Welcome to our Summer/ Autumn Season for Film Club 

FILM CLUB

Long Melford Village Memorial Hall 

Long Melford, Sudbury CO10 9JQ, UK

Film Club takes place on the fourth Wednesday of every month at the Long Melford Village Memorial Hall. There is a large free car park. 

However this December's Lecture will be on 18th December  because of Christmas.

All welcome join on the door.

August 28th  10.30am

How did the work of European Film Directors working in 1930’s Europe Change when they fled to America with the rise of Hitler.

The expulsion of filmmakers from National-Socialist Germany has to be considered in light of the Nazis persecution of nonconformists, the criminal war they initiated, and their murder of over six million European Jews and other minorities persecuted on racial or political grounds. For the overwhelming majority of emigrants the escape from their own country was an experience undertaken under considerable economic duress and personal suffering; and yet it was the only way possible for them to save their lives.

Exclusion and Defamation

Adolf Hitler's inauguration as Reich Chancellor on January 30, 1933 marked the end of the first German democracy; immediately upon taking power the National-Socialists began pushing the institution of their abominable ideology in all areas of society. The film industry in particular, as Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels emphasized in his Hotel Kaiserhof speech, given March 28, 1933 in Berlin before a congress of the Umbrella Organization of German Filmmakers, a.k.a. "Dacho". What Goebbels called the "spiritual crisis" of German film provided a pretext, one consistent with National-Socialist racism and anti-Semitism, for discriminating against and systematically debarring all Jewish filmmakers from the industry. The day after Goebbels' speech, on March 29, 1933, Ufa's board of directors passed the following resolution:

"With regard to the question raised by Germany's national revolution concerning Ufa's further engagement of Jewish workers and staff, the board of directors has resolved to revoke as far as possible its contracts with Jewish personnel." Ufa then promptly laid off several of its most prominent artists, including producerErich Pommerand directorErik Charell. Together the two were responsible for "Der Kongreß tanzt" (The Congress Dances), Germany's most successful film in 1931. Their fate exemplifies the internal persecution combined with public denunciation Jews in the film community faced: producers, directors, actors, screenwriters, composers, architects, cinematographers, technicians alike. Even long-standing industry publications such as "Film-Kurier" fired now-undesirable writers and began publishing articles lambasting "studio Jews".

This political and juridical repression grew even more with the founding of the Reich Chamber of Film in July 1933. Membership, which was basically limited to "Aryans", became a prerequisite for any and all employment in the German film industry; a few artists thus excluded were granted a limited-term special permit, including the successful comedy directorReinhold Schünzel. January 1935 saw the final exclusion of "Non-Aryans" from the Reich Chamber of Film. By that point, the majority of affected filmmakers had already left Nazi Germany.

A New Start in Dire Straits

The forced exile meant making a new, uncertain start in a foreign country. The individual's specific profession and the legal and economic conditions of the film industry in the country of exile determined what the emigrant ended up doing. Actors and screenwriters in particular were confronted with linguistic barriers that made continuing their career problematic or simply impossible.

So for example in France, the most important country in discussing emigration in Europe, an actor with a German accent was unacceptable, which is why it was directors and producers — albeit often with great difficulty — who found work there. Directors successfully employed in France at times included Max Ophüls, Robert Siodmak, Fedor Ozep, and Richard Oswald. Even Erich Pommer worked as a producer in Paris before moving on to Hollywood. In Great Britain, on the other hand, actors like Elisabeth Bergner, Adolf Wohlbrück, and Fritz Kortner did find engagements and were able to re-establish their careers in large measure thanks to producers who had also emigrated.

Many German actors tried to find work in Austria. But the state-run film industry there followed Germany's anti-Semitic policies and likewise barred Jewish filmmakers from employment; thus, star comedians likeSzöke SzakallorFelix Bressartwere able to appear exclusively in independent productions. Before Austria's "Anschluss" with Nazi Germany in March 1938 put an end to this possibility, too, the Deutsche Universal film company, based in Vienna and Budapest, was known for making successful German-language films with Jewish artists. Especially popular were the comedies made by director Hermann Kosterlitz and writerFelix Joachimsontogether with their starFranziska Gaal. In 1936, the team left for the United States: given the increasingly dire situation in Europe, more and more people who had initially decided to remain were fleeing.

Vanishing Point Hollywood

When the Nazis seized power, many persecuted filmmakers straightaway attempted to establish a new life in Hollywood. In the 1920s, the world's largest film industry had been a magnet for numerous prominent artists from Germany, and now celebrities like Fritz Lang followed. Alongside Jewish emigrants likePeter Lorre, who made a name for himself in the States as a character actor, andBilly Wilder, whose international career as a writer/director only really began in the U.S., came political exiles like Bertolt Brecht and the composer Hanns Eisler.

But for every success story like Wilder there were thousands of émigrés who were able to survive in the American studio system only by the skin of their teeth or thanks to the support and solidarity of the exile community. Especially with regard to the technical vocations, the unions were anxious to protect the interests of their American members, which is why cameramen like Curt Courant and Eugen Schüfftanwere rarely officially allowed to work on productions.

Furthermore, the U.S. government was making it difficult to immigrate because of the rising numbers of refugees. With Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 and start of World War II in Europe, the United States became for most of the Nazis' victims the last safe haven. Many émigré filmmakers — including Kurt Gerron, Otto Wallburg, and Paul Morgan— were unable to escape. They were murdered in German concentration camps.

September 25th  10.30am

Ralph Fiennes

Suffolk born actor, starred in Schindler's List (1993)The English Patient 1996 . The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).The Dig 2021 , amongst  others.

He is also known for his roles in major film franchises such as the Harry Potter film series (2005-2011), in which he played the evil Lord Voldemort.

Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director.

He made his film debut playing Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992). His portrayal of Nazi war criminal Amon Göth in the Steven Spielberg drama Schindler's List (1993) earned him nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, and garnered him the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. His performance as Count Almásy in The English Patient (1996) garnered him a second Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actor, as well as BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations.

Fiennes has appeared in a number of other notable films, including:  The Constant Gardener (2005), In Bruges (2008), , The Reader (2008), The Hurt Locker (2009),  The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), A Bigger Splash (2015), Hail, Caesar! (2016), The King's Man (2021), and The Menu (2022). (2017). Fiennes starred in the Harry Potter film series (2005–2011) as the main antagonist Lord Voldemort. In the James Bond series he has played Gareth Mallory / M, the head of MI6, in Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021).

Fiennes is also an Honorary Associate of London Film School.

October 23rd  10.30am

Jane Fonda

Actress daughter of legend Henry Fonda. Highly respected film career two Oscars for Klute 1971 and Coming Home 1978 and five Oscar nominations for Best Actress in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), The Morning After (1986) and On Golden Pond (1981), which was the only film she made with her father.

Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television.

She made her screen debut in the romantic comedy Tall Story (1960). She rose to prominence acting in the comedies Cat Ballou (1965), Barefoot in the Park (1967), Barbarella (1968), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), California Suite (1978), The Electric Horseman (1979), and 9 to 5 (1980).

Fonda established herself as a dramatic actress, winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles as a prostitute in the thriller Klute (1971) and the woman in love with a Vietnam war veteran in the drama Coming Home (1978).

She was Oscar-nominated for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), and The Morning After (1986). After a 15 year hiatus, she returned to acting in Monster-in-Law (2005), Youth (2015), and Our Souls at Night (2017).

Fonda was a political activist in the counterculture era during the Vietnam War. She was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun on a 1972 visit to Hanoi, during which she gained the nickname "Hanoi Jane". During this time, she was effectively blacklisted in Hollywood. Fonda protested the Iraq War along with violence against women, and she describes herself as a feminist and environmental activist. 

Fonda has co-founded the Hollywood Women's Political Committee in 1984 and the Women's Media Center in 2005. Fonda is also known for her exercise tapes, starting with Jane Fonda's Workout (1982), which became the highest-selling videotape of its time.

November27th  10.30am

Claude Henri Jean Chabrol 

French Film Director

The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime films and the caper story, focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery.

There are some common tropes found in the heist film genre.

The most basic is that films in the genre tend to follow the planning, execution and aftermath of one large robbery.  While there can be smaller crimes leading up to the major crime, this major crime is the centrepiece of the film and is the event which informs much of the film's plot. As a result of this, heist films tend to focus on the process of the crime, often planned in great detail, followed by extended exposition of the heist itself.

The genre is also distinct for almost exclusively following those committing the crime rather than whoever is trying to stop them. This often leads to the viewer building some form of sympathy or respect for the criminals. Another common characteristic is the assembling of a team to complete the heist, with each member contributing a unique skill or trait needed to complete the job.

Over time filmmakers have taken these characteristics and changed them to create interesting plays on the genre.. An example of this is The Italian Job (1969), which shows the planning and execution of the heist but doesn't fully show the aftermath.

Other tropes of the genre include the failure of the heist due to fate, or the traits of the criminals involved. Among them is one of the participants getting injured during the heist, or betraying the others during or after. This trend started as a result of the initial films in the genre being made in Hollywood during the Motion Picture Production Code, which prohibited criminals from getting away with their crime. While this has changed since the disappearance of the code, the trope of failed heists still remains.

A popular trope is "one last job", whereby a criminal looking to quit the life enlists the team to commit one last heist so they will have money for the rest of their days. This can be seen in early films such as The Asphalt Jungle (1950) as well as more recent like Heat (1995).

While elements of the heist film can be seen in films as early as The Great Train Robbery (1903), the genre didn't become fully fledged until the late 1940s and the early 1950s.  The film widely agreed upon as the first to do so is John Huston's 1950 The Asphalt Jungle, starring Sterling Hayden and Sam Jaffee (with Marilyn Monroe in a supporting role). It contains many of the heist hallmarks, focusing from the criminal's perspective on the elaborate planning, flawed execution, and calamitous aftermath of a single heist. 

The period between 1955 to 1975 is considered by scholars to be the most productive for the heist genre. It began with American filmmakers continuing the noir heist trend in films like 5 Against the House (1955) and The Killing (1956). The ‘50s also saw the release of the first international heist films. Notably, a handful made in France were influenced by and responding to the American style. Two notable examples are Rififi (1955), which is known for its detailed 30 minute heist sequence, and Bob Le Flambeur (1956), known for an ending which plays with the conventions of the genre. The 1950s also marked the beginning of British heist film, including The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Lady Killers (1955), pictures which introduced comedy to the genre. A notable Italian heist film from this period is Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958), a parody of the genre.

In the 1960s heist stories became more mainstream, with glossier and higher-budget heist films which moved away from the fatalism and darkness present in the earlier noir heists. Two examples of this from the early 1960s are the British film The League of Gentlemen (1960) and the American film Seven Thieves (1960). Despite having conventional heist plots about gathering together a group to commit a heist, both films balance comedy and drama, unlike the darkness of the earlier noir heist films. 

The mainstream shift as well as a growing cultural interest in travel led to a wave of glossy heist films involving exotic international locals, such as Topkapi (1964) and How to Steal a Million (1966).

The most celebrated French heist films of this time where directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, whose heist film Le Cercle Rouge (1970) is often regarded as one of the greatest heist movies of all time. 

The period between 1975 and the early 1990s is considered a low point for productivity in the heist genre. But two films changed that  Heat (1995) and The Usual Suspects (1995).

This led to a large output of heist films throughout the 2000s. These range from British efforts like Snatch (2000) and Sexy Beast (2000) to kids' films like Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) to popular Hollywood films like Inside Man (2006) and remakes of heist classics like The Italian Job (2003).  Some of the most popular heist films of this era are the remake of Ocean's 11 (2001) and its sequels Ocean's 12 (2004) and Ocean's 13 (2007), which remain so today.