Guardian piece at http://t.co/mxtObMYj
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Over the Hill?
The Votes Are In
My Borderlines experience comprises not only as a festival goer, and festival volunteer but as a Courtyard recruit who runs front of house during the festival. I see it all! For those of you who have already indulged in some of the fantastic cinematic offerings on over the next 2 weeks- you would have encountered the new and improved voting stations. The boxes range from 5 stars 'loving it' to one star 'didn't like it'. The beauty of this, and in watching films come in and out, I am first hand to see the audience reactions as they clutch their voting cards and reach for the right amount of stars. My job is to empty these after each film- and it is clear to see that you all are 'loving' what you see.
Take 'The Artist' for example. A film that has generated so much hype for being silent. It's brilliant to watch a chatty full house bumble in to the auditorium full of expectancy and come out wearing expressions that are completely elated. I myself, got the chance to watch this on Friday night and was one of many who fell hook line and sinker for its old time charm. You can quite clearly see how it scooped up billions of awards during the awards season. (And, quite frankly, if your heart wasn't slightly melted by Uggie the dog- then it's made of stone). This film has gained such an overwhelming response from the festival- and by the looks of the votes has lived up to its reputation. It's probably a good job Borderlines have added 2 EXTRA SCREENINGS on Sunday 4th and Monday 5th. There, of course if no reason to state that I chose 5 stars for this gem.
Whereas thus far in the festival, Daniel Auteil's 'The Well-Digger's Daughter' has received the top happiest response- 'My Week With Marilyn' was also a joy to watch. I tootled in yesterday, plonked myself in the Main House and waited. Any I didn't move for the next hour and a half. Michelle Williams brilliant encapsulates the aura of Monroe. The beauty, the charm, the 'I can't take my eyes off you' effect. Supported by a brilliant cast of British talent, the film was incredible. Redmayne quite proficiently passed off the bumbling young man ready to make his break in showbiz (a character quite connected to any young person starting to climb the career ladder) and Branagh was just an amazing Sir Laurence Olivier. I just had to put my vote in 'loving it'.
It was yesterday evening that I took myself along with a buddy to see British critically acclaimed gritty drama 'Shame'. Wow. What a film. One must say it was quite a steer in the opposite direction of my previous Borderlines experience, but one I was glad I took. The film was explicit and head on, yet subtle at the same time. The acting was superior and you got sucked in to the broken lives of the two protagonists. It was only a Shame that more people weren't there. The film hit a note so hard that once the credits rolled, you could hear a pin drop. Yet everyone I spoke to agreed that it was just exceptional. On leaving the cinema I encountered the voting station. I decided that this film was well worthy of 5 stars- probably for different reasons than the previous two, however a true deservant. I highly recommend watching this- and to make the experience even easier (my job as Courtyard recruit) is to tell you there is a Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer on the tickets. So please, bring someone and watch it.
The voting in my opinion is the cream on top of the cinema experience. As a punter it makes me think about how a film makes me feel, how I react and what I will take away with me from the film. As an employee I see how it makes other people feel and think. And with so many people 'loving' what they see, it's a good job we've still got a couple of weeks left, eh?!
L'Artiste completes its incredible journey.
A night at the UK premiere of The Artist, October 2011 at the BFI London Film Festival.
Since that chilly night in a shabby looking, reconstruction paved Leicester Square, the world of film has changed.
Paying the £18 ticket fee was a real pinch, this was my first 'gala' screening at the sold out 800 seater Odeon West End.
I didn't know much about the film, not many people did unless you'd been at Cannes the previous May. It wasn't even getting top billing at the London Film Festival, which was dominated by Shame, We Need to Talk about Kevin and George Clooney's double act The Ides of March and The Descendants.
I'd heard bits of word of mouth, apparently they'd loved it in France.... all I knew was that it was black and white, and silent, with a group of unknown French actors........
That night my ticket price included the company of those all crowned at the Oscars on Sunday night. But it was the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein ( his company Mirimax released Pulp Fiction, The English Patient and Shakespere in Love) whose presence and Hollywood power that struck me.
This big, brash load American joked about how ridiculous his company, business partner and brother Bob Weinstein thought he was in fancying buying the distribution rights for The Artist. It was a black and white silent film....... In his words, they thought he'd lost the plot. He was even called to justify his decision to the Board of Directors, claiming he didn't even know his company had a board. But even back in October, Weinstein was still voicing his hopes of not only landing an Oscar nomination, but winning the Best Film category.
At the time I just loved the ambition and perceived impossibility of such a thought.
As late as Christmas most people had no clue of the Artist and it's impending release date (December 30th). Yet through a rampant marketing campaign that even hit Hereford's railway station Weinstein's dreams materialised with the film receiving 3 of the major Academy Awards (Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor).
With Borderlines already in its first week, many of you will have seen the film and I hope you've left the film delighted. Having been released 2 months ago with a whirlwind of press coverage and hyperbole followed by a resurrection of hype following its Oscar success I hope audiences haven't felt let down.
Regardless of its merits like it's Oscar rival Hugo, The Artist is a wonderful homage to the early days of film. I have spent all week basking in slight smugness having 'felt' a part of this journey since October. Of course I had nothing to do with it's success other than rattling on about some kooky French film no one wanted to hear about. But the success of The Artist with its celebration of Hollywood, stardom and cinema has been a wonderful thing to witness.
What is funny is that despite my romantic tribute, it's highly likely no one would have seen or heard of the Artist had it not been for that smug, tubby American man Harvey Weinstein. A man who had no creative impact what so ever. He just liked it and he fancied winning some Oscars. So he did.
Monday 27 February 2012
First impressions
The 2012 Borderlines experience began for me on Friday 24th February with The Well-Digger's Daughter starring and directed by Daniel Auteuil. The lush setting of fields, streams and the tree lined country roads of the South of France forms the background to a familiar story of young love awakened, thwarted and finally reconciled. The most convincing relationship, however, is not that between the lovers, but between father and daughter with some light relief provided by family friend, Felipe. Small town prejudices are explored while the start of the First World War forms a wider backdrop, made evident by the mobilisation of the local men.
The studio at the Courtyard theatre was packed out for the first afternoon of the Festival while the bar area was too crowded to walk through! Also filled to the rafters, was our second film Resistance which was being shown in Moccas Village Hall where numbers meant that cars had to be parked in a field and doors were shut at 7.30 regardless of anybody waiting outside. The Village Hall bar was busy too and after showing a film about Arts Alive and Flicks in the Sticks and four very impressive short films made by "Same but Different" there was an interval to allow people to refill their glasses and to buy ice creams.
Resistance was of particular interest to a rural Herefordshire audience who could recognise pubs and cottages where the scenes were filmed - not to mention the familiar countryside of the Olchon Valley and Llantony. Those who had not read the Owen Sheers novel may have found the plot difficult to follow, but the visual impact was striking and the slow pace gave the film an almost hypnotic, poetic quality. The "what if" story of a German invasion of Britain in 1944 was intriguing and was illustrated by numerous flash-backs of, for example, the Russian Front. The characters of the women left to work the farms while their men joined the Resistance were very well drawn, while the central love story and the ending were left ambiguous - which some of the audience found disappointing. A neighbour told me that he found the film unconvincing because the Germans were too nice while others mentioned that they found the pace of the film too slow.
Both of these films were set in rural areas where the scenery acted almost as one of the main protagonists. My next Borderlines experience will be My week with Marilyn which should provide an interesting contrast!
WriteRetreat
Saturday 4 February 2012
Borderlines: The First 10 Years
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| The pinnacle of Borderlines? North Face, shown 2009 |
*when proof-reading the brochure copy, this had to be corrected from 'high (singular) and lows (plural)'
We've had some initial feedback from e-news subscribers about their own best moments: Julie Mackinnon, for example, picks out, "Northface at Hereford Arts Centre (2009) ..not even interested in mountaineering....but on the edge of my seat...and so was everyone else in that studio."
We'd love more feedback. You can either comment here, via Facebook or e-mail us your thoughts.
To assist, we've mustered considerable resources to compile a list of every single film that has played at Borderlines since 2003 - all 557 of them - with links, where available, to the relevant website. Actually we've just copied, pasted and sorted. A few may be missing.
Happy browsing!
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