Love is …

Get in the mood for love at the Electric Palace Cinema, writes Annie Waite. The local bijou cinema is playing its part in the national British Film Institute (BFI) LOVE Season by hosting a series of screenings centered on the theme of love.

As a theme, love lends itself to a wide variety of interpretations and ideas. The three main strands of the BFI’s LOVE Season are Fools for Love, Fatal Attractions and The Power of Love. While reflecting those strands, the Electric Palace selection of films also presents movies depicting distinctive settings and including special extras.

The Power of Love

Chosen features at the 50-seater cinema in Hastings Old Town include a range of surprise introductions, live music, Q&A and spoken word additions.

A Matter of Life and Death, screening on Sunday 6 December, is the magical and romantic surprise movie hit of 1946. David Niven stars as Peter Carter, a WWII RAF pilot who miraculously survives bailing out of his plane without a parachute, and falls in love with an American radio operator. The officials in the ‘other world’ realise their mistake, and despatch an angel to collect him.

Customers are invited to browse ‘Trailer Trash Vintage’, a 1940s and ’50s pop-up shop that will be available in the cinema before the screening, so you can feel immersed in the fashion and accessories of the era – and maybe pick up some stocking fillers, too.

Fools for Love

Full of flirtatious propositions and sharp witticisms, Smiles of a Summer Night (Saturday 12 December) is one of cinema’s great erotic comedies. Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 comic masterpiece sees four men and four women attempt to navigate the laws of attraction. During a weekend in the country, the women collude to force the men’s hands in matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities.

Dr Dario Llinares, Principal Lecturer in Contemporary Screen Media at the University of Brighton, will introduce the film. His research is concerned primarily with interrogating digital culture and its effect on mediated identity and social practice. Llinares is also co-presenter and producer of The Cinematologists podcast.

Trailer Trash Vintage will also be available at this screening for some 1950s shopping fodder.

Fatal Attractions

But before those two screenings is Sunday Bloody Sunday (Saturday 21 November), starring former Camden MP Glenda Jackson (pictured, right). It focuses on the romantic lives of two Londoners, a middle-aged doctor and a thirtysomething divorcée (Jackson) who are sleeping with the same handsome young artist. A revelation in its day, this may be the 1970s’ most intelligent film about the complexities of romantic relationships.

Singer-songwriter Claire Hamill (pictured, left), who has collaborated with Wishbone Ash and Yes’s Steve Howe will perform a rare acoustic and completely unplugged set of songs inspired by love (we’re not sure if U2’s classic song Sunday Bloody Sunday will feature, though!).

Electric Palace LOVE Season screenings:

• Saturday 21 November 2015: Sunday Bloody Sunday – with live music from Claire Hamill
• Sunday 6 December 2015: A Matter of Life and Death – with vintage 1940s-50s pop-up shop
• Saturday 12 December 2015: Smiles of a Summer Night – with vintage 1940s-50s pop-up shop

Visit the Electric Palace website to book tickets for its LOVE Season events.

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