sneersnipe film review

If you want to watch contemporary British film where do you go? You go north of course for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Determining the anachronism that calls itself British film is tricky in today's global economy; we do after all share a common language with the world's biggest film exporter and have one of the world's biggest multimedia companies, the BBC, as the UK's state broadcaster. Ever since Alexander Korda's dream at Denham died, British cinema has been cursed with great talent and greater inability to create anything sustainable resembling a domestic film industry. Recent films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Harry Potter series may make millions at the international box office, and be shot in Britain and mostly manned by British crews and actors, but are they British Films? As Hal Hartly says in All The President's Men 'Follow the money'...

Anyway, the Edinburgh Film Festival is a real challenge. The Cannes Film Festival may have swiped the odd title here and there, but where else can you go to a film festival dominated by contemporary British films? Simple - you go north. Here is a mantra engrained by the nearly 60 odd years the Edinburgh Film Festival has been running – one of the longest continually running film festivals in the world. Film like everything else in the arts world migrates for the summer, accumulating in Edinburgh for August. The result is a monthly extravaganza of all things arts and an easy distraction for the unwary. So in some senses this is a film festival for purists, those focused souls hungering to push past all that theatre, stand-up comedy and all the rest. Other film festivals may be exclusive or profess to possessing the best line-up but few have the active competition of every other art imaginable (and more besides) going on in the same city, at the same time. And still the festival runs, so they must be doing something right.

Admittance of this very dilemma dominates the 2005 Edinburgh Film Festival printed programme, a garish road map, full of tips designed to make the whole nightmarish experience of deciding exactly what to watch slightly more bearable. Once one has decided to watch films the thorny problem of what exactly to watch is then encountered. Edinburgh's programme succeeds partially too, imbuing the entire experience with something resembling fun even providing a 'suggest-o-tron' to signpost viewers in certain directions. For the casual viewer deciding what to see when confronted with hundreds of brand new or rare films is as disorientating as marching into a video shop and trying to pick a title without any prior knowledge; all those DVD covers screaming at you for attention does not necessarily lead to a wise choice. One approach is to watch as much as possible but invariably at a festival you will miss something that is subsequently described as 'unmissable'. Taking on five films in a day can also diminish the experience as a whole. Such is life!

So after much talk of that fabled beast the 'British film' we shall see what's on offer this year. The highlight is the Michael Powell Award, a competition of British films. Last year's award went deservedly to My Summer of Love and significant films also in the running were Dead Man's Shoes, Hamburg Cell and Yasmin. This year it's possible that the standard might be even better. Major festival names reoccur with The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael, Thomas Clay's debut work that made waves at Cannes this year with its violence, and David Mackenzie's Asylum which debuted at Berlin. Asylum, a Patrick McGrath adaptation, will hopefully be better than both David Cronenberg's McGrath adaptation Spider and Mackenzie's last film Young Adam. Both Spider and Young Adam were accomplished films but they seemed somewhat lacking compared to either director's previous work. Actor Richard E. Grant has his directorial debut with Wah-Wah a semi-autobiographical tale of the dying days of British Rule in Africa. Wah-Wah is also the festival's opening film. Writer Neil Gaiman (he of Sandman fame and much besides) meanwhile has written MirrorMask, a fantasy film directed by Dave McKean and Jason Biggs turns up in Guy X, a M.A.S.H. meets Catch 22 US military scenario that is somehow, somewhere (only in the UK) a British film. The Business, the next from Football Factory director Nick Love, closes the festival on the last night. Of interest out of competition is Snuff-Movie, a British film that takes a leaf out of the 70’s horror revival to reportedly devastating effect.

Aside from these vast numbers of other films are being shown as well as the festival's Reel Life series, discussions with prominent film folk including Ken Adam, James Torback, Paul Schrader, Albert Maysles, Joss Wheedon and more, and the retrospective season which this year is dedicated to the work of Michael Powell - one of Britain's greatest filmmakers.

Five to watch
In no particular order. This selection inevitably says more about me than the festival.

Battle in Heaven
Carlos Reygadas’ second feature after Japon carries similarities to Sympathy for Mr Vengeance with themes of accidental child killing and more besides.

The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael
Thomas Clay took his 'ultra-violent and nauseating, but technically dazzling' debut to Cannes this year. Now we get a chance to appraise the hype.

The Michael Powell Retrospective
The few Michael Powell films I have seen are frankly stunning. Here are lots of them within easy reach.

The Moustache
A man shaves off his moustache only to find out that he never, in fact, actually had a moustache in the first place. Existential thrills ensue.

Serenity
Television character maestro Joss Wheedon had his television series Firefly, a western set in space, cancelled in the first season. Rarely are we given second chances like this one, as Firefly now lives on as a feature film.

Recommendations

4
See the review here...

The Michael Powell Award Nominations 2005
The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael
The Business
MirrorMask
Asylum
Guy X
Green Street
On a Clear Day
Gypo
Wah-Wah
Stoned
Song of Songs
Rag Tale
Tsotsi