There are must-see older films from major directors at Ottawa’s independent cinemas in the first half of August, many of them new 4K restorations. There’s also an interesting selection of current films and a special documentary for Rocky Horror fans, and even a sweet treat for the kids and a cat video fest.
I’ll start with one of my favourite films from one of my favourite directors—Throne of Blood from Akira Kurosawa. It’s considered one of the most brilliant adaptations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It’s set in a chilly, fog-shrouded landscape and massive, brooding castles in feudal Japan. Toshiro Mifune plays the battle-hardened nobleman easily seduced by ghostly portents and his ambitious wife to commit regicide.
His wife (played by Isuzu Yamada) is one of the most effective Lady Macbeths I’ve ever seen. Her descent into madness is terrifying. And the battle scenes! No filmmaker has surpassed Kurosawa. Throne of Blood is an unforgettable cinematic experience. It’s the first in ByTowne’s Kurosawa retrospective.
Is Singin’ in the Rain the best musical of all time? Possibly! It has charismatic actors who can sing and dance up a storm—Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds (with a dreamy dance duet featuring Cyd Charisse). It has great hummable songs, including “Make ’em Laugh,” “You Are My Lucky Star,” and the title track “Singin’ in the Rain.” It has a witty, slightly satiric script by those mid-century American wizards, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. And it was directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. Be sure to see it at the ByTowne.
When you think of music festivals during the Summer of Love (1969), you probably think of Woodstock and its eponymous documentary. But in the same summer, over six weekends, there was the Harlem Culture Festival. Massive amounts of footage were filmed—but never seen. Until 2021, when Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson put the footage together, added interviews with some of the organizers and musicians, and released Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Which, to my mind, is a better and more enjoyable documentary than Woodstock.
It includes remarkable concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, Mavis Staples, and more. It’s a powerful, joyful documentary—part music film, part historical film that celebrates Black history, culture and fashion. After you see the first few minutes of Summer of Soul at the ByTowne, I think you’ll agree.
David Cronenberg has directed many scary films; one of the most frightening is The Fly. It’s a remake of the 1958 horror/science-fiction nightmare about an egotistical scientist (Jeff Goldblum) who tests his newly built teleportation device on himself. But with a house fly already inside the device when he turned it on, the result is a merger of man and insect. See this at the ByTowne’s Detour series.
Did you know that the first time North American audiences ever laid eyes on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it happened right here in Ottawa? On Aug. 15, 1975, the Canadian Film Institute (CFI) introduced audiences to an indie movie that would later become one of the world’s most legendary cult films.
Fifty years to the day, come to the ByTowne for the premiere of a new documentary, Sane Inside Insanity—The Phenomenon of Rocky Horror. It’s chock-full of entertaining interviews and rare footage. The showing is also a celebration of CFI’s 90th anniversary (as well as a fundraiser for the institute).
In my last Magic in the Dark, I recommended The Phoenician Scheme, the latest film from that distinctive director, Wes Anderson. It’s still playing at the ByTowne. It may not match his Moonrise Kingdom or The Grand Budapest Hotel in charm and wit, but in my books, even a less-than-perfect Wes Anderson film is worth seeing.
To a Land Unknown, by new director Mahdi Fleifel, is a gritty film about two Palestinian cousins, marooned in Athens and desperate to make their way, somehow, to Germany. As their petty criminal schemes fall apart, they become increasingly desperate. One of them hatches an all-or-nothing plan. To a Land Unknown was a nominee for the 2024 TIFF People’s Choice Award for Best Film, for the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Award, and the Gotham Independent Film Breakthrough Director Award. You can see it at the ByTowne.
Souleymane’s Story is another harrowing film about a refugee in Europe. This one is about a Guinean immigrant in Paris. In two days, he must report for an asylum application interview—his one chance to stay in France. In the meantime, he’s struggling with a lousy job making food deliveries on a bike. Slant Magazine said, “Petty humiliations accumulate into a quietly blistering indictment of a culture that’s conditioned immigrants to hustle, wait endlessly, and smile through it all, as if their sanity weren’t constantly under strain.” At the ByTowne.
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight is based on the best-selling memoir by Alexandra Fuller about the violent Bush War in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as seen through her eyes as a precocious 8-year-old white girl, “Bobo” Fuller (played well by Lexi Venter). The writer/director of the film, Embeth Davidtz, also plays the girl’s mother, Nicola Fuller. The Rhodesian government, run by a mostly British white minority, was at the time under attack by several African guerrilla movements, one of them led by the notorious Robert Mugabe. But Bobo isn’t aware of political nuances. All she knows is that her mother, Nicola, sleeps with a machine gun in case “terrorists” break in during the night. At the ByTowne.
Samia is based on an inspiring true story about a young girl in Mogadishu who discovers, at the age of nine, that she can run faster than all the other kids. With her friend Ali, she wants to become famous and earn money by running. Ali becomes her coach, and with his help, she aims to become a real champion. But the ongoing civil war and conservative societal norms make Samia’s life increasingly difficult. Nevertheless, Samia defies taboos by racing through the streets of Mogadishu, in a society where a woman is not supposed to run. Her passion and perseverance take her to the Olympic Games. At the ByTowne.
Kristin Scott Thomas is the first-time director of the drama in My Mother’s Wedding. She’s also the eponymous twice-widowed mother whose third marriage is the reason her three daughters (Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham) are descending on the family home. With all the predictable family friction such events entail, plus some surprise wedding guests, all four women are forced to confront their pasts and contemplate their futures. At the ByTowne.
Still watching cat videos on your cellphone? It’s way more fun watching the annual compilation of feline foolishness in a cinema, to wit, the 2025 Cat Video Fest at the ByTowne. Some of the proceeds will go to a local cat shelter.
So many new films to see! Aren’t we fortunate to have the ByTowne and the Mayfair!
Dates, times, and tickets for the ByTowne are at www.bytowne.ca. You can also buy tickets at the box office. The ByTowne publishes its calendar several weeks in advance. Dates, times, and tickets for the Mayfair are at www.mayfairtheatre.ca. The Mayfair finalizes its upcoming films’ schedule weekly, which they post online and advertise via email. Both provide information about future weeks’ films. You can buy tickets via their weekly email and at the box office.
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