EIFF: 18/06/10
Cherry Tree Lane
Pat says:
With 2006’s London to Brighton, Paul Andrew Williams demonstrated his ability to do rough, raw UK drama. He’s on similar ground with Cherry Tree Lane, a grim take on Britain’s culture of fear and scaremongering. As a middle-class couple sit down to a bitter and tense dinner, the 24 news channel reports on an endless stream of fear-inducing stories. A gang of youths burst into the house and, taking obvious cues from Michael Haneke’s Funny Games, the couple are tied up and subjected to beatings and torture. While Haneke’s emotionless captors have no apparent motive (a comment on the passive acceptance of onscreen violence and horror?), Williams’ are driven by a clear motivation of revenge. This crucial difference throws up interesting questions about the intentions of the director. Is the film torture porn? Is it a wish fulfilment anti-bourgeoisie fantasy? It’s a debate not dissimilar to the furore surrounding the recent release of Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me and it’s sure to be a talking point come the film’s theatrical release. Regardless, the film is viscerally effective and with its minimal score and the use of off-screen sound effects is at times unbearably tense.
Stephen says:
I agree largely with Pat on this. It feels like a kind of cover version of Funny Games, recontextualising the basic premise in order to illustrate different themes and ideas. I’m just not entirely sure if those themes and ideas are consistent with each other. As Pat pointed out, the use of the 24-hour news channels made it initially seem like it was going to make some kind of point disparaging the fear-multiplying tactics used by the media, but the actual events almost validate those very same tactics. However, the performances all very good and believable, creating a genuine and all too believable sense of fear.
You can see Cherry Tree Lane at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 21st at 19:45, Cameo 1, and June 25th at 20:35, Cameo 1.
Superhero Me
Pat says:
Coming hard on the heels of Michael Vaughan’s Kick-Ass, Superhero Me is a charming and amiable documentary on what it would take to be a real-life superhero. As director Steve Sale attempts to become a superhero, the film breezes by and has several genuinely funny moments. However, it’s clear he felt the pressure to add some profundity and emotional heft to the tale and this becomes clearly apparent in the third act. The film runs out of steam and begins to feel cynically forced, but there is plenty of fun to be had in the first hour.
Stephen says:
This extreme low-budget documentary would probably be better served on TV. I can’t help but feel like if he had approached Channel 4 or BBC Three or something first, he could have had more of a budget, more support and more of an audience.
You can see Superhero Me at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 2oth at 22.15, Cameo 1, and June 21st at 22.00, Cameo 1.
Boy
Pat says:
Boy is an absolute joy from start to finish. Set in 1980s New Zealand, Taika Waititi’s comedy is drenched in comic nostalgia and lovingly mocks the period of its setting. Fans of Flight of the Conchords will find much to cherish here, as the director’s history on the show is apparent from the onset. However, it is the moving central relationship between a son and his father that really drives the film. Waititi himself plays the father, a hilarious buffoon who has questionable motivations for returning to the children he has not seen since his imprisonment. The son, known as Boy, looks up to his father and longs to emulate his laid-back, cool lifestyle. However, the father is incapable of being paternal and forces Boy to grow up quickly. The comedy is beautifully observed, the heavier moments display a lovely lightness of touch, while the characters and depiction of the setting feel autobiographically accurate.
Boy does not yet have a UK release date.
