CineSkinny - 22 February 2012

FREE WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY THE OFFICAL GFF DAILY GUIDE

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WHAT’S INSIDE? 2 — TODAY’S PICKS What’s happening at GFF today 2 — INTERVIEW: ANNE-MARIE COPESTAKE The CineSkinny meets with the 2011 Margaret Tait Award winner 3 — REVIEWS The Jewel ★★ Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Trial Called Quest ★★★ Bonsái ★★★ 4 — WHAT’S NEW ONLINE The latest news, comments and pictures from the festival 4 — COMPETITION Win tickets to see Stopped on Track by answering one simple question JAN SVANKMAJER

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS The Glue Factory becomes a surreal playground as 85A COLLECTIVE take over the venue to bring to life the nutty images of legendary Czech filmmaker JAN SVANKMAJER WORDS: CHRIS BUCKLE IN ALICE, Jan Svankmajer’s 1988 feature length adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the titular narrator instructs the audience to close their eyes “or they won’t see anything.” She demands we close off reality and enter a dream-like world of Svankmajer’s creation, where sawdust-stuffed rabbits break free from their display cases, and pin cushions and socks transform into hedgehogs and caterpillars. The Prague-born filmmaker has occupied this oneiric realm throughout his career, from his debut short The Last Trick in 1964, in which marionette-like magicians perform outlandish tricks by multiplying their bodies and bringing furniture to life, through to the psychoanalytic dreamscapes of 2010’s Surviving Life (Theory and Practice).

Whether live action, animation, or, most often, a combination of the two,

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Svankmajer’s work celebrates the power of imagination in all its facets: absurd, fantastical, allegorical, and often unsettling. Svankmajer takes mundane reality and sculpts something uncanny: pebbles dance in formation in A Game with Stones (1965); steaks embrace in Meat Love (1989); diagrams step free from the page in Historia Naturae, Suita (1967). His stop-motion clay work makes corporeal forms fluid and erratic – see the grotesque assembly of Darkness, Light, Darkness (1990), or the melting busts in Dimensions of Dialogue (1983). His Food trilogy (1993), meanwhile – featuring human vending machines, Swiftian pica and self-destructive gluttony – still has the ability to put viewers off their dinner, as do the meaty, disembodied tongues that crop up throughout his filmography.

This year, art collective 85A have

transformed The Glue Factory into a ‘kunstkammer’, or cabinet of curiosities, of which Svankmajer himself would surely approve. The exact film selection is not yet known, but the evening’s poster contains multiple clues – for starters, we spy Punch from 1968’s Punch and Judy, and the spiked typewriter from 1969’s A Quiet Week in the House amongst the miscellany.

Each individual film will be screened in its own specially-constructed theatre, with costumed performers promising to “[coax] his surreal imagery off the screen and into life before you!” By smudging the line between onscreen and off-screen worlds, 85A promise an unusual, unique take on the Svankmajer canon, and whether you’re an existing acolyte or a curious newcomer, this surreal voyage is not to be missed.

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

SCREENING 23 FEB AND 24 FEB AT THE GLUE FACTORY

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TODAY’S PICKS

MOMENTS OF BEING

WEDNESDAY 22

The GFF hosts the world premiere, and only screening, of Anne-Marie Copestake’s specially commissioned film. We meet with the director to discuss her inspirations INTERVIEW: JAC MANTLE

WRINKLES

WRINKLES 14.00 @ CINEWORLD It’s cold outside, so why not warm your cockles with this delightful Spanish animation about a former bank manager suffering from dementia who’s settling into his new life in a nursing home.

AT NIGHT I FLY 15.45 @ GFT Swedish director Michel Wenzer will be attending for a Q&A session following the screening of this documentary offering an alternative view of prison life.

AT NIGHT I FLY

AND UNDER THAT: MARGARET TAIT AWARD 21.00 @ GFT The world premiere, and only screening, of 2011 Margaret Tait Award winner Anne-Marie Copestake’s film is free but ticketed and includes a live perfomance by Stevie Jones and Muscles of Joy. THE GFF SURPRISE FILM 20.45 @ GFT Previous years’ picks have included 13 Assassins, Greenberg and Son of Rambow. What will it be this year?

GFF SURPRISE DREILEBEN FILM

AND UNDER That, the new film from 2011’s Margaret Tait Award winner Anne-Marie Copestake, presents a portrait of two women created through acts of looking and listening, with a live soundtrack performance. We grab a few moments with her ahead of its premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival 2012.

So tell us where And Under That came from?

The starting point was a collection of words and ideas: hidden social rebellion, futile revolt, authority, grace, averted and directed gazes, and textual experience. It also came from bits of writing: a sentence – “I am not finished yet”; a phrase – “and under that”; and a scene set in heavy soaking rain with horses and people exploring three positions of movement and stillness. I was also interested to develop a scenario wherein words questioning histories and potential come from an older woman, and she is not seen as fixed and finished but there are possibilities connected to her.

Your installations often have an intimate feel, inviting close inspection. Did the large cinema screen influence your process?

I approached this piece of work in quite a different way. This short film

involved a long process of writing, meeting people, asking questions, listening, writing further, re-writing, recording, and listening again. I wanted to make a piece of work that could travel to other locations that would not rely on the particular space in the cinema in Glasgow.

Last year’s Margaret Tait commission saw Torsten Lauschmann up a ladder and measuring the ceiling of the GFT so he could project his film onto it. Disrupting the image is a strategy you often use in your film works. Was the installation process important for this film?

There isn’t really an installation for And Under That. The cinema space involves a set of conditions and scale of projected image that I have never worked with before. My approach was to work towards a live event in presenting the film in the cinema. It will be the first time I have worked with a particular sound environment.

You’ve recently returned from touring the States with your band Muscles of Joy. Juggling your parallel practices must be a challenge.

I had never been to the States before, so all of it was interesting to me. I visited the Anthology Film Archive and ended up being given an off-the-cuff

personal guided tour, which was very special. But no, the timing was not really ideal. This particular timing clash was a fairly extreme one that I would not like to repeat, ever. I did bring my work with me though, and had an incredible view from where I sat in a thirteenth floor, glass-walled flat looking over layers and lights of New York.

You have a great track record of collaboration. Are you ‘going it alone’ this time?

The screening will incorporate a live part too, a soundtrack performance that involves live music and voices.

This will be performed by Stevie Jones, members of Muscles of Joy, and possibly a special guest. It is great to be working with Stevie, who wrote and recorded music for the film. Several years ago a track by Rude Pravo (Luke Fowler, Stevie Jones, and Cara Tolmie) was the first piece of music I used in a short film. A few years afterwards I asked Stevie if he would like to compose and perform some music on double bass for a new film. He was too busy at the time but stated he would love to do something for a future piece of work. I’m delighted that that time is now.

SCREENING 22 FEB AT GFT

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REVIEWS THE JEWEL DIRECTOR: ANDREA MOLAIOLI STARRING: TONI SERVILLO, REMO GIRONE, SARAH FELBERBAUM

★★ The Jewel may be based on the true story of Italian dairy giant Parmalat’s 2003 demise due to fraud, but its yellowy arthouse look and plodding pace not only thwart it as a timely exposé but also render parts of it implausible.

Distinguished gent Rastelli (Remo Girone) has built up a small family deli into a global corporation and is unwilling to lose it when bankruptcy looms.

Botta (Toni Servillo), his po-faced chief of finance, fiddles the books in a last, desperate attempt to retain a bygone era. Aiding him is Rastelli’s young niece

Laura, with whom he has a secret affair in a grossly ridiculous subplot that’s cringeworthy to watch and casts doubt on the film’s intentions as a serious drama. Meanwhile, a colleague’s suicide and burial are over within five minutes, as is typical of the ill-judged emphasis. Despite numerous flaws, The Jewel is diverting enough and portrays a country that is corrupt to its core, due to disorganisation rather than malicious intent. [Jac Mantle] SCREENING 22 FEB AND 23 FEB AT CCA AND GFT

BONSÁI DIRECTOR: CRISTIÁN JIMÉNEZ STARRING: DIEGO NOGUERA, NATHALIA GALGANI, GABRIELA ARANCIBA

★★★ Chilean directing talent Cristián Jiménez’s second feature film is one for the bookish. Bonsái’s protagonist Julio (Diego Noguera) is more of a leader-on than a leading man, using his cultural smarts (namely, the dubious claim of having read Marcel Proust) to woo his student girlfriend Emilia (Nathalia Galgani). Years later, under the guise of transcribing one of his hero’s novels, he uses their relationship as inspiration to write, be it as part of an elaborate ruse.

Channeling a mumblecore vibe, these charm-free, statuesque young actors speak of unmeasured still waters. Not knowing how deep they run will only get you so far, however, and Julio’s mumbling and bumbling is curious but not much more. This, too, quickly wears thin as the film’s nonlinear narrative shuffles through time like the worn pages of a well-thumbed paperback. But if you’re looking for a touch of solipsism without picking up Proust, Bonsái is a good start. [Nicola Balkind] SCREENING 21 FEB AND 23 FEB AT CINEWORLD

BEATS, RHYMES AND LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST DIRECTOR: MICHAEL RAPAPORT STARRING: Q-TIP, PHIFE DAWG, ALI SHAHEED MUHAMMAD

★★★ Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest brings the story behind the titular rap group, featuring Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White, to the big screen. Taking its title from the band’s fourth album, Michael Rapaport’s film traces their meteoric rise to fame at the forefront of New York’s Native Tongues movement.

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The band return to their former hangouts, illustrating the emergent hip-hop scene of the late 80s and early 90s. In its best moments, the documentary is a Behind the Music-style mash-up of interviews and music video footage, but digs deeper into the psyches of its subjects. Quest’s chilled out sounds soon clash with latter day artistic differences, these disagreements and

the strains of Phife’s diabetes causing a rift between band members. Beats, Rhymes and Life gets caught up in its own life-based dramas but redeems itself with consistently engaging characters and a reminder of what fine jams Tribe produced. [Nicola Balkind] SCREENING 22 FEB AND 25 FEB AT CINEWORLD AND GFT

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PHOTO: STUART CRAWFORD

PIC OF THE DAY: MARK MILLAR & NACHO VIGALONDO PHOTO: STUART CRAWFORD

WHAT’S NEW ONLINE QUIZ TIME STV MEETS GFF DIRECTOR Co-director Allison Gardner discusses GFF’s origins and focus on its audience, and attributes the festival’s success due to it having “no snobbery or pretention.” http://bit.ly/AllisonGardner

JANICE FORSYTH PICKS The journalist and BBC Radio Scotland presenter picks her top five must-sees of the festival, including Glasgow-set retrospective Death Watch. http://bit.ly/JaniceForsyth

GFF & THE GOVERNMENT First Minister Alex Salmond and Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop met with Mark Millar and others to discuss the future of Scotland’s film industry. http://bit.ly/GFFandGovernment

ALL IN GOOD TIME Christine Lavelle of The Daily Record meets with Reece Ritchie, star of All in Good Time, for an interview on video podcast. http://bit.ly/InGoodTime CINESKINNY You can find all our reviews, previews, and interviews online at theskinny.co.uk/cineskinny

Win Tickets to Stopped on Track Director Andreas Dresen has a rare talent for addressing subject matter that other filmmakers consider taboo, from the sex lives of septuagenarians in the brilliant Cloud 9 (2008) to terminal illness in Stopped on Track. Drawing on real-life situations and featuring genuine members of the medical profession, this fictional tale follows forty-year-old Frank from the moment he discovers his brain tumour is inoperable through all the stages of anger, denial and acceptance. Dresen will be on hand to introduce the film and to take part in a Q&A after the screening.

To enter, head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and provide a caption for the above photo of Mark Millar & Nacho Vigalondo. Best caption wins.

Competition closes: 10am Thursday 23 Feb Winners will be notified on Thursday morning. For full terms and conditions, go to theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

We have a pair of tickets to give away to the 20.15 screening on Thursday 23 Feb at GFT.

DID ❝ WHAT ❞ YOU THINK?

SIX OF THE BEST FROM TWITTER TWEET US @SKINNYFILM

HELEN MACDONALD @QUIETTRICKSTER Finisterrae: ...I think something stronger than pic’n’mix was involved. Very funny (peculiar and haha). Some great, uh, reindeer. #gff12

EMMA RITCH @EMMARITCH ‘Breathing’ was a triumph.

Loved it. #gff12

EYE FOR FILM @EYEFORFILM Michael is so ordinary, he could be anyone. But he’s keeping a ten year old locked in his basement. http://www. eyeforfilm.co.uk/reviews. php?film_id=20606 #gff12

EMMA @EMMAR “Double-treat: Deathwatch from @ParkCircusFilms at #gff12 AND a Q&A with director Bertrand Tavernier on 26/02/12 http://ow.ly/8JFUB”

Jen Davies @jendavies Planet of Snail was emotional, St Nick was long, slow and a bit weak and I can barely talk about Michael. #gff12, it’s been a tough Monday.

JEREME LAGARDE @LAGARDE32_DAMAN If you thugged out put yo fcking hood in da air #GFF

4 THE CINESKINNY WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY

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