Havant

Film Studies

Meetings: 3rd Friday afternoon 2.00 - 3.30 (or up to 4.30 if we watch a film)
At: 26 Pennant Hills, Bedhampton, PO9 3JZ
Contact: Martin Owen 023 9247 7196 or martinowen007@hotmail.com

Since we meet in a domestic environment the pandemic put an end to our meetings and of course cinemas were closed too. Cinemas have now re-opened but I, being classed as an extremely vulnerable person, believe we should exercise caution and plan our re-opening for Friday October 15th or later. This gives us an opportunity to look for signs of the autumn surge of infections forecast by many medics. Please let me know your views particularly if you feel able to volunteer to be a temporary host.

The simple aim of our group is to increase our knowledge and better appreciate and enjoy the world of cinema.

We are a small democratic group and the members decide on the programme and topics. There is an opportunity to bring a film that has impressed and you would like to share and discuss with us. We ask people to keep an open mind towards films they would normally choose to avoid. It is always rewarding to be pleasantly surprised by the unexpected.

Previously we have chosen to review the work of interesting and famous directors. We usually obtain and look at the films on DVD at our monthly meeting and have tea and biscuits whilst we discuss it and perhaps examine certain scenes in depth.
We co-operate in a film and programme alert system to identify relevant items to our chosen topic from the multitude of TV or internet channels currently available. Ken Loach and Mike Leigh have featured on Arena (BBC) with documentary interviews covering their life in film.

So far the group has studied the work of Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Roman Polanski, John Ford, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Ken Loach, Ridley Scott, Mike Leigh and Woody Allen. We have ventured into some early Italian films from Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sicca. We enjoyed becoming acquainted with some accomplished female directors, namely Kathryn Bigelow, Amma Sante, Nora Ephron, Sara Polley, Lone Scherfig, Susanne Bier. Phyllida Lloyd, and Andrea Arnold. Never heard of some of these? Then what a lot there is to discover!

More recently we focused on films from Scandinavia, France and Italy which included Jean de Florette, M Hulot’s Holiday, Ciema Paradisio, Wild Target and The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared.

In our last topic we embarked on an experiment to pick a film from the 40s to 70s of any genre, crime, comedy, rom-com or sci-fi. Watch the earlier film and then one from 30 plus years later to compare imagery, style and content and where appropriate judge if the contemporary film is better with possibly it’s flashy special effects and CGI etc. We compared 2 Pink Panther films from 1975 (Peter Sellers) and 2005 (Steve Martin). Originality and splendid acting are key. We anticipate continuing this theme.

New member’s ideas would be especially welcome.

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More Group Pages
Advanced French Conversation Adventures in Literature
Bird Watching Bridge
British History Canasta
Creative Writing Current Affairs
Day Trips Environment & Technology
Faith Matters Family History
Film Studies Geology and Landscape
German Internet & Computer Help
Learning by Art 2 Learning by Art 2
Line Dancing Local History
Mah Jong Philosophy
Photography Play Reading Group
Poetry (writing) Scrabble
Sociable Singles (3 Groups) Spanish Intermediate/Advanced
Strollers Theatre/Opera/Ballet
Use Your Bus Pass 1 Use your Bus pass 2
Wales and the Welsh Walking
Wine Appreciation