Harris Dickinson

“One of the OGs: Mike Leigh, Life Is Sweet. I got introduced to Mike Leigh very young with a lot of the, like, Plays of the Day. Alison Steadman, Abigail’s Party. Turning in these beautiful, human, funny films. And he’s been a big influence for me as a person in film. So I’m definitely going to take that.”

“Life of Oharu. I saw this in London. We’ve got a great cinema called Close-Up, and I saw this a couple of years ago... It’s such a beautiful film about sex work and Revenge and identity, and beautiful framing, really elegant and thoughtful. I haven’t actually watched much else from this filmmaker, so I’ll have to explore.”

“And of course, Manila in the Claws of Light on its own. Wonderful. What a Performance by the lead as well, I just want to say. There’s rarely real intimate close-ups, they come later on in the film and it’s so much more impactful. But he has such an amazing angelic face, and he’s going through such, like, tumultuous times in the film. You watch him and you’re just obsessed with staying with him and his world. So yeah, incredible film.”

“, Gummo. I always loved Harmony Korine. Gummo was one of those early films I watched that kind of… was disturbing, and it caused trouble for film in a way. It went against so much form, which I loved. And I met him recently and he was smoking a cigar and I thought, “That’s very Harmony Korine.” But I used to skateboard a lot as well, so I feel like skate culture and Harmony Korine kind of go hand in hand.”

“Oh, wow. To Die For. Gus Van Sant and Nicole Kidman. My favorite scene in this is when she’s videoing Joaquin and the other actors, and she’s saying, “Move your hips. Now let’s dance. Oh yeah. Come on, guys.” And she’s trying to get them to move. And Joaquin Phoenix’s character is just, like, doing this crazy, like, out-of-time jive. But yeah, Nicole’s incredible in this. I love this film. It’s disturbing.”

“John Mackenzie’s Long Good Friday. We actually studied this in school, that end Close-Up on Bob Hoskins, and obviously an incredible Helen Mirren in this film, but I remember that was kind of the first time watching gangster cinema that felt grounded and about the human relationships rather than the sort of glamorization of that lifestyle, you know, it was feeling deeply for Bob’s character, even at the end when he knows he’s kind of messed up, and he’s almost a bit pathetic.”

“Yi. There’s some stills in this that are just incredible. If you look– well, watch it first of all. But if you look at it after on Film Grab or whatever, some of the framing is impeccable, and… a quiet film, but an incredibly nuanced film. Yang is a master.”

“This is one that Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project… shone a light to it.”