Pinter Season Kicks Off at The Chiswick Cinema
Films featuring his screenplays to be shown through to September
Michael Billington and Torin Douglas hold Q&A in advance of the screening of Accident
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April 30, 2024
A season of films for which Harold Pinter wrote the screenplay has begun at The Chiswick Cinema.
The first screening in the Pinter on Screen series was of Accident on Saturday 27 April. The 1967 release was preceded by a Q&A with Harold Pinter's biographer Michael Billington and Chiswick Book Festival director Torin Douglas as well as an interview, recorded earlier at Chiswick Cinema, with actor Maxwell Caulfield who made his screen debut in the film.
After the screening there was a drinks reception which all ticket holders were able to join. Pinter’s wife Lady Antonia Fraser attended as well as numerous well-known figures from the film industry including Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Sheila Hancock, Valerie Leon and Simon Curtis
Michael Billington says of the film, which was directed by Joseph Losey featuring Dirk Bogarde, Jacqueline Sassard, Stanley Baker and Michael York, "Based on a novel by Nicholas Mosley, Pinter's script explores the emotional havoc caused by a beautiful Austrian princess during an idyllic Oxford summer. With masterly precision, the film captures the disruptive effect the girl has on her student fiancé and the lives of two male dons. Arguably the best of the Losey-Pinter trilogy, the film won the Grand Prix Special du Jury at Cannes."
Between now and September the season’s programme will include The Pumpkin Eater, The Quiller Memorandum, The Comfort of Strangers and The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
Michael Billington adds, “Pinter's work for stage and screen is all of a piece. His films also have their own specific attractions. The Quiller Memorandum is, for me, the best of the Berlin spy films of the 1960s. The Comfort of Strangers captures the dark, mysterious side of Venice. The French Lieutenant's Woman ingeniously solves the technical problem set by John Fowles's novel of sustaining concurrent narratives. And in Accident, which opens the season, an idyllic Oxford summer becomes a setting for guilt-ridden desires and the clash of competing male egos. The season, which runs until September, contains a rich feast. Fall to and enjoy.”
Over the last two years The Chiswick Cinema has hosted 66 live Q&A events and the Pinter season following on from its Karel Reisz and Richard Attenborough retrospectives.
Tickets for the Pinter On Screen season can be purchased here.
Remaining Films in the Season
Sunday 26 May 7:30pm
Directed by Jack Clayton with Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch and James Mason. In her fourth marriage, Jo (Anne Bancroft) finds out that her husband (Peter Finch) is having an affair. When he explains that he finds nothing wrong with his behavior, Jo must decide whether to keep the marriage for the sake of her children or strike out on her own.
Michael Billington says, “Pinter's adaptation of Penelope Mortimer's novel offers a subtle exploration of the female psyche. The heroine- superbly played by Bancroft- is surrounded by women who gush about her writer-husband's creative sensitivity while she has to live with his moral indifference. Watch out for a scene-stealing performance by Maggie Smith.”
Sunday 30 June 7:30pm
Directed by Michael Anderson with George Segal and Senta Berger. Quiller is a secret agent assigned to West Berlin where he must uncover the operations of a neo-Nazi organisation. His enquiries lead him to investigate a school where a World War II Nazi leader has hanged himself. There he encounters a beautiful teacher, Inge, and the two fall in love. He is soon captured by the neo-Nazis and must escape, but he runs back to Inge. Is she as innocent as she first appeared?
Michael Billington says, “At a time when Berlin-based Cold War films were all the rage, Pinter came up with an exceptional example. Radically changing Adam Hall's original novel, Pinter makes his hero a mysterious American caught between his manipulative British spymasters- memorably embodied by Alec Guinness- and an insidious group of neo-Nazis. A compelling film that has gained more resonance with time.”
Sunday 28 July 7:30pm
Directed by Paul Schrader with Christopher Walken, Helen Mirren, Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson. A couple retreat to Venice to work on their relationship, but an encounter with a stranger leads them into a world of intrigue - where their darkest desires are in reach.
Michael Billington says, “Venice has always been a popular setting for movies but rarely has it seemed more sinister than in Pinter's seductive version of an Ian McEwan novel. The story shows a glamorous young English couple drawn into a world of labyrinthine decadence. What Pinter adds to the original's sexual strangeness is an implicit connection between patriarchal values and political absolutism.”
The French Lieutentant’s Woman
Sunday 15 September 6pm
Directed by Karel Reisz with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. Anna and Mike portray two characters in a film set in 19th century England who fall in love despite the fact that Mike's character is engaged.
Michael Billington says, “Pinter faced a big problem in adapting John Fowles's novel in which a pastiche Victorian romance is combined with post-modern commentary. At Reisz's suggestion, Pinter drew a fascinating parallel between the fictive characters and the actors playing them. With the help of fine performances from Streep and Irons, the film was glowingly reviewed, was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and was hailed as ‘superb’ by none other than Joseph Losey.”
The 16th Chiswick Book Festival will take place from 11-18 September 2024. For programme details and updates, visit the festival’s web site.
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