Last Movies

In March 1997, an affluent San Diego suburb became a site of international intrigue, as 39 members of a religious group, Heaven’s Gate – early adopters of the internet who believed the Hale Bopp comet was hiding a spaceship destined for heaven – were found dead, covered in purple shrouds wearing brand new Nike trainers (the ‘Decade’ model was cancelled shortly afterwards, making it the most sought-after trainer in this world and the next).

Receipts from the days leading up to their ‘exit’ showed $417.27 spent at a pizza parlour, and a trip to the cinema to see Mike Leigh’s Hackney-based drama on class and race, the Timothy Spall and Brenda Bleythn starring Secrets & Lies.

An extended excerpt of Brian de Palma’s Carlito’s Way will be screened in advance of Secrets & Lies, tethered to Last Movies through a relation to Hackney-cartoonist Mel Calman, who passed away watching it only minutes away from the ICA at the Empire Cinema on Leicester Square (cutting the movie at the point he crossed over).

Adrian Dannatt, professional obituary-writer and child star of Just William, joins Stanley Schtinter to discuss the legacy of Heaven’s Gate, in a freewheeling conversation on art, religion, the south coast of America in the 1960s, the East End of London in the 1990s and ... those trainers.