SHREWSBURY FILM SOCIETY
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From master filmmaker Wim Wenders comes Perfect Days (Germany, cert PG, 2023), a quietly luminous portrait of finding joy in the everyday.
We meet Hirayama, a Tokyo toilet cleaner who leads a seemingly simple life: tending to his work with meticulous care, listening to old cassette tapes, reading books, and photographing trees. Yet as the days unfold, we glimpse a past that adds richness to his solitary existence.
Wenders gives us a film that’s meditative without being slow, life-affirming without cliché. Koji Yakusho’s performance, which won Best Actor at Cannes, is a masterclass in understatement, every gesture speaking volumes.
There’s something deeply refreshing about a story that celebrates the beauty of small rituals, the dignity of work, and the quiet connections we make along the way. You may find yourself walking home more slowly after this one, noticing the light on the pavement or the rustle of leaves.
Don’t miss this gentle, heartening film – book now for a perfect evening.
You can read the Film Notes here, and watch the trailer here
Louis and Jonny played an absolute blinder when interviewed by Mark Elliott on the BBC Radio Shropshire mid-morning show about the Open Door Cinema Club (see below)
You can hear it here:
Can you ever have too much melodrama, we hear you cry? Well, for fans of this glorious genre, we have exciting news. Thanks to support from Film Hub Midlands, we’ve received funding to present a trio of unforgettable melodramas, all under the evocative season strapline: Too Much.
Throughout December and January, prepare to be swept away by culture, emotion, soaring scores, and bold storytelling – beginning with the timeless classic Brief Encounter (1945). This poignant tale of forbidden love, set against the constraints of suburban British life, was one of David Lean’s first great successes. It simply had to be included.
And finally, no melodrama season would be complete without the master himself – Pedro Almodovar. Though spoilt for choice, we’ve selected Julieta (2016), a deeply moving story that shifts focus from romance to family. After a chance encounter, a grieving woman confronts the defining moments of her life and her estranged daughter’s absence.
We hope you’ll join us for a season that promises not only dazzling drama, but also a complimentary mocktail tailored to each film’s era.
In addition, we will be screening matinees at Mayfair Community Centre, Church Stretton at 2pm on:
We have taken advantage of the break from screening movies to do some maintenance work on all things Film Society. The standout job was to replace the projector. From the start of last season it was clear that the current projector, which had served us loyally for over 10 years, was on its last legs. There was an area in the bottom right corner with a sepia tint, which was slowly increasing in size. Plus we would occasionally turn on the projector and everything would be red
So we spent £3000 on a new NEC PV710 projector
This has a guaranteed 20,000 hours lifespan, so using my back-of-a-fag-packet-maths, assuming that we show 16 films a year which last 2 hours, then this projector will need to be replaced in 625 years! So hopefully this is not an expense that we will need to worry about again.
And this is all before I mention that the image quality at its first film showing was absolutely superb, so it makes the whole experience of seeing films on the big screen that are not available elsewhere even better than ever.
We are also revamping the age-old Film Society tradition of the buttons in cups. The Happy, Neutral and Sad faces can make people conflicted especially with films that are best described as "gritty".
Quite rightfully, many aren't sure if they should go for a Happy face on the basis of the excellent quality of the film, yet the subject matter shouts out Sad face.
We are therefore going to tweak the cups to go for a 1 to 5 star system - so this would be more in line with the ratings used by for example the Guardian.
As it progressed, and the more that I enjoyed last season, the more I lamented the fact that so many people stream their films at home and completely miss out on the big screen communal experience that the Hive offers.
And this spurred us on to start an offshoot of the Film Society - which we have called the Open Door Cinema Club. The aim is to draw in a new audience and allow them to appreciate the benefits of watching films in the Hive rather than on a smartphone. We may not find that the films that they want to screen to be to our taste, but, above all, we want to get people to fall back in love with going to see a movie.
Anyway, Louis, Matt and Jonny have put in a Stakhanovite shift in setting this up. They are showing 5 horror films in October in a mini-season called Horror in the Hive. Even if horror is not your thing, please could you support them by spreading the word. They also have a cracking website - https://opendoorcinema.club/
We are offering the best of world cinema over 16 fortnightly Friday nights. Printed copies of the leaflet are available from The Hive and other outlets or you can download a one-sided poster version here.
Best wishes,
Louis, Andrew and Mike
as the Shrewsbury Film Society Committee
