The Story of Looking15

Directed by Mark Cousins | UK | 2021 | 1h 30m | Starring Mark Cousins

As filmmaker and author Mark Cousins prepares for surgery to repair and restore his failing eyesight, he begins to consider the role that looking plays in his life – and what life might be like without it. In this deeply personal documentary, Cousins guides us through the riches of the visible world, presenting a kaleidoscope of extraordinary imagery exploring what it means to look at movies and the world around us.

Reviews

‘A treasure trove of insight about what it means to look – really look – at the world about us, and at art and movies, and not to take any of it for granted.’
★★★★★ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘Fascinating, thought-provoking stuff, told in Cousins’ engaging, typically impish way’
★★★★ Ian Freer, Empire Magazine

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed The Story of Looking between October 30, 2021 and November 5, 2021.

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What else is on?

Today (Saturday 21st March)

14:00

The Last Supper Cert-TBC
2h | Spanish w/ English subtitles
Set in 1790s Cuba, a devout plantation owner invites 12 enslaved men to Easter dinner to prevent rebellion. Restored in 2020, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s bold, sometimes surreal drama examines slavery as an economic system and centres Black resistance.

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16:45

The Secret Agent 15
2h 41m | Portuguese w/ English subtitles
Carnival, communal resistance, political tensions, and a man's missing leg collide in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s slow-burning 1970s political thriller. The Oscar-nominated Wagner Moura stars in this gripping examination of Brazil’s turbulent past.

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20:15

One Battle After Another 15
2h 41m
A paranoid ex-revolutionary and his daughter are forced into confrontation when an old nemesis returns. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Paul Thomas Anderson’s (There Will Be Blood, The Master) sharp satirical adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Vineland’.

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Tomorrow (Sunday 22nd March)

12:00

The Land Before Time U
Kino Kids Cinema Club
1h 9m
Young brontosaurus Littlefoot embarks on a perilous journey to find the Great Valley. Along the way, he meets diverse young dinosaurs and, facing dangers together, learns courage and survival in this heartwarming prehistoric adventure.

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14:00

The Young Girls of Rochefort U
2h 5m | French w/ English subtitles
In a sun-drenched seaside town, twin sisters dream of love as artists and sailors drift through a weekend fair of romantic near-misses. Jacques Demy’s joyous musical, with Michel Legrand’s score, is a pastel-hued celebration of optimism.

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16:45

One Battle After Another 15
2h 41m
A paranoid ex-revolutionary and his daughter are forced into confrontation when an old nemesis returns. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Paul Thomas Anderson’s (There Will Be Blood, The Master) sharp satirical adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Vineland’.

Book here

20:15

The Testament of Ann Lee 15
2h 17m
From poverty in England to revolutionary America, Ann Lee’s spiritual vision and utopian dreams shape the lives of a newly formed religious community. Mona Fastvold’s sweeping historical epic stars Amanda Seyfried as the founder of the Shaker Movement.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!