Film DVD Reviews www.list.co.uk/film
DOCUMENTARY STEAL THIS FILM (E) 95min (Artefact) ●●●●●
Updated and elongated from the 2006 internet feature which became a word-of-mouth phenomenon (attracting over five million downloads allegedly), Jamie King’s undeniably partisan film looks again at Pirate Bay – a peer- to-peer website INTERVIEW
enabling users to download pirated
of copyright theft, from the destruction of long established film distribution models to a freeing up of access to new talent. Minimal extras. (Paul Dale) THRILLER A DANGEROUS MAN (18) 90min (Optimum) ●●●●●
material. Detailing how it grew from a basement in Mexico to a global media threat, Steal This Film does nothing to alleviate the doubt that international law enforcement agencies are actually only there to uphold capitalism in all its media incarnations. By way of balance, however, this new version delves deeper into the cultural and economical implications
Akido master, Buddhist, blues musician, Louisiana Sheriff’s deputy, ship’s galley porter, ex-Mr Kelly LeBrock, fan of Italian designer leatherwear and most recently straight-to-DVD action hero Steven Seagal returns as a taciturn tough guy who’s released from prison after serving 15 long ones for a murder he didn’t commit only to find himself trapped in a turf war between the Mexican mafia and US state troopers. Carrying a terrified lady witness to an illegal diamond deal gone sour under his wing, the ponytailed one must fight his way out of a corrupt border town full of Me-hi-cans loaded with serious ordinance. If you’ve got a game
sense of humour, or you’re an acolyte of Seagalogy, then this typically violent nonsense will keep you entertained until Seagal returns to the big screen in Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse spin-off Machete, in which the knocking-on-60 lunk co-stars alongside Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba, Rose McGowan and Cheech Marin. Smokin’! No extras. (Miles Fielder)
DOCUMENTARY YOUNG IN HEART (E) 100min (Panamint) ●●●●●
Scottish industrial history buffs are in for a treat with this, the latest
As the rediscovered 1949 classic The Queen of Spades returns to cinemas, original cast member Michael Medwin talks to Miles Fielder about his 60-year career
‘The Queen of Spades is a terrific film,’ Medwin says. ‘It’s a very gripping piece. At the time, it was one of the most expensive British films and, at the time, it was critically acclaimed. It’s nice that it’s being resuscitated.’ Born in London in 1923, Medwin made his acting debut in the 1946
wartime drama Piccadilly Incident. He subsequently went on to enjoy a long and distinguished career as a character actor on the stage and screen, in recognition of which he was awarded an OBE in 2005. Medwin has played Alfie on the London stage, appeared in Carry On and James Bond films and on television in everything from Minder to The Bill. Last year, he was opposite Keira Knightley in The Duchess and in the New Year he’ll be at the newly refurbished Bristol Old Vic in a new version of Romeo and Juliet set in an old people’s home.
‘Acting was something I wanted to do,’ Medwin says, ‘and by good fortune I found I could do it quite well, which is a help in a high risk business. I’m very excited about Romeo and Juliet, in which I play an ageing Paris. I’ll probably be hobbling around from ward to ward.’
In the mid-1960s, Medwin began producing films starting with Charlie Bubbles starring Albert Finney and continuing with If... and O Lucky Man! for director Lindsay Anderson, Spring and Port Wine with James Mason and Gumshoe, again for Finney. He is currently chairman of a theatre company whose celebrated London production of Brief Encounter has recently enjoyed success in New York.
‘My friend Albert Finney had a production company that was
moribund and has he asked me to activate it. I said, “I’ll have a go.” And Lindsay, he was a fantastic filmmaker and a dear friend. I was actually directed by him on stage in Joe Orton’s What the Butler Saw, which was said to be the definitive production. I still miss him terribly.’ ■ The Queen of Hearts, Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Sat 26 Dec and on DVD from Mon 18 Jan. See review, next issue.
68 THE LIST 17 Dec 2009–7 Jan 2010
bosses.
Dismissed on its initial release as publicly funded, pseudo- feminist politico nonsense, The Gold Diggers now looks like a very radical experiment in form and then there’s its almost soothsayer relevance to the recent economic meltdown. Working with an all woman crew and employing a fairly splenetic approach to plot, this bewildering and intriguing film is ripe for rediscovery. Extras include five early shorts by Potter, downloadable PDF letters by Sally Potter and star Julie Christie and extracts from the original script and National Film Theatre programme notes by Potter for The Gold Diggers season in 1984. (Paul Dale)
DOCUMENTARY RIP! A REMIX MANIFESTO (E) 80min (Artefact) ●●●●●
The second documentary released this month to deal with copyright infringement (see Steal This Film review above) focuses in on the music industry. Director Brett Gaynor’s fast paced and energetic film initially follows remix artist Girl Talk as he samples other artists to create his own distinctive ‘mash-up’ sound. The film is then opened up to a larger debate on the rights and wrongs of copyright infringement and its consequences. For the younger digitally savvy viewer – who has always been able to commit such infringements with impunity – this will make fascinating viewing, if only as a warning of possible penalties to come (if you’re not careful). Minimal extras. (Paul Dale)
collection in a Scottish Industrial DVD series, featuring five films about Scottish industry from the 1950s–1970s. Honed from the National Library of Scotland’s Scottish Screen Archive the shorts here include Rivers at Work (1958) about the electrification of the Highlands by the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board, with a commentary by legendary Scottish documentarian John Grierson. Best of the bunch though is Young in Heart (1963) an educational film about the development and production of the Hillman Imp car at the Linwood industrial plant featuring Bill Simpson (television’s Dr Finlay). A great late Christmas gift for aging Scottish nationalists at home and abroad (that’s you Sir Sean). Minimal extras. (Paul Dale) DRAMA THE GOLD DIGGERS (U) 89min (BFI) ●●●●●
Long unavailable in any format Sally Orlando Potter’s 1983 debut feature re-emerges on lovingly restored DVD with a ton of extras. Colette (Colette Laffont) is a black French woman working in the City as a computer operator at a bank. When she begins to investigate the significance of the numbers she copies she discovers things she shouldn’t. The discovery brings her into contention with her male