FanTasia Film Fest Reviews: Part One
Down Terrace
(Ben Wheatly)
Imagine the offbeat, character-driven comedy of the Coen Brothers crossed with the working class-themed dramatic realism of Ken Loach and you’ve arrived at Down Terrace.
Ben Wheatly, who honed his skills working in British television, directed and co-wrote this very matter-of-fact story of a family of gangsters trying to root out a snitch in their inner circle. Most of the, er, action takes place in their very average-looking house, where father, mother and grown up son have very typical family squabbles, drink tea and overall live a very mundane life… aside from the fact that they keep killing off those around them.
The everyday-ness of it all is somewhat reminiscent of The Sopranos, the crime drama has a bit of a Blood Simple feel, but it’s dry and subtle as the British version of The Office. The performances are excellent all around (particularly Robert Hill and co-writer Robin Hill, the real life father and son duo who play a very antagonistic father and son here), but the tone may be a bit too slight for either fans of gangster flicks or comedies. I’d say that’s what makes the film such a unique gem. You never know quite where it’s going – in a good way.
Heartless
(Philip Ridley)
If you don’t know who Philip Ridley is, well, you might have
a tough time finding out. His last film (he spends much of his time directing
live theatre), which came out fourteen years ago, was The Passion of Darkly Noon, and his one before that, The Reflecting Skin (1990) has never
been on DVD. The latter title, a truly beautiful, bizarre and morbid prairie
gothic tale, starring Viggo Mortensen, is one of my all time favourite films,
so I was more than a little excited to see this one, about a young
Jim Sturgess is perfectly cast as photographer Jamie Morgan, who yearns to meet a girl who’s not repulsed by his wine-coloured birthmark. In the midst of a rash of hideously violent crimes, seemingly committed by literal demons, Jamie finds himself in a (again, literally) hellish apartment building where Papa B (a seriously frightenng Joseph Mawle) makes him an offer he can’t refuse. (Oh Jamie, have you never read a story or watched a movie about a pact with the devil? These things never work out well…)
Although it’s well worth seeking out for the excellent cast, original storyline and some great visuals, the uneven tone makes this the least of Ridley’s films. Sometimes dead serious, sometimes unexpectedly comedic, it feels like different writers were given different scenes to write in the same film.
Regardless hopefully we don’t have to wait another fourteen years for Ridley to resurface.
Kuroneko
(Kaneto Shindô)
FanTasia also plays a small selection of classic films, and,
like Heartless, Kuroneko is by a writer/director who made one of my all-time
favourite movies, Onibaba (1964). Kaneto
Shindô made this one in 1968 and it’s basically a companion piece to Onibaba. Both movies are set in a
similar time in
Like Onibaba, Kuroneko is gorgeously photographed in black and white, features an amazing, haunting soundtrack of sparse drumbeats and creepy percussion; mixes the erotic, the violent and the supernatural in an atmosphere of otherworldly desperation; and technically it’s near perfection.
I’d be surprised if Criterion, which put out Onibaba, hasn’t already picked this up for a North American DVD release. Amazing, Shindô, who is almost a 100, is still alive and making films, so let’s hope he does a commentary for this masterpiece.
-Dave Alexander
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