CineSkinny - 17 February 2012

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What’s insIde? 2 — today’s picks What’s happening at GFF today 2 — Feature: THE DARDENNE

BROTHERS The CineSkinny examines familiar tropes within the Belgian brothers’ films 3 — reviews Your Sister’s Sister ★★★ Gerhard Richter Painting ★★★ On the Ice ★★★ 4 — what’s new online The latest news, comments and pictures from the festival 4 — competition Win tickets to the official afterparty for Irvine Welsh’s Ecstacy

GFF 2012: Weimarvellous A weekend of cabaret, Weimer-era Germany style. Words: Helen Wright Financial crises; opportunistic coalitions; European unity in peril; right-wing extremists banging on parliament’s doors. Despite these woes (or perhaps because of them), Weimar Germany had an opulent and flourishing cultural life. Is GFF trying to suggest a link with our own troubling times by packing a weekend full of it?

Probably not, but the Weimarvellous strand does give punters a chance to relive some of the hedonistic highs and portentous lows of the epoch. The Blue Angel, opening the weekend, is a melancholy tale of a school professor who falls for a cabaret star, bringing about his downfall. Emil Jannings’ shy and awkward mannerisms are humorous and Marlene Dietrich’s long legs and sultry glances erotic. But the film that brought both Dietrich and director Joseph von Sternberg to prominence is also a dark and foreboding commentary on society’s cracks and life’s

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cruelty. Janning’s professor descends into a nightmare of classism and sexual jealousy that reflects the period’s pessimistic outlook. No time to sit in a darkened room and contemplate the futility of existence afterwards though, as an evening of song and dance is included in the ticket price. A variety of burlesque-themed acts are followed by a karaoke singalong to Bob Fosse’s Cabaret, perhaps unleashing some of the film’s debauchery in festival goers.

For those who make it out of bed after the night’s excesses, Saturday brings a screening of Walter Ruttmann’s lyrical Berlin: Symphony of a Great City. Featuring live accompaniment by experimental jazz outfit Trio AAB, it portrays a day in the life of 1920s Berlin, from empty streets at sunrise through busy industrial throngs to the city’s buzzing nightlife. Ruttmann was one of Weimar cinema’s great experimenters and his impetus lives on

in the work of sound and visual innovators Syncresis, who’ll be presenting their tribute to his work with Glasgow: Symphony of a Great City, created specially for GFF. Things are rounded off with a work from another artistic pioneer of the era, Lotte Reiniger. The Adventures of Prince Achmed is thought to be the first feature-length animation ever made and uses the ancient Chinese art of shadow-play to retell a story from The Arabian Nights: a young prince finds his princess and must battle an evil sorcerer to win her hand. At the more magical and escapist end of Weimar fare, it’s a fitting way to ward off impending political doom.

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

Weimarvellous runs 17 Feb and 18 Feb at the CCA in Glasgow. See website for more details glasgowfilm.org/festival/whats_on/ strand:weimarvellous

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hymn to the dardenne brothers

today’s picks friday 17

The Dardenne brothers’ exquisite The Kid With a Bike is one of the gems of the festival. We consider what makes these Belgian siblings such giants of the film world. Words: Philip Concannon

the forgotten space

the forgotten space 11.00 @ GFT Tickets are free and available at the GFT prior to the screening, which documents the horrible secrets of sea trade.

a man’s story 20.30 @ GFT Producers Al Clark and Rachel Robey will be attending for a Q&A following this documentary profiling fashion designer and former Givenchy creative director Ozwald Boateng.

a man’s story

babycall 21.00 @ GFT The original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Noomi Rapace gives an award-winning performance in this psychological thriller.

the reptile 23.00 @ GFT Featuring a possible plague and a suitably trashy monster, this restored print of the lesser known Hammer feature deserves to be seen on the big screen.

reptile

Igor, Rosetta, Olivier, Bruno, Lorna, Cyril; these are the lead characters of the six films that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have built their formidable reputation on. Before watching each of these movies I knew nothing about these people or their situations, but within an hour I felt as if I had known them all my life, and I cared deeply about their fates. The Dardennes aren’t know for directing thrillers (at least, not in the conventional understanding of the genre), and yet their films grip me on a level that seems beyond the best of Hollywood. I have watched and re-watched their movies multiple times and I remain awestruck by their ability to generate such rich drama from seemingly unpromising material. They seem incapable of making a bad film – the question is, how do they do it?

We may look for clues in the brothers’ technique, but their directorial style is simplicity itself. They follow their protagonists with a handheld camera, often trailing them in a manner that has become something of a trademark

(see how many times they are namechecked in reviews of The Wrestler, Ballast, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and many others), and they let their films unfold in long, naturalistic takes.

Their approach has become more refined over time; for The Silence of Lorna they moved to Liege, adopted a more composed camera style and (to the horror of some critics) had something resembling a plot, but their films still feel distinctly organic and alive.

I think the secret of the Dardennes’ success ultimately comes down to their compassion and honesty. Nothing in their films feels artificial and we are moved because we genuinely become involved in the stories, not because our emotions are being manipulated.

There is a refreshing lack of judgement in their work too – on more than one occasion, the brothers have presented us with a father who has betrayed or abandoned his own child, but every character in a Dardennes film has reasons behind their actions, and they all deserve our understanding and

empathy. The Dardenne brothers show us people making bad choices and doing foolish things, but they are never beyond redemption and the filmmakers never lose faith in the essential humanity of their characters.

The Kid With a Bike is more of the same from the Dardennes. I mean that as praise but some will take it as a means to criticise them, suggesting that the siblings are going over old thematic ground and working well within the parameters they have set for themselves. Maybe that’s true, but if it results in a film as emotionally complex, gripping and flawlessly made as this every couple of years, who can complain? The truth is that the Dardennes don’t need to change a thing – they’re already working at a level that most contemporary filmmakers can only dream of.

The Dardennes’ The Kid With a Bike screens 17 Feb and 18 Feb as part of Glasgow Film Festival 2012 and opens nationwide 30 Mar artificial-eye.com

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REVIEWS gerhard richter painting Director: Corinna Belz Starring: Gerhard Richter Released: TBC Certificate: TBC

★★★ With a career spanning five decades and the accolade ‘one of the greatest living painters’, Gerhard Richter – as might be expected – has surpassed the soul-searching whys of painting and is now focused on the how. In the first documentary he’s agreed to in fifteen years, Corinna Belz eschews voiceover narration in favour of a low-key, fly-onthe-wall look at the man in his studio painting.

We see how he begins with an abstract composition of queasy rainbow colours then transforms it, dragging a ‘big squeegee’ across the surface to

achieve his trademark photographic flatness. Just when we think it’s finished, Richter decides it isn’t working at all and needs to be scrapped. Famously media-shy, he seems relatively at ease here and shares the whims, ironies and perplexities of his practice.

Mainly, we learn that the working life of even a big artist involves less drama than you might think – unless you’re an avid Richter fan, the film is quite interesting, but that’s all. [Jac Mantle] showing 17 Feb and 18 Feb at cineworld

Your Sister’s Sister

Director: Lynn Shelton Starring: Emily Blunt, Mark Duplass, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tom Birbiglia Released: 16 Feb Certificate: TBC

★★★ Mumblecore king Mark Duplass (think of a smug, male Greta Gerwig) plays Jack, a 30-something slacker who’s struggling to get over the death of his brother, who died a year earlier. His gal-pal Iris (a luminous Emily Blunt), a serial dater with a weakness for skinny jeans-wearing Fleet Foxes fans and a major crush on Jack, sends him off to her family’s secluded cabin to have some alone time. But he’s not alone. Iris’s sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) is also there trying to get her shit together following a messy breakup with her longterm girlfriend. A bottle of Jose Cuervo, ten seconds of love making and a night of snuggling (suffice to say, Hannah’s not about to switch teams) later and the pair are in a predicament, as Iris (who Jack’s secretly in love with) turns up unexpectedly. Shelton is a wonder with actors and she mines some gold from this sitcom setup – DeWitt, in particular, showcases a spiky comic deftness. Shame about a soapy third act of melancholy set to acoustic guitar that’s as bland and shapeless as the vegan pancakes Hannah whips up for the trio.

[Jamie Dunn] showing 16 Feb and 17 Feb at glasgow film theatre

on the ice

Director: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean Starring: Frank Qutuq Irelan, John Miller, Josiah Patkotak, Adamina Kerr Released: TBC Certificate: TBC

★★★ Writer/director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean extrapolates the premise of his 2008 short of the same name – a murder and the moral dilemma the reporting or cover-up of it presents – to produce a visually arresting, thoughtful feature debut. Set in a remote Alaskan village, the film’s great strength is making the landscape utterly extraordinary to the audience but painfully mundane to its protagonists.

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After an evening partying, teenagers James (John Miller) and Aivaaq (Frank Qutuq Irelan) go out to hunt, later followed by Qalli (Josiah Patkotak).

The former two scuffle and, after Qalli intervenes, James is left dead; the body is disposed of and the young conspirators concoct an accident for the authorities to save their skins. The ease with which someone can get away with murder in this environment is

as chilling as the stunning cinematography, and the complex emotions felt

by Qalli and Aivaaq effectively drawn.

The suggestion of old-world values embraced by the community colliding with its younger generation also adds welcome depth. [Chris Fyvie] showing screens 17 Feb and 18 Feb at cineworld

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what’s new online QUIZ TIME bittersweet sister Greig Gallagher at STV praises Your Sister’s Sister as “a shining example of [Lynn] Shelton’s dry wit and her tendency to revel in the hilarity of awkward moments.” http://bit.ly/BittersweetSister films for sale!

Screen Daily’s Sarah Cooper reports on GFF curating an online collection of short films from the Glasgow Short Film Festival’s Scottish Competition.

Each day one film will be featured and available to buy via the GFF’s Facebook page. http://bit.ly/FilmsforSale

finest screenings and events with a Glaswegian slant. http://bit.ly/WeegiePicks

Win tickets to the official afterparty for the world premiere of Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy.

cineskinny You can find all our reviews, previews, and interviews online at TheSkinny. co.uk. Follow the link below or scan our fancy QR code with your smartphone. theskinny.co.uk/CineSkinny

You and four mates could get to join Irvine Welsh and the cast for a night of hedonism in celebration of the world premiere of his latest film, a dark romantic comedy based on the controversial book. DJ sets come from Neil Navarra (Ecstasy’s musical director), John Mancini, Gio Ferri and Andy Raeside.

sean’s weegie picks The Glasgow Film Festival’s resident blogger Sean Welsh dissects this year’s programme, and highlights the

Winners will be notified on Saturday morning. Entrants must be 18 or over.

For full terms and conditions, go to theskinny.co.uk/about/terms Colours presents Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy - Official Afterparty, Saturday 18 February 2012, 11pm

To be in with a chance of winning, simply go to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and answer the following question: Q. Name another Irvine Welsh book that has been made into a film?

Competition closes at 10am, Saturday 18 February.

pics of the day: poster workshop

photo: stuart crawford

did ❝ What ❞ you think?

SIX OF THE BEST TWEETS FROM TWITTER tweet us @skinnyfilm

Chris Martin @littleccm Suited and booted and ready for the Glasgow Film Festival Launch Party #GFF12 @ glasgowfilmfest

@glasgowfilmfest The Glasgow Music & Film Festival is almost here! Great programme running from 16 26 February. Read on! http:// fb.me/1zQhHUQTj

@glasgowpodcart Glasgow Film Festival kicks off tonight! So many things we are looking forward to (@ glasgowfilmfest) http://fb.me/ Ng2i7cUf

@tessahartmann Super excited to be hosting pre-cocktail party with @ glasgowfilmfest tomo evening to celebrate screening of fashion film, A Man’s Story!

nicola balkind @robotnic #GFF12-goers are in for a treat tonight. The opening film, Your Sister’s Sister, is a good’un. Enjoy!

@filmhouse All the best for their opening night to our chums in the west, @glasgowfilmfest (Hey, that rhymes!) http://www. glasgowfilm.org/festival

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