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Comedy
Celebrating a world of side-splitting cinema, from slapstick legends to today's anarchic voices.
Fooling about became a fine art through the early decades of cinema, but comedy is too often under-recognised.
It’s the gift of perfect timing, an expertly executed sight-gag, a zinging wise-crack, a giddy rush of manic energy. Whether perfectly choreographed, brutally raw, or conjured out of improvisation and collaboration, the best comedy is ultimately disruptive.
It punctures pomposity, and blows a raspberry at social convention: the proto-feminist whiplash of screwball wit, the rambunctious working-class revolt of Carry On, the purposeful anarchy of alternative comedy.
Our Subscription collection is a legacy from the BFI's Comedy Genius blockbuster season in 2018 and highlights funny films from around the world, including great comedies from esteemed directors (Ingmar Bergman, Roberto Rossellini, Tsia Ming-liang), and some of the cynical and subversive works produced amid challenging political climates (Daisies, The Cremator, Dogtooth). Altogether we hope it upends perceptions about the English-language dominance of film comedy.
With a collection that ranges from silent slapstick heroes to contemporary satire, BFI Player celebrates the changing face of what – and who – we find funny.
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Days of the Bagnold SummerDays of the Bagnold Summer
Comedy201986 minsDirector: Simon Bird
Simon Bird’s directorial debut is a warm and witty graphic novel adaptation about a single librarian trying to reconnect with her introverted, metalhead teenage son.
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Black Mountain PoetsBlack Mountain Poets
Comedy201685 minsDirector: Jamie Adams
Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells play criminal sisters who steal the identity of two poets, only to be charmed by the world of competition poetry.
KlokkenluiderKlokkenluider
Comedy202285 minsDirector: Neil Maskell
Edgy, darkly funny and claustrophobic comic thriller, in which a hapless government whistleblower and his partner hide out in a remote Belgian cottage, accompanied by two eccentric bodyguards.
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Wild MenWild Men
Comedy2021102 minsDirector: Thomas Daneskov
In this razor-sharp black comedy featuring Sofie Gråbøl (The Killing), Martin flees to the mountains in a desperate attempt to cure his midlife crisis.
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The Beta TestThe Beta Test
Comedy202193 minsDirector: Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe
Indie actor-director Jim Cummings returns after his breakout hit Thunder Road with a pacey down-the-rabbit-hole thriller about a Hollywood talent agent who becomes ensnared in a sinister world of sex, lies and murder.
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AfireAfire
Comedy2023103 minsDirector: Christian Petzold
Fires rage around a pompous novelist and his awkward desires in Christian Petzold’s sharp comedy drama.
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The Brand New TestamentThe Brand New Testament
Comedy2015110 minsDirector: Jaco van Dormael
Catherine Deneuve and Benoît Poelvoorde head the cast in Jaco Van Dormael’s wildly inventive comedy, in which God’s daughter decides to rewrite the rules.
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Frances HaFrances Ha
Comedy201286 minsDirector: Noah Baumbach
Barbie creators Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach hit their stride with this critical smash about an awkward girl and her complex passions.
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BagheadBaghead
Comedy200881 minsDirector: Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass
Greta Gerwig shines as one of four filmmaking friends who find their slasher screenplay idea turning into a terrifying reality, in this in ‘mumblegore’ horror-comedy.
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Wild TalesWild Tales
Comedy2014122 minsDirector: Damian Szifron
This Oscar-nominated, Almodóvar-produced anthology of six tales of ordinary madness is the most riotously enjoyable portmanteau film since Pulp Fiction.
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City of Lost SoulsCity of Lost Souls
Comedy198390 minsDirector: Rosa von Praunheim
Jayne County, Angie Stardust and Tara O'Hara star in Rosa von Praunheim's trans-punk groteskes-musical.
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Thundercrack!Thundercrack!
Comedy1975160 minsDirector: Curt Mcdowell
One dark and stormy night a group of strangers take refuge in a remote house, and then… Not for the easily offended.
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Appropriate BehaviourAppropriate Behaviour
Comedy201586 minsDirector: Desiree Akhavan
Desiree Akhavan directs and stars in this witty, razor-sharp and fearless comedy following the sexual misadventures of a bisexual Brooklynite.
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Gregory's GirlGregory's Girl
Comedy198192 minsDirector: Bill Forsyth
The ultimate depiction of coming-of-age awkwardness, Bill Forsyth’s comedy about a teen who falls for the new female footballer on the school team.
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Gone Too Far!Gone Too Far!
Comedy201488 minsDirector: Destiny Ekaragha
Riotous urban comedy adapted from the hit Royal Court play, about a Peckham teen affronted by the arrival of his long-lost Nigerian sibling.
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DaisiesDaisies
Comedy196673 minsDirector: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.
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TrapsTraps
Comedy1998116 minsDirector: Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová's dark, post-communist comedy. After a veterinary surgeon is sexually assaulted by two men, she uses her particular expertise in castraton to exact her revenge…
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DogtoothDogtooth
Drama200993 minsDirector: Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos' scary, witty tale of a dysfunctional Greek family is original, ingenious and sadly relevant as a study of parent-child relationships
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All My Friends Hate MeAll My Friends Hate Me
Comedy202294 minsDirector: Andrew Gaynord
A deliciously dark comedy about social paranoia that will have you joyfully squirming in your seat.
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The Wayward CloudThe Wayward Cloud
Comedy2004114 minsDirector: Tsai Ming-liang
Ming-Liang Tsai's outrageous blend of sex, comedy, musical and drama is a daring, controversial and hilarious smorgasbord from one of Taiwan's most acclaimed directors.
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Good MorningGood Morning
Comedy195994 minsDirector: Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu's cheerful comedy about the silliness of everyday chatter.
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Pauline at the BeachPauline at the Beach
Comedy198295 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's final collaboration with the great cinematographer Néstor Almendros follows a holidaying teenager as she begins to navigate the adult world.
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Four Adventures of Reinette and MirabelleFour Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle
Comedy198699 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's delightful, episodic account of the blossoming friendship between a gauche, highly opinionated country girl and a more laid-back Parisian student.
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Ghost WorldGhost World
Comedy2001107 minsDirector: Terry Zwigoff
Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch star as a pair of social outcasts struggling to make sense of the world around them, in this sublime love story based on the work of underground artist Daniel Clowes.
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Stolen KissesStolen Kisses
Comedy196891 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Naively idealistic and largely inept both in his dealings with women and in any job, Antoine clumsily courts Christine while working for a private detective agency.
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Love and Death on Long IslandLove and Death on Long Island
Comedy199889 minsDirector: Richard Kwietniowski
John Hurt stars in Richard Kwietniowski’s comedy of fame and obsession about an older man (Hurt) who becomes infatuated with a young Hollywood actor (Jason Priestley), and proceeds to track him down.
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Love & FriendshipLove & Friendship
Comedy201693 minsDirector: Whit Stillman
Whit Stillman crosses the Atlantic for this irresistible Jane Austen adaptation, following the delicious and devious exploits of Lady Susan (Kate Beckinsale).
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Letter to BrezhnevLetter to Brezhnev
Comedy198594 minsDirector: Chris Bernard
A defining Merseyside film, in which two Liverpool lasses hook up with a pair of Russian sailors only to wonder if they might be better off behind the Iron Curtain.
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UndergroundUnderground
Comedy1995170 minsDirector: Emir Kusturica
Set against the backdrop of 50 turbulent years of Yugoslavian history, this deeply moving and masterful tragic-farce from director Emir Kusturica earned him his second Palme d'Or.
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Black JoyBlack Joy
Comedy197799 minsDirector: Anthony Simmons
Ben, an innocent immigrant from a remote village in Guyana, arrives in Brixton and falls prey to an assortment of streetwise characters in Anthony Simmons' Palme d’Or nominated comic drama.
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Smiles of a Summer NightSmiles of a Summer Night
Comedy1955109 minsDirector: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s Cannes prize-winning comedy assembles various couples in a country house in 1900.
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The CrematorThe Cremator
Comedy196896 minsDirector: Juraj Herz
This story of a professional cremator whose increasingly deranged impulses are given free reign during Prague's Nazi occupation, is a brilliantly chilling mix of Dr Strangelove and Repulsion.
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Equinox FlowerEquinox Flower
Comedy1958118 minsDirector: Yasujirō Ozu
Ozu's deft comedy takes an ironic look at the decline of paternal authority.
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Yesterday, Today and TomorrowYesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Comedy1963118 minsDirector: Vittorio De Sica
Irrepressible Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves) directs this Oscar-winning film of three comic tales of love and sex in three cities.
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Sherlock Jr.Sherlock Jr.
Comedy192445 minsDirector: Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton's superb, sophisticated silent comedy in which he dreams himself into the movie he's watching, in order to win back his girl.
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