GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL
SHOOTING STAR
As GFF fires the starting gun on its John Wayne Tribute, Paul Dale examines the enduring appeal of the man they called The Duke.
Asked towards the end of his life why he had never written an autobiography John Wayne replied, ‘Those who like me already know me, and those who don’t like me wouldn’t want to read about me anyway.’ Modern day celebrities would do well to take note.
Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in Iowa in 1907 and, to mark the centenary of his birth, GFF presents a retrospective of the Duke’s films. In his red-blooded all-American 72 years Wayne went from ranch hand and pharmacist’s delivery boy to the iconic epitome of big, leggy generic Western machismo.
The classics all feature in the ten films chosen by journalist Andy Dougan - Stagecoach, Red River and The Searchers. But there are some puzzling omissions. Why, for example, are only two thirds of John Ford’s remarkable Cavalry Trilogy being screened? 1948’s Fort Apache and 1949's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon are magnificent films, but their resonance is compounded by the healing finality of the absent Rio Grande (1950).
Also, surely Big Jake and North to Alaska (where you can see Wayne’s toupee lift off his head in a fight scene) would have been better bets than the dreary, over-familiar True Grit and The Alamo. Either way, these are quibbles. If you only have time to see one of these films, see The Big Trail, an early, and rarely screened, example of Wayne’s immense screen presence.
Wayne captivated generations of Americans for decades by speaking low, slow and little.
Sean Biggerstaff and Emilia Fox star in Cashback
Nocturnal romance Cashback opens this year’s Glasgow Film Festival. Paul Dale meets its rising Scottish star Sean Biggerstaff.
can Biggerstaff has just returned from the seventh annual British Film Festival in Israel where (‘as/tbuck was screened simultaneously in Haifa. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. But though the film was well received. Biggerstaff wasn’t around to witness it. ‘I believe the film went down well. I wouldn't
the globe and scooped just about every short film prize going. Such was the acclaim that last year lillis brought his cast back together to make a feature version.
Did that not cause continuity problems? ‘They got everyone together so Sean lillis could get a look at us two years on and luckily
know because I spent the duration hugging a toilet due to a stomach bug.’
('uslzbuck seems to have taken its toll on the usually healthy 23-year-old Glaswegian who describes how the all-night shooting schedule made him ‘really ill‘.
Not that Biggerstaff (who starred in the first two Harry Potter films and the BBC TV series (liar/av II) isn‘t up to a demanding schedule. In Cashback he is convincing as the lovesick
insomniac who searches for some kind of
redemption by taking night shift work in a 2-1- hour supermarket.
(its/flunk started life as a short film shot by director Sean lillis in four days at a Sainsbury's supermarket in Whitechapel in 2004. That film did enormously well at film festivals around
we all looked pretty much the same apart from one guy who had been working out quite a lot. He got put on the salads.‘
Biggerstaff has just bought the rights to l)eke Leonard's book. Rhinos, Wiltm and Lunatics. an autobiography of sorts detailing the wild years of Welsh rockband Man. Despite a relatively ordinary background -- his father is a fire fighter and his mother a community educationalist -— Biggerstaff always knew that he would act. ‘l‘ve never wanted to do anything else. The attraction for me has always been about becoming someone else.‘
Cashback opens the GFF at the GFT, Thu 15 Feb, 7.30pm; Cineworld, Renfrew Street, Fri 16 Feb, 6.30pm.
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I The Good Shepherd Robert De Niro's second
directorial outing is a fascinating
epic charting the history of the CIA through the experiences of one dedicated operative (Matt Damon). Cinewor/d Renfrew Street. Mon 79 Feb, 7.30pm 8 Tue 20 Feb. 2pm.
20 THE LIST 1%.") Feb 2007
I Half Nelson Sundance stormer about an idealistic schoolteacher whose life slowly falls apart. Ryan Gosling is tremendous in the lead. earning an Oscar nomination. See interview. Cinewor/d Renlrew Street, Glasgow, Fri 23 Feb. 7.30pm.
I Lindsay Anderson Very rare chance to see an early short from the brilliant filmmaker behind lf. . . and O Lucky Man.’ Introduced by Karl Magee. archivist of the Lindsay Anderson Collection at Stirling University. GFT, Fri 23 Feb.
7 2.30pm.
I The List Surprise Film What will it be? Who knows? It could be a Hollywood blockbuster or a European art house flick. This popular Ell-5F staple makes it's debut on the west side. Cinewor/d Henlrew Street. Sat 24 Feb. 7.30pm.
This retrospective is a reminder of why.
I Andy Dougan presents the Duke is at GFT, Glasgow from Fri 76 Feb, 7pm, £32.50. www. g/asgo wli/m festival. org. uk
I Paris, je t’aime Short meditations on Paris by a number of international filmmakers. Contributors include the Coen Brothers. Sylvain Chomet and Gus Van Sant. GFIJ Fri 16 Feb, 2.30pm 8. 8. 15pm; Cineworld Rentrew Street on If Feb. (5. 15pm.