thread among the bleaknexx. 'You ha\e thix weird guy on a dexperate quext to find meaning.‘ xhe xay x. Ilamming tip againxt bodiex ix one ol the w ayx he ix trying to do it. He ix attempting to get into people to lind xome communion that he hey er achiev ex. l have ney er been in a relationxhip like the one depicted but I have been in difficult and emotionally draining relationxhipx where part of what goex on ix about puxhing each other to a point when xomething horrible happenx. l’aradmically. it can bring you c‘ltixet' ltigcllicl‘. bill also it can contain the \ccdx til~ your ruin: once you have gone that lar there ix no way back. The xe\ which ix the driying force in all the L‘lltll‘zlL‘lc‘lx ll\L‘\ llc‘l'c‘ ls litilll c‘\ll'L‘lilL‘l) [L‘lltlc‘l‘ tllltl tllxti. on another level. \cry violent: the prexeryed ambiguity ix totally right.‘
Some of the sex Mortimer has in mind ix the particular xcene in which .loe smearx her with cuxtard. then addx some tomato ketchup and procecdx to l‘oixt himxell upon her. It ix being touted ax potentially as inlamoux in the history of movie intimacy ax the ‘butter' scene in Lust 'limgo in Party. which was a point of reference.
.\lc(iregor begins. unsurprixingly. to warm to the subject. "l'his ix not sex where your body glistens with baby oil.’ he says. ‘We wanted our .xes xcenex to be like they are in real life. you know. where it'x not perl‘ect and you don‘t necessarily come together. In other words. the type of sex we all have. We were always trying to put in thingx that were realistic. as in the scene
when lillatSwinton) tries to stop
me getting out of bed by giving
me a wank. which is something I don't think I have ever seen in a
lilm. She stops hint by the most
effective way she knows which is grabbing his cock.‘
Swinton says the time ix ripe to reclaim 'l'rocehi, w-hn
was born in (ilasgow in 1925 to a Scottish mother and an ltaliaii
lather. "l‘rocchi wanted to he beyond the pale. and he put v Y himself there.‘ she says. "l'hat‘s not an unhealthy position to take it that‘s what you need to create. But now is the right moment to reappraise him. It's a worthwhile exercise to go back and ask ourselves why wax his work too much for some people'.’ Why did 'l‘rocchi cast his boat adril't and leave the shore'.’ What buttons did he press‘.’ And to the modern reader. does he still press them‘.”
l’ress Mackenzie to put lilting sit/(ll)! in a context and he replies that he views it as a period drama. ‘But it’s a period drama with a dil‘l'erence.’ he says. "l‘here is something about Scottish culture that puxhex out the boundaries in a different way. I believe that the mythology of Scotland gives the place an almost fictional identity in the first place. It pavex the way for narratives that can go any way you want them to go. I am not interested in playing the realixm game mysell‘. I'm more into exploring the fictional territory of Scotland as liar as I
(‘learly influenced by the 60.x and 70s work of
Lindsay Anderson. Karel Reis/ and Tony Richardson. Mackenzie has created a lilm that is at once derivative. yet drearily unique. ‘Some people say they think it looks kind of bleak. but I am a big fan of winter light.‘ says the director. ‘The “pale north". actually a line from the novel. is the atmosphere I wanted it to give it. You have to be culturally specific and thematically universal. and that applies to what I was trying to do here. It is not supposed to be just seen as just a ‘Scottish' film but I do hope it reflects some element of Scottish culture.’
UGC Edinburgh, 13 Aug, 9pm and 9.30pm; GFT, Glasgow, 17 Aug, 8.30pm. General release from 26 September.
Film
Five other canal barge movies well worth celebrating
La Fille de I’Eau (1924) Jean Renoir's first feature may borrow liberally from Stroheim and surrealism. but this naturalistic tragedy of one young lady's misadventures after her barge-owning daddy dies exhibits early glimmers of Renoir's prodigious genius. L’Atalante (1934)The prince regent of barge movres. this IS a bona fide classic. Jean Vigo had made the remarkable Zéro de Conduite a year before but this was his masterpiece. Not a lot happens: a sailor and his y0ung bride barge home with an old eccentric through the suburban canals of Paris. They argue, fall out and fall back in love again. Vigo's touches of delicate Surrealism and an a kind of magic realism make this an unforgettable experience. Painted Boats (1945) Also known as The Girl on the Canal. . this was directed by Charles Lavender Hill Mob Chrichton (pictured) and produced by Michael Dead of Night Balcon. but it's not funny or scary. more homely and pleasant as it charts the lives of two families who live on the canal in the immediate post-war period. Something of a fascinating relic now, this was the sole product of a proposed Eating studio series to fuse dOCUmentary and fiction film forms that had been established during WW2.
The Bargee (1964) Fairly limp comedy I with Eric .. .V ' Sykes
\Lt ' - (pictured). Ronnie Baker and Harry H Corbett. noticeable only for being scripted by Steptoe's Galton and Simpson and for a risqué plot that concerned the travails of a Casanova of the canals. Rosie and Jim: The Movie (In ~. production) Brian de Palma is set to direct this powerful tale of simple Midlands canal rag doll folk on the run from the mob. Allegedly containing a Hitchcockian twist. this is due Out next summer.
“an: AA; '2 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 45