This film is part of Rentals
Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair
An imaginative, experimental and playful look at myth, storytelling and female identity.
Director: Susan Shapiro, Esther Ronay and Francine Winham
Overview
A private detective (Fairport Convention musician Dave Swarbrick) investigates the case of a young woman held captive by her drug-addict mother. This is just one of many witty, imaginative reframings of the Brothers Grimm fairytale in this beguiling feminist film. The wildly diverse episodes show how the story's characterisation and political morality pervade graphics, adverts, films and TV. This rarely-seen film is unavailable on DVD.
According to Time Out, 'the super-seductive animation of dream and symbolism; the opportunist male voyeur as film noir detective; a raunchy cartoon Venus, her roots firmly in witchcraft; the family melodrama of menopausal angst; and finally Rapunzel's own tale, a live-action narrative which completes the film's substructure of the stages of womanhood, and leads firmly out of an urban desert to a finale of feminist celebration. Fairytales were always appealing, but they never made quite so much sense.'
Related
Flow Flow
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 85 mins Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Oscar-winning animated adventure about an unlikely group of animals who must work together to survive a natural disaster.
Timestalker Timestalker
Fantasy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
What if unrequited love spanned the centuries? Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
The BFG The BFG
Children's 2016 117 mins Director: Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielbergβs luminous Roald Dahl adaptation boasts an enchanting performance from Mark Rylance as the Big Friendly Giant who befriends a little girl (Ruby Barnhill).
Lost River Lost River
Fantasy 2013 95 mins Director: Ryan Gosling
Ryan Goslingβs directorial debut is a disturbing, visually experimental fairytale about a single mother drawn into a nightmarish netherworld.
The Beast The Beast
Science Fiction 2022 145 mins Director: Bertrand Bonello
LΓ©a Seydoux wanders through a maze of past, present and uncertain future in Bertrand Bonelloβs audacious blend of period drama and conceptual crystal-gazing.
La Chimera La Chimera
Action and Adventure 2023 132 mins Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Alice Rohrwacherβs fascinating new drama finds Josh OβConnorβs fish out of water delving into the world of stolen artefacts.
The Arbor The Arbor
Biopic 2010 90 mins Director: Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard's film about Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar mixes reconstruction, interviews (performed by actors) and scenes from the plays.
By Our Selves By Our Selves
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2015 80 mins Director: Andrew KΓΆtting
The latest psycho-geographical excursion from Andrew KΓΆtting and Iain Sinclair
The Castle of Otranto The Castle of Otranto
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1977 18 mins Director: Jan Svankmajer
Czech animator Jan Ε vankmajer's adaptation of Horace Walpole's Gothic novel.
Central Bazaar Central Bazaar
Drama 1976 142 mins Director: Stephen Dwoskin
Five strangers explore their fantasies over a period of five days in Stephen Dwoskin's remarkable experimental film.
Un Chien Andalou Un Chien Andalou
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1928 16 mins Silent Director: Luis BuΓ±uel
A scabrous study of desire, the subconscious and anti-clericalism - BuΓ±uel and DalΓβs provocative first film is a classic of Surrealist cinema.
Decasia Decasia
Documentary 2002 67 mins Director: Bill Morrison
Decasia is an artful collage of found archival footage, shot pre-1950 on a cellulose nitrate base and most of it in advanced stages of decay.
The Last Showgirl The Last Showgirl
Drama 2024 89 mins Director: Gia Coppola
Golden Globe-nominated Pamela Anderson is enchanting as the Las Vegas showgirl whose stage show is set to close.
Dust & Metal Dust & Metal
Documentary 2022 82 mins Director: Esther Johnson
Discover unfamiliar histories of Vietnam through Esther Johnsonβs poetic documentary on the countryβs love affair with the motorbike.
Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound
Documentary 2024 91 mins Director: Antony Crook
Celestial sonic odyssey charting the cult Scottish bandβs expansive career from the mid-90s to their tenth studio album written during lockdown.
Flow Flow
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 85 mins Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Oscar-winning animated adventure about an unlikely group of animals who must work together to survive a natural disaster.
Invasion Invasion
Science Fiction 1966 79 mins Director: Alan Bridges
An alien fugitive, injured in a road accident, pitches up at a rural hospital. But when two intergallactic pursuers arrive, things start to heat up...
Twiggy Twiggy
Documentary 2024 94 mins Director: Sadie Frost
International supermodel, actor, singer and one of the most iconic British figures β this is the real story of Twiggy.
