In the spirit of fairness, I’d like to point out that Alex caught Albatross at EIFF and, a couple of reservations aside, gave it a largely positive review. I think he’s a much more forgiving soul than I.

In the Making of Featurette (the only extra included in the DVD release outside of the trailer) writer Tamzin Rafn states that growing up in Worthing she became obsessed with David Leland’s Wish You Were Here and Albatross was her version of the film; Emily Lloyd’s acerbic Lynda Mansell excised to make room for Beth, Rafn’s mother’s advice to her rebellious daughter made flesh, counterbalanced by the embodiment of Rafn’s Sherlock Holmes loving, desperate to escape the narrow confines of her hometown self. It’s a comparison which I’d suggest is best not brought to mind, as Albatross has none of Wish you Were Here’s wit and is most certainly lacking in any engaging drama which could stand up to Leland’s highly regarded classic.

MacCormick may have purposely avoided the feel of ‘Brit Grit’ to instead embrace universality, but what he actually managed to achieve wasn’t the emotionally profound piece he strived for but instead a hackneyed 88 minutes that isn’t weighty enough to be considered dramatic, yet lacks the humour which could have allowed it to be enjoyed as a farce. It would however make for a decent game of cliché bingo: marginalised, bookish daughter – check; put upon, blocked writer – check; unappreciated, unaware wife – check; an attractive rebellious teen ready to come shake things up, but who has her own problems despite a ‘don’t give a fuck’ exterior – check; let the affairs, betrayals and revelations commence – Bingo!

That said, Jessica Brown-Findlay does what she can as Emelia Conan Doyle (yes, that Conan Doyle), but her efforts were never going to pay off saddled to this project – OK, that was a cheap shot I admit, but if you call your film Albatross you’re asking for it.

Albatross is released on DVD today.

Directed by Drake Doremus who co-wrote the script along with Ben York Jones, Like Crazy was shot in 22 days on a Canon 7D. The pair based the script on their collective long distance relationship experiences; resulting in the final script being an extremely loose affair with much of the dialogue improvised by Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin. Perhaps that’s my inherent problem with this film?

Initially Like Crazy charts the beginning of Jacob and Anna’s relationship when they’re still loved up and floating on the euphoria of new found love. Yet I felt nothing. They made all the right moves; holding hands, nuzzling and spending a lot of their time in bed but they just didn’t make a believable couple. There was no sense of a click of connection or a spark of passion between the two there for me. At the time of watching I was unaware that the dialogue was improvised, but I did noticed how the stunted conversations were. When you’re in the first flush of love, conversations trip over themselves because you have so much to tell each other about your past, present and maybe, what you hope for the future. This wasn’t the case here, instead there were lots of long pauses which were eventually filled with girlish giggling that just seemed absurd. However, we’re led to believe that their love for each other is so all encompassing that Anna overstays her Summer student visa.

John Guleserian provides some great cinematography within the film, a stand out scene charting their Summer in bed together. Inevitably, Anna’s overstaying means that when she later tries to re-enter the country she’s sent back without getting to see Jacob. It’s then left to him to come to her whilst she sorts out her visa. Which takes time…a lot of time.

Once they’re separated we watch them lead separate lives in different countries. This would probably be a good time for me to come clean. I lived abroad for a year and tried to maintain a relationship. There was a lot of details here I could empathise with; the missed calls that can’t be returned due to time differences, communication slowly deteriorating into text messages because one or both are out and can’t talk properly and the new friends that are made that neither have met so when anecdotes encompass these new people you, frankly, become bored.

What I couldn’t empathise with was the ease with which both Anna and Jacob let each other go. Prior to Anna’s US overstay she’s warned of the ramifications of that action, but she does it anyway. You’d therefore think that when they’re separated it would take a lot for their eyes to be turned by other people? This is far from the case though, they quickly descend in to affairs with others. The ease with which each lies to their friends about their relative relationship status is also confusing. In one scene Anna is chatting up a guy in a bar, she then goes out to ring Jacob, goes back in and carries on from where she left off. To me, it’s completely random. I sat wondering for the last 45 minutes why they just didn’t pack it in? It’s easy. You’re in different countries. It’s not like they would bump in to each to other in the local pub.

By the time Anna had her visa sorted I really didn’t care what they did. I didn’t ever truly believe in their relationship when it was good and the fact each had cheated on the other with relative ease merely confirmed my opinion that the relationship was built on sand in the first place. Moreover, the metaphors played a lot like being hit over the head repeatedly. On the day Anna leaves they take a boat trip. They take up seats on either side of the aisle and look sadface out to sea. When the relationship is pretty much dead, a gift Anna received from Jacob is replaced by the new man she has started to seeing behind his back. There are more examples, many, many more.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t an awful film. It’s just not very good either. I do wonder if two more experienced actors would have made a better a job at setting the scene of a great love affair from the beginning? If you want to see genuine love then watch Drive, it contains more emotional passion in a single kiss than the entirity of Like Crazy’s Summer between the sheets. And those two characters don’t even have sex!

Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon’s insular life spirals out of control.

McQueen isn’t your typical director and his films aren’t typical films, his background in art seemingly providing a springboard to take a fresh and inventive approach towards filmmaking. With an ICA Futures Award in ’96 and a coveted Turner Prize win in ’99, the talented artist’s (recently appointed CBE) reputation for innovative art seems to have made his switch into the world of cinema a seamless one. Although not as openly experimental as his previous film Hunger (there are no 17 minute long takes here), Shame still shows signs of the director’s’persistence to experiment with his now preferred medium.

The [medium of] film is only 115 years old. If you think about art, painting is 1000s of years old. As long as something works, it works. The form of film is up for grabs as long as it makes sense to the audience. So, it’s a gold mine out there, for film – The Hollywood Interview

There are moments of real flair and beauty in Shame, which contrast beautifully to the film’s general, yet striking, feeling of emptiness. Shame’s only real moment of tenderness comes when Brandon begrudgingly visits a glitzy New York club to see sibling Sissy sing. Her earnest, yet seductive performance of New York, New York (actually performed by Mulligan) is beautifully shot in full frame close up (only disturbed once by an equally moving close-up of Fassbender) adding a real moment of warmth to an otherwise cold and clinical film. Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography is immense throughout, his icy blue palette occasionally punctuated by the sharp, cutting lights of NY city. His camera endlessly roaming the streets, rooms and clubs in which Brandon operates, like a lost soul not quite knowing where to settle. Combined with an ethereal soundtrack, the cinematography only magnifies the bare existence of our protagonist, as he struggles to survive in a life dominated by addiction.

Fresh from his critically acclaimed work with director McQueen on their previous outing Hunger, Michael Fassbender has been quick to increase his impressive portfolio in recent years, working with some of Hollywood’s biggest directors, including Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, David Cronenberg and Ridley Scott. He also found time to fill the mighty shoes of Ian McKellen, as a young Magneto in X-Men First Class and star in Andrea Arnold’s festival favourite Fish Tank. Yet here, back in the hands of the director who first introduced us to the stoic, powerful performances of Fassbender, we once again get to see the actor at his encapsulating best, as he bares all in leading man mode.

As expected, McQueen doesn’t hold back or pull any punches; Shame is a full frontal, exposé of an addiction oft overlooked and underestimated. The director extracts powerful performances from his key players and although often difficult to watch, this gifted artist has created something truly original, something you definitely don’t want to miss.

Star Wars Uncut: Director’s Cut from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

Surely, there is no better indication of a film’s tension truly gripping its viewer, than when you have to remind yourself to breathe on more than one occasion? Having seen the impressive trailer for Sean Durkin’s debut feature Martha Marcy May Marlene, I was aware of what to expect, but nothing could prepare me for just how captivating and thrilling the director’s first venture into full length filmmaking would be.

Having turned heads at Cannes and Sundance in 2010 with his award winning short Mary Last Seen (which acts somewhat as a precursor to Martha Marcy May Marlene) Durkin was back touring the film festivals again in 2011. This time picking up the Directing Award and a Grand Jury Prize nomination at Sundance, proving that Mary Last Seen was no fluke. However, Durkin was no stranger to film festivals prior to 2010, having taken on producer duties on the critically acclaimed Afterschool (2008), by fellow Borderline Films director Antonio Compos. Having served his time as producer (he also produced on underground hit Two Gates of Sleep), Durkin decided it was time to showcase his directorial credentials with one of the most confident and assured pieces of filmmaking you’re likely to see all year.

Having recently escaped the suffocating, intimidating grips of a Mason-esque cult, we follow Martha (or Marcy May as she was known in the collective), as she struggles to adapt to everyday life without the support of her adopted family. Moving in with her sister Lucy and husband Ted, the estranged Martha is haunted by her experiences and crippled by fear, as she comes to terms with not only her past, but also what her future holds.

“Do you ever have that feeling where you can’t tell if something is a memory or if it’s something you dreamed?”

As Martha’s history with the commune is slowly unraveled on screen, Durkin’s film flows between past and present, memory and reality, with consummate ease. With each reveal, the tension increases as our apprehension heightens and soon we begin to discover that Martha’s paranoia could well be just that. As our knowledge of the cult’s disturbing behaviours increases and we discover Martha may not have quite escaped their grasp, Martha Marcy May Marlene exposes itself as one of the most enthralling thrillers of recent times.

Although her older, more infamous sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley may have held the spotlight in the past with their dominance of the preteen market during the late ’90s and early 2000s, if this performance is anything to go by Elizabeth Olsen may soon become the dominant Olsen sister. As the titular Marcy, her performance is one of great complexity, as this fragile young woman attempts to display an inner strength, when her world is crumbling around her. Calm and serene one moment, then panicked and hysterical the next, Olsen totally convinces as someone struggling to discover her place in the world. Maybe a struggle she is familiar with being the sibling of twin sisters with worldwide fame?

Made up of three directors – Sean Durkin, Antonio Campos & Josh Mond – Borderline Films have recently entered into a partnership with Martha Marcy May Marlene distributor Fox Searchlight, meaning we should be seeing a whole lot more from Durkin and his fabulous filmmaking friends. If Martha Marcy May Marlene and Afterschool are an indication of what’s to come from this talented trio, then Simon Killer and other Borderline productions are bound be to dominating film festivals for years to come.

We’ve seen a fair amount of indie features this year, but a couple of our favourites came as a double bill comprising director Zach Weintraub’s Bummer Summer and The International Sign for Choking. Zach joins us this week to discuss the merits of getting back to your indie roots and why roller discos and selling lemonade may not be the best forms of film funding.

I feel like I’ve found my tone I guess or I’m closer to finding it.

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Bummer Summer (2010)
Seventeen year-old Isaac tags along on an impromptu road trip with his older brother Ben and Ben’s ex-girlfriend Lila. The trip staggers along uncertainly as the trio’s delicate and ambiguous dynamic is made increasingly weaker by the brothers’ mutual feelings for Lila.

The International Sign for Choking (2011)
Ben is twenty-four years old and listless since graduation. Frustrated, he seeks out a job teaching English in the last place his life felt exciting: Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the adjacent bedroom lives Anna, a fellow North American. She’s bubbly and outgoing, and through Anna Ben finally begins to experience the city in the way that he’d initially hoped to, until romantic tension mounts between the two.

Curtis lives a simple life; he works hard and takes good care of his family, loving wife Samantha and six-year-old daughter Hannah, who is deaf. However, his modest life is soon turned upside down when he’s plagued by crippling, foreboding dreams predicting an impending apocalyptic event. Curtis is then faced with a dilemma; does he listen to these dark premonitions and prepare his family for possible armageddon, facing financial ruin along the way, or are these visions nothing more than the symptoms of mental illness; a family affliction shared by his mother who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in her early thirties.

Like Mike Cahill’s Another Earth, a similarly subtle film featuring commanding performances, Nichols’ Take Shelter is not an easy film to label. Where Another Earth is a character/relationship piece wrapped in a science fiction shell, Take Shelter could easily slip into either a family drama or an apocalyptic tale category. Like Cahill’s movie, where the discovery of “Earth 2” is almost seen as the supporting narrative to its main character-driven story, the possible end of the world scenario facing the characters of Take Shelter is only ever viewed from within the tightknit LaForche family. Nichols’ story of the potential ‘end of days’ isn’t concerned with how or if the world would survive if Curtis’ visions come true, but instead if his family and his mind will survive his possible descent into mental illness.

Where films like 2012, Armageddon and The Day after Tomorrow relied on the believability of their catastrophic scenarios (Mayan predictions coming to pass, meteors destroying Earth or abrupt climate change), Take Shelter relies solely on the credibility of Curtis’ off kilter convictions. Nichols’ film will only succeed if there are some doubts over his premonitions; do you instantly write them off as the ramblings of a mad man or believe he may have been gifted a glimpse into a doomed future? For me it just took one look into the askew stare of Shannon for doubt to set in, could this be the gaze of a man losing his grip on reality, or a man with a devastating insight into things to come.

Shannon’s overwhelming performance is well supported by some equally robust turns by Jessica Chastain (Tree of Life) and Shea Whigham (Shannon’s co-star in Boardwalk Empire), their wavering support and trust in their loved-one only magnifying Curtis’ volatile situation. However, there’s no mistaking that this is Shannon’s time to shine, his performance taking you on a chaotic downward spiral with dizzying effects, the apex being a scene in which he aggressively confronts his doubters at a charity dinner, a scene that sent shivers down my spine and goosebumps up my arms.

There’s a storm coming like nothing you’ve ever seen, and not a one of you is prepared for it!

Take Shelter will leave viewers feeling battered and weather-beaten at the end of its two hour duration and what you take from Nichols’ film will depend largely on what you came looking for. Those looking for an Emmerichian end to civilization may be disappointed, but those searching for something else, something less obvious, might be totally blown away.

Even how you read the final scene (warning: this link contains spoilers) can probably reveal a lot about yourself.

Two years ago, Duncan Jones kicked off the current ‘less is more’ approach with his slow burning tale of isolation in Moon. A year later, Mark Romanek introduced us to the futuristic period drama with his adaptation of acclaimed and beloved Kazuo Ishiguro novel Never Let Me Go. Whilst Jones’ film, featuring a more classifiable aesthetic, was easier to label as science fiction, both films tackled similar themes by examining identity and the notion of self. Continuing this topic by posing the question “What would you say if you met another you?” Mike Cahill’s character driven Another Earth is another film from this limitless genre that relies more on its viewers’ powers of imagination, than its ability to dazzle and daze an audience with visual bombardments.

Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling), a bright young woman accepted into MIT’s astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. A brilliant composer, John Burroughs (William Mapother), has just reached the pinnacle of his profession and is about to have a second child. On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined.

With a plot featuring a parallel universe, it’s hard to believe there could be questions over whether the film belongs in the science fiction genre or not, but when the appearance of a duplicate planet plays second fiddle to the intense situations of our main characters, questions are bound to be asked. Writer and star Brit Marling and director Mike Cahill have managed to do something quite amazing with their film; create a piece in which they tackle expansive universal theories, whilst also developing a narrative of real intimacy through its study of the shattered lives of Rhoda and John. The juxtaposition of the weight and scale of the situations creates an intriguing proposition on screen, the discovery of ‘Earth 2′ has opened up an immeasurable number of possibilities for the characters of Another Earth, yet the introverted sheltered lives of our two main protagonists seems anything but. It’s the grief and daily struggles of Rhoda and John that Marling’s story orbits. The small developments in their lives which should seem insignificant compared to the revelations of this newly discovered planet are made to appear weighty and momentous; the smaller picture for once overshadowing the bigger one.

With William Mapother previously limited to bit part roles in TV (Lost, Prison Break, Law & Order) and film (World Trade Center, Minority Report, Swordfish, Mission Impossible II) and Brit Marling still carving out her career in the movie industry, both actors seize the chance to sink their teeth into the meaty roles. Both characters offer a lot of scope for our two lead actors to display the whole gamut of emotions as the relationship between Rhoda and John begins to break from their daily routine of grief and introspection, to be replaced with hope and fleeting moments of joy. With her piercing eyes and flowing locks, Marling was made for the big screen and her performance doesn’t betray this assumption. Consistently engrossing throughout, she puts in one of those performances you don’t dare (or want) to take your eyes off, it’s easy to see why she’s now being tipped for bigs things in the future.

At times, the filmmaking choices in Another Earth may appear a little wayward and clumsy, which is to be expected from our fledgling filmmakers, but these brief, wavering misjudgements never stand in the way of what is a truly original piece of filmmaking. Cahill’s film may have the budget and feel of an American independent production, but its heart and ambition reaches far beyond what you would usually expect from a production with a $150,000 shooting budget. Another Earth is a challenging and demanding watch, a film for those concerned with the mysteries of the universe, but don’t come expecting answers, in fact this is a film that may open up more questions than it solves.

Jean Marc Calvet has led an extraordinary, and at times, dark life, which made him a perfect subject for director Dominic Allan’s feature documentary Calvet. We caught up with Dominic to discuss trusting your inner barometer and creating films as part of the new paradigm.

Calvet begins its UK cinema run this week with Dominic in attendance for Q&As across several of the screenings. Full details after the jump.

This is not reconstruction, this social photography.

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Calvet (2011)
Via a terrifying trip to hell and back, Jean Marc Calvet was given a second chance at life, and now a successful artist on a quest for redemption, he embarks on an extraordinary journey to make peace with his past.

2011 has already witnessed; Craig Roberts’ duffelcoated, love-struck Oliver in Submarine, Devin Brochu’s grief-stricken T.J. in Hesher, Alex Shaffer’s troubled wrestling star Kyle in Win Win, Kentucker Audley’s dysfunctional comedian in Bad Fever and Dustin Ingram’s porn star obsessed Tobe in Meet Monica Velour. But what it is about the ostracised and the excluded that filmmakers (and their audiences) find so appealing?

Whether it’s the power these characters have to elicit emotion from an audience or the heart-breaking agony/joy of watching them rise/fall (delete as appropriate), there is something magnetising about these types that keeps pulling the writers and directors back to their worlds.

The latest writer/director team to tackle the story of the high-school loner is Patrick Dewitt and Azazel Jacobs (Momma’s Man), with their film Terri; the tale of a downtrodden, overweight, pyjama-wearing teen. Terri (Jacob Wysocki) doesn’t excel in school, he constantly turns up late for class, doesn’t participate in physical education and generally looks disinterested. His home life isn’t much better, with his parents absent physically and his guardian, uncle James (Creed Bratton), absent mentally, Terri is left pretty much to fend for himself whilst also struggling to care for his unstable uncle and their untidy home. With the help of his overzealous principle Mr Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly) and some burgeoning relationships, Terri tries to find his place in life and starts to discover friendship and romance.

Jacobs’ film saunters along at a leisurely pace, providing a balanced snapshot into the life of its eponymous lead, never aiming for the big reveal or the grandstand finale. Instead, sexual advances are spurned, relationships left undefined and friendships undeveloped. Terri’s life simply carries on with an endless road of possibilities unfurling under his unwieldy gait, an uncertain future on his horizon.

In his first feature film role, Jacob Wysocki as the titular Terri puts in a performance that defies his tender years, as his introverted, cautious character skirts the pigeonholes he so easily could have fallen into. Persecuted by classmates and often misunderstood by his seniors, Wysocki’s portrayal could have all so quickly become one-dimensional and flat. Instead, our lead performer allows the odd, fleeting glimpse into the soul of Terri, adding mystery and depth to his character, ultimately leaving us with the desire to know more.

Terri is the story of an outsider, in a world of outsiders. He may be at the heart of Dewitt’s story, but with a host of other dysfunctionals populating this on-screen world, Terri doesn’t seem so odd or awkward. With a principle who sleeps in his car, a friend who gets fingered in class and a classmate who pulls his hair out and pisses on his trousers, our protagonist’s eccentricities suddenly seem muted and unremarkable when viewed in context. This isn’t a film of cheap laughs, or one overly concerned with sympathy. Our cumbersome hero could have so easily been turned into an object of pity, but instead Dewitt and Jacobs handle his story with great care and consideration, avoiding narrative clichés and shallow stereotypes along the way.

Director Mike Ott joins us this week to discuss his second feature Littlerock, a beautifully balanced fish out of water story, with the added complication of a language barrier.

It’s just a scary thing to hand over your film to someone & trust that they’re gonna take care of it.

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Littlerock (2010)
When her car breaks down on a site-seeing tour of California, a Japanese student winds up stranded in a small desert town. Exhilarated by a sudden sense of freedom, she extends her stay and finds friendship, romance, and what promises to be a new home. But as she pulls back the layers on this unlikely paradise, she discovers a different America than the one in her dreams.

London may be a city of culture, a city of opportunities, a place where the streets are said to be paved with gold, but on-screen England’s glorious capital has become synonymous with the dark undertones of British Realism. At the centre of Krishnan’s celluloid tale of big smoke life we find two desperate, tortured souls; Frank an ex-soldier struggling to overcome the horrors he witnessed in combat and Lynette a homeless girl aimlessly stumbling through life, bad decision after bad decision. Initially, when the downward spirals of these two wayward characters entwine, it seems like just maybe these kindred spirits were meant to rescue each other from their meaningless lives. However, the positive impact they have on each others’ lives doesn’t last long and soon both are rapidly dragging each other down a path of destruction.

Candese Reid may have won the plaudits at this year’s London Film Festival, with her performance as cocky street kid Lynette being described as “fresh” and “brilliant” by Andy Harries, Chair of the Best British Newcomer jury. However, it’s Marsan with another assured performance that lifts Junkhearts from being just another tale of hardship and despair. Following on from his recent impressive work in The Disappearance of Alice Creed & Happy-Go-Lucky, Marsan is once again electric in this latest role, his precarious demeanour meaning you don’t dare take your eyes off him for a second. Cinematographer Catherine Derry’s camera never strays too far from Marsan’s scarred face and haunted eyes, circling him like a scavenger waiting to pray on his frail existence, the next time he stumbles and falls

Followers of short film may already be familiar with Krishnan’s style, as the director’s memorable short Shadow Scan not only won her a Bafta back in 2001, but introduced her as a talented filmmaker on the British filmmaking scene. Flashes of the flair she displayed in her award winning short can be seen once again in Junkhearts. This may be a gritty, hard-hitting film, but it’s certainly not a case of substance over style. Krishnan’s feature has a certain swagger and confidence about it that feels as if it’s coming from the capable hands of an assured filmmaker, a director eager to master her craft. Ultimately though, the powerful performances and confident filmmaking can’t hide the fact that Junkhearts feels all too familiar. These are well trodden streets and it’s going to need something a bit more innovative to make them feel fresh and exciting once again.

Some are called, some are chosen but all attempt to work for the greater good of their communities. No it’s not the synopsis for Kick-Ass 2, but rather Michael Barnett’s feature documentary Superheroes which delves into the world of Real Life Superheros across North America. Michael joined us to discuss gaining access to this secretive and camera shy group in our final interview of this year’s London Film Festival.

Truth is just stranger than fiction in this situation.

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Andrea Segre’s debut feature Li and the Poet tells the story of Shun Li, a Chinese woman working off her debt to a better life in Italy and the forbidden friendship she forms with retired fisherman Bepi. Andrea joined us at the London Film Festival to discuss his move from documentary to fiction and using film to create questions around xenophobia.

I start from the point of view that they are illegal because we decided the world is divided into people who can travel & people who can’t.

Promo – Trailer – Io Sono Li from Jolefilm on Vimeo.

Although I’ve been chasing Robbie Pickering for an interview since seeing his multi-award winning Natural Selection at SXSW, it was the London Film Festival that delivered Robbie for an extended chat, where we spoke about self belief not getting you on the basketball team and the many reasons you shouldn’t believe all the ‘rules’ about Hollywood filmmaking.

Simplicity & concreteness I think is what allows for infinite complexity.

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Alison Bagnall’s The Dish and the Spoon features a woman betrayed, who takes a romantic English teen on her journey through blind rage. Alison and I discuss the creative benefits of forced limitations and why it’s fine to not have all the answers.

I feel like movies are getting better & better because people are not getting into it to make money [...] they’re just really making the movies that they want to make.

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I’m pretty sure that Daniel Edelstyn is the only director I met at the London Film Festival this year who’s the rightful heir to a Russian vodka factory. We spoke about connecting with relatives from beyond the grave and working as a film outsider.

I’m still trying to make the world better by using pictures.

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How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire Trailer from Daniel Edelstyn on Vimeo.

Based on the famous book Memoirs of My Nervous Illness from German judge Daniel Paul Schreber, Simon Pummell’s feature Shock Head Soul depicts Schreber’s ‘madness from the inside’ through the combined use of live action, expert interviews and animation. Simon and I discussed transmedia and blurring film disciplines into a cohesive whole over tea at the London Film Festival.

Filmmaking’s become one of those things you can dream about even if you’re from outside the magic circle.

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Angered by the way he and the rest of us allowed the UK to sleepwalk into the Iraq war, Richard Jobson’s The Somnambulists is a departure for the director which explores the lost lives of 15 service men and women in stark visual style. We discuss collective responsibility and pushing technology and form to serve a story.

It reminded me of being in a punk band again, everything was stripped back & very simple & you weren’t relying on anything other than the performance.

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In his debut feature The Waves (Las Olas), director Alberto Morais explores the conversations we have with history and ourselves through his lead character Miguel’s (Carlos Alvarez) journey into his past. We spoke to Alberto at the London Film Festival about shooting a film which merges the present with memory.

I respect the locations as characters because I think the locations explain a lot about the characters.

I was unsure of what to expect having only watched the tight lipped trailer. The film tells the story of Lucy (Emily Browning), a university student in Australia who is having a hard time making ends meet. We see her working in a diner and responding to an advert in the student paper on the hunt for more work. Her interview consists of stripping, being inspected for flaws and given the go ahead to work. It transpires that said ‘work’ consists of serving older gentlemen culinary delights whilst scantily clad. This leads to being offered a job as a ‘Sleeping Beauty’; lying in a bed under the influence of extreme sedatives whilst being manhandled by the older gentlemen. There is only one rule (for the clients) – No Penetration.

I’m unsure whether I like this film or not. On the one hand it is visually arresting in so far as all the scenes are shot with Emily Browning glued to the centre of the frame. Other people or objects around her are just that, around her. The film is also extremely slow paced and not a great deal happens. It leaves more questions asked than answered. Why does Lucy not pay her rent when she’s clearly being paid substantial sums of money? Why does she value herself so little that she takes on jobs like these in the first place? However it’s not hard to see why she continues. Like most people, enough is never enough, and she lives beyond her means attaining an increasingly extravagant lifestyle with her ever increasing salary.

I’m not aware of Julia Leigh’s other work but this seems to me to be a commentary on sex work. How it starts seemingly harmlessly enough but quickly degenerates into something more sinister by virtue of someone behind the scenes pushing someone further and further through the attraction of money. The only difference of Sleeping Beauty to existing films in this class is that the normally seedy underworld is a whole lot more refined. Emily Browning is good as Lucy which is lucky as the film is most certainly not script driven. Her performance is cold, which is exactly what Lucy is. She portrays her as both greedy and emotionally bankrupt which offers some explanation as to why she allows herself to behave as she does.

Ultimately, I’m still scratching my head over the film and I think that’s a bad thing. Surely better for a film to provoke a defined reaction of good, bad, disdain or any concrete emotion as opposed to leaving the viewer unsure of exactly what the film wanted to achieve?

In the fifth feature from Spanish director Fernando León de Aranoa, a woman must reconcile dignity with personal necessity after forging a difficult friendship with the elderly, bedridden Amador. We caught up with Fernando at the London Film Festival to discuss his background as a writer and why his characters are his friends.

You have the music of the lines in your head & you wrote that so many times that you’re expecting to listen to that music finally on the set.

Named as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, director Mark Jackson has crafted a perfectly balanced portrait of a young woman balancing on the edge of sanity, whilst drowning in the depths of grief in his feature debut Without.

A lot of it is people watching and projecting ideas and backstory on strangers.

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After discovering a cache of nearly 85 hours of pristine 16mm film shot by Swedish news reporters documenting the evolution of the Black Power Movement in the black community, director Göran Hugo Olsson brought together contemporary commentators and musicians to bring the material to life and so create The Black Power Mixtape 1967 – 1975. We sat down with Göran at the London Film Festival to discuss the importance of music in his work and why documentary filmmakers should dig in their own backgardens.

This is not a film about the black power movement, it’s a film about how it was perceived in Sweden.

Showlinks
The Black Power Mixtape 1967 – 1975
Black Power Mixtape Soundcloud

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 from Story AB on Vimeo.

Potiche is a farce rather than a rom-com but without the utterly convincing relationship between Catherine Deneuve and everyone’s favourite aeroplane carpet botherer Gérard Depardieu, François Ozon’s Potiche would be a lesser film.

Set in 1977 and adapted from a hit play of that era, Potiche tells the story of Deneuve’s character, the eponymous ‘potiche’ (‘trophy wife’), Suzanne Bujol. Her husband, Robert (Fabrice Luchini) runs the local umbrella factory started by her father and is injured when taken hostage by the militant, downtrodden workforce. Suzanne then takes control of the factory in his absence and confounds everyone’s expectations by proving herself a canny but conscience-driven businesswoman. Depardieu plays Babin, the local ex-union leader mayor, who has a history with Suzanne and a desire for her that has never left him.

It’s easy to see why Depardieu’s character is so besotted with Suzanne. She is filled with a quiet determination. A lifetime of stoic obedience to lesser minds and greater egos hides a shrewd intellect in direct contrast to both her husband’s temper and Babin’s unconcealed passion. The men in her life are outwitted at every turn, blinded both by their chauvinism and by their devotion to Suzanne.

The film throws itself into its time period with precise attention to detail and the visual style of 1970s television film-making. The colours are resplendent and bright and the wardrobe contains a bewildering amount of authentic and outrageous fashion adding a considerable amount to the film’s sense of playfulness.

Potiche’s charm lies not just in the nostalgic aesthetic but in its sense of innocence. There is sexism but it is of a pleasingly old-fashioned type, not the insidious modern sort that’s dressed up in the double-speak of our time. Here, secretaries exist for more than dictation, and a slap on the bottom goes without comment. However in a world where social superiority is based on gender, the men are ineffectual and bafoonish whilst the women are highly capable.

These women aren’t man-haters though. When they take care to protect male egos it’s out of a genuine sensitivity towards the men they love as well as a deliberate manipulation to get their voices heard.

None of this is to suggest that the film is any kind of serious comment on feminist issues. Feminism, like the politics, the clothes and the sets are simply an environment to make Deneuve’s character attractive and plausible. Structurally the film rushes slightly too quickly through a final plot strand, but on the whole this is an enjoyable if inconsequential farce with broadly-drawn characters, a sense of fun and just enough smarts.

Tyrannosaur is the directorial debut of Paddy Considine who you may know from Dead Man’s Shoes, A Room for Romeo Brass, Hot Fuzz or as the guy who ran across Waterloo at the start of The Bourne Ultimatum. Basically if you don’t know who he is you’ve been asleep for around the last 10 years of film, and this review is probably not for you.

I have admired Paddy’s work for a long time and have been looking forward to Tyrannosaur more than is probably acceptable for a normal person. As if divination wanted to make my life even better, I happily stumbled across a screening at the Curzon Soho on its opening night followed by a Q&A with Paddy and one of the leads, Olivia Colman.

Tyrannosaur has its roots in a Bafta winning short called Dog Altogether. The films follow the lives of Joseph (Peter Mullan) and Hannah (Olivia Colman). Joseph lives on a sink estate. His life encompasses gambling, drinking and extreme violence borne out of lifestyle and deep set anger. Hannah is middle class and volunteers at a charity shop. Hannah is a Christian but that is not her lifeblood. I got the impression that she was forgiving and lovely whilst shaded with Christianity. Dog Altogether follows Joseph’s rage and his necessity to find something better. Someone to make him better. He finds Hannah and that is where the short ends. Tyrannosaur explores the relationship that follows their meeting.

From the beginning Tyrannosaur is brutal. Joseph is mindlessly violent due to an internal rage that will always burn within him. This rage manifests itself by lashing out at those closest to him as well as anyone who annoys him. Joseph’s surroundings means that violence begets violence and there are revenge attacks.

Following one such attack he seeks sanctuary in Hannah’s charity shop. Most people would throw a bloodied, rude, old drunk in to the street, but her goodness compels her to talk to him and offer him a cup of tea. He accepts and mellows. But, as is his way, he hurts her by making assumptions about her middle class life that are way off the mark. You realise as the film progresses that Joseph isn’t an inherently bad person. He just won’t let anyone close to him because he believes he’ll ultimately taint anyone in such close proximity. That or he’ll end up with “their shite”. So he tries to steer clear. But in the case of Hannah he can’t, because she is full of goodness and light and she may be his only redemption. But whilst she is full of goodness and light, her life is not.

Let me be clear. The performances are superb. Colman, who is mainly known for her comic roles, more than holds her own against Mullan. Comparisons have been made with Nil by Mouth but the only thing I can see in common is subject matter. I found this film ten times more disturbing than Irreversible as well. I’m not ashamed. I’ll say it. I cried! And not the silent tears of the cinema where they daintily fall over your eyes on to your face. No, no. My chin was wobbling like a good’un. And I’m dead on the inside.

The key to a film like this is to know when things should be seen and when things should be implied. Pia Di Ciaula’s editing is fantastic. The film cuts from scene to scene punchily, sometimes displaying the full savagery of the violence, at other times merely hinting at it, such as using the demolition of a shed as a noisy, dramatic device. None of the violence is gratuitous and there are some truly uplifting moments. It’s the mark of a good filmmaker that his audience goes from shocked silence to laughter within minutes.

Eddie Marsan also stars as Hannah’s husband, James. The ‘Philosophical Ones’ thought him “functional” and not fully explored. I desperately wanted to disagree but then I would have been paying lip service to their ‘talking just loud enough so everyone can hear and know how very clever we are’ tactics. So here I am, playing in to their hands on the internet. James is a loathsome character and to explore how he got to where he was would not have been in keeping with the rest of the film. The pasts of Joseph and Hannah are both hinted at and items are implied but nothing is ever said outright. To have done so with James would have been at odds with this. Moreover, I thought Marsan did an excellent job of portraying him as repellant. I immediately saw him for what he was and it was in his smile. Marsan ably evoked the big, insincere smile of a man who charms the birds off the trees but shouldn’t be trusted.

There is no doubt that this is my film of the year thus far and it will probably remain so. But I leave you with a warning – I walked out emotionally battered.

***Q&A – WARNING – HERE BE SPOILERS***

Immediately after the film Paddy and Olivia took to the stage accompanied by the editor of Empire who would be our compere for the evening. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Paddy as a lot of interviews I had read start with how introverted he is and, more recently, his diagnosis on the Asbergers spectrum. He was extremely open and happy to speak as he found. Olivia was very humble and clearly in Paddy’s awe.

In order for me to faithfully report what went on at the Q&A I have to give you a brief synopsis of the film that isn’t full of smoke and mirrors like the review above. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go into a blow by blow account and you will still need to go and see it for yourself (please, please do).

So Joseph is a horrible old man who has no family and ultimately no friends. He is your atypical old man who spends all day in the pub, gets tanked up, talks to the other men who spend all day in the pub but can’t really call them friends, goes home and usually gets in some sort of fight on the way. Hannah is middle class and seeks to save people with the power of prayer. Her husband is also Christian. But he is (and delicate readers avert your eyes) a total fucking bastard who batters the shit out of her. One day he takes it a step too far and pushes her to make the final leap to leave. She arrives on Joseph’s doorstep for help. In the same way she provided him sanctuary he does so too.

Paddy told us how he showed the original Dog Altogether script to Gary Oldman whilst they were working together around five years ago. When he wrote the script he wrote it with Mullan and Coleman in mind. He met Coleman on the set of Hot Fuzz and knew at the first rehearsal that she was to be his Hannah (which also gives an idea of how long this idea has been kicking about). Following on from the Bafta win there was an assumption that it would get made in to a feature. Paddy wrote the feature script in a week, writing for a few hours a day. £1.5million was secured to make it but then Mullan couldn’t get to set for a year owing to other commitments. So it was put on hold and that is nearly where it stayed when the budget was literally halved. But they cracked on and filmed in four weeks in Glasgow with £750k.

Paddy was also very adamant that he didn’t want to use handheld cameras with their telltale shake, nor did he want any ad-libbing. He wanted the mindset of the crew to be a big, British film – on a shoestring.

Olivia was shocked to be cast owing to her acting CV. She did a little research before the film by way of speaking to employees of Refuge. Her initial question when she read the script was, “Why does she not leave?”. Following her research she realised how hard it is to leave. She was also given written case studies from Refuge of real domestic violence victims. Paddy commented how some reviewers have stated that Tyrannosaur is a bit over the top. Both Paddy and Olivia confirmed that when you read the real life case studies you see that Tyrannosaur is a dip in the ocean of what men can do to their partners. Having just seen the film, the documented reality of such relationships does not bear thinking about.

Owing to the emotional intensity of Tyrannosaur which builds as it progresses Paddy tried to film as much in chronological order as possible. This also helped the actors to focus their performance. Olivia said that Hannah was so beautifully written that she didn’t have to suggest any amendments to Paddy. Both commented that sometimes a ‘method actor’ can be a total ball ache – especially when time and budget is tight. However, Paddy was at pains to affirm that the process was also collaborative when the actors were shooting. The nuances of their movements were as important as them reading the script perfectly.

And finally, another script has been written by Paddy. A ghost story. And it’s “alright”. It has “some good bits” (Paddy Considine, Curzon Soho, 6th October 2011).

“Yay” (Subs, DN, 2011)

Back in March I was able to catch feature documentary PressPausePlay at SXSW and chat to directors David Dworsky and Victor Köhler about the democratization of culture. In our interview the pair indicated that once the film had a few more festivals under its belt, it’d be making its way online in a standard and interactive version which would allow you to, “dig deeper into specific topics, listen to more in-depth interviews, view deleted scenes and explore the world around each artist, thinker and creator.”

That day has come. Jump over to PressPausePlay to download both versions for free, and if you enjoy the film be sure to support the team by donating or buying a copy on iTunes or Amazon.

Danish director Winding Refn burst onto the movie scene with his hard-hitting tale of a drug deal gone bad bad in 1996′s Pusher. However, in recent years his eclectic style has seen him take on a theatrical retelling of the life of Britain’s most dangerous prisoner with Bronson and the story of a mute Viking slave in the powerful Valhalla Rising. Now with his 8th and possibly most accessible feature to date, Winding Refn’s hard work over the last 15+ years is finally gaining him the recognition he deserves with a Best Director award at this year’s Cannes film festival and Drive gaining critical acclaim from all that see it.

Drive is a fast paced action thriller that focuses on a Hollywood stunt driver, a loner by nature, who moonlights as a getaway driver-for-hire in the criminal underworld. He finds himself a target for some of LA’s most dangerous men after agreeing to aid the ex-con boyfriend of his beautiful neighbor in a job that goes dangerously awry. The only way he can keep her safe and stay alive is to do what he does best: Drive.

At the core of Drive, giving it impetus and adding real nerve-shredding tension is a throbbing score by composer Cliff Martinez. From the opening moments of Winding Refn’s film, as we’re introduced to Gosling’s Driver through a taut chase sequence, the importance of the original music in Drive is clear to see (or hear). If Winding Refn is the brain of Drive and Gosling the face, then the soundtrack is the film’s heart, its beat rising as the Driver’s situation worsens and a feeling of unease sets in. The original music combines with 80s inspired tracks from Kavinsky, Chromatics and Desire to make not only one of the best soundtracks you’re likely to hear all year, but also to form an integral, unforgettable part of the machine that is Drive.

Working in partnership with Martinez’s original score to create the film’s intensity are two powerful performances from lead actors Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. Combined, they only mutter a couple of dozen short lines throughout the film, however, the extended silences and longing looks between the pair tell us so much more than extended dialogue and back stories ever could. We’ve seen flashes of Gosling’s brilliance in Half Nelson & Blue Valentine and glimpses of Mulligan’s leading-lady potential in An Education & Never Let Me Go, however together their combined on-screen presence seems to spark and ignite the fuse on Winding Refn’s explosive film. The film is at its best when the pair share screen time, their emotions seemingly bubbling under their cool, calm exteriors, never wanting to make the first move and expose their true feelings. However, this is one of those relationships that seems doomed from the start as estranged partners and violent criminals play their parts in keeping the couple separate. Real moments of intimacy only come in situations of dire straits and as the tangled web restricts around them, you’re left wondering if this is a love best left alone.

It’s a crime to think Winding Refn almost didn’t make Drive, in a recent Little White Lies magazine interview the Danish director admitted that the initial meeting didn’t exactly go well. Gosling, the star power behind the film, had taken control of the process of appointing a director to take the reigns of the production and had set his sights on Winding Refn. However, an awkward get-together between the filmmaker and actor, with the director out of it on American flu drugs, meant this powerful collaboration almost never took place. Thankfully, on the drive home the two connected over Winding Refn’s emotional rendition of REO Speedwagon’s Can’t Fight this Feeling, an understanding developed and the outcome of their partnership is one of the the most powerful films to come out of America this year.

Find a screening near you or create your own! It doesn’t have to be a in a traditional movie theater – any communal space with a screen, projector, and sound system can become an instant screening room.

Screenings will be taking place at various times throughout the day, and there’s also the opportunity for you to tune into the live cast and crew webcast. Find a local screening or set up your own after the jump.

Bots High Free Screening Day Explained from Coffee and Celluloid on Vimeo.

Bots High – High School Robotics Documentary – Official Trailer from Coffee and Celluloid on Vimeo.

Bare knuckle boxing may date back almost 300 years, but Palmer’s documentary isn’t too concerned with the sport’s beginnings; instead the filmmaker focuses on a 12 year feud between the Quinn McDonagh and Joyce clans and his embroilment in this bitter rivalry. Palmer’s involvement with the Quinn McDonagh family originated when he was asked to film a family wedding back in the late 90s, however at the party afterwards his camera deviated from its original path as he was drawn into a session of gambling occurring in the car park. It’s here in this gathering of masculinity we’re introduced to the main focus of the film, James, the Quinn McDonagh’s undisputed champion of the bare knuckle fistfight. Like many of the screen boxing heroes of past, James is full of confidence and swagger and despite his eagerness to defend his breed’s (the traveller name for family) honour, he’s all too aware of the brutalities of his chosen sport. Over the next 12 years, we follow James as he squares up and beats down each new contender from the Joyce clan, all the time promising to quit and never fight again.

At first, Palmer’s part in this on-going battle is simply down to his own interest and desire to document the proceedings, his camera skirting around the scattered audience at the fights, bustling for prime position, striving to catch every punch. Before too long though the filmmaker is drawn into the pre-fight rituals of the clans as he’s encouraged to make provocative, taunting videos for the families. The videos feature members of the opposing breeds attempting to goad their enemies once again into battle and although they don’t quite have the lyricism of Muhammad Ali, it’s an engaging and often comical routine to watch.

Engaging is probably the most apt word to describe Knuckle as a whole; shot on various formats of varying quality, its cinematography captures the majority of the key action (unfortunately Palmer does miss out on a couple of fights!), but is nothing spectacular and in no danger of winning any awards in the near future. The edit and post-production is again diligent, presenting the events in a linear fashion, experiencing all the ups and downs along the way, until we reach the film’s dramatic finale. Where Knuckle really succeeds though is with its story and its power to totally absorb and immerse an audience in the world of the travellers and their involvement in the brutal sport of bare knuckle boxing. Often left feeling disgusted and sometimes confused by the action presented on screen, as a viewer you still find yourself sucked into the world you’re witnessing, at times even picking sides and willing your chosen boxer onto success. In Knuckle’s tense conclusion you may even find yourself shouting at the screen, as if you were watching Stallone’s Rocky take on Lundgren’s Drago in Rocky IV, eager for a knockout and a resolution (that never quite comes).

Knuckle somewhat peters out instead of providing the explosive ending you may expect and at the end of Palmer’s intriguing insight into this age-old tradition, you’re actually left hungry for more and eager to find out what happens to James and the rest of the Quinn McDonaghs. Although we may never discover the conclusion of this on-going battle of breeds, with rumours cicrculating of HBO developing a TV series based on Knuckle this surely isn’t the last we’ll see of bare knuckle boxing on our screens in the near future.

We’ve reached the critical 3-day crunch period where it’s time to go all out and get Man-child rolling over that final 22% hump and into production – remember Kickstarter projects are all or nothing, if the goal isn’t met the film doesn’t get a penny. Also if it does hit the goal it will become the single most funded project to be listed in Kickstarter’s narrative film category, now that’s cool. Koo’s added additional reward levels which are mighty fine and also produced a Multimedia Lookbook to give you a heads up on the look and feel of the film. If you were tethering on the edge of supporting Koo and Man-child now’s the time to dive in and get wet before it’s too late!

Man-child Multimedia Lookbook from Koo on Vimeo.

On the 27th July I made my way to Black Rat Gallery to see Brent Green’s Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then. The event was hosted by Branchange Film Festival.

I had only heard of Brent from MarBelle and having checked out some animation I took him up on his offer of going to see a screening of Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then. It’s always lovely to go to screenings. It’s also always lovely to get to meet the film maker. This time around Brent went on a little Shoreditch walkaround before entering the gallery to commence the screening. Whilst I had expectations I wasn’t ready for a full on band in the corner of the gallery. The projection started and the sound wasn’t coming from the projector but from Brent sat in the corner. For over an hour he spoke whilst the band swelled with accompanying music.

The film is about a man who meets the love of his life and marries her. But, like life does, it throws a spanner in the works and she becomes terminally ill. He decides to heal her. To heal her is to build a house. The house will continue to be built until she gets better. The film is heartbreaking and impressive in its breath and scale. The house itself was actually built in Brent’s back yard and sprawls around the plot it rests on. To make cash Brent sells the props to galleries all around the world and then travels the world screening his film. (Any gallery owners reading wanting to bring him back to England? Any?)

Words can’t describe how impressive it is that a film can be so amazing with such a small budget. But most importantly, when it finished and I told Brent how moved I had been by it he seemed genuinely shocked at my reaction and humbled by it. A person like that can’t make a bad film. It’s not in their genetic make up.

via Miss Bladder: Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then.

2nd Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then trailer from Brent Green on Vimeo.

I’ve been a fan of director Hattie Dalton’s darkly comedic work since her first short The Banker walked away with the BAFTA Film Award in 2005, so grabbed the opportunity for an interview about her feature film debut Third Star. Hattie joined me from Australia to discuss breaking ground in the can-com genre and the perils of shooting distraction free in the Welsh countryside.

I think through humour you can have an audience enjoy themselves & then hopefully the bigger messages sort of drip drip drip with the resonance later.

Showlinks
Third Star
Third Star Facebook
Third Star Twitter
Memory Box Films

Third Star (2010)
Four best friends, all at the end of their twenties, set off on an ill-advised camping trip to West Wales. With no other skills for the outdoor life, except making tea, the journey will test their strength, their friendship, and their belief in what makes life worth living.

An official selection of Cannes Critics Week and winner of the Special Jury Prize at SXSW, THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER is a youthful and tender coming-of-age drama from first-time writer/director David Robert Mitchell.

The film follows four young people on the last night of summer – their final night of freedom before the new school year starts. The teenagers cross paths as they explore the suburban wonderland they inhabit in search of love and adventure – chasing first kisses, elusive crushes, popularity and parties – and discover the quiet moments that will later resonate as the best in their youth. – Apple Trailers

With it’s study of teenagers, comparisons to Larry Clark’s Kids seem inevitable, however where Clark’s film grabs its viewers and screams aggressively in their faces, The Myth of the American Sleepover takes its audience politely to one side to whisper in their ears. Adopting a gentle approach, observing characters from afar, Mitchell’s film may feature underage drinking, recreational drug use and the occasional reference to sex, but these are more bi-products than the main ingredient. There is no scandal here; a slap in the face, a make-out maze and a little vodka for breakfast is as risqué as it gets. The world portrayed in The Myth of the American Sleepover is a world without parents, but with these adolescents there seems to be a level of decorum and a limit to their excess. Parties are had and kids stay out all night but these feel like tentative steps towards adulthood instead of the full blown abandonment of childhood.

Featuring some impressive performances from its cast of talented debutants, Mitchell’s decision to feature first time actors and relative unknowns seems to have been an inspired selection. There’s a tenderness and a rawness to the performances on display, as we’re taken on a non-stop tour of teenage emotion. The engagement you feel with characters is immense, when Rob (Marlon Morton) is disappointed after he finally tracks down the girl he’s been searching for all night, you really feel his crushing disappointment. And as Maggie (Claire Sloma) first glimpses her ‘pool guy’ crush at the party, you feel both the thrill of excitement and the grip of shyness radiate from within her. It would have been easy for the performances of Mitchell’s young ensemble to be overblown and exaggerated, but whether through good direction or natural talent, characters feel genuine and well-rounded, increasing the overall appeal of The Myth of the American Sleepover no end.

Adding to the fuzzy flow of nostalgia throughout Mitchell’s film is James Laxton’s hazy cinematography (he was also responsible for Medicine for Melancholy’s sumptuous San Francisco images). Shot on the ever popular Red One, Laxton’s restrained, observing style seems to always stay at just the right distance to make the viewer feel as if they are being allowed a privileged look into the dynamic of this much maligned group. At times, it’s almost as if you’re watching a wildlife documentary, the camera not wanting to interfere with its subjects’ habitat or disturb the delicate mating ritual unfolding in front of its gaze. Water-drenched sequences work particularly well and feel especially vivid; the inviting breeze coming off the swimming hole practically plays across your skin and when the summer rain falls the wet grass seems just an inhale away. Laxton’s photography is complimented by the gentle, well-paced editing of Julio Perez IV, whilst a joyous soundtrack of quirky tracks accompanies the proceedings.

Some may complain that The Myth of the American Sleepover lacks the drama of Kids or the comedy of Dazed & Confused, but Mitchell’s film takes the slightest pinch of these forerunners and mixes them with a large dose of sentimentality to create a genuinely enigmatic film. Where the films of Clark and Linklater seemed to be journeying to a specific goal throughout, Mitchell’s film takes a more meandering approach, casually strolling towards its open ended conclusion. Those who will love The Myth of the American Sleepover are those who can sit back, relax and let the waves of nostalgia roll over them. Mitchell’s film is the feel good hit of the summer, enjoy it now as we don’t know when another one will come along.

The Myth of the American Sleepover Trailer from James Laxton on Vimeo.

This week not only did I get to talk to returning DN guest Stathis Athanasiou (DN036 & DN100) about his debut feature DOS, but we hit a DN double hat-trick with Stathis becoming the third director to make his third appearance on the podcast. We also discussed the state of filmmaking in light of Greece’s recent troubles and understanding a film through emotion rather than critical thinking.

I think it’s very fascinating to recognise ourselves in the writings of the great writers.

DOS Materials
Floor Plans

Showlinks
DOS
DOS Facebook
Monologue

DOS – A Love Story in Reverse (2011)
Athens & Barcelona, two cities, two love stories, two languages, two realities, two couples that will never meet, two years anniversary… or is it all one?