York film preview: Living, Watcher and Call Jane

There’s something innately reassuring about the presence of Bill Nighy in a film.

If his involvement isn’t always a guarantee of the overall quality of the film itself, it is always a guarantee that it will contain Bill Nighy, and will therefore be watchable – unless, I suppose, the rest of the film consists solely of elongated takes of monkeys throwing faeces at the screen set to an ear-splitting death metal soundtrack.

Although, now I think, that could be quite interesting as an art project?

Nighy’s new period drama Living happily sounds like a film well worthy of the great man’s talents – while Watcher provides shocks and scares, and the Aesthetica Short Film Festival reaches its climax.

New releases

Living

Bill Nighy has received a slew of plaudits for his role in this highly acclaimed period drama about an ageing civil servant who resolves to make the most of the time he has left.

Nighy plays Williams, whose hangdog, resigned attitude to his life changes following a shattering medical diagnosis – and when he makes a new young friend in the form of the effervescent Margaret (Aimee Lou Wood, Sex Education), he’s inspired to set about creating a lasting legacy for the next generation.

An adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru (with the screenplay here courtesy of The Remains of the Day author Kazuo Ishiguro), the film wowed critics on its premiere at the Sundance Festival earlier this year, with Time Out hailing Nighy’s performance as a career-best.

Watcher

Maika Monroe, who had her breakout role in 2014’s excellent It Follows, stars in another paranoid chiller here as a young woman who becomes convinced that her neighbour is stalking her.

The story sees American actress Julia (Monroe) move to Bucharest with her husband Francis (Karl Glusman) for his new job – but as she spends the days alone in their new apartment, she becomes disturbed by the shadowy figure of a neighbour across the street, who appears to be watching her.

Her unease increases when she keeps seeing the same man when she is out in the city – but can she persuade anyone to believe her?

Call Jane

Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver star in this timely drama about an underground female collective in 1960s Chicago who helped women to procure safe abortions.

Banks (Pitch Perfect) stars as suburban housewife and mother Joy, who learns that her new pregnancy could be life-threatening, but is denied a termination by the medical establishment.

In desperation she contacts an organisation known as the Janes, presided over by the formidable Virginia (Weaver), who not only offer her the help she needs but set her on the path to a political awakening.

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Aesthetica Short Film Festival

There’s still plenty of time to take part in this year’s festival as it continues over the weekend, before culminating with the handing out of gongs at the awards ceremony on Sunday evening.

And don’t forget you can take advantage of the special York Days offer on Sunday to get 50% off a day pass – meaning you can get access to all screenings, VR Labs and workshops for £12.50.

Families with budding Spielbergs among their ranks should note that filmmaking workshops for kids are running on both Saturday and Sunday, as well as walking tours of the city courtesy of two of York Dungeon’s friendliest residents (all these events are included in the York Days offer on the Sunday).

Saturday evening also sees the premiere of this year’s Listening Pitch winners at the National Centre for Early Music – three never-before-seen films that demonstrate how listening helps us to understand a different point of view, followed by an intriguing-sounding ‘live hardware performance’ (drumming on old ZX Spectrums, perhaps?).

If you can’t make it out this weekend, then never fear, as the festival also continues to run online until the end of the month – for a full breakdown of ticket options, head to ASFF’s website.

Other screenings

There’s a chance to see a preview screening of one of this year’s most raved-about British debuts at City Screen and Everyman this week in the form of Aftersun.

Starring Normal People’s Paul Mescal, director Charlotte Wells’ tender father-daughter tale floored critics on its premiere at Cannes this year – you can catch it at City Screen on Tues 8th and Everyman on Thurs 10th.

City Screen also kick off a season of films celebrating veteran social realist filmmakers the Dardenne brothers this week (basically, imagine if Ken Loach was Belgian and there were two of him).

Timed to lead up to the Dardennes’ new release Tori and Lokita (out here on 2nd December), the season offers three of their previous acclaimed works, starting on Sun 6th with 2011’s The Kid with a Bike, which sees an impulsive 12-year-old boy in a foster home strike up a friendship with a local hairdresser.

It’s followed on Mon 7th by a very intriguing new film which sounds about as far away from the Dardennes’ understated naturalism as you can get: billed as an ‘Afro-futurist sci-fi musical’, Neptune Frost is a head-spinning, politically charged tale of revolution in near-future Burundi.

The schlocky retro delights of 80s vampire classic The Lost Boys will surely seem quite tame in comparison, but it’s showing at City Screen on Weds 9th for those who want to stretch out those Halloween vibes a little longer.

With Gallifrey’s finest back in the news following last week’s surprise regeneration, new documentary Doctor Who Am I (City Screen, Thurs 10th) couldn’t be better timed – this latter-day look at the reaction to the ill-fated Paul McGann TV movie should appeal to Whovians and anyone interested in the complex relationship between totemic franchises and their fans.

A smash hit in its native Japan, anime fantasy One Piece Film: Red arrives in UK cinemas this week – if, like me, you’ve never heard of the One Piece saga before, it’s the fifteenth film in the series so probably not the best starting point, but those in the know can catch it at Vue from Fri 4th to Sun 6th.

Your music doc this week comes courtesy of Simon Le Bon and co, out to give the Beatles a run for their money with their own, LA-based rooftop gig in Duran Duran: A Hollywood High (Vue, Thurs 10th).

Over at Everyman, there’s a couple of old favourites on offer on Sun 6th – their Throwback season heads back to Amity Island for Jaws (thankfully shorn of any unnecessary 3D add-ons this time), while The Bodyguard celebrates 30 years since Whitney Houston took up residence at the top of the pop charts.

And finally, your budget family-friendly offerings for this week: Vue are going with recent colourful adventure Mia and Me: The Hero of Centopia (Sat 5th/Sun 6th, tickets £2.49), while Cineworld have two options in the form of DC League of Super-Pets and Laika Studios’ acclaimed stop-motion fantasy Kubo and the Two Strings (both films show on Sat 5th and Sun 6th, £2.50).

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Community cinema

South Bank Community Cinema’s screening this month is a witty and moving Norwegian comedy-drama which I suspect will be high up in many critics’ end-of-year lists.

Powered by a brilliantly charismatic performance from Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World follows the adventures of Julie, a young woman on the verge of turning thirty, as she tries to plot a course through a series of drastic relationship and career choices, navigating each new challenge and pitfall in her own inimitable style.

Very much one to see if you are in a ‘What am I doing with my life’ sort of place, director Joachim Trier’s film premiered to glowing reviews at Cannes last year, with Reinsve a deserving winner of the festival’s Best Actress award.

The film shows at Clements Hall on Fri 4th at 8pm (doors 7:30pm) – tickets are £4, and SBCC advise that it’s best to book in advance by e-mailing [email protected].