July on MUBI UK sees the latest movies from
Paul Verhoeven and Mia Hansen-Løve hit the service, along with a new doc on
Nick Cave and an acclaimed abortion drama.
Benedetta
From renowned provocateur Paul Verhoeven (Elle,
Basic Instinct),
Benedetta
(2021) – the subversive erotic drama based on the true story of a 17th
century nun entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair – arrives
exclusively on MUBI this month.
Virginie Efira stars as the titular Benedetta, a nun who, devoted
to the Virgin Mary as a child, is granted entry to the Theatine Convent
of the Italian city of Pescia. As an unwaveringly faithful adult,
Benedetta’s religious fervour begins to manifest in increasingly sensual
and violent visions of Jesus. These hallucinations arouse the suspicions
of Charlotte Rampling’s shrewd abbess, Sister Felicita, whose
distrust grows when a farm girl called Bartolomea (Daphné Patakia) enters the convent seeking refuge, and quickly develops an attraction
to Benedetta.
Set to the backdrop of a country overcome by a gruesome plague, this
outrageous cinematic spectacle is a mischievous and unique twist on the
period drama. Verhoeven’s intoxicating latest is a transgressive and
alluring look at faith, power and religion, and is every bit as
scandalous as you would expect from the controversial filmmaker.
Nunsploitation Series
Alongside the release of Benedetta, MUBI presents a focus on an additional selection of transgressive
Nunsploitation films, including the recently restored
Mother Joan of the Angels (1961). The films range from art
cinema to erotica – often set within the repressive confines of convents –
criticising religious hypocrisy and the constraints placed on women.
This Much I Know to Be True
This July, MUBI kicks off the series Turn It Up: Music on Film with the
exclusive streaming premiere of Andrew Dominik’s breathtaking
fusion of performance and documentary,
This Much I Know To Be True (2022). A companion piece to
his previous Cave documentary
One More Time With Feeling (2016), Dominik reteams with
musical collaborators Nick Cave and Warren Ellis,
capturing their deep friendship and exceptional creative relationship as
they bring to life songs from two of their last studio albums:
‘Ghosteen’ and ‘Carnage’.
Shot on location in London and Brighton by Oscar nominated
cinematographer Robbie Ryan (The Favourite), and featuring extended performance sequences accompanied by singers,
a string quartet, and a special appearance by long-term collaborator
Marianne Faithfull, this absorbing documentary captures the mood
and spirit of the central pair as they move through a new, optimistic
phase.
Turn It Up: Music on Film
Encompassing both documentary and fiction, MUBI's selection of music films
celebrates the electric magnetism of performance, and moves beyond the
glitz and glamour of the stage into the lives, trials, and tribulations of
the artists themselves.
Taking us both on stage and behind the scenes, this special looks at the
creative process and personal lives of both famous and less well-known
musicians. Films span different musical genres, from rock to modern tango,
bossa nova to protest songs. Includes Lucrecia Martel’s latest
musical gem North Terminal (2021) and the 1981 masterpiece
Trances, both a concert film and free-form audiovisual essay on the
groundbreaking Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane.
Bergman Island
Making a splash this month on MUBI, the dazzling and bittersweet romantic
drama
Bergman Island
(2021), from acclaimed filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden,
Things to Come), tells the story of two couples spending their summer on the
breathtaking island of Fårö, where revered filmmaker Ingmar Bergman lived
and worked for over forty years.
Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth) are both
filmmakers, hoping to find inspiration for their next films as they
retreat to the island to work on their screenplays. Meanwhile Amy (Mia Wasikowska) and Joseph (Anders Danielsen Lie), who were once lovers, are
staying on Fårö to celebrate the wedding of their friend. As the summer
passes by, the lines between reality and fiction become increasingly
blurred as reminders of Bergman’s legacy playfully influence both stories.
Hansen-Løve’s latest feature, and English-language debut, is laced with
characteristically semi-autobiographical elements, and is both a
mischievous and elegant contemplation of love, memory and the journey of
the creative process.
Happening
Adapted from Annie Ernaux’s 2000 novel of the same name, last year’s
Golden Lion winner,
Happening
(2021), streams exclusively on MUBI this month. Director
Audrey Diwan’s gripping and timely cinematic work paints a dark
portrait of a society that condemns female desire and liberty. Set in 1963
France, the film tells the story of Anne – a bright, young student with a
promising future – who falls pregnant and must race against time to secure
her future no matter the cost. Featuring a revelatory, central performance
from Anamaria Vartolomei.
Time Will Transform Mountains: A Jia Zhangke Triple Bill
Known for his distinctive merging of gritty social realism with an elegant
and fluid postmodern style, director Jia Zhangke cements himself as
the leading chronicler of modern mainland China offering astute snapshots
of the social and emotional tensions facing his nation.
In July, this director spotlight is devoted to Jia’s stylish, sweeping and
straight-talking dramas. A Touch of Sin (2013) marks the
director’s return to fiction. A highly controversial political firebomb
that the Chinese government tried to suppress, Jia’s singular combination
of arthouse neorealism with visceral kung-fu vengeance won him Best
Screenplay at Cannes. The grand melodrama of
Mountains May Depart
(2015) charts its heroine’s journey through several decades, each
reflecting the pressures and desires of the time. Tracking the forces of
modernisation threatening to bulldoze anything standing in the way, Jia’s
films stubbornly insist on the value of individual stories of human
resilience.
François Ozon: Intimate Summers
François Ozon has established himself as a prolific director best
known for his contemporary takes on the melodrama genre. His eclectic
filmography explores a wide spectrum of themes ranging from the fluidity
of desire to heteronormative gender roles and the blind alleys of
bourgeois life. With almost 20 films to his name, the French provocateur
has built his career on a series of aesthetically fresh and daring stories
that speak to a constant process of reinvention.
For this special, MUBI brings together three of Ozon’s sun-soaked, summer
tales – Swimming Pool (2003), 5x2 (2004) and
Summer of ‘85
(2020) – that take different approaches to explore the notion of time in
one’s life and relationships and demonstrates his excellent use of
postmodern techniques.
Mother Joan of the Angels
Beloved by Martin Scorsese, who included the film in his Masterpieces of
Polish Cinema retrospective, MUBI presents a brand new restoration of
Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s work of terrifying beauty,
Mother Joan of the Angels (1961). Winner of the Jury Prize at
the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, Kawalerowicz takes inspiration from the
17th-century records that inspired Aldous Huxley’s 'The Devils of Loudun'
and later Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) in this haunting
portrait of a virtuous, young priest sent to a remote convent to investigate
an outbreak of demonic possession. 60 years later this profound exploration
of faith, repression, fanaticism and sexuality has lost none of its power,
and remains ripe for rediscovery.
Aloners
The thoughtful and reflective film from newcomer Hong Sung-Eun,
Aloners (2021) offers a diagnostic sketch of modern urban
solitude through acute character observation and impressive directorial
control. This is a snapshot of modern life that is cynical about the present
but tinged with hope for the future. Actress Gong Seung-yeon plays
Jina – the top employee at a credit card company call centre who avoids
building close relationships and chooses instead to live and work alone –
for which she won the Best Actor award at Jeonju for her stunning
performance.
North Terminal
One of the finest international filmmakers working today,
Lucrecia Martel (Zama, The Headless Woman) returns with North Terminal (2022), a short documentary
produced during the 2020 lockdown that finds the Argentine master returning
to her home in Salta, the nation’s most conservative region. Following
singer Julieta Laso, who becomes a window into a wider community of
female artists who call Salta home, the result is a gripping tribute to
sorority, creative exchange and collective defiance in the face of
conservatism, calling for diversity and women’s empowerment.
Wilderness
Filmed over two and a half years along the same stretch of urban beach
close to his home, artist Doug Aitken pieces together a series of
AI-generated song cycles narrating the cinematic scenes in his latest work
Wilderness (2021). Aitken – known for genre-bending
installations, featured at MoMA, Serpentine Gallery and Centre Pompidou
amongst others – explores the life cycle of the individual, society, and
environment and questions the inescapable fusion of the real and the
digital.
