This film is part of Rentals
Akenfield
Peter Hall’s extraordinary, long-unseen work of sublime poetic realism traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
Drama 1975 98 mins
Director: Peter Hall
Overview
Based on Ronald Blythe’s much-loved oral history book, Akenfield traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry, with director Peter Hall – known for his theatre direction - using to great effect a cast non-professional actors drawn from the communities of several Suffolk villages.
With all three generations grandfather, father and son performed by the same actor (local farmer Garrow Shand), the film paints a compelling picture of a traditional way of life facing a period of great change, brought about by the industrialisation of the twentieth century. A profoundly romantic work of sublime poetic realism, Akenfield boasts a sweeping, rhapsodic orchestral score composed by Michael Tippett (Fantasia Concertante on a theme by Corelli) that resonates with the film’s beautiful Impressionistic cinematography, which captures seasonal changes as the film was shot on weekends only across nine months. Restored through Unlocking Film Heritage, Akenfield is the centrepiece of the BFI’s Rural Life season, which can be experienced through BFI Player’s Britain on Film map.
moderate sexAccessibility
Related
Drama
Dark Waters Dark Waters
Historical drama 2019 126 mins Director: Todd Haynes
Mark Ruffalo plays an attorney trying to uncover the corporate scandal of a chemical company poisoning a local community, in this searching ecological drama from Todd Haynes (Safe, Carol).
Family Romance, LLC. Family Romance, LLC.
Drama 2019 89 mins Director: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog is on typically thought-provoking form, dramatising the work of a ‘rent-a-relative’ service, in this Tokyo-set meditation on contemporary alienation.
A White, White Day A White, White Day
Drama 2019 109 mins Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Iceland’s finest actor Ingvar Sigurðsson gives a heart-breaking and Cannes award-winning performance as widowed cop who becomes increasingly obsessed with his wife’s death.
Fanny Lye Deliver'd Fanny Lye Deliver'd
Drama 2019 112 mins Director: Thomas Clay
The wife of a puritanical farmer seems resigned to her lot, until she has her head turned by the arrival of a young couple in Thomas Clay’s provocative period drama.
Resistance Resistance
Drama 2020 121 mins Director: Jonathan Jakubowicz
Jesse Eisenberg brings to life the extraordinary true story of mime artist Marcel Marceau’s role in rescuing Jewish orphans from the Nazis.
The Personal History of David Copperfield The Personal History of David Copperfield
Drama 2019 120 mins Director: Armando Iannucci
Armando Iannucci brings David Copperfield fizzing to life with all-star collaborators in this exuberant, entertaining and sharply pertinent adaptation.
Festival Favourites
Lean on Pete Lean on Pete
Drama 2017 122 mins Director: Andrew Haigh
The ravishing fourth feature from Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Weekend) sees a boy and a horse embark on a Huckleberry Finn-esque journey across America in search of home.
Loveless Loveless
Drama 2017 127 mins Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Andrey Zvyagintsev (Elena, Leviathan) delivers a masterpiece in this caustic look at contemporary Russian society, a failed marriage and the disappearance of a child. A major prize winner at both Cannes and BFI London Film Festival.
You Were Never Really Here You Were Never Really Here
Thriller 2017 90 mins Director: Lynne Ramsay
Lynne Ramsay journeys with Joaquin Phoenix into the mind of an ex-soldier gun-for-hire whose own demons are as brutal as the actions of his adversaries.
The Man from Mo'Wax The Man from Mo'Wax
Documentary 2017 116 mins Director: Matthew Jones
The exhilarating, no holds-barred story of Mo'Wax records founder James Lavelle, one of the most enigmatic yet influential figures in British music culture.
On Chesil Beach On Chesil Beach
Drama 2017 110 mins Director: Dominic Cooke
Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle play a young, married couple struggling to physically connect in this sensitive adaptation of Ian McEwan’s acclaimed novel.
Lucky Lucky
Drama 2016 88 mins Director: John Carroll Lynch
Harry Dean Stanton gives the performance of a lifetime as an irascible nonagenarian maverick in a New Mexican town, grappling with his mortality.
New
Dark Waters Dark Waters
Historical drama 2019 126 mins Director: Todd Haynes
Mark Ruffalo plays an attorney trying to uncover the corporate scandal of a chemical company poisoning a local community, in this searching ecological drama from Todd Haynes (Safe, Carol).
Family Romance, LLC. Family Romance, LLC.
Drama 2019 89 mins Director: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog is on typically thought-provoking form, dramatising the work of a ‘rent-a-relative’ service, in this Tokyo-set meditation on contemporary alienation.
A White, White Day A White, White Day
Drama 2019 109 mins Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Iceland’s finest actor Ingvar Sigurðsson gives a heart-breaking and Cannes award-winning performance as widowed cop who becomes increasingly obsessed with his wife’s death.
Fanny Lye Deliver'd Fanny Lye Deliver'd
Drama 2019 112 mins Director: Thomas Clay
The wife of a puritanical farmer seems resigned to her lot, until she has her head turned by the arrival of a young couple in Thomas Clay’s provocative period drama.
On the Record On the Record
Documentary 2020 97 mins Director: Kirby Dick
A searing exploration of the costs of coming forward, turning up the volume on one of the biggest #MeToo stories in the music industry.
Resistance Resistance
Drama 2020 121 mins Director: Jonathan Jakubowicz
Jesse Eisenberg brings to life the extraordinary true story of mime artist Marcel Marceau’s role in rescuing Jewish orphans from the Nazis.