“New Wave” is a term that has been applied to many a national cinematic output at one time or another. The first and most famous of which is undoubtly The French New Wave when the likes of Jean-Luc Goddard began their experiments in cinema rebelling against established norms and inventing the concept of autuerism. Love them or hate them, one has to accept that the French New Wave changed the face of cinema in many respects.

At the start of the British New Wave (AKA: The Angry Young Men) came one of the best British films of that era. Jack Clayton's Room at the Top (1959) is a gritty uncompromising slice of northern life which made Oscar history in several categories but has since been overlooked.

Written and presented by Mike Dawson.

Hungarian director Milklos Jancso has become the subject of renewed praise in recent years in part due to Second Run DVD re-releasing three of his films which is still staggeringly poor for a film maker with over seventy-five film credits as director. Jancso is highly prolific and is still working today despite being in his late 80's, like Sidney Lumet the word “retirement” does not appear to be part of his vocabulary.

Miklos Jancso's 1966 excellent film about Hungarian prisoners unwittingly engaged in a deadly game of chess with their captors. A forgotten gem which has now resurfaced and has prompted a new evaluation of the directors works.

The Director

In Which We Serve was David Lean’s first film, A British war time classic which was co-directed by both Lean and the films writer Noel Coward, two years later Lean would go it alone in the directing chair with This Happy Breed, often sophomore features can make or break a career, This Happy Breed most certainly acted in the former sense and would lead Lean onwards to a career often great, sometime legendary films.

An examination of this 1940's hidden British classic from legendary writer Noel Coward. This episode starts with a look back at the career of the films director David Lean.

Nearly ninety years has passed since director Victor Sjostrom set about adapting Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlof’s novel. In 1921 the film was released, and the once great Swedish filmmaker had delivered an inspirational piece of art which crossed cinematic boundaries and would go onto lead the next generation of native film makers into their craft

Victor Sjostrom's silent 1921 film was described by Ingmar Bergman as "the film of all films". This week Left Field Cinema examines the "film of all films" and asks if it deserves such a revered status.

Our story begins in post war London, a young woman named Mary Justin played by AnnTodd runs into her former lover and university lecturer Steve Stratton played by Trevor Howard. Mary is now married to Howard played by Claude Rains. Howard is a Treasury financier and Mary married him in a bid for a safe, secure relationship and Howard agreed on to their union with similar unspoken terms.

Celebrating the David Lean centenary, this episode of Left Field Cinema reviews a hidden classic from earlier in his career. The thematic sister film to Brief Encounter, featuring outstanding performances from Claude Rains and Trevor Howard.