www.|ist.co.uk/film
DRAMA BRIDESHEAD REVISITED (12A) 132min 000
Julian Jarrold’s revamp of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel pares back the opulent trimmings of the television series to expose the bare bones of Waugh’s lament for the civilised past.
Charting blithe social-climber Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) on his journey from humble Paddington digs to the aristocratic arcadia, Andrew Davis and Jeremy Brock’s script focuses on his relationship with prim posho Julia (Haley Atwell), a halting love-affair set against the failing fortunes of the Marchmain family.
Introduced to the Marchmains through the non- platonic attentions of Sebastian (Ben Wishaw), Charles’ efforts to win Julia’s affections are cruelly dashed by the abortive attempts by Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson) to use him to chaperone her wayward son. Dispensing with Ryder’s narration in favour of an oblique opening set during the WWII occupation of Brideshead, Jarrold immediately flashes forward to Charles’ shipboard meeting with Julia, establishing their relationship with a firmness that makes their (not-in-the-novel) kiss in Venice
redundant. But having Charles reject Sebastian sexually in favour of Julia strips away the mystique of the sexual ambivalence which charges Waugh’s novel, fashioning Charles Ryder as a man somehow repressed by his own heterosexuality.
At breakneck speed, Jarrold attempts to cram in a huge cast of minor characters, but the results are sombre and unmoving, mainly because the leads lack class; Atwell is too mousey, Wishaw too weedin uncharismatic, and Thompson makes little of Lady Marchmain’s regal brittleness. But Matthew Goode excels as Charles, his cow-eyes brimming with emotion at the withering beauty he sees.
Literate, intelligent and luscioust upholstered, this Brideshead Revisited has enough unrequited passion, frocks, country house fountains and intimations of war to appeal to the Atonement crowd. But with Castle Howard - the sole retention from the Granada TV series - looming large in the background, the illustrious past constantly overshadows this present incarnation. The saving grace of this Brideshead is that its many failures only reinforce Waugh’s central point; things just ain’t what they used to be.
(Eddie Harrison) I On general release from Oct 3.
FANTASY THE FALL (MYRIN)
(15) 117min oooo
Extravagant. self-indulgent. amazing, eye-catching, confusing: the second feature by Tarsem Singh, the Indian-born director who gave us the wacky The Cell with Jennifer Lopez. warrants all these adjectives and more. By the end of it all, you may still have little clue as to what exactly it's about.
On the surface it is a story about a little girl (an incredible performance by Romanian child actress Catinca Untaru) who meets a paralysed stuntman in hOSpital (Lee Pace). The patient proceeds to relate a colourful tale, all reflected by his state of mind. As time goes by. the boundaries between fiction and reality blur rather alarmingly as we hear the man's words and see the girl's visions.
Purportedly shot in more than 20 different countries this represents a cra/ily ambitious undertaking. Aided and abetted on the production side by celebrated filmmakers David Fincher and Spike Jonze, who happily put their names above the credits. Singh has created an entrancing universe, all without the assistance of computerised special effects.
The Fall has had a chequered career so far. Finished in 2006 it struggled to find distribution until a buzz started at the Toronto Film Festival two years ago. Now Singh is relishing its undoubted cult status. (Richard Mowe)
I Out now on selected release from Fri 3 Oct.
Name Ulrich Seidl Born November 24, 1952. Vienna
Background A graduate of the Vienna Film Academy, Seidl spent the first 20 years of his career making a series of controversial ‘documentaries' for television, including Animal Love (which Werner Herzog described as a the closest thing to a vision of hell he'd ever seen), Losses to be Expected and Models. Seidl came to international attention with the cinematic release of Dog Days. which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice festival in 2001. A dispassionately photographed and sexually explicit study of suburban loneliness and desperation, which drew on a non-professional cast, this was officially Seidl’s first fictional feature.
What’s he up to now?
Seidl's latest film Import Export is his most expensive project to date and tells two contemporary stories. which run in tandem. A Ukrainian nurse Olga (Ekateryna Rak) travels to Austria in search of better-paid work, whilst an unemployed Viennese security guard Pauli (Paul Hofmann) heads eastwards.
What he says about his working methods
‘I tend to collect lots of ideas for my screenplays. With Import Export, I developed six or seven stories. until one day I reached a point, where i realised it would be better to tell two of them.’
What he says about everyday fascism ‘lt exists not just in Austria, but in every country. When we were filming in Slovakia. even educated people had fascistic attitudes towards the Roma people.’
What he says about cellars in Austria 'My next film will investigate the relationships of Austrians to cellars. When I was researching Dog Days, I discovered that in Austria people live their real lives in their cellars, not their living rooms. Recent events such as the Fritzl and the Kampusch cases made me think now is the time for this project.‘ Interesting Fact As a boy Seidl intended on becoming a Catholic priest. (Tom Dawson)
I Import Export, Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 3- Thu 9 Oct. See review, page 46.
2—16 Oct 2008 THE LIST 45