MUBI In May Has Hamaguchi, Szumowska And Cannes Takeover

A new month has arrived depending what part of the world you live things will be getting hotter in May. Over at MUBI things are certainly hot with a fantastic selection films. A month that includes more Rysuke Hamaguchi, Małgorzata Szumowska and a Cannes takeover!

MUBI RELEASES: THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Acclaimed filmmaker Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World (2021) – a wistful and subversive romantic drama about the quest for love and meaning – arrives exclusively on MUBI this month.

Set in contemporary Oslo, it features a star-making lead performance from Renate Reinsve as a young woman who, on the verge of turning thirty, navigates multiple love affairs, existential uncertainty and career dissatisfaction as she slowly starts deciding what she wants to do, who she wants to be, and ultimately who she wants to become.

This life-affirming coming of age story deservedly won Reinsve the Best Actress award at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also nominated for two Academy Awards (Original Screenplay and International Feature Film), and two BAFTA awards (Leading Actress and Film Not in the English Language).

The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier, 2021) – 13th May | Read our review

Trier’s series of compelling and perceptive portraits of the city of Oslo and its inhabitants, Reprise (2006) and Oslo, August 31st (2011), will be presented alongside The Worst Person in the World – known unofficially as The Oslo Trilogy.

Reprise (Joachim Trier, 2006) – Now Showing
Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier, 2011) – 7th May

MUBI RELEASES: GREAT FREEDOM

The exquisite latest film from writer-director Sebastian Meise, Great Freedom (2021) paints a stirring portrait of gay resistance and resilience in post-war . Sensual yet arresting, Austria’s official submission to the 2022 Academy Awards turns a humanist eye towards a heartrending past.

After being “liberated” by Allied forces in 1945, Hans is transferred directly from a concentration camp to prison to finish out his sentence. There, he forms an unlikely connection with his cellmate Viktor, a convicted murder. As Hans is jailed again and again, a relationship that begins with revulsion blossoms into something far more tender.

Unfolding across three decades, Great Freedom weaves together intimate moments across time to form a personal and political epic. In the process, this Cannes prizewinner triumphs as a searing depiction of love in the face of injustice.

Great Freedom (Sebastian Meise, 2021) – 6th May

FRANZ ROGOWSKI: THE MAN OF THE HOUR

Franz Rogowksi has steadily solidified his place as the most exciting European actor of his generation. In anticipation of the 6th May streaming premiere of Great Freedom (2021), featuring one the actor’s best performances, we present Franz Rogowski: The Man of the Hour — a series showcasing some of his most transformative work.

Undine (Christian Petzold, 2020) – Now Showing
Luzifer (Peter Brunner, 2021) – Now Showing
Figaro Wolves (Dominik Galizia, 2017) – Now Showing
In the Aisles (Thomas Stuber) – Now Showing
Love Steaks (Jakob Lass, 2013) – 2nd May

CANNES TAKEOVER

In celebration of the return to the Croisette, this May we will be highlighting a rich selection of films presented at previous editions of the Cannes Film Festival. We will have the pleasure of showing four exclusive films from the last edition of the French festival: Ahed’s Knee (2021) by Nadav Lapid, a harsh tale where the personal becomes political, Deception (2021) by Arnaud Desplechin starring Léa Seydoux and adapted from Philip Roth’s novel of the same name, Mariner of the Mountains (2021) by Karim Aïnouz, a personal documentary in which the director embarks on a sentimental journey to Algeria, and Sycorax (2021) by Lois Patiño and Matías Piñeiro, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Oh, Sun (Med Hondo, 1967) – 17th May
Ahed’s Knee (Nadav Lapid, 2021) – 18th May
Vincere (Marco Bellocchio, 2009) – 19th May
Deception (Arnaud Desplechin, 2021) – 20th May
On Tour (Mathieu Amalric, 2010) – 21st May
In the Fade (Fatih Akin, 2017) – 22nd May
Mariner of the Mountains (Karim Aïnouz, 2021) – 23rd May
Jupiter’s Moon (Kornél Mundruczó, 2017) – 24th May
Chronic (Michel Franco, 2015) – 25th May
The Class (Laurent Cantet, 2008) – 26th May
Bacurau (Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2019) – 27th May
Sycorax (Lois Patiño, Matías Piñeiro, 2021) – 30th May

MASKS & BODIES: A TRIBUTE TO MAŁGORZATA SZUMOWSKA

Leading a contemporary charge of female filmmakers who have emerged from Poland’s male-dominated film industry over the past decade, Małgorzata Szumowska is an acclaimed mainstay of the international festival circuit. With a keen eye for satirising the prejudices and ideologies of small-town communities, and an agnostic fascination with metaphysical phenomena, Szumowska’s growing body of work stands among the most singular examinations of a nation caught between the chaotic excesses of capitalism and the enshrined decrees of religious orthodoxy. In this series, we will present Szumowska’s two silver-bear winners Body (2015) and Mug (2018) as well as her two latest features The Other Lamb (2019) and Never Gonna Snow Again (2020).

Body (Małgorzata Szumowska, 2015) – 9th May
Mug (Małgorzata Szumowska, 2018) – 10th May
The Other Lamb (Małgorzata Szumowska, 2019) – Now Showing
Never Gonna Snow Again (Małgorzata Szumowska, 2020) – Now Showing

MUBI SPOTLIGHT: WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021) arrives on MUBI exclusively this month. The Silver Bear winner follows three women — one tangled in a messy love triangle, another victim to a failed seduction, the other caught in a case of mistaken identity — tracing their quests for love and desire. Told in three parts, this compelling exploration of relationships and coincidences operates with a lightness of touch and emotional resonance clear across Hamaguchi’s body of work, marking him as a master storyteller.

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021) – Now Showing | Read our review

Enter the Hamaguchi-verse! The auteur’s previous works Drive My Car (2021) and Asako I & II (2018) are also available to stream now on MUBI.

Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021) – Now Showing
Asako I & II (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2018) – Now Showing