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Nice Time   [Original Title]

  • video
Country of Origin: Great Britain
Year of origin: 1957
Genre: Experimental Film
Locations of shooting: London

Credits
Director: Alain Tanner
  Claude Goretta
Script: Claude Goretta
  Alain Tanner
Camera operator: John Fletcher
Sound: John Fletcher
Mixing: Pete Ashton Quintet
Music: Pete Pimlett
  Nancy Whiskey
  Susan Baker
Music performance: Charles McDevitt Skiffle Group
Production company: British Film Institute Experimental Film Fund

Keywords: London, CROWD, amusement, City life, entertainment, Great Britain, nightlife, urban
London’s Piccadilly Circus has never looked quite so down-at-heel as in this portrait of the hopes and disappointments of people searching for a good Saturday night out. Here are hot dogs, porn magazines, sailors, prostitutes... illuminated in the flashing Coca-Cola sign as 'God Save the Queen' plays on the soundtrack.

Filmed over 25 Saturday nights (and edited into a single night out), Swiss filmmakers Claude Goretta and Alain Tanner avoided romanticising London at all costs. Indeed, they do a very nice line in irony, and nothing could be more ironic than the statue of Eros that looms over the proceedings when most of the love on offer here is sold by the hour. (Robin Baker)

For more information about 'Nice Time' and the Free Cinema movement see http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/439028/

'Nice Time' is available to buy as part of the BFI DVD 'Free Cinema' - http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/

You can watch this and almost 1000 other complete films and TV programmes from the BFI National Archive free of charge at the new BFI Mediatheque - http://www.bfi.org.uk/mediatheque

Version 1
Language: eng
Sound: Sound film
Aspect: 1:1,33
Duration: 17 min

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Copyright Information British Film Institute
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