This film is currently unavailable
A Hard Day's Night
The Beatles’ freewheeling film debut remains the pinnacle of rock-n-roll cinema; still deliriously entertaining 50 years on.
Director: Richard Lester
Overview
The Beatles’ freewheeling film debut remains deliriously entertaining 50 years on, anarchically revelling in the Fab Four’s slapstick, sardonic personas and adopting a kinetic visual style – influenced by the French New Wave - that would inspire the modern music video.
Made at the peak of Beatlemania, it chronicles a couple of days in the life of the band as they try and escape the attentions of hysterical fans, clueless hacks, uncool toffs, a perpetually fretful manager and the regrettable presence of Paul’s ‘clean’ but meddling grandfather. Alun Owen’s witty, Oscar®-nominated script ensures that the film endures as a scintillating blend of marvellous music and gently satirical comedy, and John, Paul, George and Ringo ooze youthful irreverence and utterly unforced charm. The cinematography, at times imaginatively witty, at others almost documentary-like, was by the great Gilbert Taylor.
Contains mild language
Related
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
The Tales of Beatrix Potter The Tales of Beatrix Potter
Musical 1971 90 mins Director: Reginald Mills
Beatrix Potter's most beloved characters spring to life in this live-action classic.
The Wayward Cloud The Wayward Cloud
Comedy 2004 114 mins Director: 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.
All Consuming Love All Consuming Love
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2011 9 mins Director: Louis Hudson
Kevin Eldon voices this oddball, award-winning animated short about a tiny middle-aged man who lives inside a stray cat.
The Battle of Algiers The Battle of Algiers
Drama 1966 121 mins Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterpiece about the last years of French colonial rule in Algeria, seen from the perspective of both the revolutionaries and the French authorities.
Caravaggio Caravaggio
Biopic 1986 93 mins Director: Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman’s unique biopic of the 17th century Italian artist Michelangelo da Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality, criminality and art.
Daisies Daisies
Comedy 1966 73 mins Director: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.
Island of the Hungry Ghosts Island of the Hungry Ghosts
Documentary 2018 98 mins Director: Gabrielle Brady
A therapist helps traumatised refugees detained on a remote island where powerful natural and tribal rituals prevail, in this extraordinary mix of fact and fiction.
Heathers Heathers
Comedy 1989 103 mins Director: Michael Lehmann
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater star in the endlessly quotable cult black comedy that subverted expectations of teen movies forever.
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.
Pandora's Box Pandora's Box
Drama 1928 134 mins Silent Director: G.W. Pabst
Louise Brooks dazzles as the iconic showgirl who leaves a trail of destruction in her wake, in one of the great silent films of the Weimar era.
