FREE THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY THE OFFICAL GFF DAILY GUIDE
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WHAT’S INSIDE? 2 — CINESKINNY’S PICKS OF THE FESTIVAL The unmissable films of the festival, as chosen by The CineSkinny’s writers 2 — FEATURE: HIGH PLACES Interview with electro-pop duo Rob Barber and Mary Pearson, kicking off the Glasgow Music and Film Festival 3 — REVIEWS Red Dog ★★★ This Is Not a Film ★★★★★ The Kid with a Bike ★★★★★ 4 — WHAT’S NEW ONLINE The latest news, comments and pictures from the festival
GFF 2012: RECLAIMING MUMBLECORE
4 — COMPETITION Win tickets to see acclaimed documentary This Is Not a Film by answering one simple question
Is there any sub-genre more misunderstood than mumblecore? Director Lynn Shelton’s YOUR SISTER’S SISTER is another film gem that fits the mumblecore M.O., so we’ve decided to reclaim this maligned moniker, writes JAMIE DUNN CRITICS LOVE to give films labels – I apologise on behalf of my reductive brethren – but more often than not these categorisations can be on-thenose and quite useful. Is there a better phrase than ‘torture porn’ to describe the wave of grizzly horrors that proliferated in the mid-aughts? And how would critics be able to properly review any of Seth Rogen’s oeuvre without the word ‘bromance’? As sub-genre titles go, however, ‘mumblecore’ is rather unfortunate. Critics aren’t to blame for this one though. Coined by sound mixer Eric Masunaga while chatting to a journalist at the South By Southwest (SXSW) film festival about the movies he’d recently worked on (Andrew Bujalski’s Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation), the name stuck and has become synonymous with the work of a group of American independent filmmakers working on minuscule budgets with a lo-fi aesthetic. Lynn Shelton, director of tonight’s opening gala, Your Sister’s Sister, is one of the sub-genre’s most talented practitioners. But the clumsy ‘mumblecore’ doesn’t really do justice
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to these low-key, and often fantastic, films. First of all, the actors don’t mumble. Their dialogue tends to be semiimprovised, meaning mumblecore characters talk with the same elliptical inarticulateness to which we’re all prone. David Denby puts it nicely in his New Yorker essay Youthquake: “In the films I’ve seen, the sound is quite clear. It’s the emotions that mumble.” Given that the films tend to be coreless, in the sense that narratives follow a more lyrical structure in a style at odds with mainstream cinema’s rigid plotting, the second half of the moniker is just as dubious. If we were to label Shelton’s previous film Humpday, the aforementioned bromance would actually be more apposite. A riotously funny comedy about two heterosexual men (one played by Your Sister’s Sister’s lead Mark Duplass) who dare themselves to have sex, it was that rarest of things: a crossover mumblecore hit. Its mainstream success is even more surprising given that it breaks the long-established Hollywood rule that
the protagonists in buddy movies keep their obvious sexual desires under wraps – see Red River, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Top Gun, Point Break, and that peerless homoerotic romp Tango & Cash. (If you also happen to be a heterosexual male watching Humpday with a platonic male friend, the term ‘torture porn’ would also apply.) The problem is, I can’t think of a phrase that would be an obvious replacement. These films are essentially romantic comedies with all the telephoned character clichés removed and all of life’s prickly awkwardness brought into the mix. Unfortunately, ‘awk-coms’ just doesn’t have the right ring. So lets reclaim ‘mumblecore’, Glasgow! Lets shout the names of these small American indie wonders from the rooftops. But remember: enunciate. LYNN SHELTON’S YOUR SISTER’S SISTER SCREENS 16 FEB AND 17 FEB AS PART OF GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL 2012 FIND THE CINESKINNY IN THE FOYER OF THE GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL AND OTHER PARTICIPATING VENUES
4 — WHAT DO YOU THINK? Your tweets
Produced by The Skinny magazine in association with the Glasgow Film Festival Editor Designer Subeditors
Jamie Dunn Sean Anderson Becky Bartlett David McGinty
GFF BOX OFFICE Order tickets from the box office at glasgowfilm.org/festival or call 0141 332 6535 or visit Glasgow Film Theatre 12 Rose Street, Glasgow, G3 6RB
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THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY THE CINESKINNY 1
CINESKINNY’S PICKS OF THE FESTIVAL
JAN SVANKMAJER
85A PRESENTS: JAN SVANKMAJER 23 Feb, 14.00 @ THE GLUE FACTORY; 24 Feb, 19.00 @ THE GLUE FACTORY Surrealist filmmaker Jan Svankmajer provides the backdrop to a night of sound, art and performance as the 85A collective bring this Czech genius’s off-the-wall images to life.
INTO THE ABYSS 23 Feb, 17.10 @ GFT; 24 Feb, 11.15 @ GFT Festival favourite Werner Herzog is back with his latest documentary, examining crime and capital punishment.
DEATHWATCH 26 Feb, 15.00 @ GFT Harvey Keitel stars in this Glasgow-set cult classic, long unseen in the UK and restored to its former glory – it’s the best dystopian sci-fi you’ve never seen.
THE RAID 25 Feb, 23.15 @ GFT Not for the faint of heart, this brutal action film is one of the most violent and uncompromising films of 2012.
SUPERHEROES 23 Feb, 19.20 @ GFT This documentary charts the strange new subculture of real-life superheroes in America, who adopt exotic alteregos in an attempt to change their communities for the better.
THE RAID
HIGH PLACES Glasgow Music and Film Festival kicks off in grand style with a performance from electro-pop duo HIGH PLACES, a band whose work embodies GMFF’s celebration of both music and image, writes JAMIE DUNN ELECTRONIC TWO-PIECE High Places, aka Rob Barber and Mary Pearson, are in playful mood when they speak to me from their LA studio ahead of their upcoming UK tour, which takes in a performance at Glasgow Music and Film Festival. In fact, it feels a bit like they are pulling the old ‘good electro-pop musician/bad electro-pop musician’ routine. When Pearson, who’s effervescent and charming, mentions her love of old school hip hop, I inquire facetiously if she’d ever consider swapping her haunting vocals for a spell as High Places’ Master of Ceremonies? Her response is delightfully self-deprecating: “I think I have to come to terms with how my voice sounds and what I’m capable of doing, I made peace with that a while ago. I don’t think there’ll be any rapping in the near future.” “You have been writing a lot of new songs that are about sneakers,” deadpans Barber, High Places’ more sardonic half. “And about being the flyest girl in the club,” chuckles Pearson. You can hear this same salty/sweet quality in the duo’s music: ostensibly it’s experimental electronica that’s soft to the touch. I suspect this musical dichotomy comes from their different backgrounds: Pearson, who was “raised in the pretty-world part of Michigan,” started her music career studying classical bassoon; Philly city boy Barber, meanwhile, describes himself as an autodidact. I put this theory to them. “Mostly I treat the band as a departure from classical training,” explains Pearson, “and it’s really freeing in a lot of ways because there aren’t any boundaries. We can just say exactly what we want and we don’t feel constrained by the rules of western song writing.” “You do use, like, terminology and stuff that I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” teases her bandmate. “She’ll be saying some technical phrase and I’ll be like: ‘Do you mean a power cord?’” Their latest album, Original Colors, blends funky, incessant rhythms with Pearson’s ethereal vocals; dreamy lyrics wash over the record, smoothing the hard edges, and creating a sound that lives and breathes. “We’ve always been interested in how much human-
We’ve always been interested in how much humanity you can give to electronic music MARY PEARSON ity you can give to electronic music, because it can be so machinelike and robotic,” says Pearson. “We want to give it some feel of emotion behind it, and allow for some human error.” This is even more evident in their live performances. Barber explains his predilection for percussion-based samplers because they respond to the velocity at which they are struck, creating a rawer, more idiosyncratic sound. “It allows a little bit more fluidity to
the song, so that everything’s not just locked in; it’s a little bit loose on the edge.” It’s also more enjoyable – and damp. “It’s not like I like sweating in front of people or anything, but it’s definitely more fun to actually move around and stuff.” Working in harmony with this organic versus inorganic sound are the various image collages the pair have created together, which work as a kind of cinematic journal. “Our songs are dancy-ish,” says Barber, “but they are also clouded in and dense – it doesn’t really make sense for us to have visuals that are kind of just going off catastrophically while we’re playing. They are kind of reflective of our tour, where we’re basically collecting visual elements on a day-to-day basis.” “I feel like they kind of compliment the music in that there’s a lot of inspiration from the natural world,” adds Pearson. “It’s hard to top that in terms of creative inspiration.” HIGH PLACES KICK-OFF THIS YEAR’S MUSIC AND FILM FESTIVAL ON 16 FEB AT THE ARCHES, 8PM, GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL FOR INFORMATION ON THE FULL UK TOUR, GO TO MYSPACE.COM/HELLOHIGHPLACES
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REVIEWS RED DOG
DIRECTOR: KRIV STENDERS STARRING: JOSH LUCAS, RACHAEL TAYLOR, NOAH TAYLOR RELEASED: 24 FEB CERTIFICATE: TBC
★★★ Red Dog, based on Nancy Gillespie’s book of the same name charting the impact of a legendary mutt on the lives of assorted roughnecks in a Western Australian mining town during the 70s, is a cute fable also packing a fair old emotional punch. Set in the isolated port of Dampier, there is a dusty, sweaty aesthetic in keeping with the blue-collar resonance of the tale; the blazing sun and stark landscape creating an otherworldly atmosphere in which myths such as these thrive. When Red appears in Dampier he meanders through the crowd, offering
comfort and companionship to the often lonely drifters making up the population, until eventually falling under the permanent care of bus driver John (Josh Lucas). Continuing a strong presence in the community, the unifying effect Red has on these disparate souls is touching, with that delightful absurdity the Aussies do so well ensuring a lightness of touch that makes the weightier elements more palatable. A charming wee film. [Chris Fyvie] SHOWING 17 FEB (CINEWORLD 18, 6.30PM) AND 18 FEB (CINEWORLD 18, 11.15AM) AT GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL
THIS IS NOT A FILM
DIRECTOR: JAFAR PANAHI, MOJTABA MIRTAHMASB STARRING: JAFAR PANAHI RELEASED: 30 MAR CERTIFICATE: U
★★★★★ In 2009, Iranian director Jafar Panahi was arrested for supporting anti-Ahmadinejad protests; in 2010, he was arrested a second time, sentenced to six years imprisonment, and banned from making films for twenty years. This Is Not a Film documents a day of house arrest during an ultimately unsuccessful appeals process: Panahi eats breakfast, discusses the case with his lawyer, and reads extracts from the film that might have been. “Perhaps by reading and explaining, I might create
If we could tell a film, then why make a film? JAFAR PANAHI an image for it…” he proposes, but finds the compromise troubling. “If we could tell a film,” he despondently asks, “then why make a film?” This Is Not a Film is a bold artistic statement, a guided career retrospective, a political act, and a mediation on the very nature of cinema – all at once, with neither self-pity or intellectual elitism to muddy the waters. While Panahi’s plight is deplorably sad, his uncowed defiance delivers an inventive and eloquent exposition of injustice. [Chris Buckle] THIS IS NOT A FILM IS SCREENING 17 FEB (GFT1, 2PM) AND 18 FEB (GFT2, 11.15AM)
THE KID WITH A BIKE
DIRECTOR: JEAN-PIERRE & LUC DARDENNE STARRING: THOMAS DORET, CÉCILE DE FRANCE, JÉRÉMIE RENIER, EGON DI MATEO, FABRIZIO RONGIONE RELEASED: 23 MAR CERTIFICATE: 12A
★★★★★ All you really need to know about the Dardenne brothers’ new film is that it concerns a kid and his bike. Watching the work of this extraordinary filmmaking team with no prior knowledge of its content is one of the most exhilarating experiences contemporary cinema has to offer. Driven by the turbulent emotions and restless energy of prickly newcomer Thomas Doret, The Kid with
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a Bike takes a number of unexpected turns towards its heart-stopping finale as the Dardennes once again prove themselves to be master storytellers. As Cyril (Doret) searches for the father who rejected him (Jérémie Renier), the Dardennes gradually draw us into his world to the point where we are completely riveted and begin to care deeply about the outcome of his story.
That the film manages to move the viewer so profoundly while remaining completely free of any false sentimentality could be regarded as a special achievement, but it’s simply par for the course for this peerless filmmaking duo. [Philip Concannon] THE KID WITH A BIKE IS SHOWING 17 FEB (CINEWORLD18, 1.45PM) AND 18 FEB (GFT1, 5.15PM) AT GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL
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WHAT’S NEW ONLINE? MORE MOVIES! Fresh additions to the GFF’s ever burgeoning roster include Rampart, starring Woody Harrelson; Silver Apples – The Key of Yellow, which replaces Play Twice Before Listening and will be introduced by Simeon from the 60s electronic outfit; and BAFTA nominee Black Pond from Will Sharpe and Tom Kingsley. http://bit.ly/GFFadditions SINGIN’ IN THE AIRPORT Dance Glasgow choreographed a flashmob inspired by GFF’s Gene Kelly retrospective at Glasgow Airport on Valentine’s Day. Check out Glasgow Film Festival’s YouTube for video by QuipuTV. http://bit.ly/GeneFlashmob
PICS OF THE FESTIVAL SO FAR
online at theskinny.co.uk. Follow the link below or scan our fancy QR code with your smartphone. http://bit.ly/CineSkinny12 @SKINNYFILM Follow us on Twitter for all the latest from the festival. Send us your thoughts and reviews on anything you have seen or are looking forward to @SkinnyFilm or by using #GFF12. The best tweets of the day will be featured in the ‘What Did You Think?’ column below.
GYFF OPENING NIGHT
GFF COVERAGE FROM YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD CINESKINNY If you miss any issues throughout the Glasgow Film Festival you can find all our reviews, previews and interviews
QUIZ TIME GIVEAWAY! In 2010 Iranian director Jafar Panahi was arrested, sentenced to six-years imprisonment, and banned from making films for twenty-years. This Is Not a Film follows Panahi over the course of one day of his house arrest; it is a compelling account of a filmmaker unable to create and has been described as an ”urgent and personal defence of the artist“.
Q. Where was This Is Not a Film filmed? Winners will be notified on Friday morning. For full terms and conditions, go to theskinny. co.uk/about/terms
SHORT FILM FESTIVAL OPENING PARTY AT THE BERKELEY SUITE
We have three pairs of tickets to giveaway to the 2pm screening on Friday 17 Feb. To be in with a chance of winning simply go to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and tell us...
DID ❝ WHAT ❞ YOU THINK?
THE MUPPETS
SIX OF THE BEST TWEETS FROM TWITTER
@SISTERPHONETICA Added all my @glasgowfilmfest films to my calendar. 23! Including my first ever #Frightfest pass. Starting to get excited now #gff #GFF12
@GLASGOWPODCART The Glasgow Music & Film Festival is almost here! Great programme running from 16 26 February. Read on! http:// fb.me/1zQhHUQTj
@PAULEGREENWOOD My top picks so far for @glasgowfilmfest include Wild Bill, Beauty, On the Ice, Cloudburst, Carol Channing: LTL and, of course, The Raid.
KIRSTY CAMERON @ KMCAMERON Oh, I love this! @glasgowfilmfest Singin’ in the Rain flashmob @GLA_Airport: http://ow.ly/954bc #GFF12
JAMIE NEISH @JAMIENEISH Your Sister’s Sister - A sharp, subtly played drama exploring the strong bonds shared between three people. Shelton’s direction is spot-on.
LIAM @LIAMHAN Really want to go and see The Raid...heard it’s brilliant! Any other recommendations of what to see? #GFF12
4 THE CINESKINNY THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY
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