The London nobody knows… Hidden City (1987), BFI Blu-ray

 

Oh, this really is one for the Archivists but also those who delight in finding out the persistently odd parts of our capital; if you’ve ever wondered what goes on under the old Kingsway Tram Tunnel, otherwise silent doors off Holborn Viaduct or the nuclear bunker in Fitzrovia, well, it might be what we see here. There’s an echo of James Mason uncovering similar gems in The London Nobody Knows in 1967 but also an influence on Neil Gaiman’s 1996 TV series Neverwhere, which imagined the goings on of London Below including an actual Angel of Islington as played by Peter Capaldi (there’s typecasting!).

Hidden City is magically real all the more so because of it’s deep-cut locations, the familiar existing side by diagonal alley with the weird, wonderful and mysterious.

All of this is revealed through the search for a particular reel of film which will, possibly reveal a murder or deeper conspiracy, like Antonioni’s David Hemmings meeting the female Doctor Who we were robbed of… Cassie Stuart’s Sharon is that woman and, after losing her job because of Charles Dance’s pompous writer on new media and technological teaching, James Richards, being sent the wrong video for a class, introduces him to a mystery only the two of them can solve.

He is The Assistant and she is the madly intuitive Doctor or, if you prefer, she’s Dr Watson driven to pull Sherlock away from his self-indulgence and violin, towards a mystery – an injustice – decades in the making. It involves the kind of luck and co-incidence that would make the late Paul Auster think twice but it all works within the logic of its own world and an all too rational man who has lost his way and his curiosity. James has seen it all before but when Sharon reveals that he hasn’t actually he can’t resist following her as the pair chase across the London that not that many people know, in search of films that may contain the truth even as they are at risk of being discarded as is the case with Hop Gardens of Kent which they rescue from the furnace to find it contains strange images of a woman apparently being captured by secret policemen and escorted to an unnamed building deep in the backstreets of the over-looked.

The eighties locations are of course fascinating for those of us who remember when there were more disused and mysteriously empty spaces around Holborn Viaduct, further down the submerged Fleet or over towards Kingsway and the long-abandoned tramway under which the film has a hidden archive run by the government (or deepish state) – which contains many things we shouldn’t be seeing. The men who run the collection of secrets are playfully obstructive and the film in question has been thrown out just the day before… leading the companions to a waste-disposal site where there’s also a group of policemen searching for something else in the rubbish.

Characters interact and work against each other all within the playful logic of the film as we get closer to an all too mundane and believable truth. It’s a fascinating ride and Charles Dance, who also features in the whitest of y-fronts at one point which only he could carry off…, is commanding and his aloof, analytical James is suitably intrigued by the earnest promptings of Sharon. Cassie Stuart is very impressive too with a restless energy that keeps the narrative sharp and uncertain – she’s very post-punk.

 

With Richard E Grant as Sharon’s former boss, who may be implicated and Bill Paterson as Roger’s best friend Brewster – ditto – it’s a well-acted and very meta experience with everything and everyone potentially in on deeper levels of the secrecy. The solution is found with the passion and relentless intuition of those who search the archived London for the truth. It would have made for a great continuing series, Dance and Stuart’s characters could have been the Mulder and Scully of the 80s. The truth is out there, hidden in that which is retained but too often overlooked?

Special features

Illustrated booklet including Poliakoff's original introduction to his screenplay, a new essay on the film by John Wyver, a new interview with Stephen Poliakoff by Michael Brooke, new writing on Barging Through London and Hop Gardens of Kent by Ellen Cheshire and an essay on Public Information films and the National Archives by Sarah Castagnetti and Patrick Russell - First pressing only

Presented in High Definition

Newly recorded audio commentary with writer and director Stephen Poliakoff and film critic Michael Brooke

Treasures from the BFI National Archive (1903-1947, 58 mins): a selection of archive gems, exploring some of the themes featured in Hidden City. The films: Cheese Mites (1903), Barging Through London (1924), Hop Gardens of Kent (1933), The City (1939) and Shown by Request (1947)

Inside the BFI National Archive (2023, 1 min): a behind-the-scenes look at the work of the BFI National Archive

 

This celebration of the work of archivists and the importance of old media in terms of understanding of the here and now – shooting the past never stops – will delight all of those who enjoy Poliakoff’s work and many more; the extras are indeed special and indeed part of the story in a couple of cases.

 

You can buy Hidden City now direct from the BFI’s online store or their Southbank shop… essential for your home archive!