Films

Film Review: Mindhorn

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A murder takes place on the Isle of Man, a place where serious crime is not a frequent occurrence. But what is most surprising is that MI5 Special Operative Bruce Mindhorn is called in to help. The catch? Mindhorn is a detective from a 1980s British TV show. Richard Thorncroft (Julian Barratt) used to play Mindhorn way back in his heyday. The world has since forgotten him, except maybe one vulnerable individual, played by Russell Tovey, going by the name of the Kestrel.

The plot is ridiculous, and so are the film’s protagonists. Barratt is expressive and physical in his portrayal of Thorncroft. A man with an apparently blasé approach to danger, he blurs the line between superhero and average Joe. Richard Thorncroft is a man who used to be something but no longer is, and it’s this foolishness and ludicrous self-denial that makes his character so appealing. There is a vulnerability to him that endears us. He is simultaneously self-conscious and unashamed.

Simon Farnaby, as well as co-writing the film with Barratt, plays Thorncroft’s Dutch ex-stunt double and rival. Now in a relationship with Thorncroft’s ex-wife, it is understandable that these two don’t get on. Barratt and Farnaby feed off each other’s energy; they have always worked well together on screen.

And the addition of Tovey is a wise decision. The childlike innocence of this Mindhorn-enthusiast combined with that trademark cheeky glint in Tovey’s eye makes for some brilliant moments of contrast between himself and our protagonist. He is the only character, it seems, who takes Thorncroft/Mindhorn seriously. His ex, Patricia (Essie Davis) and former Mindhorn sidekick Peter Eastman (Steve Coogan), definitely do not appear to attribute much credibility to Thorncroft, and rightly so. The Isle of Man has moved on without him, but maybe it is finally time for Mindhorn to return to the public eye.

Mindhorn is an incredibly quotable film, and one that groups of people seem to enjoy talking about a great deal. And most importantly, it is devilishly funny. This film is packed full of idiosyncrasies and though we may feel as though we have seen enough films about celebrity has-beens in recent years (think Alpha Papa, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie), Mindhorn is certainly not a slave to stereotype.

Prevenge Screening and Q&A with Alice Lowe

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Alice Lowe has been touring the country with preview screenings of Prevenge, including Chapter Arts Cardiff on January 24th. Hailing from the Midlands and having starred in comedies such as Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Hot Fuzz and Sightseers, Alice Lowe is an artist whose work I have always followed. Prevenge is the first feature film Lowe has directed, filmed over eleven days in Cardiff, and it is fair to say you won’t have seen anything like it before.

Ruth (Alice Lowe) is our protagonist. Her husband, and soon-to-be father of her baby, has been killed in a climbing ‘accident’. Prevenge begins under tragic circumstances with a bitter edge that becomes increasingly apparent, as Ruth and her unborn daughter crave vengeance. The setting is bleak, yet the cinematography is beautiful, and Lowe’s trademark sharp wit sends ripples of guilty laughter through the audience. Although this film will certainly satisfy fans of slasher horror, revenge movies and dark comedies, there is something else about Prevenge that makes it particularly unsettling. Yes, it is gory. Not your usual dimly lit hallways, full-moon horror, but  a far more vulnerable, open-air, broad-daylight violence.

© Alice Lowe

Though relatively short for a feature film, an impressive amount of action is compressed within its 90-or-so minutes. And not only this, Lowe’s aptitude for character development still takes precedence. Ruth and baby’s victims are often given limited screen time, yet audiences are given a well-rounded picture of who each of these people are and what they represent. We get an idea of their attitudes and personality traits deemed to be negative, thus meaning that their killings have particular comedic impact. And the faces of Ruth’s victims are recognisable, including the likes of Mike Wozniak, Tom Meeten and Dan Skinner.

The Q&A session after the screening proved valuable in aiding the audience’s understanding of the key issues of the film and artistic decisions in production. Alice herself is very astute in her creative thinking, as well as being relentlessly humble. She explains how she came up with the idea for Prevenge whilst six months pregnant, wrote the script in a matter of days and then, within a couple of months, they were filming.

An interesting discussion point that Alice raises following this regards Ruth’s antenatal nurse (played by This Is England and David Brent: Life on the Road‘s Jo Hartley), in that she is the only genuinely constant kind person who has Ruth’s interests at heart. Lowe makes it abundantly clear that worrying about whether audiences will like Ruth was never an item on her agenda, and it is empowering to hear her say this. The interesting thing, however, is that we do like Ruth, despite her sarcasm, callousness and brutality. We can each see an element of our own psyche within Ruth. Hearing Lowe’s perspective on various aspects of Prevenge‘s writing and production gives viewers much to think about. Audiences are left wondering who, or what, is the true source of our discomfort; is it Ruth’s actions or the fact they almost seem justified? Is Ruth alone or is she stifled? Is this baby an embodiment of innocence, or evil?

This film is an artistic triumph: an independent production that is definitely worth supporting. Prevenge will be returning to Chapter Arts Cardiff, as well as other cinemas across the UK, later this month.

Follow Alice Lowe and Prevenge on Twitter to keep up to date.

Ask The Expert: Jamie Adams (Writer and Director)

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Jamie Adams is a writer and director whose artistically distinctive films have seen him gain great popularity in the realm of obscure British comedy. The production company Jolene Films has produced a trilogy of low-budget and largely improvised comedy films in recent years, featuring the likes of Alice Lowe, Craig Roberts and Dolly Wells. Adams also recently directed the BBC pilot A Brief History of Tim, which has been picked up for series.
To learn more about Jamie’s work, I asked him a few questions…

1) How did Jolene Films come into being?

Jolene Films is a company Jon Rennie, the exec Producer on the Modern Romance Trilogy created to produce Benny & Jolene, A Wonderful Christmas Time and Black Mountain Poets. Basically I had recognised that you could make a movie for £12,500 if you put your mind to it, and called in a lot of favours. I convinced a bunch of incredibly talented actors to join me on the journey and then the funding fell through. I was working on a feature film in Wales at the time called “The Machine” and the VFX supervisor on that was Jon Rennie and he sat opposite me at lunch and asked why I was so down and I told him the story of what happened with the film and how I had the cast and the plan but not the funding… He told me there and then, don’t get too excited but I have that kind of money right now, and I want to make a movie… The rest is history as they say.

2) How important is it for you to have free reign within your creative projects?

I don’t actively seek “free reign”, I think that as a by-product of the way I make films I’m afforded a lot of creative freedom because I don’t ask for huge budgets, I’m working within a set of pre-determined resources and limitations and in that sense the feeling is one of trying to feel “free” within the boundaries that exist for a no budget movie. I think that of course, working in this way means that as a team we have a lot more opportunity to express ourselves and that’s one of the key elements that set our films apart from the mass market. We are making personal films that have performance and originality at their heart. Personally however I’m not making films this way to have “free reign”, I’m making them this way because it’s the method that I’ve been developing for over fifteen Years now. It feels like the most sincere process of storytelling for me.

© Jolene Films

© Jolene Films

3) What is the best compliment you or your work has ever received?

The greatest compliment is when my wife Zoe watches the films and she laughs and smiles and sits through the whole movie and turns to me at the end and says “yeah it’s good” – she’s a tough audience so when that happens it means a lot.

4) What is your next project going to be?

I’m working on a few things that I can’t talk about, there’s been the BBC TV Comedy A Brief History of Tim which has been picked up for a series which I hope I’ll be a part of and there’s a movie being developed with the BFI and legendary Producer Margaret Matheson which I’m really excited about. You have to keep developing ideas and choosing the right route to the screen for each of them.

5) What do you hope to achieve with your films?

I hope that they’ll encourage the new generation of British film makers to get some friends together and make feature films. Everyone should make a feature film, just as everyone should write a book. What an amazing selection of films that would be, and what a narrative that would establish for what it means to be British today. I also hope that audiences have fun watching my films, that they smile and laugh and leave the cinema feeling good about life.

ASK THE EXPERT…

Film Review: David Brent: Life On The Road

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It would be difficult not to notice that everyone’s favourite brown-suited office worker David Brent is back. Ricky Gervais writes, directs and performs in David Brent: Life On The Road, which follows the sales rep’s debut UK tour (a venture that’s success is surely questionable from the outset).

As Brent embarks on his rockstar escapade, he is accompanied by rapper Dom Johnson (played by Ben Bailey Smith, who is also stand up comedian Doc Brown, known by many for his recents efforts in Greg Davies and Alex Horne’s Taskmaster on Dave). Bailey Smith and Gervais’s partnership came about a few years ago now, with the unveiling of Brent’s single Equality Street for Comic Relief in 2013, and their onscreen relationship is very interesting; it epitomises two undeniably different backgrounds complimenting each other, but also often clashing.

David Brent

David Brent: Life On The Road

There is an abundance of familiar faces scattered throughout, including Man Down‘s Roisin Conaty and Ashley McGuire, and Diane Morgan, aka Philomena Cunk, who plays publicist Briony. Brent’s band also features Andy Burrows, former Razorlight drummer and half of Smith & Burrows, along with Steve Clarke and Michael Clarke. And the songs are good. The lyrics are unanimously awful, skirting on the wrong side of bad taste, and utterly hilarious. It surely isn’t ignorant to assume that the repressed guilty laughter coming from the audience I sat in is reminiscent of the reactions in every cinema auditorium across the country.

Amongst others, Mandeep Dhillon is particularly brilliant as modestly sympathetic receptionist Karen Parashar, alongside humble and ever-forgiving Pauline Gray (Jo Hartley), both of whom are left behind at the Lavichem office as Brent goes in pursuit of his rockstar dreams, although it unfolds that these are not the only friendly faces the disrespected and under-appreciated Brent will encounter. Life On The Road is ultimately a showcase of the genuine goodness and care for the welfare of others that we can hope that every person holds. This portrayal of human nature at its most fundamental allows the tensions of Brent’s disjointedness to soften and shows the sales rep in his most vulnerable, yet endearing light; of course he is defensive and guarded: he has been ridiculed and wounded by many.

David Brent

David Brent: Life On The Road

This attempt to reignite Brent’s failed ‘rock career’ shows the man to be genuinely floundering (he explains his recent breakdown whilst implying that therapy is somewhat below him); he is nostalgic for something that simply never was. And yes, Brent’s plight is a sad and often cringeworthy watch but as is often the case with Gervais’ comedy, the prevailing feeling is bittersweet, with audiences feeling a faint sense of hope that emulates the character’s own relenting enthusiasm. Ricky Gervais has recaptured the essence of The Office in an adventure that was probably not needed but is certainly not unnecessary, and I am grateful that the character of David Brent has been revived, with live dates for next year having already sold out.

DAVID BRENT: LIFE ON THE ROAD IS CURRENTLY IN CINEMAS ACROSS THE UK

Film Review: Benny & Jolene

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Benny & Jolene (2014) is a film about folk-singing duo Ben (Craig Roberts) and Jo (Charlotte Ritchie) who are attempting to navigate their way through the confusing ins and outs of the music industry as well as finding their place within it.

This film is bursting with familiar comedy faces including the likes of Tom Rosenthal, Dolly Wells and Laura Patch. Rosamund Hanson stars in a role she is well-practiced in: that of a dopey PR girl (note her previous role as Cheryl in Life’s Too Short). Hanson is one of the stars of the show, being the source of the majority of laughs and serving as a real tension-releaser for when the situations the characters find themselves in become a little too exasperating, which is often. Roberts (Submarine) and Ritchie (Fresh Meat, Siblings) are excellent throughout and they just keep getting better; they’re sure to become household names within the next few years if they continue at this pace.

© Verve Pictures

© Verve Pictures

With beautiful lighting and a frequent cut and pasting of narrative, this piece of work is visually pleasing as well as being successful at holding pace. There are definite, and most likely deliberate, imperfections in the smoothness of camera shots which add to the personal feel of the production, making it feel more natural and endearing as a result. I found that many aspects of Benny & Jolene shared similarities with the television series Doll & Em, not least because Dolly Wells stars but also due to the intentional style of awkward-comedy that jars at first but gradually warms and softens.

Though this is probably rare, in the case of Benny & Jolene the plot of the film doesn’t feel as important as the general feel of the whole production. I will probably forget the story in time. Instead, however, this film is valuable as the warm, funny heart-warmer it undeniably is, with sharp writing from Jamie Adams. The competency of the cast shines through both in and around the dialogue, showing an applied understanding of tension and comedic relief. This is a production with true soul.

‘BENNY AND JOLENE’ IS AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE HERE

Film Review: The Double

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In 2014, Richard Ayoade presented us with his latest directing project: The Double, an artistic representation of the 1846 Dostoyevsky novel.

The film follows the unnoticed and withdrawn Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg), a data-input manager living in a dull, grey and repetitive world who is hopelessly in love with a girl named Hannah (Mia Wasikowska). His monotonous life is disrupted when an apparent doppelgänger arrives at the office, going by the name of James Simon, who is everything Simon is yet is also uninhibited, confident and successful.

1984-esque, The Double is disjointed, ambiguous and confrontational. There are sinister elements and laugh-out-loud moments that come within mere minutes of each other. Being a keen artist and appreciator of creative skill made it easy for me to fall in love with this film, despite knowing very little about film production. I noticed Ayoade’s personal directing focus on the hands of the characters in shot, as well as a brilliant attention to colour and light which enabled the picture to remain interesting, despite often portraying quite bland subject matter, and was effectively used to develop the meta-narrative, and relay the themes of the novel visually. On top of this, it featured many fantastic actors including Tim Key, Chris Morris, Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige and Chris O’Dowd. I was destined to love this film.

It’s protagonist is apologetic but the production certainly is not. Both the reality and the speculation are loud and brash, making for an almost uncomfortable watch; but the visuals are so beautiful, I couldn’t possibly look away. A construction of oxymorons: the meek nature of Eisenberg contrasts starkly with his outspoken double; the frequent humour breaks away from themes of mental breakdown and dissociation; the jarring string music cuts the flowing imagery throughout. A lady on Twitter once described The Double as “poetry in brown and grey” and now I understand exactly what she means.

There are many parallels to be drawn between The Double and Jon McGregor’s wonderful novel: If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, being that both seem to have little in the way of a plot but a vast amount of modifying description and detail. I have spoken to Jon about how his book could be raised to a whole new level of magnificence if it were to be placed in Ayoade’s creative hands, as the visuals are described so effectively already and the themes and tone seem to fall perfectly in line with the director’s preference.

But future projects aside, Ayoade has presented us with a true art installation of a film and one that sparks an immediate conversation that can only develop with time. This is one of the rare films that I could watch over and over again.