This film is part of Rentals
Death and The Compass
Alex Cox’s visually stunning, deliciously dark adaptation of the short story by acclaimed Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.
Director: Alex Cox
Overview
Death and the Compass, one of Alex Cox’s most ambitious, inspired and visually stunning films, is a deliciously dark adaptation of the short story by acclaimed Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. In a totalitarian metropolis of the future (shot on location in Mexico City), Erik Lonnrot (Peter Boyle) is a gifted detective investigating a series of strange murders and disappearances that seem to implicate the insane crime lord Red Scarlach.
Enlisting the help of Alonso Zunz (Christopher Eccleston), a principled journalist, Lonnrot believes that he has uncovered a labyrinthine occult conspiracy. However, has the investigator’s brilliance merely precipitated his own destruction?
In a nightmare city inhabited only by criminals and police, a mystic detective finds a tool to catch a villainous outlaw. Augmented by a non-linear narrative style, Miguel Sandoval’s unhinged and digressive narration, by mystical and religious overtones and a keen visual sensibility, Death and the Compass is a distinctly unique experience.
Related
Victim Victim
Drama 1961 100 mins Director: Basil Dearden
This thought-provoking classic stars Dirk Bogarde as a homosexual lawyer who risks his career to hunt down a blackmailer.
Assault Assault
Detective drama 1971 87 mins Director: Sidney Hayers
Violent British crime film about a murderer on the loose near a girls’ school, starring Suzy Kendall and Lesley Anne-Down.
Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire
Musical 1985 90 mins Director: Alan Clarke
Alan Clarke’s once derided feature is surely the only vampire snooker musical in cinema history and a genuine cult artefact ripe for rediscovery.
The Black Panther The Black Panther
Drama 1977 97 mins Director: Ian Merrick
Gripping crime drama charts the killing spree which Donald Neilson, aka the Black Panther, perpetrated across England during the mid-70s.
Bread Bread
Drama 1971 68 mins Director: Stanley A. Long
A fun tale of hippies and rock and roll directed by the legendary Stanley Long and featuring cult British rock bands Juicy Lucy and Crazy Mabel.
Bronco Bullfrog Bronco Bullfrog
Drama 1970 87 mins Director: Barney Platts-Mills
A fascinating record of 1960s suedehead youth culture which is largely improvised by a non-professional cast of teenagers from east London
Where Hands Touch Where Hands Touch
Drama 2017 122 mins Director: Amma Asante
Amma Asante (Belle, A United Kingdom) presents this rites-of-passage story of a bi-racial teen struggling for survival in Nazi Germany.
Shallow Grave Shallow Grave
Comedy 1995 89 mins Director: Danny Boyle
Ewan McGregor and Danny Boyle burst onto the scene with this dark crime caper about three friends and their rich, dead flatmate.
Legend Legend
Crime 2015 131 mins Director: Brian Helgeland
Tom Hardy’s magnetic double-performance as infamous East End gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray commands Brian Helgeland stylish biopic.
Anchoress Anchoress
Historical drama 1993 109 mins Director: Christopher Newby
Chris Newby’s poetic debut feature addresses the gulf between patriarchal power and female ritual and rebellion against the backdrop of a remote Medieval village.
Sid and Nancy Sid and Nancy
Biopic 1986 113 mins Director: Alex Cox
A raw and unnerving depiction of the short, incendiary life and times of Sex Pistols punk rockstar Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
Three Businessmen Three Businessmen
Comedy 1999 81 mins Director: Alex Cox
Alex Cox’s surreal and subversive comic fantasy about three men’s search for a meal that becomes a globe-trotting odyssey.
Straight to Hell Straight to Hell
Comedy 1987 86 mins Director: Alex Cox
Alex Cox’s anarchic homage to the spaghetti western, with arguably cinema’s wildest cast: Dennis Hopper, Joe Strummer, Courtney Love, Grace Jones and Shane MacGowan.
Our Mothers Our Mothers
Drama 2019 77 mins Director: César Díaz
As Guatemala confronts its violent past, a forensic anthropologist is tasked with identifying the dead, in this affecting Cannes prize-winning drama.
Red Herring Red Herring
Documentary 2023 94 mins Director: Kitson Vincent
Following his terminal diagnosis, young filmmaker Kit Vincent sets out to document an intimate and darkly humorous journey in this BIFA nominated documentary.
Robot Dreams Robot Dreams
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 103 mins Director: Pablo Berger
Spanish director Pablo Berger delivers a rich and emotionally engaging dialogue-free animation about friendship, set in a bustling 1980s New York City.
Stephen Stephen
Drama-documentary 2023 78 mins Director: Melanie Manchot
Artist Melanie Manchot’s debut feature is a visually striking film-within-a-film, exploring mental health and addiction.
Red Island Red Island
Drama 2023 117 mins Director: Robin Campillo
French writer-director Robin Campillo offers a searching exploration of memory and politics, in this boldly conceived story of boyhood in 1970s Madagascar.
Drift Drift
Drama 2023 93 mins Director: Anthony Chen
Cynthia Erivo delivers a captivating performance as a young refugee, who after fleeing war-torn Liberia finds hope when she meets a fellow lost soul.