Edinburgh International FILM FESTIVAL

Returning Tide Paul Dale rediscovers the unappreciated strangeness of 70s UK cinema through the After the Wave retrospective

O K film studies students, it’s time for a refresher on British New Wave cinema. Marked by an obsession with social realism and class, the New Wave lasted from 1959-1963, and had its roots in theatre and literature, most noticeably the plays and novels of John Osborne, Shelagh Delaney, Alan Sillitoe, John Braine, Stan Barstow and David Storey. Effectively running from a phenomenal adaptation of Braine’s Room at the Top in 1958 to Storey’s own adaptation of his novel This Sporting Life in 1963, the New Wave was a movement that nurtured and established the talents of great directors and actors, Tony Richardson, Karel Reisz, John Schlesinger, Albert Finney, Rita Tushingham, Tom Courtenay, Alan Bates, Rachel Roberts and Richard Harris among them. And then things went a bit mental.

Glitterball

This year’s EIFF retrospective is a reflection of just how gloriously mental things got. After the Wave goes in search of lost and forgotten British Films from 1967-79, a period that (similarly to recent times) stretched from a moment of apparent national wealth and security to complete economic meltdown in just twelve years. It has taken programmer Niall Greig Fulton a year of hardcore detective work to line up this frankly bonkers selection of films. His enthusiasm for the project has clearly not diminished.

THIS IS A REFLECTION OF HOW GLORIOUSLY MENTAL THINGS GOT

‘Look at a film like Peter Watkins Privilege it foresees all the celebrity hysteria and media manipulation brought about by Simon Cowell and his ilk,’ he gushes. Barely stopping for breath, he continues his advocacy: ‘Or The Squeeze, I refer to that film as the greatest British thriller ever made, it’s right up there with Get Carter and The Long Good Friday.’

of innocence will certainly be tempering the madness. ‘These films are so stylish, saucy, off-beat and undervalued, I just want people to see them.’ Fulton laughs, slightly maniacally. It’s been a long journey of rediscovery for him. After the Wave, various venues,Thu 17–Sun 27 Jun.

Fulton finds modern relevance in all the films, for example Peter Cook’s 1970 political satire, The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer: ‘When that film came out prime ministers were not young men and it was seen as a complete flight of fancy, but how telling is it now in the aftermath of the recent election?’ Fulton also effuses about Barney Platt Mills’ long unavailable Private Road. ‘It’s like an Eric Rohmer film with typewriters, partly set in the Scottish Highlands.’ And Long Shot, a quirky and comic inside-the-movies fable set the background of the 1977 EIFF (when it was at Randolph Crescent). With three films against

based

from the long dormant Children’s Foundation also showing as part of the retrospective, nostalgia and a certain kind Film

Vanessa Howard in The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer

The Squeeze

THE HUNTER HUGE

OLLIE EVIL IN THE TIME OF

TOY STORY 3 NENETTE

A nightwatchman who goes on a journey of retribution

for his missing wife and daughter. Cameo, Fri 18 Jun, 8.15pm & Sun 20 Jun, 8pm.

WORLD PREMIEREI Buddy movie set in the seedy world of stand-up comedy, starring Noel Clarke and Johnny Harris. Cineworld, Fri 18 Jun, 6pm & Cameo, Sun 20 Jun, 3.45pm.

KEPLER’S HEROES

EXPANDING PURPLE WORLD

WORLD PREMIEREI

Edward Hogg stars as sweet- natured geek Ollie, whose sanity scurries away when tragedy strikes. Cineworld, Fri 18 Jun, 6.30pm & Sun 20 Jun, 6pm.

Tongue-in-cheek zombie apocalypse featuring Billy Zane as a time-travelling zombie hunter. Cameo, Fri 18 Jun, 10.45pm & Thu 24 Jun, 11pm.

Possibly the most- anticipated

blockbuster of the year, with the newly 3D gang planning to escape a day-care centre. Cineworld, Sat 19 Jun, 6pm, 6.15pm & 6.30pm.

This tender and funny film watches 40-year-old Nenette the orangutan, while listening to the revealing remarks of her visitors. Cameo, Sat 19 & Sun 20 Jun, 6pm.

26 THE LIST 10–24 Jun 2010