#WeAreQFT: Sam Manning
05 May 2020
Film academic Sam Manning is in the #WeAreQFT hot seat. He tells us who his favourite film villain is, why he would like to spend an evening in a Ferness pub and why he likes any film with puppets, regardless of quality.
You are stuck at home and your favourite cinema is closed. What five films do you watch?
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Chinatown (1974)
Psycho (1960)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
My Winnipeg (2007)
What three words would you use to describe QFT?
Unique, welcoming and open-minded.
What is your earliest cinema-going memory?
I remember first going to the cinema as a toddler. I can’t remember the film, but I do recall running around the house with a popcorn bucket on my head when we came home.
What film do you dislike that everyone else loves?
Joker (2019)
What is your guilty pleasure film?
I like any film with puppets, regardless of its quality.
What is your favourite film soundtrack?
I regularly listen to Michael Nyman’s score for The Draughtman’s Contract (1982). Some of the music is also used to great effect in Man on Wire (2008).
What film character would you love to meet?
I would love to spend an evening in the pub with the residents from Local Hero (1983). Ferness seems like a very friendly and welcoming community.
What is the best thing about going to the cinema?
The largest television and the best home sound system will never truly replicate the experience of going to the cinema. The dark room and enveloping screen allow me to cut out other distractions and focus solely on the film. I also enjoy watching films alongside other people and feeling part of a larger cinema-going community.
Do you have a special place in the cinema where you always sit?
I’m not picky, but I try to avoid talkers and popcorn munchers.
Who is your favourite film villain?
Reverend Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter (1955).
What one thing would you change about your favourite film?
My favourite film is Barry Lyndon (1975), but I wish Ryan O’Neal had a more convincing Irish accent.
What film do you think justifies a remake?
I think we need fewer remakes, not more.
Have you ever changed your opinion on a film?
As a teenager, I was underwhelmed by A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). I love them both now.
What is your favourite movie quote?
In recent years, my favourite quote is Black Phillip asking ‘Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?’ in The Witch (2015).
What film would you love to see at QFT when it reopens?
After being forced to watch films on the small screen, I’d love to see a classic epic projected on the silver screen. Spartacus (1960) or Lawrence of Arabia (1962) would be ideal.
Who would play you in a film of your life?
If a time machine is available, then a 1980s Liam Neeson.
Sam's book 'Cinemas and Cinema-Going in the United Kingdom: Decades of Decline, 1945–65' is out now.