Official favourites

According to box office figures, the film that drew the largest attendances at Borderlines 2009 was The Age of Stupid, seen by a staggering total of 1,186 people at five different festival locations.

Sell-out screenings for The Reader made it the second most popular film overall. If you missed it, catch The Courtyard's second run from late May. There's another chance to catch Milk too. Other films that drew big crowds were Revolutionary Road, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, A Bunch of Amateurs, North Face and, among the world cinema screenings, Lemon Tree and El Nido Vacío.

However, in terms of largest average audience, the most popular screening was not a commercial film at all. It was Food & Farming in South Herefordshire, Catcher Media's engaging collaboration with primary schoolchildren and local farmers. Further showings will take place on Thursday 7 May at Garway Village Hall (call 01600 750461) and on Friday 15 May at Much Birch Community Hall (call 01981 541274).

A Glass Of Watered Down Milk

Howdy folks, Jolene here again, this time with a spoiler free review of Milk.

On arriving to see Milk I was in two minds about what to expect and upon leaving I realise that the 2 hour run time still hasn't been enough for me to coherently organise my thoughts.

Some hours have passed since I left The Courtyard, and yet, here I sit, still slightly puzzled about whether or not the film was a success. On the one hand the story is compelling, the performances outstanding (though in my opinion it is relative newcomer Emile Hirsch, not Sean Penn who is the best of the bunch) and the message undeniably important. However, when one watches Milk as a piece of narative cinema, I am afraid to say that it just doesn't work.

Throughout the first hour of the film I found myself feeling virtually abandoned by both script writer and director alike. The narrative rockets along at break neck speed, so much so that in the space of the opening 10 minutes, Harvey has already met his lover, opened a shop and decided to go into politics. The emphasis seems to be upon setting up his political career and ideals as an early plot hook, a way of convincing us to love the character because of what he stands for, but it's done so at the expense of convincing us to love him for who he is. However much one may naturally sympathise with Milk the idea, this disregard of characterisation so early in the film leaves very little room for any empathy with Milk the man. Rather my sympathy lies with anybody unfortunate enough to choose these early scenes for a bathroom break, blink before the first 40 minutes and you are in danger of missing half of Milk's career.

However, it's not just the narrative that has problems, the visual style too seems intent upon disturbing any sort of connection you may feel with the film, it's characters, or it's story. I am thinking in particular of the puzzling choice to splice in historical footage from the real campaign. The effect is jarring to say the least, just as one begins to settle down into the accepted artifice of a Hollywood film, you are suddenly confronted with grainy, flickering footage of real events, yanking you out of the story and reminding you quite forcefully that you are in a cinema, watching a film. It is an effect which does not just break the fourth wall, it kicks it down and batters you to death with the bricks.

Which is a shame considering that once the first awkward hour is out of the way, the second half of the film is really rather good. It features some beautiful cinematography and, (an hour too late mind) finally gives you some insight into the nature of Harvey Milk himself. However, it still suffers from the schizophrenic vibe that haunts the first half, desperately asking us to believe in Penn as Milk whilst simultaneously reminding us that he isn't. This is not helped by the disjointed way the film is narrated, one forgets that this is all a reading of Milk's own words only to be reminded again at seemingly random intervals, as and when the director chooses to throw us forward in time.

I don't mean to sound overly negative, as there were parts of the film which were incredibly enjoyable, but I cannot help but feel that Milk is something of a wasted opportunity. With the seeming reams of historical footage (arguably the most interesting part of the film) one gets the impression that, with the compelling story of Harvey himself, this could have been an outstanding documentary. Instead, Milk is a rather confused fiction, never quite engaging the audience with its characters, or giving enough context to make it truly arresting. Watching it left me hungry to find out more, something which a biopic really ought not to do.

I won't argue that Harvey Milk's story isn't one worth telling, I just think it's one worth telling well.

It's being so cheerful keeps us going.........

I'm too easy to please. Plonk me in a darkened cinema and I'm anybody's. I know this because I usually come out of a film full of whatever emotions the director intended, to be greeted by fellow moviegoers looking earnest, disengaged and saying things like 'well, that could have done with an edit'. It happened with Milk, which I thought was just right at 2hrs 20mins. Others were firmly in the 90mins camp. I'll compromise on 2hrs - but no less.

Milk, being a straight-forward biog, was unsurprisingly predictable, and rightly so as surprises in the story line would require the rewriting of history. But what about predictability in pure fiction? Should we expect an element of surprise? Or is the comfort and security of a well worn formula sufficient to keep us happy?

A Bunch of Amateurs is a broad comedy with fabulous over acting from Imelda Staunton and Derek Jacobi and under acting (or not much acting at all) from Burt Reynolds, who happily sends himself up a treat. The audience liked it, as did I. But ten minutes in, the entire narrative structure of the film would have been obvious to an eight year old. Prima Donna star, muddy field, clash of cultures, jealousy, tantrums, walk outs, it's off, it's on, it's a triumph! And, right on cue, the heartwarming reconciliation of BR with estranged daughter. It was charming, professional, and with an ambition to entertain. But, is this enough?

El Nido Vacio (The Empty Nest) had what might have been a predictable plot (middle aged male writer with block has mid-life crisis over children leaving home and daughter becoming sexually active). A wonderfully nuanced performance from Oscar Martinez ensured that even the (apparently) predictable developments raised smiles of recognition from the parents in the audience of a certain age. There were, in retrospect, some clues that all was not as it seemed, but the final twist was completely unexpected. It was imaginative and insightful, and I suppose that if you had read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse in the last couple of weeks you might have seen it coming. But I hadn't and I didn't. I won't reveal the ending, so as this was the only scheduled UK showing (shame!), you may never know (but try MovieMail later in the year).

Comedy is at its best when you don't see it coming. Deliberate and laboured quirkiness can be tiresome, but A Bunch of Amateurs had no quirk at all. I came out of both films with a smile on my face, but, as I say, I'm easy to please............

Oscar Wins for 4 Borderlines Films

With the Oscar for Leading Actress for her role as an ex-concentration camp guard, Hanna Schmitz, in The Reader Kate Winslet mopped up her 3rd major award this season last night. View her (reasonably dry) acceptance speech.


A surprise win for Sean Penn in the Leading Actor category; the award was expected to go the way of the BAFTA and Golden Globe and land in the fist of Mickey Rourke for his thumping comeback in The Wrestler. Sean Penn's performance as gay rights campaigner, Harvey Milk, in Milk was faultless (presenting Penn's nomination, Robert De Niro gagged "How, for so many years, did Sean Penn get all those straight roles?"). The actor has since said that he hopes to get the film screened in front of President Barack Obama at the White House at a crucial time for gay rights; single-sex marriages have been outlawed in California after a voter referendum.

Meanwhile Penelope Cruz walked away with the Oscar for Best Supporting Acress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona and a well-deserved Best Documentary Feature accolade for the truly outstanding Man on Wire.