Features and reviews

Discover the latest from the BFI, the UK’s lead organisation for film, television and the moving image.

Finest hours

Finest hours: Michael Palin in A Private Function

On his 82nd birthday, the first of a new series celebrating actors at the peak of their powers looks at Michael Palin’s turn as pig-stealing chiropodist Gilbert Chilvers in A Private Function.

By Alex Ramon

Finest hours: Michael Palin in A Private Function

Features

Bullet Boy at 20: it’s relevant, yes, but it’s also cinema

By Clive Nwonka

Bullet Boy at 20: it’s relevant, yes, but it’s also cinema

Then and now

Roman Holiday: how the Italian locations for the Audrey Hepburn classic look today

By Adam Scovell

Roman Holiday: how the Italian locations for the Audrey Hepburn classic look today

Features

Slade in Flame at 50: Noddy Holder, Tom Conti and director Richard Loncraine on the “Citizen Kane of British pop movies”

By Stephen Dalton

Slade in Flame at 50: Noddy Holder, Tom Conti and director Richard Loncraine on the “Citizen Kane of British pop movies”

Features

Mai Zetterling in the UK: from stardom to freedom

By Josephine Botting

Mai Zetterling in the UK: from stardom to freedom

From the Sight and Sound archive

“Godard’s best film”: Alphaville turns 60

By Richard Roud

“Godard’s best film”: Alphaville turns 60

Features

Majora‘s Mask at 25: the reccurring influence of Nintendo’s ‘weird Zelda game’

By Katie Granger

Majora‘s Mask at 25: the reccurring influence of Nintendo’s ‘weird Zelda game’

Features

Psychonauts at 20: how the inventive Double Fine game took us inside other people’s minds

By Henry Barnes

Psychonauts at 20: how the inventive Double Fine game took us inside other people’s minds

Where to begin

Where to begin with Mai Zetterling

By Alex Barrett

Where to begin with Mai Zetterling

Obituaries

Paddy Higson obituary: a pioneering, prolific producer of Scottish film and TV

By Douglas Weir

Paddy Higson obituary: a pioneering, prolific producer of Scottish film and TV

Features

Lights, camera, hatch-on!: a brief history of screen easter eggs

By George Bass

Lights, camera, hatch-on!: a brief history of screen easter eggs

Features

Why Carl Theodor Dreyer’s unmade Jesus film is one of cinema’s great ‘What ifs’

By Alex Barrett

Why Carl Theodor Dreyer’s unmade Jesus film is one of cinema’s great ‘What ifs’

Rarities of British cinema

Service for Ladies: how Alexander Korda’s glittering comedy brought a dash of continental sophistication to British cinema

By Josephine Botting

Service for Ladies: how Alexander Korda’s glittering comedy brought a dash of continental sophistication to British cinema

From the Sight and Sound archive

Julie Christie, the honey-glow girl

By Melanie Williams

Julie Christie, the honey-glow girl

Features

Eclipse: how a little-seen 1970s psychological thriller emerged from obscurity

By Vic Pratt

Eclipse: how a little-seen 1970s psychological thriller emerged from obscurity

Features

Twice upon a time in Hollywood: how history repeats itself for ageing directors

By Maha Albadrawi

Twice upon a time in Hollywood: how history repeats itself for ageing directors

Festivals

From AI to Greek country life: highlights from Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival 2025

By Georgia Korossi

From AI to Greek country life: highlights from Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival 2025

Obituaries

Richard Chamberlain obituary: dashing star of Dr. Kildare, Shōgun and The Three Musketeers

By David Parkinson

Richard Chamberlain obituary: dashing star of Dr. Kildare, Shōgun and The Three Musketeers

Obituaries

Val Kilmer obituary: mercurial A-lister who toggled between total immersion and resistance

By Adam Nayman

Val Kilmer obituary: mercurial A-lister who toggled between total immersion and resistance

From the Sight and Sound archive

Muriel’s Wedding: the greatest film of all time?

By Andy Medhurst

Muriel’s Wedding: the greatest film of all time?

Obituaries

Masahiro Shinoda obituary: Japanese New Wave director behind Pale Flower and the original Silence

By Alexander Jacoby

Masahiro Shinoda obituary: Japanese New Wave director behind Pale Flower and the original Silence

Features

The 2025 UK Top 50: digging into Moving Image’s annual ranking of comms film movers and shakers

By Patrick Russell and Rebecca Vick

The 2025 UK Top 50: digging into Moving Image’s annual ranking of comms film movers and shakers

Then and now

In search of Jacques Rivette’s Paris: locations from his films, then and now

By Adam Scovell

In search of Jacques Rivette’s Paris: locations from his films, then and now

Features

Animated hedgehogs and a potent Billie Piper drama: the year’s best charity films

By Ros Cranston

Animated hedgehogs and a potent Billie Piper drama: the year’s best charity films

Features

Atomfall: the game inspired by Windscale Pines’ near nuclear disaster

By George Bass

Atomfall: the game inspired by Windscale Pines’ near nuclear disaster

Features

Sounds of the future: Howard Shore’s scores for the films of David Cronenberg

By Kevin Harley

Sounds of the future: Howard Shore’s scores for the films of David Cronenberg

From the Sight and Sound archive

Learning to scream: Linda Williams on Psycho

By Linda Williams

Learning to scream: Linda Williams on Psycho

Where to begin

Where to begin with François Ozon

By Emily Maskell

Where to begin with François Ozon

Rarities of British cinema

The Lost People: how an immersive play became a 1940s British film about wartime displacement

By Josephine Botting

The Lost People: how an immersive play became a 1940s British film about wartime displacement

From the Sight and Sound archive

Erin Brockovich, a law unto herself

By Roger Wade

Erin Brockovich, a law unto herself