SCREEN TIME
PICTUREHOUSE PICKS Cambridge Arts Picturehouse duty manager and events coordinator Chloe Kelly draws out a common thread linking two of this month’s film releases
T his July, we are expecting a Pruning , opening 10 July, to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey , opening 17 July. Both of these films are products of Greek literary brilliance, as Rosebush Pruning is written by Efthimis Filippou, a contemporary Greek screenwriter best known for his long-term collaborations with director Yorgos Lanthimos ( Dogtooth , The Lobster , The Killing of a Sacred Deer ), and The Odyssey , attributed to Homer, is a masterpiece of ancient Greek literature, telling a tale of adventure and turmoil. Rosebush Pruning , starring Callum Turner, Jamie Bell and Elle Fanning, is a title I was personally eager to see at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival this year, where it had its world premiere (on line-up filled with mythological and generational homecomings, from Karim Aïnouz’s Rosebush Valentine’s Day, may I add!). But what drew me personally to Rosebush Pruning was the name Hélène Louvart. Louvart is a French cinematographer who has worked with Aïnouz in the past ( The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão , Motel Destino , Firebrand ), but her recent projects with directors such as Alice Rohrwacher ( La Chimera , Happy as Lazzaro , The Wonders ) and Carla Simón ( Romería ) are true testaments to her brilliance as a cinematographer. It’s safe to say that her European and surrealist eye brings this twisted tale to life. Confined to a Spanish villa, each frame dipped in Catalonian sun, we follow American siblings who have just inherited their late mother’s fortune, but when the
CULT CLASSICS Although Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (above) and Karim Aïnouz’s Rosebush Pruning (below) offer very different aesthetics, they are characterised by family, loss and dysfunction
starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, is for you. The Odyssey is thought to be one of the longest-surviving stories out there, an epic poem now being transformed into an epic moving picture. The last time a Nolan film graced our screens was with his Academy Award-winning Oppenheimer . Themes of family dysfunction, battle and loss beat through our releases this month, and we are excited to dive deep into Nolan’s lucid, mythological world. Expect to see your favourite A-listers and real-life Mediterranean set pieces.
eldest brother announces he is moving in with his girlfriend, the fabric of their family begins to unravel. This film’s satirical nature, loosely inspired by the 1965 Marco Bellocchio film Fists in the Pocket , displays Aïnouz’s masterful skills in humorously dissecting the upper-class milieu. Coated with petals and jewels, and with an electric soundtrack, Rosebush Pruning is like a modern revival of a Greek tragedy. If you have a passion for the classics, though, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey ,
Visit picturehouses.com/arts for the full programme, special screenings and events
32 JULY 2026 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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