TORONTO, (djc) – The second annual week of British films returns July 20 – 26 to the Bloor Cinema in Toronto. Organized and financed by Oliver Groom, the first year introduced Toronto to excellent British fare including Ratcatcher, the best British film of 2000, and gems like Divorcing Jack, Tube Tales and Strong Language — none of which secured distribution.
This year, Britpics will present sixteen feature films, most of them Canadian or Toronto premieres. The British films like Sexy Beast, Gangster No. 1, and Shiner will be screened by the major distributors, but this is one (and perhaps the only) excellent opportunity to experience the pleasures of lower budget, edgy and more daring films.
The opening film is the Canadian Premiere of Peter Capaldi’s Strictly Sinatra, hot from its world premiere at the Seattle Film Festival this month. This darkly comic romantic drama set in Glasgow features a young Scottish-Italian crooner (Ian Hart) obsessed with Frank Sinatra, who gets mixed up with local gangsters and a cigarette-girl (Kelly Macdonald).
The charming Kelly Macdonald also appears in Julian Kemp’s House!, a comedy about an old bingo hall in South Wales struggling to survive, and in Simon Cellan Jones’ Some Voices, a sensitive look at the tribulations of young schizophrenic who he falls in love. MacDonald is clearly a new actress to watch.
Three directors will be visiting Toronto with their films: Nick Love of Goodbye Charlie Bright, a film that brings out the colour of a London housing estate; Christopher Payne of The Jolly Boys’ Last Stand, an upbeat closing ceremony for the break-up of a lads group when their leader decides to get married; and Simon Rumley, returning with The Truth Game, the second of his trilogy on the lifestyle of young Londoners, after Strong Language, which was shown at last year’s Britpics.
More information about Britpics can be found on the website at www.torontobritpics.com. The Britpics info-line is 416-604 4702, and the general e-mail address is info@torontobritpics.com.
Goodbye Charlie Bright (UK 2000) * * * *
Directed by Nick Love
“The last time we did this we had the shit beaten out of us.” “The last time we did this, we were kids”. But this does not stop our three young teens from participating in a spirited nude romp (in the beginning of the film) to spice up one long hot and tedious summer. Goodbye Charlie Bright, Nick Love’s first feature, a teen tale about growing up, lost innocence and male bonding is just as lively as the film’s title or its first 10 minutes. The story centres around Charlie (Paul Nicholls) and his four pals, particularly on the relationship between him and a character they call his ‘wife’, Justin (Roland Mannookian). Charlie steals a gun, breaks up with his ‘wife’, makes out with a nurse and witnesses the death of a mate. Love’s film is charming and filled with colourful incidents and visuals, giving it a different look from the typical British film about misplaced youth. He extracts assured performances from his teen cast. David Thewlis puts in a nice cameo as Charlie’s dad. Like Charlie who finally ends up leaving his South London housing estate for better things, a bright future holds promise for this new filmmaker.
Hotel Splendide (UK 1999) * *
Directed by Terence Gross
Hotel Spendide is a health resort where guests are treated to boiled eels, steam baths, mud treatments are other nastiness. Set up by the late Mrs. Blanche, the hotel is being threatened not only by age but also by the entrance of Toni Collette. Writer/director Gross treats the film as an adult fairy tale, a nightmare more really, a sort of the opposite of Chocolat. Splendide and Chocolat have similar plots – with a heroine who enters a kingdom to save the unknowing deprived innocents. But Gross indulges in oddities and ugliness. Though fresh and funny in the beginning, the novelty soon wears off. The film plays as a metaphor for the way the Brits always settle for mediocrity rather than risk. The result is a film that leads nowhere except towards its obvious ending. The hotel, sets and interiors are marvelous though, giving it a very gothic look, like the French Delicatessen.
House! (UK 1999) * * * *
Directed by Julian Kemp
Director Kemp creates some winning entertainment out of the implausible tale of unlikely heroine (Kelly MacDonald) who uses her gift of foretelling bingo numbers to help save (believe it or not!) an outdated bingo hall in the south of Wales. House! is reminiscent of — and just as good as — The Smallest Show in the World (which involved the saving an old cinema). Kemp keeps the action flowing fast and furious, aided by his spirited use of camera shots which include close-ups of bingo balls, an airbag inflating and usherette Mossie Smith’s slightly large thighs. Bingo has never been so exciting for an outsider.
It Was An Accident (UK/France 2000) * * *
Directed by Metis Huseyin
Nicky Barnett (Chiwetel Ejiofor), fresh out of prison wants to go on the straight and narrow. Why not? He has a loving girlfriend (Thandie Newton), a son and a nice ex, not to mention a spanking new flat. Only problem is that poor Nicky gets caught up in a war between two rival gangs. Based on the novel by former probation officer Jeremy Cameron, written by Ol Parker and directed by Metis Huseyin, this post Snatch flick benefits from more human characterizations and modern upbeat dialogue. Director Huseyin piles on the humour while not skimping on the violence. Ejiofor makes a good hapless hero, but Max Beesley steals the show as the reverberating motor mouth Mickey Cousins, one of the gang leaders. Audiences in Toronto will be particularly able to relate to the ethnic diversity of the film’s characters.
The Jolly Boys Last Stand (UK 1998) * * * *
Directed by Christopher Payne
The Jolly Boys is a club of twenty-something wankers who get together to make their own entertainment, which might consist of puking after a bender or attacking some poor bloke with a dead fish. Expulsion from the club can come about if you lose your sense of humour, which unfortunately happens to ‘old Gav’ when he starts yoga classes. Naturally, the members are appalled when El Presidente, a.k.a. Spider (Andy Serkis) proposes marriage to Annie (Rebecca Gray). The best man, geeky Des (Milo Twomey) decides to make a video about marriage. Is marriage recommended? Then the trouble starts. Director Payne creates some genuinely hilarious laugh-out loud moments with a spirited cast of unknowns. Though the film sidetracks to football, golf and yoga, the film is basically about not growing up. But one can still mature and not lose that sense of humour. Payne has likewise created such a film — assured and very funny.
New Year’s Day (UK 1999) * * * *
Directed by Suri Krishnamma
A cheerful school Christmas ski trip ends up tragically with two sole survivors, Jake (Andrew Lee Potts) and Steven (Bobby Barry), after an avalanche kills the rest of the party. The two teens embark on a strange quest of fulfilling twelve tasks that their dead friends talked about doing, including burning down the school, doing drugs, and punching a policeman. Director Krishnamma(A Man of No Importance) and writer Ralph Brown (Withnail and I) capture the exuberant world of the teens, celebrating their renewed but skewed outlook on the meaning of life. The adults, meanwhile, take it for granted that the teens’ strange behaviour is the result of the trauma, having no clue of what is going on. You got to love it when Steven tells off his father in one scene, after being caught with drugs: “You would not understand, father, even if you did give a shit!” This moving and refreshingly upbeat film works primarily because of Brown’s witty script and Krishnamma’s manic pacing, aided immensely by the boys’ spirited yet honest performances. A delight!
The Truth Game (UK 2000) * * *
Directed by Simon Rumley
Rumley’s follow-up to the excellent Strong Language (screened at last year’s Britpics) has guests at a dinner party doing the chatty thing while fighting, laughing, flirting, crying and loving. Things come to a boil when they begin playing ‘the truth game,’ in which each is compelled to tell the truth when asked a question. Rumley, who also wrote the script, deftly avoids sentimentality while providing some perceptive viewpoints of the young and restless. Though the characters are not especially likeable, one cannot help but grow attached to them. Great improvisation from an exceptional unknown cast makes this a rather unforgettable dinner party.
