cambridge film festival 2014

music l films l theatre l family days out l listings

28:08:14

CambridgeFilm Festival

special

For all thelatest news

from the festival,visit cambridge-news.

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20 | August 28, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News

Cambridge Film FestivalPick of the films

l Stolen awayOPENING Night Gala time… duh,duh, duhhhh! Director GuillaumeNicloux (read our interview withhim on page 26) will present his new,wildly funny film The Kidnappingof Michel Houellebecq. Partly basedon the strange true story of reclusiveFrench novelist Michel Houellebecqwho bizarrely disappeared duringa book tour in 2011, it’s said toplayfully blur the lines betweenfiction and documentary. Currentlybeing touted as “daring”, “impish”and “meta”, Houellebecq himselfexplains what really happened, andit includes an abduction by a trio ofbodybuilders, but the eccentricitiesdo not end there…

Thursday,August 28,7pm

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l SURPRISE!IT’S festival tradition to have asurprise film or two that onlyfestival director Tony knows about.This year, doubling the tensionand the excitement, the surprisefilm will also be the closing film!Obviously we can only speculateon what it might be (yep, we don’tknow either, sigh), but in previousyears Burn After Reading, Looper,Sunshine on Leith and Pirates of theCaribbean have all been the surprisemovies. Whatever it is, it’ll be great,guaranteed.

Sunday,September 7,8pm.

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The detailsThe 34th Cambridge FilmFestival runs from today

until Sunday, September 7.All events in this guidetake place at the Arts

Picturehouse, 38-39 St Andrew’sStreet, Cambridge, CB2 3AR,unless otherwise stated.

Tickets for all the venuesare available from the

Arts Picturehouse Box Officeon 0871 902 5720 or viacambridgefilmfestival.org.uk.

There aren’t any trailersbefore screenings so arrive

on time!

Keep reading theCambridge News –

and visit cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson for reviews,competitions and Film Festivalupdates!

Also check out Cambridgefilm magazine Take One for

even more reviews.

l A love-in with Colin Firth

WE’LL get two slices of Mr Darcy, sorry, Colin Firth, at this year’s

festival. Sadly none of his features see him languidly getting out of a

pond in a soaked-through wet shirt, but you can’t have everything.

The Oscar-winning actor stars in Woody Allen’s latest off the wall

1920s romcom, Magic in the Moonlight, alongside the disarming

Emma Stone who plays clairvoyant to Firth’s sceptic. While in

amnesiac thriller Before I Go To Sleep – presented at the festival by

director Rowan Joffe and novelist SJ Watson who we interview on

page 24 – he plays the forgotten husband of Nicole Kidman.

Magic in the Moonlight, Thursday, August 28, 10pm /

Before I Go To Sleep, Monday,

September 1, 9pm.

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TOP

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Writer: Ella WalkerEmail: [email protected]

For breaking entertainment news for thecity, visit cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson– plus follow @CamWhatsOn on Twitter

Before I Go To Sleep

The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq

Magic in the Moonlight

We’ve all been worried about the Arts Picturehouse, what withthe Competition Commission’s final decision on its future stillunclear. And never more so than when it’s home to the alwaysexciting, always ground-breaking Cambridge Film Festival –now in its 34th year. And no-one does better popcorn.In this special issue of What’s On, ELLA WALKER presents theultimate guide to the News-backed festival, from the quirkier,off-the wall strands and the big Hollywood hitters, to the funpacked family specials, pithy shorts, searching documentariesand director Q&As. Go make the most of it.To start, these are the top 10 events you can’t afford to miss:

Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | August 28, 2014 | 21

l Fire it upSHAKE off work, load up on dreams and watch SPARK: A BurningMan Story. This documentary – full of light and drama and madness– focusses on Nevada’s week-long arts festival that sees a city of fun,games, music, spirituality and self-expression just spring up out of thedesert. Provocative, extravagant and independently made by directorSteve Brown, it goes behind the scenes, noting the challenges and joysfaced by the organisers and by the 60,000 festival goers that make ithappen. It’s also completely beautiful.

Friday,September 5,10pm

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l QuintessentiallyBritishBILL Nighy, Imelda Staunton,Dominic West, Paddy Considineand up and comers George McKay(beautiful man) and Joe Gilgun(beautiful, tattooed man) – that’swhat you call a cast list. Belter of afilm Pride is set in the summer of1984; Thatcher’s trying closing themines, the miners are on strike,and London’s Gay Pride Marchersare raising money for them. But theUnions are embarrassed by it, so themarchers jump on a minibus andgo find some miners themselves tohand the donation over to. Powerful,witty, intelligent stuff, your heart willbe warmed and your brain will beworked.

Friday,September 5,7.15pm

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l Benn there, done thatDIRECTOR Skip Kite is expected to present hisdocumentary, Tony Benn: Will and Testament. A powerfulexploration of the Labour MP’s epic life and career, itpatchworks intimate interview material with photosand filmed footage from Benn’s personal archive andtracks his work across Britain. It promises to be a “fittingtestament to a forceful orator whose tongue was as sharpas his mind.”

Saturday,September 6,7.30pm

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l Be a criticTO honour some of the best films onshow, each year the Cambridge FilmFestival runs the Audience Awards.Before each “in competition”screening, you’ll be handed avoting card on which you can ratethe experience. You’re going to feelexactly like the Oscars’ board ofdirectors no doubt. The Golden Puntaward goes to best feature, the SilverPunt crowns best documentary andthe Crystal Punt goes to the greatestshort film. Enter the fray and pickyour favourites.

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l For all the familyTHE Family Festival returns, thankgoodness, after taking a breakin 2013. Expect cartoons galore(Penelope Pitstop, Scooby Do andBugs Bunny will all be on hand),comedy filmmaking workshops, TheGruffalo stomping around, sing-a-longs and superheroes to boot. Allages will be chuckling along. Read allabout it on page 30.

10Pride

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l Remembera legendIN February Philip SeymourHoffman was found dead in his NewYork City home after overdosing ona cocktail of drugs. The AcademyAward winner (for Capote, 2005),who had struggled with addiction inthe past, plays German spy GuntherBachmann in one of his final films,Anton Corbjin’s A Most Wanted Man.Based on John le Carre’s novel ofthe same name and also starringRachel McAdams, it follows aChechen-Russian immigrant on therun from Hamburg, caught up in aninternational game of terrorist catand mouse.

Friday,August 29,8pm

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l Short and sweetIF your attention span leaves much to be desired, there are a whole lotof short films to digest instead. From contemporary German shorts, towhiplash quick movies from the American underground and a wholeShort Fusion strand featuring a raft of clever, witty, touching, magicalstories that do not in any way drag on, go exploring. You’ll also be ableto see the winning entry of the ShortReel Cambridge Student FilmAwards 2014.

Saturday,August 30,7.30pm

SPARK: A Burning Man Story

A Most Wanted Man

SPARK: A Burning Man Story

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ul,will

GET THE LATEST FILM NEWS AND REVIEWS AT at cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson


l Retro 3-DRETURN to the 1950s, whenthe screams were visceral andthe 3-D didn’t require red andgreen glasses (seriously, and

yes, 3-D really was around all the way backthen). For a snapshot in time interlockedprojectors screened some of the greatest3-D ever seen, and now you can view somedigitally remastered versions.Feel true terror as the Gillman – a webbedand scaly abomination from the mindsat Universal – reaches out in proper oldschool monster movie, The Creature FromThe Black Lagoon. Insanity flies right atyou in the painstakingly restored Houseof Wax; noir thriller Inferno will haveyou wowed by Technicolor and The MadMagician blends total horror with deepfocus filming.

l DylanThomas100IN honourof Dylan

Thomas’ centenary,the Festival is goingall out to celebratethe hair-raising, bowtie wearing, rabblerouser, poet, authorand playwright. DirectorAndrew Sinclair willintroduce the cultish UnderMilk Wood, his 1971 adaptationof Thomas’s play which legendarilystars Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor andPeter O’Toole. He’ll also be chatting aboutDylan on Dylan, his analytical take on theWelshman’s up and down life and career.This series will culminate with the brandnew Set Fire To The Stars (Sunday,September 7, 5.30pm). Shot in black andwhite, Elijah Woods plays John MalcolmBrinnin (the film is based on his memoir)on a visit to New York City with palThomas in 1950. Suited, booted and witha mop of curly hair, Thomas tours the bestuniversities while living much too fast,partying much too hard and draggingBrinnin along for the ride. Dubbed a“poetic tour de force” you will be leftawed.

l ContemporaryGerman CinemaWANT to get up to speed onyour new German cinema?

Here’s yourchance. Werecommend: BelovedSisters– twoaristocraticsisters fallin lovewith thesamewriterlyrogue anddecideupon an unusual scenariofor their time: a love triangle, one that hasdamning consequences. (Saturday, August30, 4pm / Thursday, September 4, 5pm)Of Girls and Horses – a troubled16-year-old and a bored 30-somethingbreakdown barriers as they look after

horses on a remote farm.Things do of course get outof control. (Friday, August29, 6.30pm / Saturday,August 30, 4pm) Finsterworld – thisblackly humorous filmshows a world in whicheveryone is beautiful,

polite, successful orhappy, until they’re not and

their dark side is unleashed.(Thursday, September 4, 4pm /

Saturday, September 6, 11am) Love Steaks – a masseur finds himselfthe centre of a lot of female attention, andLara, who works in the kitchen, decides totake matters into her own lustful hands.(Friday, August 29, 8.45pm / Saturday,August 30, 6.15pm)

l GerhardLamprechtIN need of even more Germancinema?Filmmaker

Gerhard Lamprechtwas absolutelyprolific. Flooding thesilent movie scenethroughout the1920s and makingmore than 60 films,he managed tocontinue creatingthroughout the warand into the 1950s.

Driving him forever onwards were his twomain motivators: “curiosity and humaninterest”. The result is a body of work thatinspires through realism, where sufferingand society’s darker sides are all examined– silently but not quietly, if you get ourdrift.This retrospective takes four of his greatestworks – Under The Lantern, People ToEach Other, In The Slums of Berlin andChildren Of No Importance – and putsthem back on the big screen.For a bit of background on the time anda touch of scene setting, you can alsosee Walter Ruttman’s classic, Berlin,Symphony of a Great City, and People OnSunday which merges documentary andfiction with live piano and percussion.

l Lionel Rogosin+ UndergroundAmerican CinemaDELVE into the world of

Underground American Cinema, askick-started by director Lionel Rogosin.

The New American Cinemaluminary unleashed theground breaking genre withhis films Come Back Africa,On The Bowery and GoodTimes, Wonderful Times in the50s and 60s. Here, those filmswill show alongside the work of

several Rogosincontemporaries.

Variations on a theme

Cambridge Film FestivalNiche strandsFestival choice

l Maps To The StarsFrom Canadian auteur David Cronenberg(Cosmopolis) comes another riveting andintellectually rigorous look at the human psycheand damaged, tortured souls. Led by theloathsome yet funny and touching child-starBenjie, we witness the convoluted world ofshallow, selfish celebrities and their minions,all of whom are about to be manipulated anddestroyed by the young woman who representsthe fruit of their twisted machinations, Agatha (aformidable Mia Wasikowska), Benjie’s tormented,apparently psychotic sister. A blackly comic lookinto the world of celebrity, Maps to the Starsis a modern Hollywood Gothic at once aboutthe ravenous 21st century need for fame andvalidation and the yearning, loss and fragility thatlurk underneath. As the shallow and capriciousfaded star who seems to take Agatha under herwing, Julianne Moore (What Maisie Knew) givesa career defining performance that earned herthe Cannes Best Actress Prize. Cronenberg is atthe top of his game here and he’s aided by hisregular collaborators, composer Howard Shoreand cinematographer Peter Susachitzky.

Saturday, September 6, 10.15pm /Sunday, September 7, 11am

l Night MovesThis is a tense and beguiling thriller following thedrastic actions of a group of environmentalists.Night Moves follows Josh (Jesse Eisenberg),Dena (Dakota Fanning) and Harmon (StellanSarsgaard) through the build-up, execution andaftermath of an attack on a local dam. Eisenbergand Fanning are quietly determined, whileSarsgaard is dependably creepy. Although thefilm centres on green issues, it avoids preachingor heavy-handed ideology, focusing instead onthe characters.

Thursday, August 28, 6.30pm /Friday, August 29, 12.30pm

l Amour FouDirector Jessica Hausner is undoubtedly oneof the most captivating voices in contemporaryEuropean cinema. Lovely Rita and Hotelachieved festival success, Lourdes garnered herwider critical and public attention. A beautifullymounted period piece with a bone dry wit,the Cannes selected Amour Fou is a brilliantadvance on Hausner’s meticulous sense oftime, place and character. Berlin, the RomanticEra. Young poet Heinrich (Christian Friedel,The White Ribbon) wishes to conquer theinevitability of death through love, yet is unableto convince his sceptical cousin Marie to joinhim in a suicide pact. It is while coming to termswith this refusal, ineffably distressed by hiscousin’s insensitivity to the depth of his feelings,that Heinrich meets Henriette, the wife of abusiness acquaintance. Heinrich’s subsequentoffer to the beguiling young woman at first holdsscant appeal, that is until Henriette discoversshe is suffering from a terminal illness. Looselybased on the suicide of poet Henrich von Kleistin 1811, this is a richly rewarding and resonantwork that approaches serious issues and levityand humour.

Saturday, September 6, 5pm /Sunday, September 7, 1.30pm

l The Case Against 8The Case Against 8 takes audiences behindthe scenes of one of the most important civilrights cases in recent years, the overturningof California’s ban on same-sex marriage.The unexpected partnership of political foesTed Olson and David Boies provides bothlegal insight and a good deal of humour. This,combined with the emotional yet eloquentstories of the plaintiffs, creates a rousing filmmore than worthy of its multiple festival wins.

Saturday, August 30, 8.30pm

Cambridge Film Festival isn’t all aboutHollywood smash hits and box officegolden eggs. It’s also about showcasingthe lesser known, but no less exciting,filmmakers, artists, writers and actingtalent out there. Enter this year’s moreniche strands, which cover everythingfrom shorts and the earliest examplesof 3-D, to the best in German andCatalonian cinema being made today.ELLA WALKER picks the highlights

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l CameraCataloniaNOW in its third year ofshowcasing the filmmaking

talents of Catalonia, Cambridge FilmFestival is still shouting about theregion’s movie skills, and has nabbednumerous experts for Q&As to helpfurther the cause. On certain days

you’ll even be able to tuck into someCatalonian delicacies at the bar. Hereare three not to miss: A Poem in Exile, the journey of apoem written by Catalan poet JoanAlavedra, exposes the hardships ofthose forced to flee their homes dueto the Spanish Civil War (Saturday,September 6, 6.15pm / Sunday,September 7, 4pm). The understated Fiction exploresthe emotions and thoughts that arisewhen a scriptwriter ditches his familyfor a mountain retreat (Saturday,

September 6, 2.30pm). Up and coming director Mar Collwill discuss We All Want What’s Best

For Her, a dark look at who weare, and how that compares to howothers want us to be (Thursday,September 4, 6.15pm / Friday,September 5, 1pm).

l Short FusionTHE briefer, but notnecessarily lighter, side ofCambridge Film Festival, theShort Fusion strand offerssnippets and mini, perfectly

formed stories that don’t make yourbum go numb.There are several strands to pickfrom: Beloved (seven films featuringloss, turtles, picnics and blind dates),Connection (desire, carpoolingand estranged sisters turning upon the doorstep), and Life Lessons(the roaring ’20s, getting fired andaction adventure). There’s also theTwins strand (parts 1 and 2) in whicheach menu contains three films thatcomplement three films from theother. Less complicated than it sounds,go pick and mix.

n Visit cambridgefilmfestival.org.ukfor full details.


Festival choicel The Dance of RealityReturning to the screen with The Dance of Reality after anabsence of 23 years, legendary cult filmmaker AlejandroJodorowsky takes us back to his birth place of Tocopilla,a coastal town on the edge of the Chilean desert. It washere that Jodorowsky underwent an unhappy and alienatedchildhood as part of an uprooted family. Blending hispersonal history with metaphor, mythology and poetry,The Dance of Reality reflects Alejandro Jodorowsky’sphilosophy that reality is not objective but rather a “dance”created by our own imaginations. Variety calls it “by turnsplayful, tragic and surprisingly light on its feet”.

Sunday, September 7, 2.30pm

l Four CornersSouth Africa’s Foreign language Oscar entry Four Cornersis the first film to delve into the street war of South Africa’sNumbers Gangs, the 26 and the 28. A multi-thread, comingof age crime drama it focuses on four characters trying tosurvive in Cape Flats, the violent suburbs of Cape Town.At times raw and violent, at other times touching and true,the four lives of Farakhan, Leila, Tito and Gasant convergearound chess prodigy Ricardo, who has a promising futureahead of him, but seems unlikely to fulfill his promise, oreven make adulthood, as he is drawn into running with avicious gang.

Monday, September 1, 4pm /Friday, September 5, 11am

l In Order Of DisappearanceIntroverted snowplow driver Nils (Stellan Skarsgård,Nymphomaniac) has just been named citizen of the yearin his small rural backwater when he receives tragic newsthat his son has died of a heroin overdose. Disbelievingthe official report, Nils soon uncovers evidence of theyoung man’s murder – a victim in a turf war betweenthe preening local crime boss, known as “The Count”,and his Serbian rivals. Armed with heavy machinery andbeginner’s luck, Nils embarks upon a quest for revengethat soon escalates into a full-blown underworld gangwar. A blackly comic revenge tale that doesn’t stint on theviolence, director Hans Petter Moland (A Somewhat GentleMan) has managed to craft something genuinely originaland striking from what could have been clichéd material.Beautifully played, including a droll turn from Bruno Ganz(Downfall) as a Serbian crime lord, the film features strikingscenery and amidst the mayhem and carnage a surprisinglypoignant comment on fatherhood.

Saturday, August 31, 10pm /Monday, September 1, 4pm

l Monica Z (Waltz For Monica)In 1950s rural Sweden, Monica Zetterlund works as aswitchboard operator but dreams of stardom as a jazzsinger. Invited to New York to play with the Tommy FlanaganTrio, she leaves her daughter with her disapproving fatherover Christmas. A classic biopic charts the rise of Monicawho eventually became a celebrity in her own countrybut with a turbulent personal life in the heady days of the1960s. Waltz For Monica was the most-seen film in Swedenin 2013. It’s a tour-de-force for stunning first-time actor andmusician Edda Magnason, who performs Monica’s songsherself. Great music and enjoyable, glossy presentation.

Friday, August 29, 11am /Tuesday, September 2, 6pm

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GET THE LATEST FILM NEWS AND REVIEWS AT at cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson


CRIME pays handsomely in this visuallyarresting sequel to the 2005 neo-noiranthology based on Frank Miller’s comicseries.

Blessed with the same black-and-white aesthetic, Sin City 2: A Dame ToKill For is as twisted and depraved asits predecessor, festooning every framewith corrupt cops, gun-toting hoodlumsand scantily clad molls.

Lurid splashes of colour, like amurderous vamp’s emerald eyes or aworking girl’s tumbling copper curls,temporarily draw the eye away fromthe misery, degradation and mutilationincluding an eyeball being wrenchedfrom its socket.

Directors Robert Rodriguez andMiller linger on the darker side ofhuman nature, relishing the crisp snapof one character’s fingers as they arebroken with pliers, or the exaggeratedsplatter of an arrow scything through ahenchman’s noggin.

The film wears its 18 certificate asa badge of honour. Once again, threestories entwine on the godforsakenstreets of Sin City.

The ghost of police detective JohnHartigan haunts exotic dancer NancyCallahan.

She descends into booze-fuelled hell,desperate to put a bullet between theeyes of scheming Senator Roark.

Nancy manipulates her protector Marvinto taking down the politician and hisgoons, regardless of the consequences.

Meanwhile, cocksure gambler Johnnyand his lucky charm Marcie prepare totake on Roark at the poker table.

Johnny humiliates his powerful hostand suffers horrific consequences. “I

can’t protect you,” the chief of policeinforms Johnny. “Then why you a cop?”retorts the gambler.

Nearby, Dwight McCarthy struggles torein in his violent impulses following anencounter with old flame Ava Lord.

She begs Dwight to help her escapethe clutches of her sadistic husbandDamien and his hulking bodyguardManute. Love really hurts.

The plan goes awry and Dwight turnsto old flame Gail and avenging angelMiho to help him evade the cops.

Arriving almost a decade after thefirst chapter, Sin City 2: A Dame To KillFor plunges us headfirst into a grimyuniverse where a bullet to the headsettles most arguments.

Style pummels emotion intosubmission and snappy dialogue fromthe comics – “I was born at night, but itwasn’t last night”– enhances the feelingthat characters talk not to each other.

Rodriguez and Miller direct set piecesincluding a car chase and sword fightat a breathless lick, melding heavilystylised live action and animation foreach orgy of violence.

Green sheds her inhibitions to playan archetypal femme fatale with lip-smacking gusto, enforcing what wealready knew from the first film: thefemale of the species is far deadlier thanthe male.

SIN CITY 2: A DAME TO KILL FOR(18, 102 mins) Jessica Alba, JoshBrolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, EvaGreen, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis.Directors: Robert Rodriguez, FrankMiller.

Rating: ��

BASED on an incredible true story, CraigGillespie’s unapologetically feel-goodsports drama follows a down-on-his-luck agent, who attempts to introducebaseball to India via an outlandish rags-to-riches competition.

Screenwriter Tom McCarthy fashionsan armful of well-worn cliches into anirresistibly sweet and charming tale oftriumph against adversity that scores ahome run when it matters.

Key to the film’s appeal is handsomeleading man Jon Hamm, who swapsthe tailored suits of Mad Men for morecasual attire as he travels around southAsia, searching for diamonds in therough.

Hamm lights up the screen andenjoys comic interludes with Alan Arkinplaying a grouchy baseball scout, whosteps into the stifling heat of foreignclimes and growls: “Get me to a hoteland don’t wake me up again untilsomeone’s throwing a baseball.”

Sports agent JB Bernstein andbusiness partner Ash Vasudevan are onthe brink of financial ruin. They need tofind fresh talent who can show them themoney.

Unfortunately, home-grown sportsstars are thin on the ground andoverseas audiences are nuts aboutcricket, a sport which JB abhors: “It’slike an insane asylum opened up andall the inmates were allowed to play agame.”

Late one night, JB has a brainwave:a competition to bring two bowlers from

India to the US to challenge for a MajorLeague Baseball contract.

Wealthy businessman Chang financesthe scheme but demands results within12 months. Flanked by translator Amitand scout Ray Poitevint, JB travelsaround India and unearths two rawtalents: Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh.

They head for JB’s plush apartmentin the States where fish-out-of-waterDinesh and Rinku train under pitchingcoach Tom House. JB neglects hischarges until Brenda, the pretty ERnurse who rents his guesthouse, prickshis conscience. “They need to see youcare,” she warns him.

Million Dollar Arm is a polishedamalgamation of countless other sportsmovies that compel us to root for theunderdog.

Familiarity breeds delight inGillespie’s film, relying on a strongensemble cast to milk laughter andtears when it seems the script will strikeout. Cinematographer Gyula Padoscontrasts the rich colours of India withcold, clinical greys of corporate profit-driven USA.

The romantic subplot involving Hammand Bell follows the same trajectory asthe rest of the film, but we’re powerlessto resist each predictable beat of thecharacters’ hearts.

MILLION DOLLAR ARM (PG, 124mins) Drama/Romance. Jon Hamm,Lake Bell, Aasif Mandvi, MadhurMittal, Suraj Sharma, Alan Arkin, BillPaxton, Pitobash, Tzi Ma. Director:Craig Gillespie.

Rating: ��

Down mNon-festival films What’s On Cambridge Film

Director interviews

ELLA WALKER goes behind thescenes and gets the inside scoop onfour star movies showing at CambridgeFilm Festival. Here, and on thefollowing two pages, are the results…

COLIN Firth and Nicole Kidmanreunite after last year’s TheRailway Man in amnesiac thriller

Before I Go To Sleep. Director RowanJoffe (Brighton Rock) and novelist SJWatson talk about taking a novel frompage to screen.

>> Director Rowan Joffe oncasting Nicole Kidman, tacklingsome tough scenes and rollingaround on the floor

Why did you want to tell this story?I read the book in a single sitting andwas gripped and moved. Genericallyit’s a thriller but at its heart it’s a fullyformed drama about trust, marriageand loss. That combination is rare.But [author SJ Watson] not onlyachieved it, he exploited it to evenbetter thriller effect by creating anunreliable narrator. Is Christine the

victim of a conspiracy (and thereforethe protagonist of a thriller)? Or isshe just confabulating because she’sgot a damaged brain (and is thereforethe protagonist of a drama)?Exquisitely wrought and emotionallypowerful narrative organisms likethat are an endangered species inmainstream cinema.

How did you feel when you firstfinished the book?

I felt like I’d found my next movie.It’s a visceral feeling. Being a writer/director is incredibly satisfying butit’s a fight against huge odds, too.The question then becomes, how doI get to direct this? Who do I have toconvince? Who do I have to kill?

Why Nicole Kidman? What wasit that she brought to the role foryou?

Nicole’s performances are honest.And she’s worked with some ofthe greatest directors. I felt: if shebelieves in this, if she believes inme, maybe I’m on the right track. Ihadn’t at that time thought of Nicoleas playing particularly vulnerablecharacters. But that’s what she plays

here. I’ve never seen her quiteit. Fragile. Frightened. Child-likbecause she relies on the twoin her life absolutely. Until sheto put two and two together. Aquestions. And fight back.

Colin Firth plays a characteis quite against type. How wacoaxing that performance outhim?

I don’t think a director, if heshe is honest, really coaxes anyout of actors. It’s either in themit isn’t. My job was to get anythout of the way that was going tmake it harder for Colin to coaout of himself. That process tooplace mostly during the ‘reheaperiod when we were tinkerinthe screenplay. Which is the gradvantage of being a writer/dirThere’s no third party screenwto get between you and the aca line isn’t working for the castmassage the wording or alter thstructure of a scene, or alter thuntil it resonates for them.

What was the most difficultof the filming process?

Before I Go To SleepRowan Joffe & author SJ

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There’s a scene at the end I can’tgive away that was very challengingindeed for us all, especially the mainactors. What got us through the twoand half day shoot was (a) having anhonest dramatic motivation for everyaction and (b) the dedication andprofessionalism of the cast and crew.I also rolled around on the floor a bitto make everyone feel better. I’m notsure if that worked.

There are already comparisonsbeing made to Memento – how doyou feel about that?

Flattered. Though joking aside Ibarely remember what happens.If you’re into tattoos you might bedisappointed by Before I Go To Sleep.

Did any other films have aparticular impact on the making ofthis one?

Yes. Rosemary’s Baby (vulnerabilityand paranoia); Spellbound (doctor/patient relationships) and Dial Mfor Murder (by chance I use thesame Algernon Newton paintings onthe walls that Hitchcock did. Thatdoesn’t make this like Hitchcock butit’s a step in the right direction).

>> Author SJ Watson on seeinghis debut novel transformed into ablockbuster

I’ve seen it about nine times actually.I can’t really get enough; I think it’sgreat, I’m very, very happy.

It’s a very, very surreal experiencethat I wasn’t quite ready for actually.[Director] Rowan Joffe kept me veryinvolved all the way through thefilmmaking process. He’d share thescript with me, talk to me aboutcasting and things like that, but I’dheard so many stories about filmsthat nearly get made and then don’t

quite happen, that I’d kept the wholething at arm’s length, and mentallysaid: you make your movie and I’mgoing to stay out of it.

I wasn’t quite ready for just howemotional it was going to be seeingactors of the calibre of NicoleKidman and Colin Firth and MarkStrong, play those roles. It wasalmost as if it was the first timeI realised those were people I’dinvented in a story that I’d come upwith.

With Nicole Kidman, when hername was first mentioned I watchedall of her films and thought she’s

such a versatile actor, it’s amazingwhat she can do. I went to set andsaw her in makeup and I just thoughtshe’s absolutely perfect.

In a weird way I can’t reallyimagine Christine looking any otherway now, although obviously thatwasn’t always the case.

I always pictured Colin Firth’scharacter as quite attractive andthat does seem to be somethingpeople say about Colin, so, haha,he definitely captures that person aswell. It was quite an interesting rolefor him to take, given that it’s slightlyplaying against type, it’s not MrDarcy, is it?

It’s that weird schizophrenic natureof being a novelist in that you spendthe majority of your time sitting ina room by yourself with imaginarypeople, and then for a short, butquite intense, period of time you’reout talking about those people asif they exist. I’m naturally quite ashy person, so it’s quite a weirdexistence, but I’m not complaining.■ SJ Watson’s next novel, SecondLife, is out in February.

p: DirectorJ Watson

Monday, September1, 9pm – Joffe andWatson will introducethe film/ Tuesday,September 2, 1pm

>> Turn over for

interviews with

the directors of

The Kidnapping of

Michel Houellebecq,

20,000 Days onEarth andPalo Alto


Cambridge Film Festival Follow us on Twitter@CamWhatsOn

Director interviews

The Kidnapping ofMichel Houellebecq:Guillaume Nicloux

Palo Alto: Gia Coppola

HE’S definitely astrange one, MichelHouellebecq.

Controversially outspoken(he has been sued for incitingracial hatred), the 58-year-old French poet and authoris what you’d call a legendarycharacter on home soil. Amaverick, a raconteur, and onethat perpetually has a cigarettedangling from his mouth atthat.

It is his most infamousexploit that director GuillaumeNicloux has taken as the topicof his latest docu-narrative,The Kidnapping of MichelHouellebecq.

The film focuses on therumours surroundingHouellebecq’s three-dayvanishing act during a majorbook tour in 2011, only toreappear quite calmly, withoutmuch explanation. Allegedly alQaeda were involved . . .

Nicloux’s dramatisationreimagines the disappearanceas a kidnapping involving threesympathetic body builders,a dog called Freddie and anelderly couple only too happyto procure Michel (played bythe real Michel), a “lady friend”despite his incarceration.

What made this a story oneyou felt you just had to tell?

I had already asked Michelto play a part in one of myprevious films, L’affaire

Gorji, in which he played theFrench intelligence services’boss. Following that firstcollaboration, I wanted tofurther this complicity byexploring the documentarygenre with the help of afictional twist – by setting up astory that would be an intimateexploration of Michel, whoselife and world would be thebackground.

You blur the line betweentruth and imagination. Whyare you so fascinated by thedistinction between fact andfiction?

For me, every documentary isa fiction. From this statement,it seems more interestingto work on ‘the truth’, theintimacy and spontaneity,

if you allow the actors toprotect themselves behindthis fictional mask I have beentalking about.

This way, everyone has thepossibility at any time to bringvery personal things aboutthemselves, knowing that thesethings will likely be perceivedas an invention or a fantasy.

What was your first meetingwith Michel Houellebecq like?

Very casual. Sat at a table,with two glasses and a bottle.Cigarettes and a lighter as well.

Did he take muchpersuading to star in the film?

No, on the contrary. Afterour first experience workingtogether, the idea to do itagain was exciting. We had tofind ‘the story’ and it quickly

appeared to me that the mostinteresting character wasMichel the man, not Michel thewriter.

How much of a risk was it,casting the writer as himself?

It’s not a risk at all really, aslong as he trusts you. Michelis not an actor, and it is meantas a compliment. We neverhad to do more than one takewhen shooting. It was neverabout acting well or badlybut simply about being right.Authentic in other words. Andthat is something that Michel iscompletely.

It is the core purpose of filmsactually, being able to capturethe truth from somethingfake and give life to fiction.Believing the incredible and

The background:“I had a just finished college and hadhad enough distance from my awkwardteenage years that I could understandthem better,” explains Gia Coppola(the dynastic niece of Sophia, andgranddaughter of Francis Ford).

“I felt I hadn’t experienced much else tolife other than being a teenager so it feltlike a story I knew well enough to tell.”

The 29-year-old has just directed herfirst feature film, Palo Alto, based on acollection of short stories of the samename written by Jack-of-far-too-many-trades actor James Franco, after the pairmet randomly in a deli.

Collaboration with Franco on the scriptwas fairly minimal (“He’s there to supportwhenever needed but also enjoys letting

you have your interpretation”) and theimpact of Gia’s family name was also keptat bay once financing for the film hadcome through – “All that pressure kindof fell off. I felt very safe keeping thingssmall.”

Although of course, I was warnedoff even mentioning her family, andmy questions surrounding the issue of

Franco’s prolific arts output being a bit of avanity project, also went unanswered . . .

Our verdict:Palo Alto is fragmentary and bleak but

extremely well dressed. Trussed up in inkyvisions of disillusioned teens wanderingaimlessly, smoking endlessly and mooningunrequitedly: it is bored youth distilled.

Obligatory shots of sunlight throughleafy LA trees (a Sophia Coppolatrademark), accompany shy April (EmmaRoberts) as she longs for chiselled Teddy(played expertly my Val Kilmer’s son Jack),but ends up a conquest of creepy soccercoach Mr B (Franco).

More sullen and meandering than apunchy, touching account of growingup, Gia told me: “I hope that people canconnect with the characters and perhapsfeel less alone.”

I hope so too, otherwise you’re in for along couple of hours.

Sunday, September 7,6.30pm

l Still the Enemy WithinThis is a unique insight into one of recenthistory’s most dramatic events: the 1984-85British Miners’ Strike. Thirty years on, this isthe raw first-hand experience of those wholived through Britain’s longest strike. The filmfollows the highs and lows of that life-changingyear. Using interviews and a wealth of rare andnever-before-seen archive, it draws togetherpersonal experiences to take the audience onan emotionally powerful journey through thedramatic events of that year. Still the EnemyWithin is ultimately a universal tale of ordinarypeople standing up for what they believe in. Itchallenges us to look again at our past so that inthe words of one miner, “we can still seek to dosomething about the future”.

Wednesday, September 3, 7.30pmand Thursday, September 4, 6pm

l TornAn excellent study of the ripples that extend froman explosion. When a bomb goes off in the localshopping mall killing many, the first suspect isthe young man from a Muslim background andthe investigation focuses on his parents. Tornplays with the perceptions of the viewer, from amiddle class Muslim family to a working classwhite mother and the perceptions of the FBI.One of the most sensitive and even-handedinvestigations into American attitudes post 9/11told with fascinating economy of the story-telling– a lot goes into 80 minutes – and the eye fordetail that portrays so much in a single shortshot.

Sunday, September 7, 10pm

l War StoryAn extraordinary story about grief and traumatold with beautiful sensitivity. Lee is a warphotographer, just back from a difficultassignment. She spends her days chain-smoking in bed and shuts herself off from anyhuman contact. Only when she meets a youngTunisian refugee, and decides to help her, isthere a breakthrough in her own healing process.As War Story unfolds you gradually find out whathas happened and understand Lee’s behaviour.A powerful and moving film.

Sunday, August 31, 8.45pm

l The Keeper of LostCausesBased on award-winning novel Mercy, the firstof the bestselling Department Q crime fictionseries by Jussi Adler-Olsen, The Keeper of LostCauses is a powerful and gripping addition tothe recent Scandinavian noir cycle. Carl Mørck(Nikolaj Lie Kaas, The Killing) is a broodingdetective who takes the fall when his partner iswounded during a seemingly routine operation.Reassigned to the newly created Department Q,a basement-bound job filing cold cases, he isallocated a new assistant, Assad (Fares Fares,Zero Dark Thirty), a smart young Muslim cop.Always one to question hierarchy and directorders, Mørck throws them headlong into themystery of a politician’s disappearance fiveyears earlier. Believing the case to be unsolved,they embark on a dangerous journey that willuncover a shocking truth, leading to a thrillingand unforgettable climax. Citing Hitchcock asa primary influence and a desire to tell a filmthrough dark and powerful images, directorMikkel Nørgaard says he has crafted “a storyabout the dark side of life, what happens if youcannot let go of the past, when it devours youfrom within. This is a story of how humans dealwith the horrific things that happen throughoutlife, being able to move forward from that or not”.

Thursday, August 28, 10.15pmand Friday, August 29, 2pm

Festival choice

The debut indiemovie

The foreign language film (Opening Night Gala Film)


LOADS MORE ONLINE at cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson

by ELLA WALKER

20,000Days OnEarth: IainForsythand JanePollard

WITH bizarre but touching cameosfrom Kylie Minogue and RayWinstone, docu-drama 20,000 DaysOn Earth tracks a fictional day in thelife of cult musician Nick Cave (andthe Bad Seeds).Put together by long timecollaborators Iain Forsyth and JanePollard, it’s a unique portrayal ofa rock star and legend, and a verydifferent kind of music film altogether.Where did the idea for the filmcome from?Jane Pollard: It started with a phonecall from Nick saying that him andWarren [Ellis] were going in to writethe new album and he thought hecould cope with having a studio withthem. They’ve never had anybodyfilm that early in that process, so weknew it was a unique opportunity andwe grabbed it, then the stuff we wereshooting and the album they weremaking was evidently so much betterthan we thought.So you wanted to do more with

the material?JP: Let’s be honest, these things tendto end up as 10-minute videos onYouTube; we couldn’t let what we’dshot end up that way, so we decidedwe’d set about then making a biggervessel to carry that in.And is Nick happy with thefinished product?JP (laughing): Yeah, he likes it. Andbetter than that, he says he recogniseshimself in it and that means a lot to us,because we see the Nick that we knowin this film as well.You’ve said it was importantfor you to not “break themythology” of Cave – what didyou mean by that?Iain Forsyth: Nick is a creation. Nickis a rock star and like all rock stars

you create an image for yourselfand you create a character youwant to be and I think a lot of otherdocumentaries and music films, theyhave this idea of going behind themask, somehow showing the ‘realman’ behind the character. For uswe felt quite strongly that there wasa public and private Nick Cave, but itwasn’t two separate people that wewere trying to document. Actually,Nick is one thing; so Nick on stage,Nick off stage, Nick at home with hisfamily, is all the same person.How did you decide whichmoments to script, and whichto let unspool naturally?JP: We had a script that had nodialogue in it, so we knew what thescenes were going to be, and weknew the kind of action between thescenes, but we didn’t know what wasgoing to happen in a scene. Do youknow what it is? Nick can’t act.IF: The film was set up like a dramaticfeature film. So there was a script

that took us from the beginning tothe end of the film, but the thing thatwas different for us was, within thosescenes we shot the action more likeyou would a documentary, where youjust let things happen in front of youand you capture what you can, thentie that together in the edit.What do you want people tofeel after watching the film?JP: The feeling we wanted to leaveyou with is the feeling that we havethrough knowing Nick, the feelingof being inspired by somebody whoworks incredibly hard and, whilstbeing a mythic god of rock, he alsodemystifies the creative processbecause he tells it as it is. All youneed to do is have a tiny idea,stick with it, protect the idea andsee it through, and if you do that,sometimes really incredible thingshappen.

Tuesday, September 2,8.20pm and 10.30pm

making people feel.How far did you two

collaborate on the plottogether?

There were severalencounters during which Ikept Michel updated on theprogress of the script’s writing.I told him my desires. He wouldalso share his preferencessometimes.

While keeping surprises, Ioutlined the script’s structureand we talked about the themesthat would be featured inthe film. But every time theintention was the same: givingto the audience a larger andmore humanistic vision ofMichel, with his contradictions,his lyrical momentums, hisnaiveté, his frailty; conveyinga portrait with multiple sidesto give a counterpoint and amore complex approach to theManichean and often caricaturalvision dictated by some media.

Did you ever argue on set?No we did not, even if I

am not the most reassuringdirector you can have, I amnot interested in arguing. Ilike silent complicity. Notdemonstrative but generous.And I must admit that I wasgiven a lot of it. Michel offeredme many fragile, sincere, raremoments while being funnyand moving.

Which moments are youparticularly proud of in thefinished piece?

Each scene has got a littlepiece of organic bravery, alcohol,sex, fighting, food, fear . . . I findall the actors very endearing andI took great pleasure in watchingthem living together, even withchaos and occasionally fighting,because even without alwaysunderstanding each other, theywould listen. They appreciatedeach other’s company untilprogressively creating in thefilm an inverted Stockholmsyndrome that they were notaware of.

Thursday, August 28,7pm and Friday, August29, 3pm

The musicdocu-drama

cambridge film festival 2014

Documents