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Reviews
[ill/«ML nevertheless a real gem. HOTEL DU Made a year short of the "OED outbreak of war in
(PG) 95min .... Europe. Hotel do Noru is an exan‘iple of the romantic fatalism genre of which Carrie was a pioneer, This nevertheless upbeat and
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Marcel Carrie". earlier
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BAILEY ON
(E) 150min
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optin‘iiste 'irama :s in and around the t-t..ia' sleazy. partisan ’lin'z .‘rhere a pair ,od‘t} and desperatel, depressed Mixers fail tr (LEUW but their suicide pact ar‘d insteati become involxed .-.'itn the .arious Cl(}ill."_tllf5 of
the hotel. amono them ’.
Between 1968 and 1973, cigar chomping Ukrainian East Ender Jew and broadcasting behemoth Lew Grade commissioned David Bailey to make three arts documentaries. Grade had no particular interest in the arts but at the time part of the money he was charged with spending on behalf of the ATV network (part of ITV) had to be spent on so called ‘highbrow culture‘ programmes. The resulting three films on Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton and Luchino Visconti are collected here together for the first time
on DVD, and these fascinating time capsules make for remarkable viewing.
First up is by far the most experimental of the programmes - Bailey On Andy Warhol. Bailey visits a post-assassination attempt Warhol in his studio while trying to emulate what he believes are Warhol's key artistic signatures (replication, impersonation and deflection basically) in the linking passages of the film. This film portrait of a very peculiar but gifted man, featuring jaw dropping interviews with everyone from Mike Jagger to the brilliant Ossie Clarke, is made more interesting by the fact that it was banned by the Appeal Court just before its proposed broadcast date of January 1973, after a complaint was lodged about its content by then sportscaster and Record Breakers host Ross McWhirter (later assassinated by the IRA). It took two months of unprecedented media coverage for the film to resurface, thankfully uncut, on ITV.
The other two films, on society photographer Beaton and filmmaker Visconti underline many of Bailey’s (one presumes subconscious) preoccupations with visionary artists, dandyism, nationalism and closeted homosexuality. What is compelling about all these films is how hard they occasionally ask the viewer to work, with few inter-titles or interviewee introductions and a willingness to give over to cinema verité techniques that slowly reveal the fractures in these delicate men’s world views, it is almost impossible to imagine anything as vital, untamed or raw appearing on ITV today. Extras include a new exclusive interview with Bailey and a booklet of originally designed transcripts for Bailey on Warhol. (Paul Dale)
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llUl ll DUNORD
it's the hotel itself and its
enwrons the canal. the little iron footbridge designed by Alexandre Trauner. that's responsible for the lilrii's marvellous sense of community l'xtias include an llill()(lll(‘l()l‘, llllll bi, l-rench film historian Paul Ryan and the original trailer.
ilviiles Fielderi
DDUBl l, DISC Si l THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM/SUDDENLY (15) 194mm (Freemantle DVD retaili 0...
Made at a time — the mid 19508 - when he was arguably at his artistic peak, both The Man With The Golden Arm and Sudden/y are testaments lo the fact that when the mood took him. Sinatra could deliver intense performances worthy of mention With younger acting sensations Marlon Brando and James Dean.
Released in 19:35 (when Sinatra. along; with conductor and arranger Nelson Riddle were re\./oliiti()riisirig popular muSic Wllli early concept album Songs For Swrng/ng Love/si. The Man With The
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fearless Sinat'a, \.'.irlii‘.i to experiment aiiii (‘ontounil expectations lhe, reinaii‘. that, of lll‘, finest ilt,llll:‘.’(rlllérllif, on llllll, Minimal l xtias lPasriualr: lannonei
llll Al llltli‘xl [ill/\lyli‘x AFTER THE REHEARSAL (15) 72min
i‘i'artan DVD retaili O...
Made by Intiniai Bréroman in 108.1, t‘r‘is
delzberate", star}; exarnir‘atir/t tit egotisin and bad faith Ill the =.‘.'orld of theatre takes place almost exclusively on a stage set. One afternoon, veteran theatre riirergtoi Henrik :Erland Josephsoni az'xakens from his nap to find that burgeoninu actress: Anna rLena ()lirv. tl‘e dang/inter ot Hertr.i<'s late actress loyer Rakel lll‘ig'Kl Thtiliri,. has turned up. As they talk a long dark iourney into the afternoon opens up. w:‘_h Henrik dithering
i )"..i_(,‘. SI NS AND WONDERS (15) 105mm
3) xi: ‘. l*\l ' ‘ 0..
A real i uiio, Marie lll Pill ll l. this llfitllllr‘ lit llll "\i./’(,‘.'lll()‘./'i‘() llllt'l i“ it .loii.itl:_iri Nil‘.fi|l‘:l iiothini; it not strenuoust treatm- lhere are plent, tit shots thiriuiih rilass. from behinri obiert‘. (Hill from high and lor. {iiiiilefi Siiiiii: oi llll,‘ shots llllrl an alibi in the ‘.l.)y(:llll‘)l|(, nature of the llllll it". lull of people spying} on other people tut sometimes you might feel :t's N()‘;‘~ll‘:l announcini; his Illll‘.’;ll in
Stellari Skarsrprrl plays Stockholm born Aiiierir;;iri finance (iii, Alec. ‘.“.rhose affair .‘Jllll a colleague iDeborah Kara Uiirieri (ll‘,llll)l'> his iiiarriarie to Marjorie lCharlotte Haiiiplinria lhe llllll chiefly locuze'. on Skarsrig‘irrl", blinl~ere'l attempts to salvage lll‘, family life. ‘.’.’llll‘: always Elllllfllll‘} to the often l)€:llll’,l()ll‘i anrl |a/,' lllllll(:ll’;‘: of Aiiierir,;iri'. in Greece. Worth catching. Miniriial extras. llorryl\/1(,l’~ibbiri)
46 THE LIST 2? Apr—1 1 May 2006