Five years in the turbulent youth of John Lennon, in 1950s Liverpool, torn between his legendary mother and his equally formidable aunt. Lennon’s emerging teenage angst and his inability to appreciate how deeply both women love him gives rise to a love triangle supreme. You can see the young Lennon in Aaron Johnson’s spot-on performance, and Kristin Scott Thomas is memorable as his aunt. An affecting movie about coming of age and leaving home, and the beginning of the long and winding road that ultimately leads to the birth of The Beatles. “Handsomely made…with ringingly heartfelt performances.” – The Guardian

UK. 2009 (97 minutes)

“We’re not a band, we’re a group!” “Backbeat” chronicles the early days of the Beatles in Hamburg on the cusp of fame while brilliantly capturing the period (early 1960s). The story of the “bromance” between Liverpool art students John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe as each struggle to find love and true self-expression and the later influence of Sutcliffe’s German girlfriend, photographer Astrid Kirchherr. A tightly focused love story; beautifully paced, with raucous band performances popping up whenever young romance promises to over-soften the plot. Stephen Dorff and Ian Hart are perfectly cast as Stu and John, but Sheryl Lee’s performance as Astrid all but steals the show. “A thrilling spectacle that rocks the house,” Rolling Stone

UK, 1994 (100 minutes)

A slow-burning thriller set in an overcast Belfast. A literary celebrity / television host (Conleth Hill of “Game of Thrones”) driven to shoplifting in the vague hope the adrenaline buzz might cure his writer’s block gets caught red-handed by a creepy security guard who blackmails him into becoming his “best friend forever.” In doing all he can to extricate himself from the imminent loss of his good name and his sanity, the one-hit-novelist becomes drawn ever deeper into the dark world of the blackmailer turned stalker (a nicely nuanced Stephen Graham).

“An unsettling and astutely accomplished British thriller” – Movie Review World

UK, 2015 (92 minutes)

The film will be introduced by Tony Broadbent, author of “The Smoke” series of mystery novels about a Cockney cat burglar and jewel thief in post-war London. He’s a longtime fan of Film Noir and British Noir.

The famed British film editor Anne V. Coates began her career as an assistant on “The Red Shoes” in 1948 and two years ago was an editor on “50 Shades of Grey.” In between she was nominated for five Academy Awards and won an Oscar for “Lawrence of Arabia.” Just this year awarded an honorary Oscar known as “the Governor’s Award” by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, she was introduced at the ceremony by Nicole Kidman and presented with her Oscar by Richard Gere. Miss Coates’ other films include “The Pickwick Papers,” “The Horse’s Mouth,” “Beckett,” “In the Line of Fire” and “Unfaithful.” She edited “Out of Sight” and “Erin Brokovich” for director Steven Soderbergh.

Miss Coates will be interviewed by the distinguished British film historian David Thomson, author of the definitive “The New Biographical Dictionary of Film.”

In conjunction with this interview Mostly British will screen Miss Coates’ film “Murder on the Orient Express,” an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s whodunit from the 1930s, set almost entirely inside the famous train. Albert Finney stars as Hercule Poirot who while on vacation finds himself solving a murder in one of the train cars. The star-studded cast includes Lauren Bacall, Jacqueline Bisset, Michael York, Sean Connery, Richard Widmark and Ingrid Bergman, who won an Oscar for her role.

UK, 1974 (128 minutes)

An Evening with Anne V. Coates 7:30 p.m.
Murder on the Orient Express (UK, 1974, 128 minutes) 9 p.m.

Challenging the traditional image of the London port drinking establishment, the pomp and ceremonial type stuff, David Kennard’s documentary delves into the history of the mercantile trade between the two countries and moves to Northern Portugal, to the wonderful, moving scenes of Oporto and the hills surrounding the Douro. The British vintner-merchants who maintain their hold in Porto contrast with local farmers who work the rugged terrain of these vineyards, testifying to the huge disparity between the world of owners/distributors and vineyard workers. You will be riveted even if you don’t drink port. Joint 1^st place, Rhode Island Film Festival Appearance by filmmaker

UK, 2016 (86 minutes)

Steve Coogan proved in “Philomena” that he can do drama as well as comedy, and he is impressive in this Apartheid courtroom drama as a jaded lawyer who takes on a seemingly hopeless case of a prison guard in South Africa charged with multiple murders. As the attorney probes  into this case he comes to believe the accused has been traumatized by his job as a security guard overseeing executions.  Winner best narrative feature, Woodstock Film Festival  

South Africa, 2016 (80 minutes)

A compelling coming-of-age drama from New Zealand, “The Rehearsal” starts with a country boy named Stanley (James Rolleston, star of “Boy”) auditioning for a prestigious Auckland drama school. You immediately see what the teacher sees: Stanley is a star. This winning  film, based on the first novel by Mann Booker Prize winning author Eleanor Catton, follows Stanley and other recruits through their first year as they struggle with inner conflicts, and Stanley is forced to make a moral decision about whether a steamy scandal in his girlfriend’s family is fair game for him to dramatize in a school project.

New Zealand, 2016 (102 minutes)

Debut films can be hit and miss. Rachel Tunnard’s first film  definitely is the former. She won the Tribeca Film Festival’s prestigious Nora Ephron Award for “Adult Life Skills” which focuses on a confused teen, played with just the right degree of kookiness by the adorable Jodie Whittaker (“Broadchurch”). Grief stricken by the death of her twin brother she has fled to the seclusion of a shed in her mother’s garden. Facing her first birthday without her brother, she questions if she still qualifies as a twin. Its heart-felt emotions are sure to impress.

UK, 2016 (96 minutes)