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THE INNOCENTS (1961) - Built Upon Bodies Season

innocents 1.jpg

dir. Jack Clayton

  • year: 1961

  • country: UK

  • run-time: 99 minutes

Doors 19:30 - Film 20:00

£6.00 (£4.50 conc.)


In this chilling psychological horror, Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, the new governess to two orphans residing on their uncle’s sprawling country estate. While at first she is delighted by the precocious and charming children, she soon comes to suspect that something about the household is awry. She gradually uncovers sinister and sensual secrets hiding behind the Victorian decorum, that have possessed not only the children but seemingly the house itself. A gothic tale of sexual repression, ‘The Innocents’ is as haunting as it is elegant, with carefully composed visuals and an eerily lingering soundtrack.

Part of 'Built Upon Bodies', a season showcasing a selection of films that explore the relationship between the human body and the built environment. Taking as a starting point the infamous scene in Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Contempt’ of Brigitte Bardot sunbathing on the roof terrace of the Villa Malaparte in Capri, the season draws attention to how filmmakers across different genres have staged interactions between architecture and gendered bodies to iconic and haunting effect.