First Impressions: Thinking Aloud About Film

https://notesonfilm1.com/2026/07/31/cinema-rediscovered-2026-wrap-up/
As ever Richard and I loved attending this year’s edition of Cinema Rediscovered at the Watershed in Bristol. They do so many things for the city and for cinema; bringing in so many venues into the festival; offering young people the opportunities to programme, to get experience with criticism, to learn about Bristol as a cinema city (Mark Fuller’s wonderful walks), familiarise themselves with different histories (Rosie Taylor’s wonderful talk on 9.5mm film; the Queen Kelly programme with Pamela Hutchinson’s superb introduction, and in two different venues, so one can explore different cinemas in Bristol) and so much else. In this podcast Richard and I go through the programme day by day, speaking on all the events we attended (everyone will have a slightly different experience of Cinema Rediscovered), praising much (Different Ways of Seeing panel, the Cruising pop-up, many of the individual films) and offering some criticisms which we aim to be constructive (is it time to let go of the 70s, rogue or not? Might the comic book adaptation strand have been better shaped and signalled; might connections between films in the programme have been better highlighted). That said, another brilliant year, it’s tenth! Here’s to many more. Congratulations to Mark Cosgrove, Maddie Probst and the dozens of other people who made it all possible.

https://notesonfilm1.com/2026/07/19/thinking-aloud-about-film-death-of-a-cyclist-muerte-de-un-ciclista-juan-antonio-bardem-1955/
Part of the Juan Antonio Bardem cycle of films screened at Bologna and available to see through a marvellous Criterion Edition.

An adulterous couple run over a cyclist in a deserted road and run off in fear of their affair being found out. The cyclist dies. An epicene art critic claims to have seen them and starts a blackmail scheme. What are they willing to do to protect their wealth,  family name and social standing? What are the effects of murder on an already tainted love? A noir influenced by neo-realism that uses striking compositions and innovative editing to create an atmospheric and scathing social critique, where the circus is rendered equivalent to the Church, tenement subsistence living is contrasted to upper class life where charity fundraisers focus on the festivities rather than the cause. Made at the height of the Franco era. Lucia Bosé post Antonioni and at the height of her fame is the Garboesque enigmatic femme fatale. We discuss all of this and more in the podcast below. It won the International Critics Award in Cannes in 1955.

https://notesonfilm1.com/2026/07/16/pamela-hutchinson-on-the-curse-of-queen-kelly-new-york-sticking-place-books-2025/
“A naughty little number”
This is a story of how not to make a film. A story about three people who should have known better – people we could dismiss as a spendthrift, a swindler and a sadist, but who are far more interesting than that. They almost made a movie, but succeeded in creating a legend. This is the story of how a 1920s movie star, a businessman, and an artist set out to make an impossible film, the infamous Queen Kelly, of how they hit breaking point and threw it all away. It is also the tale of how that star spend the rest of her life trying to save the trio’s beleaguered infant.

https://notesonfilm1.com/2026/07/06/cinema-ritrovato-2026-wrap-up/
Cinema Ritrovato 2026 Wrap-up

Richard and I get together to chat about our experience of this year’s Cinema Ritrovato. The programming is so vast and diverse that everyone who attends will have a completely different Ritrovato. In this podcast we spend quite a lot of time discussing the strand on Juan Antonio Bardem, Javier’s uncle, one of the key Spanish directors of the Franco era, and a real discovery for Richard. We also touch on the Mitchell Leisen program, concluding that it will invariably raise his standing as a Hollywood director, particularly for those interested in the queer dimension of his work, without quite succeeding in putting him at the level of the very greatest (Lubitsch, Hitchcock, etc). The Stanwyck program demonstrated that the great star could do anything – comedy, drama, westerns; aristocrats and subalterns – much more convincingly than her rivals to the title of classic Hollywood’s greatest star/ actress, Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. We touch briefly on the Daisuke Ito, Ritwick Ghatak, and Josephine Baker strands but mainly dwell on some of the films shown under the Cinemalibero banner, always one of the highlights of the festival: A SPRING FOR THE THIRSTY (Yuri Ilyenko, 1965/1987), LA DÉRIVE (Paula Delson, 1964), WEIGHTED BUT FOUND WANTING (Lino Brocka, 1974), MUDAR DE VIDA (Paulo Rocha 1966), among others. From other strands we also discuss SUGATA SHANSHIRO (Kurosawa, 1943), THE LONG MEMORY (Robert Hamer, 1953), LA BIUGIARDA (Luigi Comencini, 1965). We end with comments on the chairing (applauding the Guy Maddin event), the Piazza Maggiore screenings (NEW YORK, NEW YORK), the amazing tinting on some of the silent masterpieces (WHAT PRICE GLORY). Our one critique is that the festival really has to remind itself that the introductions are for the audience rather than for the presenters. A great year.

https://notesonfilm1.com/2026/06/13/thinking-aloud-about-film-tarik-saleh-and-the-cairo-trilogy/
Richard and I were so excited after seeing Eagles of the Republic (2025), that when we learned that it was the third film in a trilogy, we made a point of seeing the other two: The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) and Cairo Conspiracy/ Boy From Heaven (2022). José went even further and also saw his first live action film, made in Sweden, Tommy (2005), and, at least up to now, the only feature film he's made in the US: The Contractor (2022). Thus the podcast encompasses all of his live-action feature films (he also made Metropia (2009), an animated film) and spans a twenty-period. 

Saleh is the offspring of an Egyptian father and a Swedish mother. The Nile Hilton Incident  was set to be filmed in Cairo but Saleh was given a week to flee the country before shooting started. Thus the trilogy is a critique of Egypt that could not be made in Egypt. The films are genre piece -- and are satisfying on that level; you don't need to know anything about Egypt or Egyptian culture to enjoy them -- but are also serious films about morality, ethics, the extent of corruption, and the limits otherwise good people are willing to go to in order to prosper or even survive. In the podcast we discuss this and contrast with his earlier Swedish film, fascinating in that it makes the gangster's girlfriend the central figure in a genre piece, and his later American film, in that it points to the limits on free speech currently imposed on American cinema. 

Aside from all of this, we also linger to appreciate the beauty and expressiveness of the mise-en-scène and encourage everyone to see these marvellous works. 

Eagles of the Republic is currently on distribution (I saw it at the MOCKINGBIRD)

The Nile Hilton Incident is available on MUBI

Boy From Heaven/ The Cairo Incident is available to see on BBC i-player.