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This April, immerse yourself in the world of David Lean’s films as the Irish Film Institute (IFI) celebrates the renowned filmmaker across April and May. April’s selection, projecting entirely from 35mm, offers audiences the chance not just to experience some rare screenings, but to see the films as they were always intended to be seen, on the big screen, and on celluloid. Part One’s programme includes In Which We Serve, This Happy Breed, Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, The Passionate Friends and Madeline. 70mm film will feature in Part Two of the season this May. For times and full details go to ifi.ie/david-lean/
Few British filmmakers have created a body of work as respected and influential as that of Sir David Lean (1908 – 1991), with seven of his 16 films seeing him Oscar-nominated (twice winning) in the category of Best Director.
Starting as a tea-boy at Gaumont Studios, Lean worked his way up to editor on numerous features, including a number of Powell and Pressburger titles, before taking to the director’s chair. Moving from chamber pieces such as Brief Encounter (1945) to some of cinema’s greatest epics, including Lawrence Of Arabia (1962), Lean proved remarkably adept at creating indelible imagery and never lost sight of the intimate human relationships at each film’s core, whatever its scale.
The second part of this David Lean season will run across May, and details of the 8 film line-up will be announced in the coming weeks, with a heavy emphasis on analogue screenings, including 70mm screenings of Lawrence of Arabia and Ryan’s Daughter. This will be a unique opportunity to see these films in this format, as the Irish Film Institute is the only cinema in Ireland with 70mm capability.
Enjoy on the big screen the naval exploits of Mountbatten in the film that saw Lean move from editing to directing alongside Noël Coward – In Which We Serve (1942). Featuring John Mills and Celia Johnson, as well as Richard Attenborough making his (brief) screen debut (Saturday, April 5th, 3.30pm).
For This Happy Breed (1944), Lean took on his first solo directing role. Featuring Robert Newton alongside Cleia Johnson and John Mills, it charts London’s Gibbons family from adapting to the post-war peace of 1919 to facing the inevitability of a new conflict in 1939, with romance and tragedy (Sunday, April 6th, 4pm).
One of Lean’s most enduring and popular films, the supernatural comedy Blithe Spirit (1945), sees novelist Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) finding his second marriage interrupted by the ghost of his first wife (Kay Hammond) following Madame Arcati’s (Margaret Rutherford) séance. The film has become a highly regarded classic of screwball cinema, noted for its striking cinematography (Wednesday, April 9th, 6.20pm).
Arguably the first of Lean’s films to display a true mastery of the medium, Brief Encounter’s aching romance has granted it a permanent place in the canon of British cinema (1945). Featuring Celia Johnson once again, this time alongside Trevor Howard, this lauded drama begins with a chance meeting between two married strangers which develops into a regular appointment. As their emotional connection deepens, they must decide what path to take (Wednesday, April 16th, 6.30pm).
Lean followed his collaborations with Coward by bringing the work of Charles Dickens to the screen, in a pair of films still considered among the very best adaptations of the great writer.
The double Oscar-winning Great Expectations (1945) features the magnificent casting of John Mills (Pip), Valerie Hobson (Estella), Martita Hunt (Miss Havisham), Finlay Currie (Magwitch), and Alec Guinness (Herbert Pocket) (Saturday, April 19th, 3.45pm).
Two years later (1948), Lean turned his focus to orphaned Oliver’s journey from workhouse to the streets of squalid, Victorian London, a city of frequent cruelty and injustice, as one of a gang of pickpockets in Oliver Twist brought to vivid life by John Howard Davies, Robert Newton, Kay Walsh and Anthony Newley, and featuring the striking, German Expressionist-influenced cinematography (Sunday, April 20th, 3.45pm).
With The Passionate Friends (1949), Lean returned to romantic drama in the vein of Brief Encounter. Ann Todd stars as Mary, married to Howard (Claude Rains), but pining for paramour Steven (Trevor Howard), who has returned to her life. A lavish production, making full use of its glamorous European locations and one in which Rains truly excels (Thursday, April 22nd, 6.20pm).
A film very much worthy of rediscovery, Madeline (1950) once again features Ann Todd in the role of Madeline Smith. Based on a true story, Smith was a Glasgow woman accused in 1857 of the murder of her French lover, Emile, played by Ivan Desny. While her father, unaware of this relationship, encourages her to marry a man of wealth and position, Madeline begins to question Emile’s motives (Wednesday, April 30th, 6.20pm).
Book now for cinema screenings via ifi.ie/david-lean/ or via IFI Box Office in-person or over the phone via 01 679 3477.
The IFI season pricing scheme is as follows:
3 Film Pass* – €30.00
5 Film Pass* – €50.00
8 Film Pass* – €80.00
*Season membership fee of €5.00 is applicable to all bundles for Non-Members. These passes can only be booked in person or by calling the IFI Box Office on 01 679 3477.
About the IFI
The Irish Film Institute (IFI) is Ireland’s national cultural institution for film. It provides audiences throughout Ireland with access to the finest independent, Irish and international cinema, including online via its streaming platform IFI@Home; it preserves and promotes Ireland’s moving image heritage through the IFI Irish Film Archive, and provides opportunities for audiences of all ages and backgrounds to learn and critically engage with film. As the only cinema with a 70mm projector, the IFI is the home of film in Ireland with a commitment to analogue exhibition.
This season is supported by Expert Air.
The IFI acknowledges the support of our primary funder the Arts Council.
For further media information please contact:
Sinead O’Doherty (Macdonald), O’Doherty Communications
+353 86 259 1070
sinead@odohertycommunications.com
BLUE ROAD – THE EDNA O’BRIEN STORY 18:00
I’M STILL HERE 15:20
IFI EVENING COURSE: 2020S’ VISION – NEW AND RECENT IRISH CINEMA 18:30
MICKEY 17 13:00, 20:20
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? 13.20
SISTER MIDNIGHT 13:00, 20:50
THE IRISH QUESTION 15:50, 18:15
VERMIGLIO 15:40
The IFI is supported by The Arts Council
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