London Film Fest 2011 Day 4 - BERNADETTE: NOTES ON A POLITICAL JOURNEY

BERNADETTE: NOTES ON A POLITICAL JOURNEY is a simply brilliantly made documentary about a simply amazing woman. A woman, mind you, that I hadn't heard of before I sat down to watch the movie, but that I am now convinced is a deeply important figure in British and Irish political history - the kind of woman we should be taught about in school. The sad thing is that while I think this movie should be seen by all, it doesn't yet have a commercial release date - in fact it doesn't even have a page on IMDBPro! - something I hope will be rectified by the end of the festival.

Bernadette Devlin's story begins in an impoverished large Catholic family in Northern Ireland in the 50s and 60s. Orphaned early, raised by strong women - grandmothers, nuns - she became a radical politician in university, battling for Irish civil rights. She was the youngest elected MP in decades; served time for her actions at the Battle of the Bogside; witnessed Bloody Sunday; and punched Reginald Maudling in the House of Commons when he claimed the police shooting of unarmed civilians was in self-defence. In the 1970s she suffered an assassination attempt by the UFF - an attempt the police did nothing to present - and was a powerful voice during the early 80s hunger strikes. And in the 1990s she was effectively blocked from opposing the peace process when her daughter was dragged through the courts. Throughout, she comes across as fiercely intelligent, full of integrity, and inspiring.

Director Lelia Doolan brilliantly fillets the historical record - TV footage, newspaper headlines - in support of her candid interviews with Bernadette over the past decade - the real strength and heart of the film. The resulting film feels well-researched, economically told, and full of genuine insight. Bernadette's voice feels unmediated, full of integrity and compelling. And I didn't miss talking head interviews with her contemporaries - because of the way in which the archive footage was used. 

Earlier this week, I was listening to a Radio 4 programme where an author reminded us that the "first" British Empire, was the Empire at home - the conquest of Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It's something that is easy to forget. It's also easy to forget how recently that political entanglement was causing violence - from the hunger strikes in the early 80s back to Bloody Sunday and before. It's also easy to forget that while our civil liberties were massively eroded in the post 9/11 period - and we were horrified about detention without limit in Guantanemo - that these policies were all in action in Northern Ireland long before - with internment camps and the brutalisation of the Catholic population. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is unforgivable not to try to understand the Irish conflict better, and that this documentary is a crucial and valuable part of that process. It deserves to be seen as widely as possible. 

BERNADETTE: NOTES ON A POLITICAL JOURNEY has no commercial release date yet.

Late review - London Film Fest Day 2010 Day 11 - SENSATION

You might recognise Domhnall (son of Brendan) Gleeson, the star of SENSATION, from his role as Bill Weasley in the HARRY POTTER flicks. Well, get that image of wholesome family entertainment right out of your mind, because SENSATION is altogether more bleak, more raw, and more uncomfortable to watch. Domhnall plays a feckless young man who inherits a crumbling, shitty little farm in the Irish countryside, and the first thing he does with his new money is hire a hooker. Nervous and anxious in her company, he soon affects a startling transformation into a pimp - slick clothes, new flat, a couple more prostitutes. The mechanics are shown in a very matter-of-fact way - in particular the way in which new girls are recruited, fitted out, and put to work before they can even catch their breath or form any regrets. As the film reaches its conclusion, we see the rozzers close in on Donal and Kim, and their true colours revealed. As in the way of these movies, the hooker turns out to have more integrity than the punter, and our suspicions about who's really exploiting whom are confirmed.

SENSATION is trying to do a couple of things - it's trying to be a black comedy about an idiot boy turning shark and it's trying to be social realist in its portrayal of lonely rural men using prostitutes. The pace didn't slacken and it was an interesting watch, but I can't say that it was particularly memorable. I think the problem is that it isn't consistently funny enough as a comedy, nor is it gritty enough as a social expose. Moreover, the emotional arc is entirely predictable. So, as much as I admire the film-makers for tackling such a subject head on, I can't say this is a movie that particular deserves a wider release. But I'll be looking forward to director Tom Hall's next effort, and I really liked DP Benito Strangio's bleak cinematography.

SENSATION has no commercial release date yet.

London Film Fest Day 12 - CRACKS

CRACKS is a coming-of-age drama set in a British girls boarding school in the 1930s. Eva Green plays the glamorous Miss G who holds the diving team in thrall, particularly the captain, Di (Juno Temple.) The order is upset when an equally glamorous new girl arrives. Fiamma is Spanish, an aristocrat, beautiful and has travelled widely. Her self-possession and sophistication stands in sharp contrast to the other girls, and Miss G soon makes her a favourite, upsetting Di. The majority of the film deal Di vacillating position in coming to terms with Fiamma’s usurpation and Miss G’s increasingly unhealthy obsession with her. The cracks of the title refer to the girls finding the cracks in Miss G’s persona, and in their faith in authority.

This story is nothing we haven’t seen before in film such as THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE and turns out to be rather more obvious and less seditious than that seminal work. The production values are all top notch (superlative photography from John Mathieson and a particularly good score from Javier Navarrete) but the story is intensely predictable from the start. In particular, anyone who sees that Fiamma has a breathing problem in the first reel can see where the movie is going. The enjoyment is thus comes from the little moments that ring true. I loved a scene where the girls prepare for a midnight feast, and another where they get excited/disappointing by the arrival or lack thereof of post from home. Anyone who went to a boarding school will agree that these moments are marvellously well done. Juno Temple gives a strong central performance as Di, and Eva Green is strong as Miss G. In terms of conveying a magnetic sexuality that inspires high school crushes, Green is just right. But I do question casting her given her accented English, or at least casting her without changing her name to hint at a more cosmopolitan heritage. But then that would work against a key point in the plot

Overall, while CRACKS is certainly an assured debut feature from Jordan Scott (daughter of Ridley) it‘s high quality production is almost too good for the rather hackneyed story of a high school infatuation gone wrong.

CRACKS played Toronto and London 2009. It will be released in the UK on December 4th and in France on December 30th.