When Nicolas Winding Refn moved from Copenhagen to New York City at just eight years old, he was captivated by the art house movie theatres of Manhattan, and influenced by the graphic works of film poster art that were displayed on the walls outside.
Having become a collector of rare American movie posters, the director of Drive, Only God Forgives and Bronson has created hardcover coffee table book, The Act of Seeing, in order to share his obsession with the world. Co-authored with FrightFest curator and internationally renowned horror expert Alan Jones, the book seeks to showcase, “the masterfully overblown promises and alluring tag-lines” of posters that were designed, “to persuade the ravished sight to suppress the cool head of reason and tempt it to sit in a dark auditorium to watch other people’s lurid lived shockingly unravel”.
delves into the historical context of brilliantly titled films, including , Obscene House, Alice in Acidland and Zero In And Scream. Nicolas Winding Refn and Alan Jones will launch the book on 1 September at the BFI, before introducing 1971 film Farewell Uncle Tom, which features heavily in their book. Winding Refn’s next film, The Neon Demon, stars Abbey Lee and Elle Fanning as beautiful, maniacal supermodels, and will hit cinemas in 2016.