FREE FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY THE OFFICIAL GFF DAILY GUIDE
THESKINNY.CO.UK/CINESKINNY
The Choice to See Salvo co-director Antonio Piazza waxes lyrical about the meanings and mysteries behind his thoughtful debut
“T
he choice not to see is the easiest.” Antonio Piazza, co-director of Salvo tells me. And you have to admire a man who quotes Italo Calvino, “... who in his book Invisible Cities says that in the inferno of the living ‘There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognise who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space.’ This is what Salvo and Rita [the characters at the centre of Salvo] try to do when they slowly and painfully discover each other.” This philosophical pondering could be seen as a purple-prosed synopsis of his debut film. A more literal take is that it’s a subverted gangster tale that contravenes expectation. Salvo, a mafioso killer, encounters the blind sister of one of his victims, and is tested, morally conflicted and possibly saved. This first meeting between them (the ‘miracle’, Piazza tells me) – a hugely extended, delicate choreography of sound and movement – is a true statement of intent, a signifier that we are viewing something contrary to genre norms. I suggest to
THESKINNY.CO.UK/CINESKINNY
Piazza that this is a brave, challenging decision. “As a matter of fact, the long extended scenes seem to be one of the things the audience enjoys most in our film,” he says, “especially the long takes at the beginning when Salvo sneaks into Rita’s house to kill her brother and has to wait, while Rita slowly becomes aware of the intruder’s presence in her house. The whole story of Salvo and Rita was shot as a dance... while their bodies slowly start to accept the presence of the other also their souls begin to change.” This metamorphosis is largely realised through image and sound design, infused with meaning too important and meaty to require the trimmings of words. “Salvo is a killer, he is like a silent samurai. He does not speak if it is not strictly necessary. And the peculiar love story between him and Rita has an archaic tone. It is a basic sentimental education; they start to care for each other by doing very basic things. Salvo provides water and food... he would never be able to say ‘I love you.’” Through her impaired vision he is a silhouette, a ghost (as emotionally he appears to us), and this is only one example of their design of sensory metaphor. “The noises and sounds therefore play a major narrative role, because these are what guide and give meaning to Rita’s world.
Interview: Alan Bett Consequently the balance between what the eye sees in the film and what the ear hears changes as the story develops and includes Rita’s point of view, which will increasingly match Salvo’s and through his find its completeness.” It’s a film that draws on the work of Jean-Pierre Melville, most notably referencing the opening of Le Samouraï in Salvo’s establishing shot, but also the confident silence and composition of another beginning, Un Flic, and its wordlessly realised bank robbery. It also rubs close to John Woo; a juxtaposed white dove marks violent death. Spaghetti western, classic noir: Salvo reflects both but plunders nothing – it’s very much its own film. A genre insurrection, a manipulation of movement and pace, a symbolic meeting and joining, finally, and essentially, a commentary on the maker’s native Sicily. “Together they get a glimpse of the distant shimmering light of freedom. There is hope as well, although it does not belong to the society as a whole but only to specific human beings.” 21 Feb, GFT 2, 8.15pm 22 Feb, Cineworld 17, 1pm
FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY THE CINESKINNY 1
Reviews Run & Jump
Director: Steph Green Starring: Maxine Peake, Will Forte
Run & Jump is a story of family devotion, disease and dysfunction: all things that can, at times, challenge even the best of us. The story unfolds initially with an unfocused structure, but it becomes clear before long that the father of the family, Conor, has suffered a stroke and is re-adjusting to life with diminished abilities and their accompanying frustrations, supported by his wife Vanetia and young children. The narrative is disturbed by interjections from a live-in observer, Dr. Fielding, who films situations of note on a portable video camera. His fly-on-the-wall perspective is reflected
in the shifting camera techniques, which juxtapose videocamera footage with the standard technicolour and dolby. Tensions arise between Conor and Fielding, the presence of a doctor in the house exacerbating marriage issues and changing the family dynamic, as well as creating temptation between Vanetia and Fielding. Despite the strain on the family, ultimately this is a tender story told with heart, humour, and Irish charm. [Yasmin Ali] 23 Feb. GFT 2, 12.45pm, 25 Feb. Cineworld, 1.15pm,
Run & Jump
Starred Up
Director: David Mackenzie Starring: Jack O’Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend, Sian Breckin, Sam Spruell, David Ajala
A star is born in Starred Up. From the minute Jack O’Connell swaggers onscreen he electrifies the picture with the kind of fearless and commanding performance that recalls Ray Winstone’s breakthrough in Scum. O’Connell plays Eric, a violent young offender who has been ‘starred up’ to an adult jail and finds himself incarcerated alongside his estranged dad (a typically intimidating Ben Mendelsohn). The story that plays out might have seemed over-familiar and too obviously symbolic if it wasn’t for the uncommon sense of authenticity that comes through in the script by former prison therapist Jonathan Asser, and the manner in which he and director David Mackenzie immerse us in this environment. Mackenzie skilfully sketches the sense of community and hierarchy that prison life is built upon, and makes us keenly aware of the simmering aggression that threatens to boil over at any time. Only towards the end does the film settle for something sensationalistic and conventional; until then, this is a bruising, hugely impressive drama with a tender core under its abrasive surface. [Philip Concannon] 21 Feb, GFT 1, 8.30pm, 22 Feb, Cineworld 18, 6.15pm,
2 THE CINESKINNY FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY
Aatsinki
Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys
Director: Jessica Oreck Starring: Aarne Aatsinki, Lasse Aatsinki, Raisa Korpela
The Aatsinki brothers, Aarne and Lasse are men of very few words, but even if they were to wax lyrical about their lives as reindeer herders (”poromies”) in Lapland their voices would echo into the massive silence. This is the backdrop for Jessica Oreck’s insightful take on a way of life, which has often been overly romanticised by those who have never experienced it. She does a
fine job balancing humour, drama and, literally, light and darkness. Impressive aerial shots of reindeer on the move and breathtaking stills support the human narrative, which flows across the screen in an easygoing, cinematic wash. The powdery whiteness of everything makes the slaughter sequence look all the more bloody. Audiences will not fail to
notice that Oreck has consciously and effectively sought to re-frame her long term fascination with American westerns and cowboys as a Nordic western of the Finnish order. [Gareth Rice] 21 Feb, GFT 2, 1.30pm 22 Feb, GFT 2, 1.30pm
THESKINNY.CO.UK/CINESKINNY
Stranger Danger
Today’s Picks
Alain Guiraudie’s latest is a seductive tale concerned with sex and murder set within the milieu of an idyllic gay cruising spot. The French filmmaker reveals his influences and explains why he wanted to keep the cock in this Hitchcockian thriller Interview: Philip Concannon
Starred Up
GFT 1, 8.30pm With the announcement that lead actor and future A-Lister Jack O’Connell will be attending, this screening just got starred up.
Starred Up
Playing Dead
S
tranger by the Lake is a film that takes place in a single location and is populated by just a handful of characters. From these meagre ingredients Alain Guiraudie has crafted one of the most taut and pulse-quickening thrillers in recent years. The lake in question is a beautiful spot, hidden away from prying eyes, where gay men can go to relax in the sun or to hook up in the forest that cuts them off from the rest of the world. Guiraudie immerses us in this community, making a film that is explicit, in terms of its frequent sex scenes, yet implicit, in the way it explores a darker side of homosexual desire. All of this may make Stranger by the Lake sound like an unlikely candidate for a crossover hit, but ever since it premiered at Cannes last year the film has quickly become Guiraudie’s most successful feature. This has come as a particular surprise to the 49-year-old director, who saw his sixth feature as an opportunity to confront his own sexuality for the first time. “In The King of Escape, sexuality and homosexuality isn’t really addressed,” Guiraudie explains, referencing his last film. “Passion, even less so – and neither is what it means to have someone get under one’s skin.” The film’s central relationship occurs between Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) and Michael (Christophe Paou), the man Franck becomes obsessed with despite watching him murder a previous lover. The association of an erotic charge with a sense of danger seems intended as a comment on the risk inherent in cruising for sex, but Guiraudie insists that his intention is to make something more universal. “Franck is not especially attracted by danger, even if danger eroticises the relationship a bit more,” he argues. “The film is more rooted in a romantic tradition which means that, in love, we explore, we transgress, we go as far as possible with our partner without worrying about the risk we incur.” Guiraudie depicts this partly through an uncompromising series of sexual encounters that leave nothing to the imagination, yet are non-gratuitous. Instead, they become integral to our THESKINNY.CO.UK/CINESKINNY
understanding of the story and the complex relationships within it. “Yes it’s true that those scenes take up a lot of space,” the director admits. “Let’s say that for me, sex is an integral part of love and it’s time to show the organs as well as the loving embraces. Furthermore, because we’re always so scared of sex, it’s also an element of tension in the film.” One cinematic predecessor is Jean Genet’s extraordinary short Un Chant d’Amour, but the most common comparison that the film has drawn so far is to the work of Alfred Hitchcock. It’s easy to see why, with the expertly modulated thriller narrative tightening
“In love, we explore, we transgress, we go as far as possible with our partner without worrying about the risk we incur” Alain Guiraudie its grip with every minute that passes, but the director demurs when asked about this influence. “I didn’t really think of Hitchcock when I was making the film, but he’s so important in cinema that it’s hard not to be a little influenced by him,” he says. “I don’t have a particular connection to film noir as a genre. I do like it, but just as I like westerns or films with capes and swords in them.” Instead, Guiraudie drew inspiration from a much more eclectic range of sources. “I talked about Uncle Boonmée Who Can Recall His Past Lives by Weerasethakul, because of its subtleties in the treatment of the
twilight scenes, and about Wang Bing’s The Ditch, for the sensuality and the naturalism of his daylight. Night of the Hunter was an influence, and I showed Martin Parr photos and Jeff Wall’s ones too.” The film’s visual scheme is key to its potency. Cinematographer Claire Mathon uses the lake as both a glistening backdrop and a metaphor for the hidden dangers that lurk under the film’s gorgeous, placid surface. So much of the tension that Guiraudie generates comes through his expert composition, the gradual darkening of the image as night falls, and the evocative sound design. But the director was determined to let the location do much of the work. “Everything was shot in natural light,” he says, “except the night scenes with the cars, where we used little battery-operated projectors. Roy Genty, the artistic director of the film, was instrumental in this process, and we approached the sound design in the same way as the visuals. We wanted to work with what nature would give us there on the spot.” The result of this craftsmanship is a film that quietly seduces us before grabbing our nerves and refusing to let go until its stunning climax. This is a film that deserves to find a large audience, and although the hard-core would normally restrict its chances of success, the reception it has received has been surprisingly mature. Indeed, the film earned the showcase of a gala screening at last year’s London Film Festival alongside Blue Is the Warmest Colour, another film that suggests we might be seeing a new wave of movies that can emerge from the LGBTQ film festival ghetto and connect with a wider audience. “Yes, I think that modern times have driven us to that,” Guiraudie agrees, “but it’s not straightforward. The film still needs to leave the confines of the simple gay story to be able to ask more universal questions around desire, love and passion.” That, in essence, is the secret of Stranger by the Lake’s provocative and lingering power. 21 Feb, GFT, 3.30pm
GFT 2, 5.45pm Director Jean-Paul Salomé will be attending this screening of his comic detective thriller, about a failing actor who, while working on a police reconstruction, ends up embroiled in the case. Think Inspector Clouseau, but actually French.
The Gilded Cage
Cineworld 18, 3pm This heartwarming drama about a family who inherit a Portugese winery is full bodied with a rich, oaky finish and an earthy bouquet. Best served with red meat.
The Gilded Cage
Partir to Live
CCA Theatre, 8.30pm The biggest trip you can go on legally, Partir to Live is about a man roaming the Chilean countryside searching for the supernatural. Regular Jim Jarmusch composer Jozef van Wissem will be performing a live accompaniment with his unique musical sensibilities, making this an unmissable, unforgettable event.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared GFT 1, 6pm The 18 Words Long Sentence That Recommends You See the Film In a Convoluted Reference to the Title.
The 100-Year-Old Man
FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY THE CINESKINNY 3
What’s new online?
Picture of the day
Critics welcome in GFF14 William Friedkin
The GFF blog discusses Sorceror, and why The French Connection director cites it as his favourite film. ‘It is the film that came closest to my vision of what I wanted to make.’ tinyurl.com/FriedkinSorceror
The Evening Times
tinyurl.com/GreenwoodGFF
1939: Hooray For Hollywood
Find someone wearing one of these T-shirts and ask them anything!
The Herald profiles the retrospective strand that focuses on the greatest year in the history of Hollywood as part of a broader look at 2014’s programme.
What did you think? Six of the best tweets
tinyurl.com/1939Hooray
Tag your tweets #cineskinny! You may end up featured here... which would be nice
Music and Film
The List chooses five picks from the Music and Film Festival, which is an increasingly eclectic, exciting strand of GFF14. Don’t miss the Icelandic coming of age film Metalhead. tinyurl.com/MusicFilm
Skinny News
Follow all our online stories here. And put your two cents’ worth in about the Bowie “stay with us” debate.
@Seanmwelsh
@radiomagnetic
@LowndesSarah
@TheGlassCase
@ajlatimer
@waspsstudios
Grand Budapest Hotel = best @ glasgowfilmfest opening film ever. Noone will predict Danny Dyer snapping the cyborg’s neck #spoilers #GFF14 #CINESKINNY Tickets purchased for Starred Up, A Touch of Sin & Sorcerer now means I’m watching 14 films in 7 days at #GFF14 #CINESKINNY
Our friends @walkingheads have today launched their new #CinemaCity Treasure Hunt app for the start of the @glasgowfilmfest. Happy Hunting! #GFF14 #CINESKINNY My #GFF14 line-up includes LFO, Salvo, 20 Feet From Stardom, Cannibal and The Gilded Cage. Plus some other titles #CINESKINNY
Photo: Eoin Carey
Glasgow critic Paul Greenwood begins coverage of GFF14 with reviews of five upcoming films, including Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, which he describes as “a lovely portrait of a feisty old dame.”
Can’t wait to see the film adaptation of Boris Vian’s 1947 novel Froth on the Daydream (Mood Indigo) @glasgowfilmfest looks dreamy. #GFF14 #CINESKINNY Exciting times... @glasgowfilmfest setting up the big silver screen for this weekend’s screenings here at the #Briggait! #GFF14 #CINESKINNY
tiny.cc/skinnynews
Produced by The Skinny magazine in association with the Glasgow Film Festival
Blast from the Past: Park Circus resurrect neglected 70s classic Sorcerer. It’s really (William) Friedkin good
4 THE CINESKINNY FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY
Editor Jamie Dunn Designer Ana Hine Assistant Editors Nathanael Smith Yasmin Ali Distribution Franchesca Hashemi Graeme Campbell Jennifer Clews
GFF Box Office Order tickets from the box office at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival or call 0141 332 6535 or visit Glasgow Film Theatre 12 Rose Street, Glasgow, G3 6RB boxoffice@glasgowfilm.org
THESKINNY.CO.UK/CINESKINNY