EDINBURCl-I INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD. '
STANDARD LIFE ‘ AUDIENCE AWARD
26 THE LIST 19 Jun—3 Jul 2008
eviews
With work by local, international, first-time and renowned directors, from small indie flicks to blockbusters, all tastes are catered for in the EIFF programme. Read on as we help you decide what to see
DONKEY PUNCH (Oliver Blackburn, UK) 99min .0.
New British director Oliver Blackburn marks himself out as a name to watch in this misogynistic horror set in Marbella. When three lasses from Leeds (Sian Breckin. Jaime Winstone and Nichola Burleyi decide to board a yacht with four horny lads (Robert Boulter, Tom Burke. Julian Morris and Jay Taylor) you just know that good is never going to come of it. Conversation soon turns to copulation and the Donkey Punch of the title is revealed to be a nasty sexual manoeuvre. The film starts off With an uncomfortable documentary aesthetic before metaniorphosing into a superior slasher picture. There is sex. drugs and Violence aplenty. The twrsts and turns come thick and fast as events spiral out of control. wrth Blackburn giving this formulaic and often staid genre an unexpectedly fresh garnish.
(Kaleem Aftabi
I Cameo. Fri 20 Jun. 9. (Spin; Sun 22 Jun, (5pm, 5‘8 (£36.40).
14 KILOMETRES (14 KILOMETROS) (Gerardo Olivares, Spain) 95min .0.
This issue- driven Spanish drama isn't afraid to draw on several stock cliches of the well-trodden road movie genre. Three Africans undertake the arduous journey from Niger to Spain, crossing deserts. trying to get through corrupt border controls and having their humanity tested all the way. Competently made and packed full of the kind of suspense that is par for the course with this sort of immigrant drama. [/1 Kilometres (which refers to the incredibly short distance between North Africa and Spain) tells a truly remarkable story. That the utter predictability of this film ultimately drains it of power is somewhat regrettable. But for all its flaws. this is still a journey that is well worth taking. (Tony McKibbin)
I Film/rouse, Sat 2/ Jun, 7.30pm; Sun 22 Jun, ISOpm, f78 (£15.40).
EAT, FOR IS MY BODY
(Michelange Quay, Haiti/France) 105min COO.
Quay’s semi-abstract look at colonial elements in Haiti is comparable to two 19805 touchstones, Marion Hansel’s Dust and Claire Denis’ Chocolat. While there is an impressive opening shot that glides over the country’s shanty towns, and the bustle of city life is viewed late on in the film, for the most part this is a study in stillness and silence, lust and vague desire.
Set in a stunning but strangely under-furnished and slightly decrepit mansion, the two white women who run this Caucasian dominance could be two sides of the same coin: the ageing matriarch (Catherine Samie) who lies in bed and the young woman (Sylvie Testud) wandering naked around the corridors. Quay isn’t one for cause and effect here; or rather, much of it comes from a juxtaposition of images that makes story secondary to visually thematic exploration. Clearly influenced by the voodoo elements that the film accesses early on, Eat. . . is a work halfway between the experimental and the concrete, 3 film from which narrative can be extracted but where it isn’t laboriously and predictably worked through. (Tony McKibbin)
I Fl/Ni/TOUSC, Fri 20 Jun, 7. I 5pm; Sat 27 Jun, 5pm, £8 (£6.40).
BEFORE THE RAINS (Santosh Sivan, US/lndia) 98min .0.
Set against the backdrop of the decline of the British empire and growth of the nationalist movement in southern India in 19:37. this tale of forbidden love between an English spice merchant (Linus Roachei and a local Village girl iNandita Dasi works as a pox'xer'ftil metaphor for the failure of
colonialism. Working from a screenplay by
the late American writer Cathy Rabin ito whom the film is dedicatedl. crnematogya;)her' and director Santosh Sivan (Hie Terroristi makes his English
language debut With this unsurprisingly handsomer shot film that's loaded wrth
vrsual symbols. Doom-laden as the tragedy is. there's also an optimistic note in the presence of idealistic young Indian TK iRahul Bose). who's torn between loyalty to his country’s past and ambitions for his own future. ilvliles Fielderi
I Cinewor'ld, Thu (5) Jun. 8.30pm; Fri 20 Jill), :3. (Spin, 5‘8 (Pei-10,1.