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DOCUMENTARY SALESMAN (E) 91 min
(Eureka DVD retail) OOOOO
The first of two recent DVD debuts for seminal documentaries made by the Maysles brothers. Salesman is the non- narrated account of four Boston door-to—door bible sellers. Made in 1968 and shot in black and white. the Maysles document the salesmens' carefully rehearsed pitch to gullible housewives. widows and distracted blue-collar workers. Honoured by the Library of Congress as one of the best American films ever made, Salesman fundamentally redefined documentary filmmaking in the US and ultimately the world. Its in-depth depiction of the lives of ordinary people without judgement or narration became much copied but rarely bettered. Filmmaker Peter The Last Picture Show Bogdanovich has also admitted that Salesman was a huge influence on his own adaptation of Joe David Brown's Bible salesman comedy novel Addie Pray which was released as Paper Moon in 1973.
The remaining Maysles brother Albert has approved this beautiful new transfer. Extras include an interview and filmed O&A session with Albert. the original theatrical trailer and a 36-page booklet containing vintage photographs. a great
1969 article by Howard Junker and a check sheet of the equipment the brothers used on this film. (Paul Dale)
DRAMA/FANTASY TROPICAL MALADY
(1 2A) 1 18min
(Second Run DVD retail) OOOO
Thai architect. artist. writer and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul has made a handful of experimental documentaries and fictional films that are so wayward and quirky in structure that they fundamentally make one question the boundaries of the filmic form.
Openly gay. Weersethakul‘s films are frequently categorised as queer cinema. giving his remarkable work a minority and marginal appeal. He is best known for his endearing. perplexing and beautiful 2002 romance Blissful/y Yours.
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Affinbyhpichatpong W
Divided into two parts 2004's Tropical Malady tells. firstly. the seemingly innocuous tale of the relationship between a soldier and a young village boy and in the second part adapts a Thai folk tale about a soldier hunting down a shape shifting shaman. Both parts star the same actors in seemingly different but oddly familiar roles and both sections boast an excruciatingly slow pace. This is cryptic and challenging cinema but. approached with
24 THE LIST 14—21 Aug 2008
patience and a broad mind. it is also oddly satisfying and lyrical. Extras include the DVD premiere of Thirdwor/d. Apichatpong's 1997 short film. a newly filmed interview with the director and a booklet featuring a new essay by film historian and author Tony Rayns. (Paul Dale)
DOCUMENTARY GIMME SHELTER (E) 91 min
(Warner Home Video DVD retail) 0...
The second Maysles brothers documentary to be given a new lease of life on DVD in so many months. Gimme Shelter is by far their most contentious film, and arguably the most tragic film ever made about rock'n'roll. This unflinching account of the Rolling Stones disastrous December 1969 Altamont concert. during which a man was murdered on camera. is the only real tangible record of the point at which. many believe. the hippy dream died. Overbearing historical context aside this is still a kickass concert film in which filmmakers David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin perfectly captured the paSSion. the nihilism and the violence.
This film has been difficult to get hold of (for years the prints and VHS copies available were tawdry and damaged at best) so this ftill visual and audio restoration job is a real treat. Extras include an exclusive 40-page plus booklet with snapshots and essays. audio commentary by Albert Maysles and Zwerin. and collaborator Stanley Goldstein. the 1969 KSAN Radio broadcast from Altamont and backstage outtakes of the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. (Paul Dale)
DOCUMENTARY
PERFECT VAGINA
Channel 4, Sun 17 Aug, 10pm COO
Get set to cross your legs and grit your teeth as Lisa Rogers fronts a very different kind of scrapheap challenge as part of Channel 4’s The G-Spot strand. We’ve all read the headlines and overheard the news that women are literally queuing up round the block to have surgery done on their lady gardens, but Rogers is determined to uncover the whole truth behind a remarkable surge in vaginal cosmetic surgery. And it’s not just the odd Brazilian that’s going on down there, but full-blown labial rejigging which has risen by a staggering 300% in the (quite literally) private sector.
With her mouth wide open and knees locked together, Rogers hunts down some of the women who are putting themselves through extraordinary pain and needless anxiety because, in the main, they are panicking about what sexual partners will think when they cop a glance at their disgusting womanhood. In one almost unbelievable instance, a teenager is almost forced to have her parts made less hideous after being teased about her genitalia by, of all people, her sister. Next week, we watch in bloody horror as men have an implant inserted in their brain so that they completely lose the ability to renew their subscription to Sky Sports. Actually, that would be slightly less ludicrous than the trend featured in Perfect Vagina. (Brian Donaldson)
DRAMA
KINGS OF LONDON Channel 4, Wed 20 Aug, 11.35pm 000
Amid yet another Summer of bland sport and tedious evictions. it's reassuring to know that there are still programmes being made which at least try to bend our minds a bit. However. this latest instalment of C-t's
Generation Next [)TOIOCI.
to showcase the work of hitherto unknown directorial talents. takes mind-bending to breaking point. Kings of London follows the fortunes of two teenage black brothers. both named Aristotle. Willi the semi-alcoholic elder struggling to get his life on track. and the enigmatic younger becoming the undisputed champion of the Ghetto Riders. a group of young men
from London's rough estates who have transformed themselves into urban cowboys.
Amid the general sense of (tuasi--stirrealist unease. there's some DOCl—WOlllllg. constant threats from an adolescent gangster and continuing mystery as to why the younger brother has taken a vow of silence for a decade and goes around wearing a blonde wig. That he Will remove it by the end is never in doubt. but whether we Will get to the bottom of this oddball yet arresting piece is less pr(->di<:table. (Brian Donaldson)
COMEDY DRAMA THE CUP BBC2, Thu 21 Aug, 9.30pm 00
a ..
Do we really need another fly-on thewall docu-coniedv—tlrama about flawed individuals liVing out their largely miserable lives?
Apparently so. as The Cup smashes its way towards us With more ‘subtle' humour and ‘inCisive' insights into the petty battles fought out by ordinary people. This time around. the painfully tedious landscape of a Slough paper merchant business is ditched for the rainswept parks of Bolton as parents and kids attached to Ashburn United prepare for a league decider. Naturally. there's 21 'Brent' character in the shape of competitive dad Terry McConnell who is so hellbent on getting his son to rise through the ranks and get a trial for Bolton Wanderers that he can't see that his missus is desperately unhappy and carrying on With her husband's boss. Come the end of The Cup season, it's hard to imagine the show even making the play—offs and whether they'll be producing a version of this in Turkey some years down the line is extremely unlikely. (Brian Donaldson)