BITTER VICTORY (1957, b/w)
BBC Two, 12.35pm
One of the last great films directed by Nicholas Ray, this stark military thriller stars Richard Burton and Curt Jürgens as the leaders of a British commando team who share a mutual animosity and sexual rivalry. Mostly taking place against the harsh desert backdrops of North Africa, Bitter Victory is a powerful, cynical psychodrama about the emotional cost of war on both a global and personal scale. (102 min)
SPOILS OF WAR (TVM, 1994)
Five, 3.30pm
A scattered family of former 1960s radicals are reunited in David Greene’s TV movie, which was scripted by Michael Weller from his own stage play. Kate Nelligan’s Elise has stuck to her scrambled bohemian principles while John Heard’s Andrew carved a successful career as a photographer, leading to an inevitable clash of values when their teenage son (Tobey Maguire) engineers a fraught reunion in New York. Stagey presentation, but sparky performances. (94 min)
ONE FINE DAY (1996)
Film4, 9pm
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George Clooney plays a cynical newspaper columnist who falls for Michelle Pfeiffer’s high-powered Manhattan executive in a predictable but warm-hearted odd-couple romance. Clooney is smooth and charming, even if co-producer Pfeiffer could have given herself a little more dramatic meat to chew on. (108 min)
PAISÀ (1946, b/w)
Film4, 12.55am
The father of Italian neo-realist cinema, Roberto Rossellini, directed this ambitious six-part screen diary depicting the liberation of Italy by Allied forces. Working his way from Sicily northward, and shooting with newsreel naturalism, each of Rossellini’s poetic vignettes tells a small story with larger consequences. From Roman prostitutes to Franciscan monks to armed partisans, Paisà pays bittersweet homage to a nation brought to its knees by fascism and war. (120 min)