Film REVIEWS
DRAMA POST MORTEM (15) 97min ●●●●●
It’s 1973 and work on President Salvador Allende’s ‘Chilean Path to Socialism’ is about to be brought to an abrupt halt by a Chilean military coup. Mario (Alfredo Castro) works for the Santiago morgue as a typist. Quiet and efficient, Mario is in love with Nancy (Antonia Zegers), a mysterious burlesque dancer. As General Pinochet and the military junta take control of the country the bodies begin to pile up and Mario struggles to do his job. Worse than that, Nancy has gone missing. Pablo Larrain’s follow-up to 2008 political allegory Tony Manero is a difficult and disturbing but clearly cathartic work. Shot on 16mm film and blown up to normal format to make everything seem grimy and dirty, Post Mortem is a meta-textual film about a society in blood soaked hell.
The oily and odd Mario (another brilliant darkly comic creation from actor Castro) is the distorting prism through which we glimpse some key events – the cover up of Allende’s assassination, the slaughter of innocents, the night time massacres of radicals and so on. Larrain’s powerful sophomore feature is a slow and dark journey into the heart of darkness. (Paul Dale) ■ GFT, Glasgow, Fri 9–Thu 15 Sep.
DRAMA WEEKENDER (15) 89min ●●●●●
COMEDY/MUSIC YOU INSTEAD (15) 80min ●●●●● THRILLER/HORROR A LONELY PLACE TO DIE (15) 98min ●●●●●
The do-it-yourself rave explosion in ‘90s Manchester is a moment of recent history ripe with storytelling potential – Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People demonstrated that wonderfully – but Weekender, Karl Golden’s shallow ode to the scene, offers less insight than a homemade video of a great night out. It’s the story of best mates Dylan (Jack O’Connell) and Matt (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), who start putting on club nights and are drawn into a world of great success and, once big-city drug dealers get wind of them, great danger. It’s a solid set-up, but Golden and writer Chris Coghill toss aside the moral, political and social issues inherent in the subject matter in favour of taking an hour and a half to say ‘remember the 90s? They were brilliant!’ Pelican Blood director Golden’s attempts at style – essentially using Dutch angles in every other scene – fail to distract from the script’s complete lack of tension, with every potentially dramatic plot turn clearly signposted. Thank the party gods then for Henry Lloyd-Hughes, whose excellent lead performance saves Weekender from being completely unwatchable. (Paul Gallagher) ■ General release from Fri 2 Sep. 98 THE LIST 25 Aug–22 Sep 2011
This breathless mismatched love story, filmed entirely over two days at T in the Park 2010, is the first of two new Scottish films from David Mackenzie (Young Adam, Hallam Foe), the second being next month’s Glasgow-set sci-fi Perfect Sense. With You Instead Mackenzie attempts a contemporary spin on a classic tale. While it’s not without scruffy charms, the film’s rough edges are its undoing. Debut screenwriter Thomas Leveritt’s plot
contrivances are jarring, a fact only made more obvious by the real setting. As the rival rock stars accidentally handcuffed together, Luke Treadaway and Natalia Tena have an infectious spark, but Leveritt’s awful dialogue lets them down at every turn. Most damagingly, there is a lot of talk about the power of music, but few demonstrations of it. That is a shame, as the film is dotted with moments
of inspiration where Mackenzie’s admirable ambition pays off. A central montage, backed by a live performance from Scottish singer Jo Mango, brings a sense of focus to the story, and the opening sequence sets a whimsical tone. (Paul Gallagher) ■ Selected release from Fri 16 Sep. See feature, page 62.
How far would you go to save a stranger? Would you risk your life? And your friends’ lives? It’s a question Alison (Melissa George) and her fellow climbers must answer after they stumble across a young girl (Holly Boyd) buried in a wooden box while hiking in the Highlands. As they rush to get her to safety they soon realise they are not alone and a brutal game of cat and mouse is played out across the mountains.
Director Julian Gilbey (alongside brother/writing partner Will) takes full advantage of the Scottish landscape, making it both beautiful and terrifying, an obstacle to overcome and a refuge from your pursuers. George is a charismatic actress and manages just the right mix of terror and heroism. As always Sean Harris is a suitably nasty villain – something he’s really honed since playing Ian Brady in See No Evil: The Moors Murders – a relentless tracker with a complete lack of morals.
It loses its footing slightly as they finally come
across civilisation but this is a tense and riveting Brit- thriller. (Henry Northmore) ■ Selected release from Wed 7 Sep. See profile at list.co.uk/film.