This film is part of Rentals
Red Ensign
Passionate shipbuilding tale from an on-the-up Michael Powell.
Drama 1934 69 mins
Director: Michael Powell
Overview
An on-the-up Michael Powell injected more than a hint of himself into this passionate tale of a visionary shipbuilder intent on reviving a besieged industry. David Barr (Leslie Banks) is so certain of his modernising plans that he's willing to break the law to realise them. Contemporary critics praised the realism of the location-shot shipyard scenes, while Powell himself, directing his 12th film in just four years, was just beginning to see "something special about a Michael Powell film... something intriguing, aloof, but in the long run memorable."
Later critics saw in Red Ensign a semi-disguised plea for government support for the British film industry. With his uncompromising zeal, Barr is an early template for the morally complex prophets and dreamers - avatars for the director himself - who turn up in Powell's later films, among them Culpeper in A Canterbury Tale and Lermontov in The Red Shoes.
Related
Drama
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
The Good Boss The Good Boss
Comedy 2021 120 mins
Javier Bardem is a beleaguered Spanish factory boss in ruthless pursuit of winning an award for excellence in this waspish corporate comedy.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Comedy 2022 97 mins Director: Sophie Hyde
Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson), a retired school teacher and widow, is yearning for adventure and really good sex, in comedian Katy Brand’s witty drama.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Boulay-Goldsmith
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
True Things True Things
Drama 2021 102 mins Director: Harry Wootliff
Ruth Wilson is at her best in this compelling drama about a lonely woman whose life is changed by Tom Burke, the dangerous stranger who offers something different.
Happening Happening
Drama 2021 100 mins Director: Audrey Diwan
Audrey Diwan’s outstanding Venice Golden Lion winner could not be more timely or urgent.
Featuring Leslie Banks
Arsenal Stadium Mystery Arsenal Stadium Mystery
Police drama 1939 86 mins Director: Thorold Dickinson
When a player is poisoned at Highbury, an eccentric inspector is put on the case. Martin Scorsese is among the fans of this classic football film.
Directed by Michael Powell
Peeping Tom Peeping Tom
Drama 1960 101 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s dark, disturbing, once controversial tale of a shy camera technician who films women as he kills them is now rightly deemed a classic
The Phantom Light The Phantom Light
Comedy 1935 72 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s gothic mystery of a haunted lighthouse where insanity thrives.
A Canterbury Tale A Canterbury Tale
War 1944 125 mins Director: Michael Powell
Powell and Pressburger's most personal film combines a Chaucer-inspired pilgrimage with a war-time celebration of English landscape and values to create a gem of British cinema.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
War 1943 164 mins Director: Michael Powell
Powell and Pressburger’s masterpiece follows the rise and fall of a career soldier, from dashing and brave young officer in the Boer War to a pompous and old-fashioned Colonel by the time of World War Two.
The Boy Who Turned Yellow The Boy Who Turned Yellow
Children's 1972 54 mins Director: Michael Powell
A London schoolboy’s surprise transformation marks the final collaboration of great British director Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
New
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
The Good Boss The Good Boss
Comedy 2021 120 mins
Javier Bardem is a beleaguered Spanish factory boss in ruthless pursuit of winning an award for excellence in this waspish corporate comedy.
Maisie Maisie
Documentary 2021 76 mins Director: Lee Cooper
An intimate portrait of ageing and friendship, we follow David Raven as he dons his sequins and eyelashes to prepare for a special birthday performance as ‘Maisie Trollette’, Britain’s Oldest Performing Drag Artiste.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Fantasy 2017 133 mins Director: Terry Gilliam
Two decades in the making, Terry Gilliam’s wildly imaginative Cervantes adaptation is finally with us, and it’s everything we have come to expect from this visionary filmmaker.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Comedy 2022 97 mins Director: Sophie Hyde
Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson), a retired school teacher and widow, is yearning for adventure and really good sex, in comedian Katy Brand’s witty drama.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Boulay-Goldsmith
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.