January Film Events

As we ring in the new year, it’s always good to reflect on the past. What better way to do that than with a selection of film classics? January is all about retrospectives in the cinema, and there is something for everyone.

At the GFT from 3-12 January you can see a selection of films from Polish director Wojciech Has.  The filmmaker’s surrealist works have been hugely influential on directors such as David Lynch and acclaimed by Martin Scorsese and Luis Buñuel.  Check out his masterpiece from 1965, Saragossa Manuscript, which on its release in the US became an underground hit for the counter-culture generation. 

With everyone else completely distracted by the festive season, all we can say is keep an eye on the GFT’s film schedule in January. Continuing their Cult! USA season and following their choices in November and December (Electra Glide in Blue and They Might Be Giants respectively), there will be more 1970s American classics to be announced for 2010. This is a rare chance to see some excellent and unusual films, so don’t miss out.

Already planned at the GFT are a selection of late night classics, including Kinji Fukasaku’s violent extravaganza, Battle Royale on 15 January. A modern one-of-a-kind, until the American remake arrives in 2011, one does not often get the opportunity to see this shocking Japanese thriller on the big screen. Also showing is The Wicker Man – not the Nicolas Cage one, thankfully – on 29 January. After the passing of Edward Woodward, pay homage to him by watching his most famous film.

The Big Sleep is showing at the CCA in Glasgow on 14 January. One of IMDb’s top 250 films, Bacall and Bogart return to sizzle on screen for another Howard Hawks classic. The Big Sleep is considered one of the best examples of American film noir, and is essential viewing for any film fan.

Finally, to coincide with an exhibition of his work, Martin Boyce has selected four films to be shown at the DCA in Dundee. These include Antonioni’s La Notte on 19 January, and Play Time on 9-10 January, directed by Jacques Tati. The simple film with little story or speech, following a man lost in a maze of construction, deserves a big screen viewing and is considered by many to be Tati’s masterpiece.