Top 10 free films to stream, February 2024
A still from Beau Travail
I still find far better films on the free streaming services than anything on the paid ones. The following ten (actually about 15) are a combination of YouTube, ITV, Channel 4 and the Internet Archive, always an endlessly fascinating treasure trove.
1. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1998)
Internet Archive
Voted No. 7 in the bfi’s 2022 list of The Greatest Films of All Time, ‘Claire Denis’s great gift is to evoke emotion with gesture and juxtaposition. In the desert, water shimmers and ripples, naked shoulders perspire, black mosquito nets recall sheer lingerie’, say the bfi.
Though Denis Lavant – short, pockmarked – certainly isn’t the traditional Hollywood heartthrob he has a strong physical presence, and has said he acts with his body, not with words. Indeed, originally trained in theatre, pantomime and circus, he comes across as a Charlie Chaplin character with some pretty cool moves.
I’ve mentioned him dancing to Bowie’s Modern Love before; here he does something special with the song Rhythm of the Night by Corona (the best ending of any film, ever, say Frieze). Whilst smoking a cigarette. So French.
2. Circle of Danger (Jacques Tourneur, 1951)
YouTube
Recently given a 5-star review in the Guardian ahead of its DVD release, this intriguing black and white thriller about an American in Britain trying to find out how his brother was killed during WWII feels like a kind of precursor to Get Carter.
3. The Lobster & Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2015 & 2017)
Channel 4
With the amazing Poor Things currently playing in the cinemas, a good time to catch up with two of Lanthimos’ earlier – and equally stunning – films.
4. The Host (Bong Joon-ho, 2006)
ITVX
Fabulous South Korean monster movie by the director of Parasite.
5. Sexy Beast & Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2000 & 2013)
Channel 4
Two earlier films from Glazer, whose Zone of Interest is now playing in the cinema. (It’s almost as if Channel 4 are showing double bills – also available is A Field in England and In the Earth, two features by Ben Wheatley.)
6. After Hours (Scorsese, 1985)
Internet Archive
As mentioned a while ago, Scorsese’s so-so but enjoyable enough 1980s ‘yuppie nightmare’ comedy has come to Ultra HD Blu-ray for £30. The upgrade won’t make the film any better. Save yourself some money. Mean Streets is on Channel 4, too.
7. Transit (Christian Petzold, 2018)
ITVX
Intriguing if theatrical drama about a man assuming the identity of a dead author during a modern-day invasion of Paris by German troops. Echoes of his earlier film, Phoenix, again involves some suspicion of disbelief.
8. Titane (Julia Ducournau, 2021)
Channel 4
Extremely disturbing and violent French thriller which starts off like Cronenberg’s Crash then gets weirder.
9. Sex and Fury (Norifumi Suzuki, 1973)
Internet Archive
Classic Reiko Ike Pinky film.
10. Julien Donkey-Boy (Harmony Korine, 1999)
Internet Archive
Virtually everything Korine – Kids, Gummo – makes becomes an instant cult movie but this one, with Werner Herzog as a raging father and Ewen Bremner as his schizophrenia son, is something special.
Previously on Barnflakes
Notes on the BFI’s Top 100 films, 2022
Top twenty free films on the Internet Archive
Top ten films to watch on Kanopy, April 2022
Top ten films on Kanopy, January 2022
Alternative cinematic streams
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