MAL B36, Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX
MAL B36, Birkbeck Main Building, London
Free
On Sunday the 17th of May we are delighted to be presenting two classics of global 90s cinema, Wong Kar-Wai's Chungking Express (1994) and Pedro Almodóvar's All About My Mother (1999), both of which were strong placers on our previously screened directors poll last term.
Chungking Express, another Hong Kong set masterpiece from the director who put the region on the film map, follows two separate but thematically related stories of policemen who reflect on their relationships with women. Starring Wong Kar-Wai regulars Tony Leung, Faye Wong and Takeshi Kaneshiro -- as well as featuring very prominently on 2022's Sight and Sound poll -- Chungking Express is an all timer not to be missed!
Then, following a short break, we will be All About My Mother. When a nurse from Madrid loses her son, she travels to Barcelona to find her son's other mother (her transgender ex whose existence she kept from him). Whilst there she then also befriends a venerated stage actress who was her son's favourite star. Inspired by John Cassavetes's Opening Night (1977) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve (1950), All About My Mother is one of Almodóvar's best and most accessible melodramatic masterpieces and one of contemporary European cinema's greatest classics.
Our double-bill will begin shortly after 1pm on Sunday the 17th of May with Chungking Express (1994), followed by All About My Mother (1999) at 3pm, both in MAL B36 (Room 36 on the basement level of the Birkbeck Main Building on Malet Street). Tickets are free and both current students and alumni are welcome!
MAL B36, Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX