STUART STAPLES
Born Stuart Ashton Staples. 14 November 1965.
Background Staples is the lead singer of Tindersticks. an originally Nottingham-based band formed in late 1991. Initially called Asphalt Ribbons. the band changed their name after Staples found a box of German matches on a beach in Greece. Between them they've scored five Denis films. with Tindersticks doing Nénette and Boni. Trouble Every Day and 35 Shots of Rum. while Hinchliffe scored Vendredi Soir and Staples did The Intruder.
How did you meet Claire Denis? “She came along to one of our gigs in Paris and wanted to talk to us. We got on well, searched out some of her work and ended up watching her debut feature Chocolat. We then went on to provide the soundtrack for Nénette et Boni.’
What is it like working with the director? ‘She likes to include you in the process, but we don't always talk much. I like the way she doesn’t spell everything out, and I think as she goes on, the more painterly and abstract she gets. This always makes working with her interesting because she's always experimenting. You've got to find a way in. to find the music that reveals without being obvious. In Trouble Every Day it was about kissing. and so that became the basis for the music. In The Intruder I found it more difficult; I never quite found a melody for the film. 35 Shots of Fium was much easier. It was about the simplicity of the everyday.’
Do you see yourself as someone who will continue doing film scenes? ‘I don’t think we have any real ambition to score films. Though my bandmate David [Boulter] was very much into film scores. from Ennio Morricone to John Barry, back in Nottingham. we're a bit suspicious of most film music. Most film scores manipulate the viewer; they don't allow the imagination to wander.’ Interesting fact
Staples credits his croony voice to his mum. who played nothing but Neil Diamond for the first eight years of his life. (Tony McKibbin)
48 Till LIST 9—23 Jul 2009
SCl Fl/DRAMA MOON (15) 97min eeee
Cleverly conceived, evenly paced and consistently intriguing, this old- school science fiction thriller is a very welcome repost to the numbing spectacle of what passes for sci-ti these days. Taking his cue from genre classics from the late 19608 through early 803 - 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running, Aliens, Out/and - debuting co-writer and director Duncan Jones eschews the post-Star Wars special effects and action-oriented clatter and gives us a cerebral adventure that’s as thought-provoking as it is thrilling.
Set in the near-ish future, Sam Rockwell plays a mining engineer working for a corporation that’s found a new source of energy for the clapped-out planet Earth on the far side of its moon. As he nears the end of his three- year contract, during which his only companion on the moon-base is an artificially intelligent computer named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), cabin fever begins to take hold.
To say any more would spoil the enjoyment of this smartly executed film. Jones, who, like Ridley Scott, learned the tricks of the trade directing commercials, takes his time setting up a very convincing future world before introducing a mind-bending turn of events and finally unloading a great pay-off. Made on a minuscule budget, Moon nevertheless looks fantastic, from the authentic moon-base to the weird lunar surface. And, at the centre of it all, Rockwell gives a typically charismatic performance that provides the film with some genuine dramatic clout. Moon heralds the arrival of an impressive talent. (Miles Fielder)
I General release from Fri 17 Jul. See interview with Duncan Jones, page 46.
COMEDY FIRED UP! (12A) 89min eee
DRAMA
35 SHOTS OF RUM (35 RHUMS)
(12A) 101min eeee-
Claire Denis' latest venture is a far more intimate affair than 2004 's sprawling and elliptical The Intruder and a fine addition to the director's challenging and protean body of work. Centring on the delicate but loving bond between a father and his daughter, 35 Shots of Rum is also her most accessible. tender and warm- hearted film yet.
Fans of her work will be gratified once more by the lush cinematography of Denis regular Agnes Godard and the atmospheric musical score by Stuart Staples of Tindersticks fame; what they might be more surprised by. however. is Denis' use of a simpler and more linear narrative form.
While Denis' newest film is certainly less opaque than previous efforts. it is no less complex in its investigation of the negotiation between ‘self' and 'other’ and the difficulties of forming and sustaining any human relationship.
The cast (including other Denis regulars Alex Descas and Gregoire Colin) are uniformly excellent. but newcomer Mati Diop gives an especially impressive and understated performance as Josephine, a girl who seems reluctant to cross over the threshold into adulthood. but whohas also accepted its responsibilities earlier on in life than she perhaps should have. Highly recommended. (Anna Rogers)
I Cameo, Edinburgh and selected release from Fri 70 Jul. See profile of Stuart Staples, left.
pleasing effect.
(Eddie Harrison)
Two sex-hungry high school jocks. who don't fancy summer in a baking hot football training camp, decide to infiltrate the girls' cheerleader training instead. It's a blatantly misogynist notion for comedy. yet director Will Gluck pulls off a far better film than its synopsis might suggest. combining the better elements of the American Pie and Bring It On series to mildly
While at least a decade longer in the tooth than any high- schooler should be, Eric Christian Olsen and Nicholas D'Agosto are personably cast as Nick and Shawn. idiot studs with a line in matey knockabout humour that harks back to Bill and Ted '3 Excellent Adventure by way of Dude, Where '3 My Car? Despite coming from the unpromisingly titled Gross Productions company. Fired Up! is surprisingly mature in the way it turns genre and gender expectations on their heads. with innuendo rather than swearing and little nudity on show as Nick and Shawn end up rejecting frat-b0y foolishness to develop their feminine sides through pom-pom action.
I General release from Fri 10 Jul.