Short cuts (clockwise from top left) 10 Years Old; Bargain; Dog; Suicide Angel; Torte Bluma; The Man Who Met Himself; Hibernation; and Suburban Home.
This year’s line-up is particularly strong. And it you haye made it this l'ar through the l"estiyal without seeing any shorts. don‘t worry because the last l‘ew days are awash with rubies. l'rom 'Ii'//_\'-('im': .S'lmrl l-‘ilms*_/i)r TV and ('im'mu (industry panel discussion. not screening) (l-‘ilmhouse. 623 8030. 26 Aug. l2.lSpm. tree) to Black Buy: The Syntax (l‘iilmhous’e. 623 8030. 26 Aug. 3pm. £6.45 (£4.20) and .llt’.\‘/l .S'Iinrt I'll/II Launch A'- BUS! of ('lianm'l 4 Animation (l-‘ilmhouse. 623 8030. 26 Aug. 5.30pm. £6.45 (£4.20) and the ('im'imrks- ((il’l‘. ()l-ll 332 8128) programmes all going down. But the one selection I heartily recommend is (K Slants 2. an almost ltttlltless and inspired collection of great shorts made in this lair isle in the last l2 months or so. (‘heck out the clatistrophobic six minute horror thriller Daylight llu/t' by Matt Palmer (the man behind the superb (‘ultl l‘ilm Distribution company). or Benjamin Ross‘ cinetastic ’l‘arit' B/ama (which takes its inspiration from Renoir‘s l.a Reg/e (la .lr'u). On top of this there is (iunhild linger’s bi/arre mockumentary Bargain. Andy (iordon‘s magically moying childlike l‘antasy set in l‘)85. lll/H'I‘Iltlliflll. Ben (‘rowe’s noirish The Man Who Met Himself; Shreepali l’atel‘s poetic Dawn and much more.
UK Shorts 2, Filmhouse, 26 Aug, 12.30pm, £6.45 (£4.20).
‘YOU F0 GET HOW SPOILT W ARE IN THE WES '
Passion flower
CAROLE BOUQUET, virtually unknown here but a national treasure in France, talks to Richard Mowe
about her new film Nordeste.
othing about (‘arole Bouquet is quite what you would expect. From her public persona you imagine a cool hauteur. and this is partly to do with those chisclled cheekbones. In the cinema she has cornered the market in smouldering sexuality ol‘ such
intensity that she burns younger challengers ol‘l‘ the screen. She‘s eyen been a Bond girl to Roger
Moore in [Dr liiur liy'i's' ()iI/y'. So what took her to the ends ol‘ the earth
(Argentina‘s bleak and yast northern region) for
Min/taste. a lilm by a little known director .luan Diego Solanas. who has only one prize—winning short to his credit'.’
Bouquet admits that her insatiable curiosity probably landed her there. In .VrH't/(‘Slt' she plays a French woman trayelling to Argentina to adopt a child. ller path crosses that ol‘ a pregnant young woman lighting an eyiction notice.
'I had not read the script when I met .luan. but we had a good rapport] says Bouquet. ‘I liked the idea ol’ confronting these two yery dil‘l‘erent worlds that did not go together at all. I knew he could direct becatise I had seen his short lilm T/It’ Mun ll'I'I/Inul (1 Head. And he talked so passionately about his country and its dil‘liculties. l was intrigued about what he would make til it all.‘
Another l‘actor was the subject of adoption. Bouquet. who has two sons 7 Dimitri. 23. and Louis. l6 has been working l'or almost 20
years with La Vois de l'linl‘ant. a l‘ederation ol’
child protection associations around the world.
'.\'ordeste is the child tral‘l‘icking hub ol' Argentina yet I had no idea it e\isted.‘ she explains. "l'he contrast was so \iolent to what we are used to in liurope. I became a lot less tolerant about the lutility ol' much ol‘ our liyes in the so-called ciy'ilised world and all our little caprices. You lorget how spoilt we are.’
Bouquet. a l'ormer (‘hanel ambassador. concedes she leads a charmed e\istence in comparison. She has no special regimes or exercise routine. smokes like a chimney. eschews make-up. apart from for the demands ol. prol‘essional engagements. and likes to drink and stay up late. She has an elegant apartment in Paris l61h arrondissement and the partners in her lil‘e haye included (lei‘ard Depardieu and producer .lean—l’ierre Rassam. l’reyious relationships with a photographer and an immunologist tailed because they did not care l‘or her constant e\posure. Recently she has jtist had a considerable bo\ ol‘lice hit in Brigitte Rouan’s 'l'mraui. an sail quam/ (a commence . . . playing a lawyer whose me is turned into disarray alter she embarks on home improyements.
Bouquet admits disarmineg that she can look ‘horrible‘. and. at 48. laces the ageing process with equanimity. ‘\\'hat I do know is that I am getting better at my job. Looking in the mirror and being constantly concerned about my image is not what I'm aboutf
Cineworld, 623 8030, 26 Aug, 5.15pm, £7.95 (£5.20).
. Anti ~- tat-g .2 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 93