Point Blank + Q&A with John Boorman
classified 18Please note: This was screened in July 2019
Unfortunately due to illness the director John Boorman is unable to attend this screening of Point Blank. Given that some people will have booked specifically to hear him talk about his film, Watershed will offer refunds to those ticket holders who now do not want to attend. However, the screening of Point Blank will still go ahead and will be introduced by Dr Keith Johnston of University of East Anglia.
Dividing critics on its initial release, John Boorman’s Point Blank is now widely regarded as one of the most influential films of the 1960s. It tells the tale of a ruthless crook, Walker (Lee Marvin), who's betrayed by his partner, Mal Reese (John Vernon), who leaves him for dead on Alcatraz Island. Having survived, Walker returns years later to get revenge.
Inspiring the work of a number of contemporary directors including Steven Soderbergh and Nicolas Winding Refn, in 2016 the film was entered into the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress which recognises "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films."
Shot in a number of locations across California, including the recently decommissioned Alcatraz prison (the first feature film to do so), Point Blank represents a remarkable achievement in colour cinematography, inspired by the black-and-white Film Noirs of the 1940s and 1950s in its depiction of the monochromatic world, contrasting vibrant costume and set designs with the cold indifference of the central character’s steely personae.
This event is hosted by the AHRC-funded project The Eastmancolor Revolution and British Cinema 1955-1985 as part of ‘Global Colour and the Moving Image’ conference at the University of Bristol, July 10-12. For more information visit eastmancolor.info
