Art of Action at Showroom Cinema
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
As part of the UK-wide Art of Action season, Showroom Cinema is doing its part to highlight the cinematic craft, artistry and skill that goes into a genre that can occasionally be glossed over when it comes to examining the history of film. From a selection dedicated to The Action Pioneers of Early Cinema, to world cinema classics, an empowering look at modern women in action and more, Showroom are taking the action movie seriously for the next few months.
Starting at the start, The Action Pioneers of Early Cinema includes some silent film greats, including daredevil stunt work from Buster Keaton in Steamboat Bill, Jr (1 – 7 Nov) and The General (15 – 20 Nov) and Harold Lloyd in Safety Last! (22 – 28 Nov), plus 1927 Academy Award-winning fighter plane film Wings (8 – 14 Nov). There are more classics in an Essential Viewing strand that combines Errol Flynn’s daring-do in The Adventures of Robin Hood (8 – 14 Nov), with Akira Kurosawa’s epic Seven Samurai (15 – 21 Nov), Sam Peckinpah’s hyper-violent western The Wild Bunch (22 – 28 Nov), and Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in Kathryn Bigelow’s iconic Point Break (29 – 30 Nov).
Showroom have lined up a series of double bills dedicated to women kicking butt, starting with Friday-night showings of modern action flicks
The Art of Action season shines a spotlight on female-led action too. Showroom have lined up a series of double bills dedicated to women kicking butt, starting with Friday-night showings of modern action flicks, Charlie’s Angels and Atomic Blonde (Fri 15 Nov). On Sunday 24 November “She Packs a Punch” pairs The Panther Woman with The Bat Woman — two sixties pulp discoveries from Mexico. While Yeovember sees out the month with a celebration of action superstar Michelle Yeoh featuring early Hong Kong martial arts film Royal Warriors with 2022’s smash hit Everything Everywhere All at Once on Saturday 30 November.
In December there’s more martial arts as a special showing of Yip Wai- shun’s Ip Man (Sun 8 Dec) — a biopic dedicated to the master who mentored Bruce Lee — is followed by a martial arts demonstration led by Matthew Laurie of Sheffield and Peak District Qigong and Wing Chun. Meanwhile historian and writer Craig Ian Mann has compiled a trio of very different chase films each featuring human beings being hunted for sport. The screenings of The Most Dangerous Game (Sun 1 Dec), Punishment Park (Sun 8 Dec) and Hard Target (Sun 15 Dec) demonstrate the variety of style that falls under the action umbrella, but also rich social, cultural and political commentary that can be found in action cinema.
