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Dead by Venice
IT'S ALL RURAL PSYCHOSIS AND DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES
Tony McKibbin checks out what’s really on offer at this year’s DEAD BY DAWN and ITALIAN FILM festivals.
I might not seem the most obvious thing in the world
to twin two apparently antithetical lilm l'estiyals —- a
horror Test and a ‘specialised' national l‘estiyal —- but let's lace it. Italy has produced some of' the key horrors of the last hall century. maybe most notably films by Mario Baya and Dario .-\rgento.
This year's horror highlights include [floor/slim! tpicturedl by .lim .\lc.\lahon and The Dark Hours by (‘anadian lilmmaker Paul l3os. Bloods/ml is firmly in the tradition of‘ the .-\merican (iothic. with rural psychosis and dysl'unctiomil lamilies. while The Dark Hours is a slightly tnore cerebral take on the reyenge drama: a doctor illegally tests a dodgy drug on her patient. who then naturally wants his own back. Look out also for a finely made l‘iye-minute short called I)_\1snto/'p/trt.
The Italian l‘ilm l‘estiyal is always in a hit til at conundrtun. The heyday has long since passed. but what is more :ulyenturous: to show great films by .-\ntonioni. l‘cllini. Bellocchio and others. or to keep up with more recent works. c\ en it' the films themselyes are less innoyatiye than their t'ot‘eheai‘s'.’ (‘onseryatism beckons both ways: to look at the past might seem a hit la/y. to look at the present crop is unayoidably restricting because of the limitations ot‘ the films themselyes. This year they haye done their best to resolye this dilemma. not only with many new releases. but also with a thematic look at Rome. courtesy of (‘entro Sperimentale de (‘inematogratia The latter eschews the most UthUUs choices and searches out films that will probably be quite unfamiliar to British \iewers: films like Ettore Scola's l‘)7—l “'4' .-\ll [.orct/ [fur/i ()t/tcr So Much. a silent era Quit Units". and Mauro Bolognini's late Slls ()n Any Street.
44 THE LIST .4‘ 'v.'.a' '-1 At"
()T the newer releases you should try and catch l’rimo Aurore. Matteo (iart'one‘s drama about an obsessiye goldsmith who tries to shape his new loy er into something exquisite by monitering her weight loss. In essence it‘s a psy'chodrama. in which the woman is the yictim of an unstable man's ga/e. Sily io Bl't’tltl um! Tulips Soldini returns with another low -key bittersweet farce. xlgut/iu and the Storm. It's about a brother and his halt-sister looking for onc in \arious shapes and forms. ()ne searches for the lather he ney er knew. the other for the man other dreams. Then there is Andrea and Antonio l‘ra/li's Stu/wt ('lii/rllimul. which pretty tnuch does what it says on the tin. with the youthful characters caught in gangland actiyity when really. as the film proposes. they should be kicking a ball around with their mates. l-‘rancesco l’atierno‘s Pater Hunt/tux bears similarities with Stu/wt (iii/(Ilium! but is certainly rougher-edged. and there is barely a moment in the film when someone isn‘t abtising someone else. But Patierno also tries to inyest a reflectiye edge in proceedings in order to balance degradation. but this perhaps ultimately arriyes too close to sentiment instead. .»\nd if‘ his two preyious lilms l’i::it'utu and .S'ungm' rim are anything to go by Iidoardo Winspeare‘s 'Iltc .Illl'tlt'lt’ has got to be worth a look. You might also want to steal an early peek of Paolo Sorrentino's ('ortst't/m'itr'r's of I.r)t‘(' which gets a proper release here in June.
The Italian Film Festival is at GFT, Glasgow and Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 8-Thu 28 Apr. (www.italianfilmfestival.org.uk) Dead by Dawn is at Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Thu 21 Apr-Sun 24 Apr (www.deadbydawn.co.uk).
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THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES
Bullet Boy British cinema finally gets its own versron of L'Haine With this naturalistic London estate-based drama abetit black on black youth violence. Stars Luke Fraser and Ashley Walters. See review and profile. Selected release.
>I< The Assassination of Richard Nixon Sean Penn on top form as a 19705 disenfranchised used tyre salesman Sam 8ch. who plans to kill the preSident in this slow burning cult gem. Based on a true story. See feature and revrew. Selected release.
>l= Ma Mere More French brutalism and sexual extremism in Christophe Honore's compelling adaptation of Georges Bataiite's difficult novel about a bereaved. mentally perverse mother who destroys all in her path. including her own son. Yet again Isabelle Huppert is amazing. See review. Fi/mhouse. Edinburgh (Fri t—Thu 8 Apr only).
* The Italian Film Festival The best the booted country has to offer in cinema at the moment. See preview. GET. Glasgow and Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
=l< Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow Angelop0ulos' wonderful sweeping epic. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
=l< 5x2 Ozon's clever deconstruction of a marriage in default. Selected release.
=l< Hotel Rwanda Powerful ClVll war drama set in the 19905. General release.
* Project Grizzly Brilliant 1996 documentary about the bear-loving scientist Troy Hurtubise finally released on DVD. See DVD panel. Out now (Revolver).
* Bang Rajan The most successful Thai film ever made available on DVD. A brutal historical siege epic set in the 17705 on the border with Burma. this has to be seen to be believed. See review. Out now (Premier Asrai
* The Garden Classic Derek Jarman finally available on DVD. See review. Out now (Artificial Eye).