Capital Celluloid - Day 61: Wednesday Mar 2, 2011

Eureka (Roeg, 1982) plus Q&A with director: BFI Southbank, NFT1, 6pm

It is widely acknowledged that cinephiles in Paris and New York are spoilt for choice but I started compiling Capital Celluloid to highlight what was on offer on London's repertory cinema scene and this week is an excellent example of what can be found in the capital. 

A brilliant all-nighter at the Electric on Saturday; a live performance plus screening of Diva at ENO on Monday and a rare showing of Eraserhead on Tuesday is followed by this, which anyone interested in the films of Nicholas Roeg will be very excited about.

I had a sneak preview of this night back in the early 1980s when I saw Roeg talk about this film at Derby Lonsdale College two years after it was supposed to have been released. The movie was so mired in legal arguments then that the director could not even talk about why it did not see the light of day for so long.

Eureka was made after Roeg had completed a series of films which made him the most exciting directing talent working in Britain. Performance, Walkabout, Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell To Earth and Bad Timing . . .

For anyone interested in what happened to the director don't miss Sight & Sound editor Nick James's article in the March edition of the magazine.

Eureka itself tells the story of a gold prospector (Gene Hackman) whose life starts to unravel once he has everything. Plenty of delights here, especially for Roeg fans. And you get Joe Pesci and Mickey Rourke too.

Here is the trailer.

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