uk

New British Cinema Quarterly Annual 2010

by James McNally on February 19, 2011

Ah, Britain! Land of snarky but usually intelligent critics and beautifully-designed magazines! And home to a film industry perpetually beating up on itself. Although every country’s film industry has its ups and downs, there seems to be an inordinate amount of hand wringing in England. The biggest disappointment for film fans on this side of the pond is that so few independent films from the UK are ever shown here. So bless the good people at Soda Pictures who have come up with a brilliant campaign to raise the profile of independent British cinema both at home and abroad.^*

The New British Cinema Quarterly program is first and foremost a touring screening series, where four films are chosen from either the London or Edinburgh Film Festivals and shown at independent cinemas all over the UK. But they have also produced this lovely DVD box set of the first four films in the program, and included a gorgeous mini-magazine, designed by the same folks who put together Little White Lies.

In addition to introductions and behind-the-scenes material on all four films, the magazine contains articles on “The Future of British Film” along with an article featuring reactions from young British filmmakers to the news that the UK Film Council is being shuttered. As long as you have a region-free DVD player, this is an excellent way to see what’s going on in British independent film.

The films featured in 2010 were:

1234 (Director: Giles Borg): an affectionate look at the struggles of forming a band. (review)
No Greater Love (Director: Michael Whyte): a documentary featuring the nuns of a convent in Notting Hill.
Skeletons (Director: Nick Whitfield): two itinerant exorcists literally remove the skeletons from people’s closets.
brilliantlove (Director: Ashley Horner): intimacy and betrayal in a long, hot summer romance.

^* I know that I’ve used the terms British, UK, and England seemingly interchangeably, but I am aware of the differences. England is one country, Britain usually describes the entity that is England and Wales, and the UK adds Scotland and Northern Ireland to the gang.

Tagged as: nbcq, uk

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Submarine

by James McNally on September 14, 2010 · 2 comments

in Film Festivals,TIFF

Submarine (Director: Richard Ayoade): The debut feature from actor-comedian Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd) wears its heart, and its influences, on its sleeve. Wes Anderson looms large, and behind him, Hal Ashby and Francois Truffaut, but Submarine still manages to be original, mostly due to the irrepressible charm and formal playfulness of its director.

Based on Joe Dunthorne’s novel, the film is the record of Oliver Tate’s painful coming-of-age. Neither cool nor an outcast at school, Oliver is infatuated with Jordana Bevan, a girl who seems just a bit tougher and cooler than him. After she uses him to get revenge on her cheating ex, they are more or less in a relationship, and Oliver strives to be a good boyfriend while still remaining incredibly self-absorbed. His parents haven’t had sex in months, and Oliver is certain that his mother is carrying on an affair with their neighbour, a spiky-haired “mystic” with a pimped-out van. When he discovers that said mystic is actually an old boyfriend of his mother’s, he becomes obsessed with wrecking any chance of infidelity. His father, a depressive marine biologist, seems too passive to care what’s going on. Oliver considers bringing Jordana into his plans, but when he finds out her mother is suffering from a potentially-fatal brain tumour, he retreats into his own world, leaving his girlfriend to deal with her own horrors.

Did I mention that this is a comedy? Ayoade is able to use a light touch to ensure that this potentially dark material doesn’t overwhelm the audience. Oliver, even at his most selfish, is never unlikeable. Instead, he reminds many of us what it was like to be caught between childhood and adulthood, realizing that our parents are fallible and that we are neither as safe nor as important as we once thought. In that sense, it is a bit like Rushmore, to which it’s being endlessly compared. But Oliver is far less self-assured than Max Fischer, at least outwardly. He admits that he’s trying on identities. The film itself is far scruffier than Rushmore, too, and Ayoade himself seems to be trying on identities as a director. There are sections of the film where he tries out different styles, and he lets the audience know that he’s experimenting. There is a lovely montage of Super 8 footage of Oliver and Jordana falling in love and it’s presented by Oliver as prepackaged nostalgia, which doesn’t make it any less gorgeous or romantic.

Another difference from the films of Wes Anderson is Ayoade’s very careful use of music. There are only a few songs in the film, all by the wonderful Alex Turner (frontman for Arctic Monkeys), and they’re only used for moments of dramatic importance. Even here, Ayoade can’t help being self-conscious. The songs are on two sides of a mixtape Oliver’s father gives him. One side is for the budding of the relationship, the other for its dissolution. I actually made a similar mixtape myself in my younger years.

The performances are all wonderful, especially young Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige as Oliver and Jordana. Paddy Considine has fun playing Graham the rock ‘n roll mystic, and Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor are appropriately low-key as Oliver’s jaded parents.

The film isn’t perfect. The pace sags a bit in the middle, and Ayoade’s direction can be a bit mannered at times. The Welsh accents may be a bit difficult for some audiences to decipher in a few places. As well, by the end, Oliver’s parents’ marital problems seem to have magically disappeared. But for a first film, Submarine manages to be funny, romantic, sweet and gorgeous to look at too. I’m looking forward very much to seeing Ayoade bury his influences a little deeper in his next film as he gains in confidence.

Here is the Q&A with director Richard Ayoade from after the screening.

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Duration: 11:34

8/10 (8/10)

Tagged as: #tiff10, coming-of-age, uk

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The Trip

by James McNally on September 12, 2010

in Film Festivals,Television,TIFF

The Trip (Director: Michael Winterbottom): Hastily edited down from its original form as a six-episode television series made for the BBC, Michael Winterbottom’s latest collaboration with Coogan and Brydon is a great showcase for their improvisational talent, but the plot feels tacked on and is ultimately unnecessary.

Last at TIFF together in 2005 with Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, the trio clearly love working together. Winterbottom admitted that essentially all of the dialogue was improvised. He had been looking for a way to work together with friends Coogan and Brydon and came up with the idea of them having a series of lunches together. So he cast Coogan as “Steve Coogan,” a slightly outsized version of himself who receives a magazine assignment to conduct a culinary tour of the north of England, writing about his restaurant experiences as he goes. When his American girlfriend suddenly returns to the US for work and their relationship goes on hiatus, he turns to Brydon to accompany him. Rob Brydon, whose career has never reached the starry heights of Coogan’s, has a cosy domestic life with his wife and new baby, and seems content with his status as a mid-level celebrity. Coogan, who experienced early fame as TV chat host Alan Partridge, has been chasing the high of that success ever since. So as we get lovely shots of the countryside, and the pair are accomodated in swanky inns, Coogan paces the moors trying to find a cellphone signal so he can call his absent girlfriend or one of his agents. Brydon, meanwhile, uses the hotel phone to crack wise and talk dirty with his beloved wife.

These bits are amusing, but Coogan and Brydon have been playing these versions of themselves as far back as 2002’s TV movie Cruise of the Gods, so it kind of gets tiresome quickly. Yes, yes, Coogan is more famous and lives a jet-set life. Brydon has everyman charm. The real enjoyment of The Trip is watching the two play off of each other during their conversations. Their attempts to one-up each other are hysterical, especially when it comes to doing impressions of everyone from Michael Caine to Woody Allen. And the subtle dynamics between them perfectly capture the uncertainties of male friendships, from the fear of being seen as a gay couple to underestimating the value of each other’s friendship. Almost every moment between them is hilarious, which in the end shows how strong their bond is, even when they’re uncomfortable sharing their feelings about each other.

All of which makes the plot even more superfluous. Numerous shots of gourmet food and kitchens and cooking add practically nothing to the film. The beautiful scenery of Yorkshire and the Lake District, while giving the film visual appeal on the big screen, contribute very little to the essence of the film. The ending, which consists of nothing more than cutting between Brydon’s domestic bliss and Coogan’s posh but empty lifestyle, was melodrama piled on thick. There really was no need to attempt to make this anything other than the superb buddy comedy at its heart. The rest feels artificially tacked on and is ultimately distracting.

Here is the Q&A with director Michael Winterbottom and stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon from after the screening.

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Duration: 17:31

7/10 (7/10)

Tagged as: #tiff10, uk

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Radio On

by James McNally on December 18, 2009

in DVD

Radio On (Director: Christopher Petit): A few years ago, I picked up this DVD, likely for the same reason as Plexifilm decided to put it out: an amazing soundtrack featuring songs by Bowie, Kraftwerk, Lene Lovich, Wreckless Eric, Ian Dury and more. The reason it’s taken me so many years to actually watch it is that I mistakenly read some of the film’s reviews. Critically panned at the time, Radio On has become a bit of a cult favourite among a certain type of music-savvy cinephile. But after watching it, I find myself among those who find it a pretentious exercise in style over substance.

Director Chris Petit had been a film critic for Time Out and a big fan of the road movies of German director Wim Wenders. Remarkably he was able to interest Wenders in signing on as executive producer for his first film. Wenders recruited his regular cinematographer, Martin Schafer, to shoot it, and so the resulting film is a very odd German-English hybrid. Petit’s use of music is perhaps the best thing in the film, predating music videos by years, and his innovative introduction of the film’s songs in the opening (rather than closing) credits indicated the importance of music to setting the film’s mood. The music of Bowie’s Berlin period and of German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk is perfectly matched to the film’s pervading texture of existential angst. The film has been called an example of the postpunk aesthetic, and it does capture postpunk’s feeling of resignation, of punk’s anger now spent and despair creeping in. England’s late 70s industrial decay is photographed in grainy black and white, and as a visual and sonic document of time and place, Radio On is beautiful and bordering on essential. As a narrative film, it’s quite another matter.

The plot concerns a London DJ who drives to Bristol to investigate his brother’s death, an apparent suicide. But between the flat acting of David Beames and the script’s stubborn refusal to divulge information to the viewer in a straightforward way, the plot ends up making little sense. And our protagonist’s interactions with characters along the way are fleeting and devoid of much human warmth. The closest he comes to a human connection is with a German woman (there’s the German connection again) who is in England looking for her young daughter who has been living with her father. But even that relationship ends abruptly, with no explanation. In the same way, many of the songs on the soundtrack cut off abruptly when our man gets out of his car, or leaves the pub. Essentially, in a pre-Walkman/iPod age, whenever he’s out of earshot of a radio or jukebox, there is no music. It’s a jarring effect.

Petit’s attempt to blend Germanic cool with English grime is effective on a surface level, but his auteurist flourishes grate when it comes to telling a story or depicting a character. The cameo by Sting (in his first film role) backfires because in his scenes, he’s more interesting than the main character. Even the filmmakers acknowledge this; the film stays with him even as our protagonist drives away. The glacial pace and flatness of almost all the other characters make us want to stay with him even longer. Strangely, Petit admitted the casting of the Police frontman was a feeble attempt to put bums in seats. Like the split German/English personality of the film, it also doesn’t seem to know if it wants to be a work of art or of mass appeal.

When the music is playing, the film sings, but when the radio is off, things are much grimmer. Maybe that’s the point, in the end.

6/10 (6/10)

Tagged as: germany, postpunk, uk

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In The Loop

by James McNally on November 19, 2009 · 1 comment

in DVD

In The Loop was released on DVD in Canada on November 10 by Alliance Films and will come out January 10, 2010 in the US. You can help Toronto Screen Shots by buying it from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com.

In The Loop (Director: Armando Iannucci): On this side of the pond, the name Armando Iannucci likely doesn’t ring a bell, but for fans of British comedy, the man is considered a genius. His collaborations with Steve Coogan include the classic Alan Partridge shows (The Day Today, Knowing Me, Knowing You, I’m Alan Partridge). Most recently, he’s been writing and directing a blazingly fast and funny series called The Thick of It, which mines the comedic territory of political media handlers working for the British government.

In The Loop takes almost all the actors from that show, mixes up the characters a bit, and places them in the midst of the run up to the (unnamed but blindingly obvious) Iraq war in 2003. Peter Capaldi returns as Malcolm Tucker, the whipsmart press secretary with a mean streak. I’ve never heard more creative swearing in my life, and if you’re offended by “f-bombs” then this film is definitely not for you. But it’s my firm belief that no one can curse more creatively than our friends from the British Isles, and every character reaches for the stars in this very funny movie.

Simon Foster is the minister for international development who puts his foot in his mouth by making off-the-cuff remarks about the possibility of a war. The press runs riot and Malcolm Tucker tears young Foster a new backside. The rest of the film follows the bouncing minister as he’s used by pro– and anti-war factions in both the UK and the US. He continues to fudge his “lines” and the resulting mess makes for some very funny situations. While The Thick of It confines itself to English politics, In The Loop creates similar characters on the American side, with James Gandolfini clearly enjoying himself as a peace-loving general who nevertheless threatens to kill several of his political opponents. It’s nice, too, to see Anna Chlumsky (best known for 1991’s My Girl) return in the role of a young aide to an anti-war assistant secretary of state.

Overall, though, the Brits get the best lines (as might be expected) and one of the funniest scenes is when Malcolm Tucker the angry Scot actually brings in an even angrier Scot to handle yet another press leak. Steve Coogan has a small cameo as an irate local man trying to get his mother’s garden wall fixed in the midst of an international crisis. Though I would have loved to see more of him, giving him a bigger role might have unbalanced the mostly star-free cast. In The Loop will be riotously funny to anyone with even a passing interest in the workings of politics. Though it’s not anything special cinematically (think a longer episode of The West Wing), there’s enough crackling dialogue to keep you laughing all the way through. In fact, it’s a perfect film for DVD since you may find yourself having to rewatch certain scenes, either because the accents are slightly unintelligible, or because you were laughing so hard you missed the next piece of dialogue.

This was a film whose trailer let it down because it had to cut out all the swearing. So I’ve included instead an actual clip. Be forewarned, though, that this contains ~~some~~ many naughty words.