Film
Reviews
THRILL Eip BELLMAN AND TRUE
(15) 117mm
lAliCli/M Ba, 'JKv O...
I '18 7 's Bel/marl and
True —- a neglected but xer/ .‘rorthxihile meeting
’lf two underrated figures in British fllll‘ — arguably deser/es a place alongside acknowledged Brit crime classics like Get Carter or T he Long Good Friday. Directed by Richard Loncraine
IN lERVIEW THE BROOMFIELD CUPBOARD Legendary documentary filmmaker NICK BROOMFIELD talks to Paul Dale about his new DVD box set and book.
IBEiJMANJTRuei
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iwho helmed Richard HI and. more recently, Wirnb/edorii and starring Bernard Hill ithen most famous fOr playing Yosser Hughes in Boys
From Beast/‘1'»,- film is a get"
A .-.eil-.r‘ter‘ittor‘ed loser. airoholc Hirer
Hiii IS Ml." .iniif‘f’} l‘, 2: gang ’Ji L’YVIC" mor'isters for ",i’JIY‘l'Jlliffl ska s and easily coerced b. threats to his adoptue son, Step b, step his ritasrtuiinity is tiripi<:ked. as he and the be, are held Cal)ll‘.'£2 .vhiie he unWiIlingly aids the planning of a tense .ault raid. Amidst a measured film that's con/incineg brutal and tender, Hill is magnificently
‘I think the book and the box set just sort of came together. I was approached a few years ago to do a book, but only now does it seem like the right time to me. I did the Aileen Wuornos film, which was probably more emotionally draining than my other films because she was executed. For me the full realisation of what American justice was like was probably like getting a frontal lobotomy. I kind of wanted to have time to think about what I wanted to do next and that as a filmmaker there is a big temptation to do one thing after another. But I think that if you want to change your style and do something different, you need time to decide which way
you're going to go.
‘lt’s quite odd, you know, doing this DVD box set has made me think about the difference between the US and UK audiences of my films: The Leader, His Wife and the Driver's Wife, for example, is probably my most popular film in Britain, and the Americans had zero interest in seeing it. It has Naomi Campbell and Mandela in it and Americans are not interested in anything that is not overtly to do with America. They really weren’t interested in Margaret Thatcher either (Tracking Down Maggie). Films such as Chicken Ranch and Soldier Girls (pictured) have more relevance to them
than anything else.
Doing the extras for these DVDs was fantastic; it’s much easier to do the extras when you shoot on film because you’ve got the deleted scenes intact. For example, when l was working on Fetishes, I was able to immediately get hold of material of my favourite scenes that I wasn’t able to put in for one reason or another - some were too extreme to release so it was great. I always shoot lots of material so it was great to add it in. I also did updates on the characters so it is a great medium and the sky’s the limit with the things you can do.
‘Personally, I’m most fond of Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam because of the fact that it was a portrait of an obsessive love affair and that is so hard to do in documentary. I also think that Soldier Girls was a big move fonivard for me too in that it was more like a soap drama, which also was a bit of an experiment. It’s important to remember the films that move you on creatively and open doors to what you can do in the future.’
I Nick Broomfi'e/d: DOCUmenting Icons the DVD box set (Metroo'omei and book
iFaberl are out now.
52 THE LIST 17—3t Mar 2005
E71, > 153:.“ .i.’ t: v
i. .i i’} vaw‘: Hm. “K FAfHER AND sou
(U) 80min
Al‘f'ilf‘idi [WK '2'i.i ....
. we) 92
The second part of a proposed trilogy about familial lone. Aleksandr Rt ssian Ark Sokurozs visual elegy to the paternal filial relationship triumphs despite soporific pacing and the complete abandonment of plot.
Father (Andrey Shchetininl and Son (Aleksey NCylllyiSllO‘JI have a dangerously insular relationship. closeted together in their rooftop apartment. Here they fight and play. until the son's increasing maturity causes friction in their games.
OWing more to the avant garde than the arthouse. the ethereal Cinematography. autumnal palette and savouring of mundane sounds reinforce the dream-like presentation of this lyrical and powerful paean to a mythological love.
Extras include production notes and the short Soldiers Dream. iDave Martini
ICELANDIC CINEMA FALCONS
(15) 94 min
(Tartan DVD retaill 0..
Fridrik Thor Fridriksson’s Fa/cons is as intriguineg offbeat as we have come to expect of Iceland's
FAL
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x K . v . \K~\ O‘. blind. l hi1(1‘\"{ t\ Ki .1 ' .t, l r \ \A(ikl i ‘f \ . fitnu‘lt wit» ‘\.\\ ti . .t t,
the lair go the sanding ur‘ "i t3i>"".‘iii, with a rare faiyw". .'.'ll|(7fl Silvie“ attempts to sen '.'.'l‘illt‘ Dua rel e:; on luck ant f2i‘.l'lt" inter‘.erit-ori
At first sight the strong, silent (Zairadine seems out of place among the supporter; cast of small town eccentrics including Simon's ltll‘, pol; (Ltltlfllll and senile aunt. both intoxicated by the smell of American money, and a pair of cartooniin policemen. The film finds its feet as a quirky road inowe when the mismatched Simon and Dua flee Iceland. Overall, though, Falcons isn't as subtly engaging an exploration of relationships between outsiders as Fridricksson's previous cross cultural effort Co/d Fever. (Allan Radcliffe-i
HORROR PHONE
(15) 100min lTartan DVD retaili
Naive and pregnant teenager Jin-hee iChOi Ji-yeoni. lured late at night to a park, finds herself face to face ‘f/Ilh her lover's ‘lee. lnexplicably she willineg goes to the couple's home With horrific and long lasting ghostly reSuIts.
Vengeful ghosts should make fer good stories. but Phone plays things too safe and Quickly deteriorates into substandard Asia
fr‘xfi‘tji THE CAPTAIN’S PARADISE (PG) 94min Militia” INK" '
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l’l;i‘,'v.irii;lit, ‘if'lfff‘ll‘fllllf'l and director Antiion, Kiinniint. inadi: 'll‘. narne mth British um: i:oriiedii,~f’,. of which lll‘. best known lftllli'llll‘, hi'. final filin. I‘lf‘il". Hli‘ Arno/oils I’li'lH/l But this lflr'if’. farce I‘i .i better filrn. berietittini; as it does from a tin-l; script b.’ Alei; fLopiiel l‘.‘i/ll() went on to .‘iriti: Vertigo for Alfred Hitchcocki and a iaurit, performance from Alei, Guinness. then in the midst of his l alinr; Comedy period
This Shepperton production. partly filrned on location in Gilbraltar. sees Guinness fer'r‘,’ captain fiFt‘Llllllfl between the rock where he pla/s the perfect husband to Celia Johnson", ’.i€fl'l wife. and north Africa. where he has .r/ild woman Yvonne De Carlo stashed in Tangiers. Matters. of course. are eventually complicated .vhen the women decide to take a trip on their man's boat.
Not a clasSic. e/ac‘.|/. The Captain '3 Paradise IS neverthel .132 a handsomely rriourited and spiritedl/ performed piece of post-War fluff. i’MiIes Fielder.