind F**k
Directed by Gaspar Noé Starring Cyril Roy, Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta

An American drug dealer living in Tokyo is betrayed by his best friend and killed in a drug deal. His soul, observing the repercussions of his death, seeks resurrection.

Days Of Being Wild
1990 95mins Hong Kong (12) Romance/Drama
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Andy Lau, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Tik-Wa Poon, Tony Leung

Yuddy, a Hong Kong playboy known for breaking girls' hearts, tries to find solace and the truth after discovering the woman who raised him isn't his mother.

Metropolis
1927 149mins Germany (PG) Sci-Fi / Thriller
Directed by Fritz Lang Starring Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, Gustav Fröhlich

This influential German science-fiction film presents a highly stylized futuristic city where a beautiful and cultured utopia exists above a bleak underworld populated by mistreated workers. When the privileged youth Freder (Gustav Fröhlich) discovers the grim scene under the city, he becomes intent on helping the workers. He befriends the rebellious teacher Maria (Brigitte Helm), but this puts him at odds with his authoritative father, leading to greater conflict.

Sentimental Value
2025 135mins Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom (15) Drama
Directed by Joachim Trier Starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning

Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star.

Winner Cannes Film Festival 2025 Grand Prix