Kiss Kiss Kill Kill exhibition moves to London!

The Kiss Kiss Kill Kill exhibition of vintage spy film posters (mentioned in last August's post) has moved to a new venue! It is now in a central London location, showing alongside the most awesome Eurospy film festival you have ever (or never) heard of.

The Goethe-Institut in London and Berlin have chased down eleven bone fide sixties spy classics and subtitled them all. Along with a panel discussion, the whole package is playing at the Riverside studios in Hammersmith 2–9 May 2011.

From the Kiss Kiss Kill Kill website:  "This unique series of feature films, made at the height of the Cold War on both sides of the ‘Celluloid Curtain’, will be screened over a special ‘spy film weekend’ at Riverside Studios, London. There will be curators’ talks and a panel discussion, chaired by the BBC’s Security Correspondent, Gordon Corera. The distinguished panel includes writer and ‘spy specialist’, Phillip Knightley. Celluloid Curtain aims to shed new light on the history of the Cold War in Europe and itsdepiction in film. It will focus on the Cold War ‘spook’ as a cinematic creation of the Iron Curtain and look at the legacy of the films and politics of the period. This is a subject of great topical relevance: talk of a new Cold War, Wikileaks and ‘spy stories’ dominate ournews, bookshops and cinemas today."

You can read more about it here.

Spy Film Exhibit

KISS KISS KILL KILL: THE GRAPHIC ART AND FORGOTTEN SPY FILMS OF COLD WAR EUROPE
10 SEPTEMBER – 16 OCTOBER 2010
Art and Design Gallery, Hatfield, U.K.
A major exhibition of spy film posters from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, the U.S.S.R, West Germany and the UK.

"From September 10 – October 16, 2010, the University of Hertfordshire Galleries (UH Galleries) and the Hertfordshire Film Consortium are delighted to present Kiss Kiss Kill Kill, an exhibition, symposium and a series of film screenings celebrating the unique graphic art and forgotten spy films of Cold War Europe.

Centred on the kitsch designs produced across Europe during the Cold War, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill is the first exhibition of a collection of newly restored posters from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, the U.S.S.R, West Germany and the UK. The different graphic styles in the East and West provide an expansive portrait of European taste, national identity and politics of the period with the brash super kitsch of Italian cinema posters juxtaposed compellingly with the lo-tech golden age of non commercial Czech film poster design.

The posters relate to an entire legacy of films tarnished by state control in Eastern Europe and overkill of the Spy Genre in the West. The exhibition will include both leaden communist propaganda and the epically trashy fruits of European co-production."

You can read the full announcement here.

The KKKK Archive : Home of Cold War Spy Cinema

“The Kiss Kiss Kill Kill archive is dedicated to preserving spy cinema artifacts from the Cold War. This includes 16mm films, a poster and stills collection numbering some 3000 pieces and an extensive DVD and music library. There are also examples of Cold War games for children.

The website is designed to be a resource for the overlooked spy film genre offering reviews and images of little known films.”

The website is excellent, in particular the impressive gallery of film posters (which does include Modesty Blaise).

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Bob Peak - MB Film Poster

There is a wonderful website dedicated to Bob Peak, illustrator of many film posters including the 1966 Modesty Blaise film.
(I wish the film had lived up to the quality of the poster!)

The site is well worth a look - it includes many other film posters you'll recognize.

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Modesty Blaise Film at BFI Southbank

And we thought it wouldn't be in cinemas again.... the 1966 Modesty Blaise film will be running July 4th and 9th at the BFI Southbank as part of a Joseph Losey series that runs until the end of July. The tribute includes The Assassination of Trotsky, A Doll`s House, Galileo, The Go-Between, King and Country, and The Servant.

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Marek Losey Film - The Hide

This is a few degrees of separation from Modesty Blaise, but I thought I'd mention it anyway: Marek Losey, grandson of Joseph Losey (director of the 1966 Modesty Blaise film), has a debut film called The Hide. The films, starring Phil Campbell and Alex MacQueen, is adapted from a stage play.

Reviews so far are favourable: you can read the Channel 4 one here.
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