Scottish Film Events: September 2022

Scottish cinemas get a bit racy this month as a wonderful selection of pre-Code films head to Filmhouse and GFT. For those uninitiated in this debauched period in American film history, ‘pre-Code’ refers to the years in the early-30s before the Hays censorship code was fully enforced, allowing Hollywood filmmakers to run amok with tales of sex, violence and hard living. Quintessential pre-Code films like Jewel Robbery (1932), Blonde Crazy (1931) and A Free Soul (1931) are included in the lineup, while film critic and season co-curator Pamela Hutchinson will be around to present and give Q&As on two of the most risqué films in the season: Red-Headed Woman (1932) (21 Sep, Filmhouse) and Baby Face (1933) (22 Sep, GFT). 

There are plenty of retrospectives happening this month too. Summerhall Cinema in Edinburgh celebrates the great Marilyn Monroe on the 60th anniversary of her death with screenings of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (15 & 18 Sep), The Seven Year Itch (22 & 24 Sep) and The Misfits (29 Sep & 2 Oct). Filmhouse, meanwhile, get psyched for the release of David Cronenberg’s latest film, Crimes of the Future, by throwing a trio of his best up onto the big screen: Dead Ringers, Videodrome and The Fly (19-22 Sep).

Fresh from dazzling audiences at EIFF, the cinema of Kinuyo Tanaka will be enchanting Glasgow audiences as GFT name her this month’s CineMaster. All six of Tanaka’s films will screen. Among them are the star-studded tale of love and social dislocation Love Letter (31 Aug), the romantic comedy The Moon Has Risen (4 & 5 Sep) and moving sex worker melodrama Girls of the Night (18 & 21 Sep). Another GFT regular not to be missed is the ongoing Scorsese of the Month screening. This month the baton passes to Katie Goh, who’ll be introducing the maestro’s shattering Edith Wharton adaptation The Age of Innocence on 19 September. Also be sure to visit GFT a few days earlier, as the great Peter Strickland will be in town to present his new film Flux Gourmet and take part in a Q&A after the film (17 Sep).

And finally, it’s a full moon on 10 September, so beware, because Edinburgh’s Cameo are screening two of the greatest werewolf films ever: John Landis’s An American Werewolf in London (on 35mm) and Joe Dante’s The Howling, which were released only a few months apart in 1981. We’re delighted to see Edinburgh’s Cameo back in the horror double-bill game, and we’re even more excited to learn that Cameo’s All-Night Horror Madness will be returning in October – watch this space for more details. [Jamie Dunn]