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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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RiminiRimini
Drama202290 minsDirector: Ulrich Seidl
Impeccably styled and unflinchingly grim, this darkly humorous tale of a pop star past his prime finds Ulrich Seidl at his audacious best.

Eaten by LionsEaten by Lions
Comedy201895 minsDirector: Jason Wingard
In search of his estranged father, Omar sets off to Blackpool with half-brother Pete in this heartwarming multicultural road trip comedy starring BAFTA-nominated actor Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing).

Flux GourmetFlux Gourmet
Comedy2022112 minsDirector: Peter Strickland
This darkly comic tale from Peter Strickland and recipient of seven BIFA nominations, is a fantastic feast for the senses, starring Asa Butterfield and Gwendoline Christie.

Queen of GloryQueen of Glory
Comedy202179 minsDirector: Nana Mensah
In Nana Mensah’s self-assured and charming comedy, a Ghanaian-American woman’s life is thrown into disarray when she inherits her mother’s Christian bookshop.

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.

SocietySociety
Horror198999 minsDirector: Brian Yuzna
A teenager uncovers an elite ritualistic society in Brian Yuzna's stomach-churning mix of body-horror and social commentary.

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.

PrevengePrevenge
Comedy201788 minsDirector: Alice Lowe
Alice Lowe directs and stars in this riotous tale of a pregnant serial killer, hellbent on revenge.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony PornBad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Comedy2021106 minsDirector: Radu Jude
Berlin Golden Bear winner, Radu Jude’s scathing satire finds schoolteacher Emi threatened with dismissal when a private sex tape goes viral.

The GeneralThe General
Comedy192679 minsSilentDirector: Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman
Buster Keaton's masterpiece is widely and rightly regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever made.

Good MorningGood Morning
Comedy195994 minsDirector: Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu's cheerful comedy about the silliness of everyday chatter.

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

Spanking the MonkeySpanking the Monkey
Comedy199495 minsDirector: David O. Russell
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) made his feature debut in 1994 with this biting black comedy, which caused a stir with its incestuous subplot and portrayal of adolescent restlessness.

I Was Born, But...I Was Born, But...
Comedy193287 minsSilentDirector: Yasujirō Ozu
Ozu's silent masterpiece follows two brothers as they try to outwit the local bully.

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.

DaisiesDaisies
Comedy196673 minsDirector: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.

Marriage Italian StyleMarriage Italian Style
Comedy196497 minsDirector: Vittorio De Sica
Sophia Loren and Marcelo Mastroianni are irrepressible as a long-married couple in this exquisite and timeless comedy of our all-too-human foibles.

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.

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.

Equinox FlowerEquinox Flower
Comedy1958118 minsDirector: Yasujirō Ozu
Ozu's deft comedy takes an ironic look at the decline of paternal authority.

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.

Support the GirlsSupport the Girls
Drama201890 minsDirector: Andrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski serves up a big-hearted comedy with his day-in-the-life look at Double Whammies – a Hooters-style bar and its tight-knit, all-female staff.

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.

The Saragossa ManuscriptThe Saragossa Manuscript
Fantasy1965183 minsDirector: Wojciech Jerzy Has
During the Napoleonic wars, a soldier discovers a strange manuscript that reveals endless stories-within-stories. Wojciech Has' opus is a major cult film of the 60s, revered by Luis Buñuel, David Lynch and Jerry Garcia.

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.

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…

Boccaccio '70Boccaccio '70
Anthology1962204 minsDirector: Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and 2 more
Four of the greatest Italian directors – Fellini, Visconti, De Sica and Monicelli – join forces with show-stoppers Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg and Romy Schneider in a carousel of sex and satire mocking the mores of Italian '60s society.

ExhibitionExhibition
Drama2014105 minsDirector: Joanna Hogg
Joanna Hogg's sleek and minimalist comedy about a pair of artists and their emotional attachment to their ultra-modernist apartment.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Steamboat Bill, Jr.Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Comedy192871 minsDirector: Charles F. Riesner
Waterway hi jinks abound in this Buster Keaton classic, in which he plays the reluctant heir to his father's paddle steamer business.

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.

Finally, Sunday!Finally, Sunday!
Comedy1983111 minsDirector: François Truffaut
A man suspected of a crime enlists a woman to prove his innocence in Truffaut’s Hitchcockian inspired serio-comic romantic thriller.

Old BoysOld Boys
Comedy201995 minsDirector: Toby MacDonald
Charmingly idiosyncratic comedy reworking of Cyrano de Bergerac, with Alex Lawther as a boarder who helps the school hero woo a French teacher's daughter despite being besotted with her himself.

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.

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.

A Good MarriageA Good Marriage
Comedy1981100 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's pleasingly precise portrait of obstinately perverse longing, with Béatrice Romand as the student determined to marry an uninterested lawyer.

PiratesPirates
Comedy202180 minsDirector: Reggie Yates
Set in London at the turn of the millennium, Reggie Yates’ hilarious debut feature takes us on a journey back to New Year's Eve 1999, reviving memories from the 90's garage scene and Moschino fashion for pure nostalgic cinematic joy.

DiamantinoDiamantino
Comedy201897 minsDirector: Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt
Diamantino, Portugal’s (the world’s!) top football player, becomes embroiled in a genetic experiment and a conspiracy to leave the EU, in this joyful, postmodern political fantasy.

The SquareThe Square
Comedy2017151 minsDirector: Ruben Östlund
From director Ruben Östlund (Force Majeure) comes a satire on the hypocrisy of the art world, starring Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West. Winner of the Palme d'Or.

PatrickPatrick
Drama201996 minsDirector: Tim Mielants
Life on the nudist colony is fairly routine for handyman Patrick (Kevin Janssens), that is until the mystery of his missing hammer sets in motion a quest of self-discovery.

It Must Be HeavenIt Must Be Heaven
Comedy2019102 minsDirector: Elia Suleiman
Acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman returns with another deadpan take on life in exile that is typically assured and moving.

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.

Dark HorseDark Horse
Drama201186 minsDirector: Todd Solondz
Todd Solondz directs Selma Blair and Jordan Gelber in this delightfully dark satire as romance blooms between a toy collector and a depressed woman.

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