Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month
I've Been Trying to Tell You
Saint Etienne present a beautiful and enveloping nostalgia trip through 1990s Britain.
Director: Alasdair McLellan
Overview
Do you look back on the optimism of the 1997-2001 era as a lost golden age, or do you see it as a period of naïvety, delusion and folly? There’s a lot of nostalgia for the nineties at the moment, especially from people too young to remember it who see the decade as a simpler, pre-internet time. Modern nostalgia often draws on corporate American-90s mall culture, but what about British culture? With I’ve Been Trying To Tell You – made to accompany the Saint Etienne album of the same name – director Alasdair McLellan evokes the era through the fog of memory. The resulting film, shot in locations from Grangemouth to Portmeirion to Southampton, is both beautiful and enveloping.
Related
I Am Weekender I Am Weekender
Anthology 2023 72 mins Director: Wiz and Chloé Raunet
Groundbreaking 1992 music film Weekender, coupled with Chloé Raunet’s documentary about the making of the film and its enduring impact, offering a unique insight into the heart of acid house.
Wild Tales Wild Tales
Comedy 2014 122 mins Director: Damian Szifron
This Oscar-nominated, Almodóvar-produced anthology of six tales of ordinary madness is the most riotously enjoyable portmanteau film since Pulp Fiction.
Nymphomaniac Vol. I Nymphomaniac Vol. I
Drama 2013 118 mins Director: Lars von Trier
Volume 1 of Lars von Trier’s explicit, controversial film about a woman recounting the history of her sexuality in episodic style.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Comedy 2021 106 mins Director: Radu Jude
Berlin Golden Bear winner, Radu Jude’s scathing satire finds schoolteacher Emi threatened with dismissal when a private sex tape goes viral.
Lawrence of Belgravia Lawrence of Belgravia
Documentary 2012 85 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly's stirring and acclaimed character study of enigmatic musician Lawrence (Felt, Denim and Go-Kart Mozart).
Memoria Memoria
Fantasy 2021 136 mins Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Tilda Swinton stars in the first English-language feature from master filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul; a mesmerising and beautifully immersive work.
All My Friends Hate Me All My Friends Hate Me
Comedy 2022 94 mins Director: Andrew Gaynord
A deliciously dark comedy about social paranoia that will have you joyfully squirming in your seat.
Watership Down Watership Down
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 92 mins Director: Martin Rosen
An apocalyptic vision pushes a group of rabbits to abandon their warren in search of a new home, in this landmark British animation.
Tchaikovsky's Wife Tchaikovsky's Wife
Biopic 2022 144 mins Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
Award-winning director Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov's Flu) charts the tumultuous relationship between the 19th-century composer and his wife, in this poignant and powerful biopic.
Nezouh Nezouh
Drama 2024 104 mins Director: Soudade Kaadan
Enchanting feminist coming-of-age drama, from award winning Syrian director Soudade Kaadan.
The Turin Horse The Turin Horse
Drama 2011 155 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Béla Tarr’s devastating, starkly pared-down final feature, inspired by Nietzsche.
Werckmeister Harmonies Werckmeister Harmonies
Drama 2000 147 mins Director: Béla Tarr
A stuffed whale sparks social apocalypse in this haunting cinematic masterpiece from Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky.
The Man from London The Man from London
Drama 2007 139 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Tilda Swinton stars in this profoundly nocturnal Georges Simenon adaptation.