The Movie Waffler Lars von Trier’s THE KINGDOM EXODUS Leads MUBI UK’s November Line-Up | The Movie Waffler

Lars von Trier’s THE KINGDOM EXODUS Leads MUBI UK’s November Line-Up

Lars von Trier’s THE KINGDOM EXODUS Leads MUBI UK’s November Line-Up
The arthouse streaming service has announced its November schedule.

November on MUBI UK sees the premiere of Lars von Trier's belated followup to his cult 1990s show The Kingdom, the latest from Claire Denis, a Jafar Panahi double bill and more.


The Kingdom Exodus

The Kingdom Exodus
The long-awaited third and final series of Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom, The Kingdom Exodus, (2022), will be arriving exclusively on MUBI, debuting a weekly episode from November 27. In the lead-up to the release of The Kingdom Exodus, (2022), newly restored, never-seen-before versions of the 1990s cult classic series can be found on MUBI with The Kingdom (1994) releasing on November 13th, shortly followed by The Kingdom II (1997) on November 20th. 

The Kingdom Exodus (2022) returns to the 1990s ghost story about a hospital built on top of the old bleaching ponds in Copenhagen, where evil has taken root and medical science faces a daily struggle with itself, where the Swedes curse the Danes, and the mysterious and inexplicable blend together in a mixture of horror and humour. The Kingdom Exodus (2022) sees von Trier’s real-life documentary style intertwined with dark wit and black comedy, while playing with the supernatural.


Both Sides of the Blade

Both Sides of the Blade
Claire Denis has been making films since the 1980s, and her fifteenth film Both Sides of The Blade (2022) saw her win the Silver Bear at Berlin for Best Director earlier this year. Adapted from Christine Angot’s 2018 novel 'Un tournant de la vie', Both Sides of The Blade (2022) is a complex and passionate portrayal of an intense love triangle.

Juliette Binoche (Sara) and Vincent Lindon’s (Jean) performances are nothing short of powerful in Denis’s latest film. Sara and Jean have been happily together for 10 years until Sara has a chance encounter with François, an old flame and Jean’s former best friend, which forces her to face her feelings for both men. When François asks Jean to work for him, all three are drawn into a web of deception and desire.  A portrayal of lust and lost love, Both Sides of The Blade (2022) is a daring and intricately directed drama and will be arriving exclusively on MUBI this November.


il buco

Il Buco
10 years since his last release, Le Quattro Volte, Michelangelo Frammartino brings us Il Buco (2021), a breathtaking docudrama based on the true story of a group of speleologists who explore Europe’s deepest cave in the Calabrian hinterland. Their venture goes unnoticed by the inhabitants of a neighbouring village, but not by an old shepherd whose solitary life interweaves with the group’s journey. Apart from a little chat and murmur among the speleologists, Il Buco (2021) is without dialogue or subtitles, the focus solely on the journey as they reach the bottom of the cave, 700 meters below Earth, for the first time. Il Buco (2021) is available to stream exclusively on MUBI from November 2nd.


the box

The Box
Winner of the Venice Film Festival’s Leoncino d’Oro Agiscuola Award – Cinema for UNICEF, The Box (2021) concludes Venezuelan writer-director Lorenzo Vigas’ trilogy, which includes his short Elephants Never Forget (2004) and his feature debut, From Afar (Festival 2016), winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. 

Hatzin (Hatzin Navarrete), a young teenager from Mexico City, travels to collect the remains of his father, which have been found in a communal grave in the northern part of Mexico. But a casual encounter with a man, Mario (Hernán Mendoza), who shares a physical resemblance with his father puts in doubt the certainty of his father’s death and above all, opens the possibility of re-establishing a father-son relationship the young man so deeply desires. The Box (2021) is a multi-layered story that resonates powerfully and arrives exclusively on MUBI this November.


Hold Me Tight

Hold Me Tight
Actor-director Mathieu Amalric’s latest film Hold Me Tight (2021) stars Vicky Krieps in one of her most daring and jaw-dropping performances as a mother who unexpectedly leaves her family behind. The unique exploration of grief and abandonment unravels its puzzle-like mystery with its intertwining narratives blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.   

Camille (Krieps) walks through her house at dawn taking a last look at her husband and two children – hesitates to leave a farewell note – and finally hits the road. A desperate escape that gradually reveals its layers as Camille, who seems to be linked by an extra-sensory string to the children she has left behind, loses herself in the world.


tehran taxi

Jafar Panahi: A Double Bill
This November, MUBI sees a very special double bill from the highly acclaimed award-winning Iranian director, Jafar Panahi. Panahi was arrested in Iran earlier this year and is currently serving a six-year prison sentence after enquiring about the imprisonment of fellow film-maker, Mohammad Rasoulof. Ahead of the world premiere of Panahi’s new film No Bears (2022) at Venice Film Festival, a protest was held on the red carpet, calling for his release. From his cell,  Panahi sent a letter to the festival thanking people for ‘making noise’ in support of Iranian filmmakers.

With the UK release of No Bears (2022) this month, MUBI brings two of Panahi’s spectacular films to the platform. Winner of Berlin’s top prize, the Golden Bear, Tehran Taxi (2015) arrives on MUBI on November 8th: Panahi drives a yellow cab through the vibrant streets of Tehran interviewing a diverse range of passengers who candidly express their views. On November 24, 3 Faces (2018) - winner of the Best Screenplay at 2018 Cannes Film Festival - comes to the platform. Panahi and actor Behnaz Jafari travel to a tiny village after receiving a plea for help from a girl whose family has forbidden her from studying acting.


That Kind of Summer

Spotlight on Denis Côté
The works of the acclaimed, unclassifiable and prolific indie Quebecois director Denis Côté will be showcased in MUBI's dedicated season Spotlight on Denis Coté highlighting the unique liberty of tone and genre of his films. From narrative fiction to experimental documentaries, the award-winning filmmaker explores the margins and interactions between body and space. The focus will culminate with the release of his latest film, That Kind of Summer (2022), a frank, tender portrait of three women’s stay at a retreat for sex addiction which premiered in competition at the Berlinale this February.


The Beat That My Heart Skipped

Focus on Jacques Audiard
This November on MUBI, the focus spotlights the multi-award-winning French director, producer and screenwriter Jacques Audiard. Audiard started his directing career at a time marked by ‘post-French New Wave’ ideas, and disrupted those new conventions by placing prominence on the use of a script when everyone was very much against them. As a result, Audiard  became a key figure in narrative cinema and is considered one of the best filmmakers working today.

MUBI will show three of Audiard’s early films throughout November, with See How They Fall (1994) on November 5th,  Read My Lips (2001) on November 15th and The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) concluding the series on November 26th.


oldboy

Sympathy for the Devil: The Films of Park Chan-Wook
MUBI's series, Sympathy for the Devil: The Films of Park Chan-wook, continues this November to celebrate the theatrical release of Chan-wook’s newest feature Decision to Leave (2022), which arrives in cinemas in October and will be coming exclusively to MUBI soon. 

Chan-wook has developed a recognisable style, infused with dark humour and violently-poetic narratives filled with uncertainty and suspense. The cult classic Oldboy (2003),  arrives first this month on November 5th: Imprisoned for no apparent reason for 15 years, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) survives only because of his will to get even with the villain who has made his life a living hell. Suddenly given a phone, money and expensive clothes he is released without explanation and embarks on a quest for revenge. 

Following this MUBI brings the last of The Vengeance Trilogy, Lady Vengeance (2005) on November 17th: After being wrongfully convicted, a woman is imprisoned for 13 years and forced to give up her daughter. While in prison she gains the respect of her cellmates and plots her revenge on the man responsible. On November 24th MUBI brings you Thirst (2009), a highly original take on the vampire genre and an artful blend of horror twisted with comedy, sees a priest stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.


naked lunch

David Cronenberg: Love and Other Parasites
One of Canada’s most celebrated directors, David Cronenberg has carved out an indelible legacy with his string of “body horror” films that marry skin-crawling bodily transformations with psychological and philosophical concerns. Cronenberg’s interest in questioning human instinct and debating morality is on full display in this dedicated season culminating in acidic social satires featuring blood-thirsty zombies, telepaths with a vendetta, broods of mutant children, sinister cabals, giant talking bugs and more.

Concluding MUBI's Cronenberg series this November is Naked Lunch (1991), which sees a part-time exterminator and full-time drug addict plunge into a nightmarish interzone of sinister cabals and giant talking bugs. Believing himself to be a government agent, he flees to a secret organization after accidentally killing his wife.


Time to Love

Time to Love
MUBI’s first restoration project, Time to Love (1965), the offbeat melodrama from Golden Bear-winning Turkish auteur Metin Erksan, explores the impulses of the sensual self with misty black-and-white cinematography. Halil, who is working as a house painter at a mansion, falls in love with a photograph hanging on the wall. The portrait of the woman comes to life, but he is only in love with her image, not with her.



Starfuckers
“I’ll make you a star.” Starfuckers (2022), the formally daring queer revenge thriller featuring actor-director Antonio Marziale in an electrifying drag performance, takes direct aim at the abusive power structures of Hollywood. In a lavish LA villa on a sultry summer night, an intimate evening between a film director and an escort is disrupted when a familiar face arrives.



Sexual Drive
Married designer Enatsu worries about his sexless life. Office worker Akane is recovering from panic attacks. Elite advertising agent Ikeyama wants to end the relationship with his lover. A shabby man named Kurita appears before all three, presenting each with a secret. Kôta Yoshida’s tryptic of interconnected stories about sex, aphrodisiac foods and secret desires, Sexual Drive (2021), arrives on MUBI this month.



The Balcony Movie
Composed from conversations held with passers-by under director Paweł Łoziński’s Warsaw apartment, The Balcony Movie (2021) reveals a glimpse into the lives of strangers through unique and intimate encounters. Łoziński focuses as much on the colourful exchanges that take place as on the bond that develops between himself and the people who return to his camera resulting in a kaleidoscopic and heartfelt portrayal of humankind and the ways we cope with life.