Film
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‘HOPPER HAD THE AURA OF AN AUTHENTIC MADMAN’ Hitlist THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES*
✽✽ Edinburgh International Film Festival See feature, page 22. Various venues, Wed 16–Sun 27 Jun. ✽✽ Black Death (pictured) The bubonic plague and Christian fundamentalism are milked for all their metaphors in this derivative but hugely entertaining horror adventure from the upcoming British horror director Christopher Smith (Triangle, Severance). See review, page 54. Filmhouse, Edinburgh and selected release from Fri 11 Jun. ✽✽ Greenberg Ben Stiller and Noah The Squid and the Whale Baumbach go ‘mumblecore’ in squirmy comedy. See review, page 53. General release from Fri 11 Jun. ✽✽ The Killer Inside Me Michael Winterbottom’s fine adaptation of Jim Thompson’s gory noir. General release, Fri 4 Jun. ✽✽ Lebanon Tanks for the memories. Claustrophobic Israeli war film. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sat 12–Wed 16 Jun. ✽✽ Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Werner Herzog’s audacious corrupt cop thriller starring Nic Cage. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 11–Wed 16 Jun. ✽✽ Brothers Bloom Charming confidence trickster caper. General release, Fri 4 Jun. ✽✽ Le Grand Jeu Long overdue DVD restoration and reissue of Jacques Feyder’s 1934 tale of doppelgangers and amour fou. See review, page 55. Out Mon 21 Jun (Eureka/Masters of Cinema). ✽✽ Kurosawa Samurai Collection Five Japanese swordplay classics in one set. See panel, page 55. Out now (BFI).
Ride on buddy
Actor, director, writer, photographer and artist Dennis Hopper died on 29 May at the age of 74. Here, fans and old friends pay tribute
I cons of anti-establishment rebellion don’t come purer than Dennis Hopper. From those early method-infused scene-stealing turns opposite James Dean to the creation and maintenance of enduring hippie flick Easy Rider, and onto the many psychos and weirdoes he later made it his forte to play, Hopper was loved by cineastes and fan boys alike. He was a one-off. At the dying of the light we salute you Mr Hopper. Eddie Harrison, screenwriter/journalist ‘When Martin Sheen goes up the river on his journey to madness in Apocalypse Now, meeting Hopper is a key moment; Hopper had the aura of an authentic madman, and to have him as warm-up guy for Brando’s Colonel Kurtz was a masterstroke.’ Miles Fielder, writer ‘How do you pay tribute to a man whose career as an actor and director not only spanned six decades, but whose life and art defined the psychedelic era? In lieu of writing a big, thick book about him, I’ll plump for a favourite scene in one of his films. It’s the image of Hopper gleefully insulting Christopher Walken’s gangster in True Romance moments before he’s murdered. Not, perhaps, an obvious choice, but it beautifully illustrates the man’s admirable anti-authoritarianism.’ Alistair Harkness, writer/journalist ‘I love Hopper as Feck, the ex-biker hermit who deals pot to Crispin Glover in River’s Edge. When I was 16 it was my favourite film; I love how effortlessly Hopper plays on his Easy Rider legacy, making the link between
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the failures of 60s hippy culture and the blank generation that would in time spawn Nirvana. Cheque’s in the mail ...’ Mark Cousins, writer/broadcaster ‘I met Hopper, he used to come to Scotland to play golf so I gave him a book about the great artist Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Scottish garden, Little Sparta. He wanted me to take him there, I never got the chance to. It’s his handsomeness, cigar smoke, personal and creative passions that I will remember.’ Allan Hunter, festival director/journalist ‘Hopper was the rebel poet of the counterculture era. Easy Rider captured a unique moment in the life of America and challenged the Hollywood mindset for good and bad. Hopper’s talent shone sufficiently (Out Of The Blue, Colors, Blue Velvet etc) to make you lament the vast mediocrity apparent throughout much of his 50-year film career.’ Helene Q (real name withheld), artist ‘I knew Dennis. For a short time, a long time ago, we were lovers. He was a nihilistic reprobate but so much fun to be with, in and out of bed. His photography was amazing; to me he was up there with Bailey and Duffy. Years later, when I saw some of the terrible films he was in, I would wish he had stuck to that. They do say you end up doing the thing you are second best at.’ (Introduction and interviews by Paul Dale) Dennis Hopper RIP 1936-2010.