postcodes.’ says Cox. who is deeply proud of filming in his hometown. ‘lt's a sort of a north/south battle. There‘s Drew Schofield. Margi Clarke and Christopher Eccleston on one side. They are the revengers. And on the other side there's Derek Jacobi. Eddie lzzard and Diana Quick. I don‘t know whether they will get it outside this country. It may be hard-going for Americans. because they may not understand the language differences. But I think it’s pretty clear here: everyone can tell the difference between a London and a Liverpool accent.’
Cox has made films all over the world: his first. Repo Man ( 1983). was shot on the streets of LA; Sid and Nancy was filmed in London; Straight to Hell. his delicious spoof spaghetti western with Joe Strummer and the Pogues. was filmed in Alrneira. Spain; the brilliant Walker was shot in Nicaragua and Tuscon. Arizona. But it was in Mexico that Cox made what are. arguably. his two greatest movies. Highway Patrolman and Death and the Compass. These are dark. mature works from a master filmmaker who. like Kubrick. was taking on board few influences from other filmmakers, with the exception of his
‘I had to study the Tudors for history and I hated
them; they were the
founders of the modern
British Police state’
beloved Luis Bunuel and Akira Kurosawa. Ironically. it was the experience of working in Mexico City that led Cox to return to his native Merseyside. ‘Mexico City was the only place I could make Death and the Compass.‘ he says. because it's this great monumental city on an inhuman scale. Then I came back to Liverpool and went: “Oh. actually there is somewhere else I could have made this film." Liverpool and Mexico City are my favourite places: they both have really creative communities that exist in spite of very little encouragement from the authorities. and yet they persist.’ When Cox talks about Liverpool. it‘s difficult not be swept up in his passion for a city that still holds the key for the likes of “glimmy McGovern. Kevin Sampson and t- Villy Russell.
Cox himself has fought many battles. among them the Britain's railways (check out Cox's website: www.alexcox.com). And time and again Cox has battled to make movies: he‘s been kicked off or disowned as many films as he made. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Winner have been particularly crappy experiences for him. He began his career in the early 80s by taking on the Hollywood studio Universal. when they dropped the previously greenlit Repu Man during an executive shake-up. Cox placed an advert in the trade paper Variety which challenged the studio to make the film. The studio hired a PR man to discredit the film. but extraordinary exclamations such as ‘I hope they don‘t show this film in Russia’ backfired and turned Repu Man into a cult project.
It seems now. in Liverpool. that Cox has finally found a base to fight his battles against the profane and corrupt. ‘l was pleased about Revengers‘ Tragetiv.’ he says. ‘because we didn‘t have to have any Americans in it. I was the attached unpaid director of Richard III for a year. the film Richard Loncraine eventually directed. It was depressing because we were under such pressure to have Americans in it. So it was a pleasure to show that you could make a British film that doesn‘t have Tommy Lee Jones and Jennifer Jason Leigh in it.’
So what's next maestro? I ask as a parting gesture. ‘The thing I‘m most directed towards is a film with Michael Madsen and Eddie lzzard called Hellrmi'n.‘ says Cox. ‘lt‘s‘ just non-stop mayhem and fighting. but it‘s also like a Kurosawa Samurai film in that at the beginning the hero sets out his agenda and he spends the next 89 minutes doing it. obviously with a few setbacks along the way.’
Two days later I‘m sat in a car driving through the Beatles‘ old stomping ground. Wavertree. I wonder ifAndrew Tiernan. the young man with a samurai sword who was shot dead by the police. would have shared Cox's optimism about Liverpool‘s future? And would Tiernan have made the grade as a Kurosawan protagonist? l slump deep into my seat.
Revengers Tragedy, Cameo, 21 Aug, 8pm, 24 Aug, 9.30pm.
re-nationalisation of
NO
It’s not Brit crap this year. Here are the highlights. Words: Miles Fielder
cinema has come in for
a good bollocking. time and again. Maybe we never got over the success of Trainspotting. Maybe Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels spawned too many Ioud-mouf gangster flicks. Or maybe we’re all just sick and sodding tired of bloody period dramas and weddings and funerals. Now, while the Film Festival has run its share of British bullshit in the past. this year’s line up of British cinema is particularly strong. Honest it is.
I n the past few years Brit
ALL OR NOTHING Mike Leigh ditches the period drama/musical kerfuffle of Topsy-Turvy to return to home territory and form with this comic drama about the working classes. Leigh regulars Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville star. UGC, 75 Aug, 7pm; GP]? 78 Aug, 8. 30pm; Film/rouse. 21 Aug, 9.30pm.
THE LAST GREAT WILDERNESS
Local lad done good David MacKenzie makes his feature film debut with this story about a community for lost souls. Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton liked it so much they worked with MacKenzie on his second film, Young Adam. Cameo. 23 Aug, 8pm, 24 Aug, 7pm.
MOI-WERN CALLAR Lynne ‘Ratcatcher' Ramsay's adaptation of Alan
Warner's novel about a girl (played by Samantha Monon) struggling to find her place in the world after her boyfriend's suicide. Hallucinatory. trippy, euphoric. GFT, Sat 7 7 Aug, 8.30pm, .67 (£4.50).
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE MIDLANDS
Shane Meadows follows A Room for Romeo Brass with this family saga in which social realism collides with the spaghetti western. Robert Carlyle. Shirley Henderson and Ricky Tomlinson star. UGC, Sun 78 Aug, 6pm, £7 (£4.50); GFT. Thu 22 Aug, 6.30pm, £7 (£4.50).
REVENGERS TRAGEDY See feature, left.
SPIDER
Okay, okay. director David Cronenberg's Canadian. This, however, is a Canadian co—production with Britain, adapted from British novelist Patrick McGrath's psychodrama and populated by a British cast featuring Ralph Fiennes. Miranada Richardson and Gabriel Byrne. UGO, 22 Aug. 9.30pm, £7 (£4.50).
15—22 Aug 2032 me LIST FESTIVAL euro: 39