20th Century Flicks, Bristol

A respectable, sincere film of Robert Bolt's literate play, with Scofield as Sir Thomas More, endorsing the divine right of the Pope over and above his King, Henry VIII, who wishes to divorce Katherine Of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. Watch out for Orson Welles in a marvellous cameo as Cardinal Wolsey. The film won 6 Oscars. find out more...

AGORA (2009)

Certification12 Our Rating

A wonderful tale revolving round the atheistic female mathematician, philosopher and all-round genius Hypatia, the lover she spurned and the slave who adored her; Roman authority is collapsing, the end is nigh and the Talibanesque Christians are preparing to both sack and burn the great library at Alexandria, destroying the collective scientific work of centuries, setting back science and maths a millennium, and massacre thousands (including, of course, the Jews). This is an ambitious and swe find out more...

AMAZING GRACE (2006)

Certification15 Our Rating

Inside this conventionally structured biopic resides an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man. William Wilberforce was the parliamentary spokesman for a group of radicalised young Evangelists (and Quakers), who despised the money politics and corruption of late 18th Century UK politics and who fought for many reformist policies, the most notable of which was the one this film annotates, the abolition of slavery, a process that took years of political skulduggery and the slow passage of find out more...

ASOKA (2000)

Certification12 Our Rating

Emperor Asoka was ruler of Magadha in the 3rd century BC and after waging a savage war on the neighbouring kingdom of Kalinga he finally witnesses the consequences of his actions, a dreadful reality that causes him to renounce his war like ways and dedicate himself to spreading the teachings of Buddha. Asoka is by no means historically accurate but it is a lush and fascinating epic. find out more...

BEAUTIFUL BOXER (2003)

Certification15 Our Rating

Nong Toom has become one of the very best at his particular discipline, the ancient martial art of Muay Thai, but unlike many of his fellow combatants, Nong is in search of more than just fame and fortune. In the perfection of his art Nong hopes to find the financial means by which he can redefine his very sexuality. Based on a true story, Beautiful Boxer is a bone crunching display of its art, though, perhaps, some of the emotional subtleties have been lost in between the stunningly choreograph find out more...

BECKET (1964)

CertificationPG Our Rating

In a move designed to subordinate the Catholic Church to the state, Henry II gave the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury to his close friend and ally Thomas Becket. With Becket now installed as his 'man on the inside' Henry could be forgiven for thinking that the church would more easily acquiesce to his bidding. Henry, however, had neither bargained on Becket's ecclesiastical fervour nor realized his zealous nature. Thus the stage was set for one of the greatest battles of supremacy between find out more...

BOY ERASED (2018)

Certification15 Our Rating

BOY ERASED is a true memoir written by Gerrad Conley about his experiences with conversion therapy - that church oriented isolation of gay men and women intent on restoring them back from their sinful ways and Satan's influence. As adapted for the screen by Joel Edgerton (who also directs an plays a very prominent role of the man who is in charge of the conversio find out more...

No Image for BROKEN BLOSSOMS / ABRAHAM LINCOLN

BROKEN BLOSSOMS / ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1919)

CertificationU Our Rating

Two works from the father of narrative cinema. In "Broken Blossoms" (1919); a Chinaman arrives in London to teach the locals the ideals of Buddhism but finds them most unreceptive and, instead, opens a shop which becomes the refuge for a xenophobic boxer's abused daughter. Lillian Gish is brilliant and Griffith poetic. "Abraham Lincoln", (1930), was Griffith's first talkie and is a straightforward biopic from childhood to his premature assassination. find out more...

FRANCESCO GIULLARE DI DIO (1950)

CertificationPG Our Rating

A beautiful and elegantly simple film about the life and works of Francesco Di Assisi, founder of a religious order that expressed Christianity in a form devoid of materialism but rich in compassion; a faith that the orthodox church, by the time of Francesco's birth in the late 12th century, had long dispensed with. Neorealistic in style and obviously close to Rossellini's heart, this is now acknowledged as one of his greatest masterpieces. find out more...

GANDHI (1982)

Certification12 Our Rating

The object of this massive tribute died as he had always lived, without wealth, without property, without official title or office. Mahatma Gandhi was not the commander of armies, nor the ruler of vast lands, he could not boast any scientific achievement or artistic gift, yet men, governments, dignitaries from all over the world, have joined hands today to pay homage to the little brown man in the loin cloth who led his country to freedom. This quote is from his funeral, one of the greatest s find out more...