BFI

Archive footage, eye-popping movie clips, acid-crazed animation and some famous names collide to tell the story of London’s infamous, influential Scala cinema. 

There’s a lovely nostalgia in Jane Giles and Ali Catterall’s documentary about London’s Kings Cross ‘fleapit’ repertory cinema, but it’s not seen through rose-tinted glasses. The seats were uncomfortable, the floor was sticky and the audience was ‘colourful’, but for fans of the cult movie scene, it was their Mecca.

You always remember your first time at the Scala, which shut down as a cinema in 1993 when its lease wasn’t renewed and it was still crippled from the financial fallout of an ill-advised screening of the then banned A Clockwork Orange. I attended two Argento events in the summer of 1991, one of which was a Saturday all-nighter (cheaper than staying in a hotel!) and the experience has never left me.

This documentary is based on Jane Giles’ 2018 oversized coffee table book and comprises interviews with audience members, staff and management, many of whom have since moved into the industry, relaying their personal experiences. Interviews are interspersed with clips of the movies and contemporary news footage. The interviews are filmed at the Scala building (now a music venue) and there’s something beautiful about watching the interviewees drifting away to formative moments in their pasts.

This BFI release has an audio commentary by directors Giles and Catterall, an hour of interview footage not included in the film, a portrait of the cinema made for cable TV, a short student film, shorts, animations, a look at 15 editions of the legendary Scala foldout programmes, a guided tour, photos, ephemera and clippings. This first release has an illustrated booklet featuring a statement from the directors, new writing on the film and archive writing about the Scala.

Verdict: A wonderful look at the rise and fall of a cinema institution: if you ever went, it will rekindle your memories, and if you never went – you’ll find out what the fuss was all about. 10/10 

Nick Joy