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DAily Guide
Thursday 19th February 09
What’s insIde? 2 » Tomorrow’s picks Our highlights of tomorrow’s films and events. 2 » Cinema City Cara McGuigan explores Glasgow’s cinematic history. 3 » reviews Robin and Marian Childless American Teen 4 » what’s new online Updating you on new online content for GFF.
Teenage Kicks Gail Tolley talks to Marian Quinn, director of 32A, a film that gives an honest and endearing observation of early adolescence. Focusing on 13-year-old Maeve, 32A is a simple tale that looks at the awkward age between being an adult and a child when life is full of ‘firsts’: a first bra, a first kiss and first disappointments. It is an age that isn’t so often explored in film and one that Quinn was particularly drawn to; “I felt that there were plenty of films about girls losing their virginity or first love but I hadn’t seen the earlier time on film; the in-between time when a girl is no longer a child and still not a woman. It’s a delicate moment in a girl’s life when buying a bra is a monumental occasion. And it really is a moment which passes quickly”. The focus on these small events such as buying a first bra or falling out with a best friend is one of the delights of the film and a reminder of a time when emotions ran high (and which are all too easy to forget). Part of the realistic portrayal comes from the sterling performances by the young cast who are actually the age of the characters they play (a rarity in many films), “It was
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important for me to have a cast that were actually thirteen because we often see twenty-five-year-olds portraying teenagers in films and I never believe them.” It is also refreshing to come across a story that refrains from the sensationalism that is often associated with teenagers in film and TV, a deliberate move by Quinn. “I have seen a lot of Hollywood’s treatment of teenage girls and while these films might be entertaining with the hysteria and numerous costumes, I never identified with the characters. For me, adolescence was more about being uncertain with many feelings that I had no way of expressing.” American-born Quinn drew on her own experiences and memories from a childhood spent on both sides of the Atlantic: “I was born in Chicago. But I grew up between Chicago and Dublin where I spent my teens. We did a lot of going back and forth. And I was that age at that time. So, [I’m] just writing what I know!”
4 » Films, Festivals and theatre Theatre critic Gareth K. Vile discusses the parallels and differences between the theatre and film worlds. 4 » win tickets! Enter our quiz and win 2 tickets to see Good.
the cineskinny Produced by The Skinny magazine in association with the Glasgow Film Festival editors Gail Tolley
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GFF Box Office Order tickets from the box office at www.glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk or call 0141 332 6535 or visit Glasgow Film Theatre 12 Rose Street, Glasgow, G3 6RB info@glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk
tomorrow’s
Picks
Union of Knives
19.00 @ The Arches
The Glasgow band, plus unique visuals from local artists and filmmakers
Deadgirl
19.00 @ GFT
FrightFest kicks off with this fusion of black comedy and horror
The Black Audio Film Collective
19.30 @ Tramway
Experimental exploration of race, class and ideology including Handsworth Songs and Seven Songs for Malcolm X
Synecdoche, New York
20.45 @ Cineworld
Charlie Kauffman’s unpronounceable directorial debut.
four Nights with Anna
21.15 @ Cineworld
Polish director Skolimowski returns to directing with this, his first film for more than 15 years.
Reclaiming Cinema City Cara McGuigan finds out that Glaswegians used to love the cinema even more than they do now.
Grand Central / Classic Grand / Cannon Grand / Curzon Photo: Stuart Crawford
Glaswegians love the cinema. Cineworld on Renfrew Street is not only the tallest cinema in Europe, it’s the busiest in Britain. The IMAX is the largest cinema screen in Scotland, and the GFT is the most successful arthouse cinema in the UK. However, these stats pale into insignificance compared to seventy years ago. In the 1930’s, there were more than 130 cinemas in Glasgow – one for every 600 members of the public, more per capita than any other city outside America. Enough to earn Glasgow the moniker, “Cinema City.” Sadly, most of these picture houses have gone the way of Charlie Chaplin. Effectively killed off by television, they languish: unseen, forgotten, hidden away in the annals and alleyways of the Second City. Until now. As part of Glasgow Film Festival’s shorts season, The Magic Lantern are reclaiming four former cinemas, and, for the duration of the festival, each will be playing a selection of short films. And unless you’re looking out for them, you’ll be surprised at the locations. For instance, in 1910, Charing Cross Post Office opened up as the West End Electric Theatre, or ‘Vaudeville’. The Sauchiehall
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Street Waterstone’s was known as La Scala from 1912 to 1984, growing over that time from one, to two, to three screens. Alexandra, the utilitarian uniform shop on Renfield Street, was originally Cranston’s Cinema De Luxe, opened in 1912 by Mrs Cranston (of tea-shop fame). All these buildings have kept some mementoes from their glory days, but most have been ripped up, burnt out, or simply plastered over. However, the most surprising ex-cinema is the least assuming – behind the facade of the British Heart Foundation Furniture and Electrical shop on Dumbarton Road lie the creaking, gaudy remains of the Rosevale. The largest of the ‘back court’ style cinemas, the Rosevale sat 2,000 people, and was so big it blocked out light to the flats around. Trading from 1920 to 1965, the Rosevale later became a bingo hall, then a snooker club, before its present incarnation: but amazingly, despite these alterations, the cinema is still pretty much intact at balcony level, with many surviving original features. To celebrate this misplaced inheritance, The Magic Lantern are turning the windows of these buildings (plus the CCA) into actual cinema screens: blacking
them out with vinyl and backprojecting Scottish Screen archive footage of cinema ads, and kids queuing outside ‘the pictures.’ Four films from the short film programme (Terminus, Uguns, Fawn, and The Control Master) will also be played in rotation. Rosie Crerar, Magic Lantern curator, says: “In the thirties, cinema wasn’t only appreciated as entertainment - it was a place for people to get together as a community: courtships and business deals were all conducted in the warmth of the cinema. Since then, there’s been a steady decline in cinema audiences, and with the growth of the multiplex, a real fall in the range of independent cinemas. “We want to remind Glasgow of its cinematic heritage, and encourage audiences to think about film in new ways. We also want to question the space and environment in which we view film, and draw attention to the wealth of film being screened across venues and cinemas in Glasgow during GFF09.”
Cinema City will run as part of the short film festival, for the duration of the festival (12-22 Feb), playing from afternoon til evening.
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Reviews Robin and Marian
Director: Richard Lester
Forget Lincoln green, tights, sword fights in grand halls and happy endings: Robin and Marian rewrites the history books when it comes to the world’s favourite freedom fighter and does it in style. Back from the Crusades, Robin finds himself in a changed England that needs his help, while an old flame still burns for a girl he once loved. With Sean Connery playing the older Robin as a Scotsman (what else?), his Merry Men following suit and an Irish Sheriff Nottingham in the shape of ex-Bond baddie Robert Shaw, Richard Lester’s revisionist Robin has a distinctly Celtic flavour
Childless
Director: Charlie Levi
about it. Audrey Hepburn gives the film its heart as the more mature Marian, her relationship with a craggier Robin a believable one. With an ending that will leave you breathless, this is a film too long overlooked in both the Robin Hood and Connery canons that demands rediscovery. Jonathan Melville
American Teen
Director: Nanette Burstein
It’s an interesting idea – a series of monologues to camera, interspliced with home videos, about a protagonist who’s being buried that day. Katherine, 16, is the occasional narrator, hers being the funeral in question. The monologues are delivered by her father and aunt, and their respective partners, on a bright, clear, vibrant Los Angeles day. And a more self-obsessed, self-indulgent bunch of irritants you’d be hard pushed to imagine. Each is so wrapped up in their own life, Katherine barely gets a mention. Thought-provoking in the first instance, it gets more and more difficult to watch, and not only because the characters are so odious. You find yourself picking up on things they’ve said, and drifting off and thinking about your own life – all this self-obsession’s catching. But after a while you just keep drifting off because you don’t really care about any of them, least of all the kid in the box. Cara McGuigan
Not living in America, it’s easy to wonder how realistic the many high school teen comedies that get imported here are. Is it as cliquey as Mean Girls would have us believe? Are the sports really taken that seriously? For all us non-Americans, American Teen is here to address our questions. And the answer to everything is yes. The overall pic-
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ture painted by Nanette Burstein’s documentary is rather innocent. There is alcohol but no drugs; vandalism but no real bullying; no obvious racial issues that one might expect from a country as diverse as America. By following members of each social circle, a well-rounded view of the intricate social web is provided, while excellent and varied
animated segments offer a deft representation of the emotions felt by the children. This is not another episode of The Hills; rather it is a well-executed, non-judgemental examination of the relationships, pressures and angst of these barely-adults. Becky Bartlett
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Films, Festivals and Theatre On my usual beat along the Performance and Theatre waterfronts, there’s an almost uncritical regard for restless experimentation. ‘Avantgarde’ tactics, using the latest technology, original takes on traditional themes are encouraged, even when the content is trite and trivial. Perhaps because of economies of scale, cinema is different. Advances in digital imaging, the latest equipment, wild variations on classic stories are commonplace. Hollywood blockbusters and children’s movies often shame radical theatre, with their casual, highly-skilled cutting edge. Low-budget movies respond by imaginative editing and cinematography. The Glasgow Film Festival is notable because it offers a range of films that won’t usually make it to the multiplex- although the participation of Cineworld stresses how close the art-house and big box-office numbers can get. The range of subjects and artists is breath-taking, a testament to the vibrancy of a truly international industry. There is a clear parallel with the co-current New Territories programme, a series of performances that are seen as specialist. By gathering films or theatre into a festival, the boundaries between so-called high and low art are trashed. And in the meeting of genres comes a fascinating dialogue. Film by artists, like the
programme at Tramway, bridge the gap. The animation evening revisits modernist classics, rediscovering a cartoon tradition that isn’t Disney. Even the venue signposts these movies’ seriousness. Their success is not counted by box office receipts but subsequent influence. Attending them is an intellectual pursuit. It might not be ‘better’, but it emphasises the possible integration between visual, performance and cinematic art. It’s a mistake to think that high art can’t learn from the movies - artists engage with popular culture and, like the GFF, there are many complementary strands in film. Popular film is frequently challenging, playing with its own conventions. Take Revolutionary Road’s clever remix of the Titanic Stars’ romance, or Arnie’s stumbles into post-modern theory. Healthy art forms feed on each other, exciting and inspiring, bringing new strategies to the fore, connecting audiences and uncovering new approaches. The real success of the GFF might well be found in the number of film-makers who begin to pop up around Glasgow in the new few years. Back on my performance beat, and I am seeing far more film on stage. And sometimes, when I am watching the latest intimate study of the self and society, I wish that it could be as sensitive to its audience’s pleasure as cinema. Gareth K. Vile
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Pic of the day
PHOTO: stuart crawford
Style and substance at GFFs Audrey anniversary party. Revellers danced the night away, dressed to impress and enjoyed many a Hepburn themed cocktail. Fabulous, darling!
win tickets!
We have two tickets for tomorrow’s screening of Childless at GFT. The film is an evocative family drama, inspired by the films of Eric Rohmer. Never lapsing into melodrama or mawkishness, it’s a tremendous showcase for actors Joe Mantegna, Barbara Hershey, Diane Venora and John Naughton. Director Charlie Levi will answer your questions after the screening. To win, answer this question:
Barabara Hershey co-starred with Bette Midler in which legendary tearjerker? email michael@theskinny.co.uk by 10am Fri 20 Feb to enter
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