Film Brain looks at this new documentary about the (in)famous London cult cinema, a home for classic and underground films that was as wild, rebellious and punk as the movies it screened, and inspired a whole generation of filmmakers.
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00:00 It was the short-lived London cinema that inspired countless filmmakers.
00:03 It was the Scala, the subject of a new documentary by Jane Giles and Ali Cattrall,
00:08 who previously worked there.
00:10 Housed in the then rough and seedy area of London's King's Cross,
00:13 the Scala showed everything from Laurel and Hardy to the original King Kong
00:17 to the notorious midnight movie Thundercrack,
00:20 but what was happening off the screen was often as wild as anything happening on it.
00:24 And the film is largely a collection of anecdotes and memories
00:27 from former patrons and employees, including Ben Wheatley, Adam Buxton,
00:31 Mary Harron, John Waters, Stuart Lee, and a whole host more.
00:36 Sometimes it does feel like it's missing context for some viewers,
00:39 particularly when it's talking about A Clockwork Orange,
00:41 which was banned by the Kubrick estate in the UK
00:44 and effectively fell to the Scala when they screened it in the early 90s.
00:49 But generally, this is an enjoyable and anarchic trip down memory lane
00:53 as a hugely influential cinema,
00:55 even for those of us who are maybe a little bit too young to actually go there in its heyday.