At the Movies for 15 September 2021

Simon Morris returns in a programme often about nostalgia.  Two films deal with some of the biggest musical stars of the late Sixties, a French biopic tells the story behind one of the most famous edifices in the world, and a sci-fi/film noir hybrid is about a world where memory can be bought and sold.

Respect is the story of the early career of singer Aretha Franklin, and how a failed recording artist became one of the greatest stylists in soul music.  Stars Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker.

Summer of soul is a documentary about a forgotten Harlem music festival.  A month before the more famous Woodstock Festival, it boasted some of the top soul, pop and jazz artists of all time.  Featuring B B King, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight, Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone, it also marked the start of the “black is beautiful” movement,

Eiffel is the lightly-fictionalised story of the Frenchman behind the famous Tower, and the scandal that threatened to wreck the project.  Starring Romain Duris (The beat that my heart skipped) and Emma Mackey (Sex Education).

And Reminiscence is set in a post-war future, where the seas have risen and the biggest drug on the market is nostalgia.  Stars Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson and Thandiwe Newton, it’s directed by Lisa Joy (Westworld).