FILMS OF THE WEEK

THE BIG MOVIE

Big Eyes (2014) 12 Wednesday, 9pm, Film4 Based on the astonishing true story behind the idiosyncratic commercial art of Margaret Keane (Amy Adams, above), whose paintings of saucereyed children were loathed by critics, but sold in their millions in the 1950s and 1960s. Director Tim Burton, bestknown for his misfit fairytales, is careful not to make his biopic as kitsch as the art. This is important as, at its core, Big Eyes is the story of a woman in a controlling, abusive relationship. Arriving in San Francisco to make a new life for herself and her daughter, Margaret meets and quickly marries Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), a serial chancer who longs for his sugary landscapes of Paris to be recognised (or at least sold), but instead only finds success when he claims Margaret’s work as his own. Eventually, she finds the strength to paint her own future.

CLASSIC FILM CHOICE

It Always Rains On Sunday (1947) PG Thursday, 4.10pm, TPTV Well-known for comedies, Michael Balcon’s Ealing Studios also produced many notable dramas, including this tense, downbeat thriller from Robert Hamer – who would go on to direct Kind Hearts And Coronets, and is an unsung hero of British cinema. Set in London’s East End, it stars Googie Withers as Rose, a former barmaid now running a busy household in rundown Bethnal Green. Her past returns to haunt her one wet weekend when she discovers Tommy Swann, an old boyfriend (John McCallum, above, with Patricia Plunkett and Withers), hiding in her air-raid shelter. Escaped from prison, Tommy needs a place to hide, leaving Rose torn between her settled new life and the lure of her more carefree past. In addition to the thriller elements, the film is also a fascinating, convincing portrait of a community living through post-war austerity.