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SCALA!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World's Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-Up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits

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100% Tomatometer 19 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
An anarchic, uproarious, and ultimately heart-breaking documentary telling the riotous inside story of London's legendary Scala cinema, 1978-1993.

Critics Reviews

View All (19) Critics Reviews
Matt Zoller Seitz RogerEbert.com It's a treat to see so much energy expended to recall a venue and a community that was unknown to most, but felt like the center of the universe to the merry few who were part of it. Rated: 3/4 Jul 21, 2024 Full Review Mark Kermode Kermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube) If you've never known about the Scala... it will make you interested, because it's a story about something... a kind of weird artistic eruption that just happened almost spontaneously. Jan 9, 2024 Full Review Wendy Ide Observer (UK) What elevates the story is the matter-of-fact delivery: for most people, it would be the stuff that nightmares are made of, but it’s just another night at the Scala. Rated: 4/5 Jan 7, 2024 Full Review Diane Carson KDHX (St. Louis) “SCALA!!!” is, therefore, a most welcome tribute to a landmark London cinema, one, quite astonishing in terms of its history. Aug 7, 2024 Full Review Evan Dossey Midwest Film Journal It makes a strong case for the Scala’s place in LGBTQ history and film history while remaining funny and informative. Most of all, it makes you appreciate the places that matter. Jul 8, 2024 Full Review Brent McKnight The Last Thing I See A touch over-reverent at times, this is a raucous love letter to the film and the often strange places where we watch them. Rated: B+ May 13, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (2) audience reviews
Simon T The Scala was a wonderful dishevelled anarchic showcase for the kinds of movies no-one else would show. I remember seeing Akira, several John Waters movies and - gloriously - an afternoon of Tex Avery cartoons. This homage/obituary is filled with heartfelt tributes and memories and has time too to locate the depressing societal background of AIDS, miners' strikes, Thatcher and riots that made the Scala a refuge for so many. Those posters/calendars were so exciting too: whoever programmed the screenings deserves a medal. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/21/24 Full Review Alan W Subtitled 'the incredibly strange rise and fall of the world's wildest cinema and how it influenced a mixed-up generation of weirdos and misfits', I cannot think of a more apt description for Ali Catterall and Jane Giles' documentary feature. Based on Giles' 2018 book, the Scala was a (in)famous and influential repertory cinema in London which showed obscure, often sexually explicit, arthouse-y films and niche cult classics at a time when they weren't as easily accessible as they're nowadays and where the audience were as strange and eclectic as their programming. After a quick history lesson about the origins of the cinema, the majority of the film proceeds to tick off a list of things that people associate with this phenomenal venue, including their chaotically designed monthly programs, the in-house cats, the infamous Thundercrack, and the all-nighters they regularly threw, amongst others. Via a bunch of talking heads, some from people who used to work there and some from attendees who are now well-known filmmakers, musicians or comedians, regaling their stories and anecdotes about the cinema, these experiences coalesce into a portrait of an unique and extraordinary place where art, films and bohemian camaraderie come together to nurture a generation of creatives and artists that we have today. The fact that the end came about over the showing of a film is a bittersweet irony befitting the shambolic and daring-do essence and legacy of Scala that this documentary manages to perfectly encapsulate. Primarily a love letter to a cultural landmark which thrived in the 80s and early 90s, it also serves as a cinematic historical record for this quintessentially London institution that's no longer with us anymore. As for me, who had the great fortune of experiencing the magic that was Scala, it's a beautiful nostalgic trip down memory lane. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Read all reviews
SCALA!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World's Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-Up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits

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Movie Info

Synopsis An anarchic, uproarious, and ultimately heart-breaking documentary telling the riotous inside story of London's legendary Scala cinema, 1978-1993.
Director
Jane Giles, Ali Catterall
Producer
Alan Marke, Jim Reid, Andrew Starke
Screenwriter
Ali Catterall, Jane Giles
Distributor
BFI Distribution
Production Co
Channel X, Fifty Foot Woman, Anti-Worlds
Genre
Documentary, History
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 28, 2024, Limited
Runtime
1h 36m