For those of you who prefer to watch films in a cinema (that's pretty much all of you, right?), one of our favourite distributors, Second Run, in association with the Riverside Studios Czech Film Festival, are offering the chance to see two of their previous DVD releases on the big screen, a double-bill from Czech director Juraj Herz consisting of his 1969 The Cremator (Spalovac mrtvol) and his 1972 Morgiana, which we very recently reviewed here. You'll need to be in London, but if you can get there on Friday evening and make your way to the Riverside Studios in the Hammersmith district, then the two films are running as part of the Riverside Studio as part of their 2010 Czech Film Festival.
The Cremator has been described as a chilling mix of Dr. Strangelove and Repulsion and is set in Prague during the Nazi occupation. It tells the story of Karl Kopfrkingl (a startling performance by Rudolf Hrušínský), a professional cremator, for whom the political climate allows free rein to his increasingly deranged impulses for the 'salvation of the world'...
Set in a decadent 19th century, Morgiana is the story of two sisters (both brilliantly played by Czech star Iva Janzurová́) – Klára is auburn-haired and beautiful, Viktoria is wicked, sadistic, bursting with hate and jealousy, and is plotting to poison her more popular sibling. A twisted take on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, this is part fairy-tale, part Gothic horror, and a full-blown hallucinatory experience.
To book tickets, call the box office on 020 8237 1111 or visit www.riversidestudios.co.uk. You'll also find information there on how to locate the Riverside by road or public transport. The show starts at 7pm with The Cremator. Tickets, if I'm reading the info right, should be £10 for both films. |