This film is part of Rentals
Black Bird Descending: Tense Alignment
A brilliantly constructed, melancholic ode to the passing of time by Malcolm Le Grice
Director: Malcolm Le Grice
Overview
The ritualised actions of daily life in a suburban house gradually unravel in this film by Malcolm Le Grice, as numerous tasks are performed and then fragmented through careful camera placement and the manipulation of expectations. The first feature by experimental filmmaker Le Grice, it's a masterwork of construction, and is quietly existential and melancholic in tone, evoking Reginald Perrin and Groundhog Day.
The first of three features by Le Grice, Black Bird Descending took him away from the London Filmmakers' Co-op, where he had been a prominent figure, and instead placed him in the domestic sphere, exploring what it can mean to make art not just at home, but somehow through it. In rigorous and extremely engaging fashion it not only plots out the space of a suburban house and its garden, but also fragments that space through the cutting up and blurring of activities and expectations. At one level Le Grice's film is a giant elliptical puzzle, ready for the viewer to untangle, but at another it's a melancholic ode to the passing of time and the patterns of daily life. Its existential qualities make for a very different pastoralism from that evoked by Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, to which the title alludes.
Related
Kensuke's Kingdom Kensuke's Kingdom
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 84 mins Director: Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry
Michael Morpurgo’s beloved novel is brought to life in this delightful, animated tale of a young castaway who discovers he’s not alone.
Robot Dreams Robot Dreams
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 103 mins Director: Pablo Berger
Spanish director Pablo Berger delivers a rich and emotionally engaging dialogue-free animation about friendship, set in a bustling 1980s New York City.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2022 108 mins Director: Pierre Földes
Impressive and captivating animated adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short stories.
Times For Times For
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1970 80 mins Silent Director: Stephen Dwoskin
Four characters go through a series of deeply emotional, psychedelic, sensual, sexual encounters, evoking the times and textures of the 1960s underground.
Estuary Estuary
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1980 49 mins Director: Chris Welsby
Tides rise and fall and the landscape twists around the camera.
Belle Belle
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2021 122 mins Director: Mamoru Hosoda
High-school student Suzu finds her voice in an incredible virtual world that allows everyday people to become extraordinary.
Mr. Topaze Mr. Topaze
Comedy 1961 97 mins Director: Peter Sellers
Charming character comedy, unseen for decades, starring Peter Sellers as a school teacher corrupted by big business.
Wild West Wild West
Comedy 1993 84 mins Director: David Attwood
Defying opposition from his conservative Pakistani family, Zaf Ayub dreams of becoming Southall's greatest gift to country & western.
Lamb Lamb
Drama 1985 110 mins Director: Colin Gregg
In one of Liam Neeson’s earliest starring roles, he plays an errant priest who kidnaps a vulnerable boy from an abusive Catholic school
Extremes Extremes
Documentary 1971 81 mins Director: Anthony Klinger and Michael Lytton
In-your-face 70s documentary exploring the lives of Hell's Angels, hippies, skinheads, rudeboys, mods and drug addicts.
Remembrance of Things Fast Remembrance of Things Fast
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1993 62 mins Director: John Maybury
John Maybury’s dark, queer state of the nation film starring Tilda Swinton and Rupert Everett
The Golden Madonna The Golden Madonna
Drama 1949 88 mins Director: Ladislao Vajda
When she inherits an Italian palazzo, a young woman takes on more than she bargained for
Special People Special People
Comedy 2008 74 mins Director: Justin Edgar
Justin Edgar's pioneering feature comedy about a neurotic filmmaker enlisted to make a film with a class of wheelchair-users.
Timestalker Timestalker
Comedy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
What if unrequited love spanned the centuries? Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic
Documentary 1919 81 mins Silent Director: Frank Hurley
An extraordinary story of survival in the wastes of Antarctica.
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
The Ballymurphy Precedent The Ballymurphy Precedent
Documentary 2018 108 mins Director: Callum Macrae
John Pilger's film on the conflict in Northern Ireland is a skilful mix of investigative journalism, documentary storytelling and reflections on contemporary history.
Utopia Utopia
Documentary 2013 111 mins Director: John Pilger and Alan Lowery
John Pilger's portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture is also an investigation into a suppressed colonial past, and rapacious present.