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Cinema Rediscovered: Festival Preview

Becoming Cary Grant (12A)

+ Special Introduction

Dir. Mark Kidel, USA, 85 mins, 2017

Showing Times:

• Tue 5 Sep: 7.30pm

Fresh from its premiere at Cannes, this new documentary from Mark Kidel presents a radically new perspective on Cary Grant, examining his journey from Bristol boy Archibald Leach to one of Hollywood’s greatest ever actors.

Known for his suave sophistication, Cary Grant became an screen icon through his roles in some of the great films in the golden era of Hollywood cinema. But Grant was also a troubled man, describing himself as peering cautiously from behind a mask, a facade, never revealing his true self, nor allowing others to truly know him. Tormented most of his life with self-doubt and insecurity due to childhood trauma, in his fifties he began a long course of treatment, taking LSD to exorcise his demons.

No ordinary biopic, this is a story of a man in search of himself. Using words from his unpublished autobiography, newly discovered personal footage that Grant shot himself with a filmmakers eye, as well as contributions from friends, Kidel’s documentary reveals for the first time the intimacy and the depths of Grant’s insecurity and his unique journey of self-exploration, and ultimately, redemption.

Featuring narration by Jonathan Pryce and music by Tim Norfolk & Bob Locke (The Insects) and Adrian Utley (Portishead)

Special Introduction from Dr Charlotte Crofts

This screening will be introduced by Dr Charlotte Crofts who is the Festival Director of the Cary Grant Festival & Associate Professor of Filmmaking at UWE Bristol. 

Presented as part of Cinema Rediscovered on Tour, a Watershed project with support from BFI awarding funds from The National Lottery.

Venue: Studio 74, Exeter Phoenix