With Christmas just around the corner, it would be a shame to miss the wide-ranging selection of films showing at the Olympic Cinema in Barnes, including a gripping climbing documentary and a classic tale of hope, love and Christmas spirit.
The Olympic Cinema in Barnes was once home to artists such as The Who, Queen and The Rolling Stones in its days as a recording studio, before being converted into a cinema in 2013. It now houses two screens available to the public, both equipped with high-definition surround sound speakers courtesy of Dolby Audio, recalling the building’s audio tradition. Its screens are snug and cosy, with bespoke reclining seats sourced from Norway and footstools along the front.
This relaxed atmosphere is perfect for films such as It’s a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra’s heartfelt ode to the American Dream, suffered by many in the 30s and 40s. Unachievable aspirations and a proletarian anger against the upper-class cause George Bailey, played with brutal honesty by James Stewart, to contemplate suicide, one of the most obvious manifestations of the dark themes that make It’s a Wonderful Life such a bitter-sweet classic. However, there are many more examples. From the irreparable ear damage George suffers as a boy to the financial difficulty that leads him to contemplate suicide, Bailey’s life is full of failed goals and desires, all portrayed in minute detail, which makes Clarence the angel’s intervention all the more personal. There is much debate about whether It’s a Wonderful Life is merely a sentimental con, benefiting from the Christmas market, though the British public seem to disagree, with a recent RadioTimes poll of 7,000 people finding the 1946 classic to be Britain’s favourite Christmas film. I hope It’s a Wonderful Life continues to dazzle audiences for years to come – its messages are becoming more and more relevant.
Another film that blew me away recently is Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s climbing documentary, Free Solo. The film profiles climber Alex Honnold as he attempts to climb the awe-inspiring El Capitan rock face in Yosemite National Park – without a rope. This style of climbing is known as free soloing and is notoriously difficult in the climbing world. As the film quickly establishes, the risk due to climbing without any ropes is extremely large, with notable deaths from the sport including British rock climber Derek Hersey in 1993 and well-renowned Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck in 2017. The film focuses on Honnold, and his mental and physical skills that make him so effective as a climber. He is extremely likeable and possesses an air of nonchalance to death that had many in the audience enthralled. However, the most exciting scenes were those of his ascent, climbing without a rope for 3,000 metres on one of the most dangerous rock formations in the world, made all the more tense by Marco Beltrami’s brilliant score and the spiraling shots from Chin and his team. I left the cinema feeling giddy, but also proud of Honnold. His accomplishment was truly mesmerising to watch.
