Poeicjusice
Paul Dale meets British writer/director/actress/dancer and composer SALLY POTTER and wonders why she isn’t a British institution.
ally Potter makes films very slowly. What takes
most filmmakers a year to complete will take
her fiye. She gets distracted by her own breathless entliusiasms. "l‘he problem with me is that I‘ve always got lots of things on the go.‘ she says. "l‘he hardest choices I face are which ideas I'm then going to live with for three or four years of my life.‘ Potter laughs. as she does frequently. Now in her mid- 5()s and with a string of commercial failures behind her (with the sole exception of Orlando). she's laughing at the fact that she is still in the business.
In the early l‘)8()s Potter (pictured. inset) epitomised what tabloids saw as the type of lentil-munching feminists who were siphoning off crucial arts funding to make films about lesbians from Alaska. l)espite the red tops‘ worries. Potter hardly registered until Orlando in l‘)‘)2. ()n the back of that film she was given a heap of cash which she subsequently squandered on the self-indulgent but entertaining drama/documentary 'I'lu' Tango Lesson and on the terribly dull Johnny l)epp vehicle The Man Who
('i'iwl. liortunatcly. she returns this month with her
finest film to date. A tale of ageing cross-cultural
romance told in yerse. Yes“ (pictured) is a work of
brilliance and originality. but why yerse'.’
"l‘he impulse to use yersc was entirely intuitive; it was as if this was the way the characters needed to speak. I wanted to see if I could do something like a “stream of consciousness" film which lapped between levels and ideas in the way that our minds do. Within
24 THE LIST 73') Am; ii 80;» YOU?)
‘WITHIN ANY ONE HOUR WE MIGHT THINK ABOUT GOD, SUPPER AND SEX'
any one hour we might think about (iod. what's for supper. sex. do I need to do some housework or whatever. You know. we zap around between these levels. and I wanted to somehow show the way that works.‘
Always a political filmmaker. Potter is at pains to steer me beyond the gimmick.
‘l think the personal is political. as the saying goes. and I think that every frame of this film is infused with a kind of political sensibility. but I tried not to make it a didactic message. It’s not a message film. its a film of many voices speaking to each other. I started to write it immediately after 9/] l. and of course it‘s been bracketed now by the events of the bombings in London at the end. so as we were making it we all felt we were in the middle of reflecting events that were unfolding around us. When we were in rehearsal. the [PS and the UK went into Iraq. and so that influenced the ideas we were grappling with. which is how the world impacts on individuals.‘
As one of the few recognised female L'K based filmmakers. does Potter feel like a little bit of an institution'.’ She laughs. ‘A British institution'.’ (iod no. ()rson Welles once said filmmakers must be like cotton—pickers and go where the harvest is. Well. if I knew where the harvest was I would go there!’
Yes opens at GFT, Glasgow from Fri 2 Sep and is already showing at some selected cinemas. See review, page 27.
Hit >l<
THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES
* Yes Sally Potter's cross cultural romance told in verse. This is without doubt one of the films of the year. See preview, left and review, page 27. GFT, Glasgow and selected release. * Whisky Morbidly funny drama from Uruguay about secrets. socks. death and lies. See review, page 28. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
=l= The Mighty Celt Quality naturalistic Irish drama about greyhound racing and politics. all told through a child's point of view. It's very reminiscent of Loach‘s Kes. which is no bad thing. See review, page 26. General release.
=i< Primer Bizarrely incidental slice of suburban sci-ti that feels like it doesn‘t know anyone is watching it. See interview. page 25. and review. page 28. Selected release.
* Czech Dream Thought provoking documentary about two protestor/artists who invite people to a hypermarket which sells nothing. See review, page 27. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
* Me and You and Everyone we Know Dark and kooky ensemble drama. GFT, Glasgow and Cameo, Edinburgh. >i< Crash Racism and murder in modern day Los Angeles. General release.
>l= Football Days Friends, football and therapy, Spanish- style. GFT, Glasgow
=1: Los Angeles Plays Itself Thom Andersen’s fantastic documentary looking at the depiction of Los Angeles in the movies. GFT, Glasgow (Sun 4 Sep only).
* Bring Me the Head of Altredo Garcia Peckinpah's bloody 1973 masterpiece finally gets a decent DVD release. praise the Lord. See review. page 29. Out now (MGM Home Entertainment).
=l= Hail the Conquering Hero Preston Sturges’ brilliant, often forgotten 1944 farce available on DVD. Life can't get much better. See review. page 29. Out now (Universal Pictures Video).