Scala!!! Tells the story of the titular cinema, which, in its most famous incarnation, sat on a corner in a fabulously grand building in London's King's Cross. The building still exists and now hosts a nightclub and music venue of the same name, but is a very different proposition to the film club, which existed there between 1981 and 1993, having moved from its earlier location, where it showed films from 1978.
This documentary tells the story of story of the club, and how it offered a haven to misfits of all stripe: lost boys and girls, gay, straight, punk, greaser, new romantic... even eccentric old ladies! It was a place to watch films, be educated, get messy, and engage in amorous pursuits. The King's Cross area has been transformed in the 21st century, but in the 1980s it was a seedy, edgy place, with a diverse community. Despite the off-putting environs, the cinema itself drew people from all across London, and beyond, those aforementioned misfits who found a place of welcome amid the depredations and social changes wrought by Thatcher and co.
The film, co-directed by Jane Giles (who was programmer at the cinema) and Ali Catterall (who was a punter), manages to capture the character and appeal of the cinema. They achieve this by interviewing a wide selection of people who once came, or worked there, including John Waters (whose own cult films were of course part of the programming), Barry Adamson (who provides the excellent soundtrack too), Ralph Brown (who reprises his famed Danny persona from Withnail and I for the occasion), Mark Moore (S'Express), Caroline Catz, Mary Hannon, John Akomfrah, Jah Wobble, Stewart Lee, Beeban Kidron and many others.
Between them they have some serious anecdotes, from being freaked out by the prowling resident cats slipping past their legs in the dark to finding a body. Woven throughout is a taster of the film club's remarkably wide-ranging programming, which included classics, arthouse, grindhouse, porn (soft, like Russ Meyer, or not so much, like the legendary Thundercrack), science fiction, horror and even plenty of mainstream films (like Alien and Predator), often lovingly crafted into all-nighters, offering the club members a place to stay warm and away from whatever woes their real lives presented. The programmes were published on distinctive posters, and their design style overarches the film.
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, to give it its full title, is not only a wild ride, and an entertaining, frequently hilarious, watch, it's also an essential bit of history - both film history and social history, capturing a lost London experience that remains unique to this day.
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