Still.

Set around Kings Cross and the Caledonian Road in North London Simon Blake's debut feature film leaves you feeling in need of a good shower.   Still (2014) takes you on a dark trip into the decline of Tom Carver a man who is still grieving over the death of his son killed in a hit and run accident 12 months previous, followed by his marriage breakdown and eventual divorce from his wife Rachel (Amanda Mealing). Both parents are seen visiting their sons grave together and although both are in separate relationships Rachel is deeply concerned about Tom's mental state driven by his ever increasing dependency on drink and drugs - not helped Rachel thinks by his friendship with the seedy journalist Ed (Jonathan Slinger). Things get worse for photographer Tom who during a photo assignment at a local school meets schoolboy Jimmy whose brother was killed in a street gang fight. Somehow Tom clashes with a gang led by the 15 year old Carl (Sonny Green) who seems to begrudge his mentorship of Jimmy. This leads to a mutilated cat dumped on his doorstep, shit put through his letterbox and eventually the violent gang rape of his live in girlfriend Christina (French actress Elodie Yung) followed by Jimmy’s hospitalisation due to a very severe beating by the gang. Although the police are now involved Tom, spurred on by Ed, begins to realise that he will need to deal with the situation personally.

Adapted by Blake from his play Lazarus Man it's a movie with obvious enough ambition but I'm not really sure if I liked this film? It was an unsavoury experience where the main character Tom, played with great skill admittedly by Aidan Gillian, is not someone that you would empathise with, but to be frank there’s not a character that's particularly likeable in the whole movie! A film that takes along while to get where it's going and I would repeat what other critics have opined in that your never really sure what genre this fits into, a thriller, a vengeance drama or more likely in my opinion a psychiatric study of a man who gradually slides down the slippery pole of paranoia and nastiness. It would be interesting to hear what others made of this film?

Mister John.

Director:	Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Country:	UK
Year:	2013
Running Time:	95 mins
Principle Cast:	Aidan Gillen	Gerry Devine
	Claire Keelan	Kathleen Devine
	Zoe Tay	Kim Devine
	Michael Thomas	Lester

Joe Lawlor.

No one does angst quite like Aidan Gillian, even when he lined up with the Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor and the films Producer David Collins to introduce this World Premiere of Mister John at the 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival he looked a very troubled man and did not return to take part in the Q&A! But I’ll forgive him because he really nailed the part of Gerry Devine in the directing partnership’s second feature film following their debut with Helen in 2008.

Gerry, who lives in London with his wife Kathleen and their young daughter, is going through a marriage breakdown after discovering that Kathleen had sex with another man. He gets a chance to escape from the tensions of this affair when he has to travel to the South East Asia to sort out his brother John’s estate after he had drowned in mysterious circumstances. Upon arriving in this erotic part of the world he goes to stay with John’s beautiful Chinese wife Kim and help’s her reopen the hostess bar owned by her husband and called 'Mister John'. Its here that Gerry gets an opportunity to reinvent himself, encouraged by Kim to wear her husbands clothes he seems to be taking on his persona. What will become of Gerry? Will he assume his brother’s identity or will he return home to re-join his daughter and patch things up with his wife?

Christine Molloy.

In a fairly lengthy Q&A that followed the its premiere Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor gave some incite into the character of Gerry. Describing him as an Irish man abroad that lets things happen to him, when even his wife’s infidelity is a symptom of the failure of his marriage and not the reason for it. Gerry never really shows any interest in sex even with the temptations that befall him in South East Asia. The only time he gets a hard-on is from the after effects of being bitten by a snake!  

The film evokes a ‘maybe’ world of easy sex, always at a distance but forming an important current running through the movie. Its eroticism is never overstated although it would not be an exaggeration to describe the general female cast as ‘sexy’.  The movie is beautiful to look at, shot with 35mm film on location in Singapore. Its soundtrack deliberately ruptures the narrative at times which is not meant as a criticism having the effect of raising the level of the film were necessary.  Granted its core narrative is similar to Helen but it’s a movie that stands on its own merits, and there are plenty to enjoy know its on general release.

The Low Down.

Relationships are not easy for Ruby and Frank.

After watching Treacle Jr. (2010), the third feature film that Jamie Thraves had written and directed, I decided that his debut feature film The Low Down (2000) may well be worth a look and I was not disappointed. Like Treacle Jr. it’s a low budget independent film with has the same main star Aidan Gillen, a film he appeared in before his career took off playing Tommy Carcetti in the HBO TV series The Wire (2004–2008). It also stars Kate Ashfield (The War Zone 1999) and Dean Lennox Kelly who is best known for his role of Kev Ball in the TV series Shameless.

Thraves story tracks the day-to-day existence of Frank (Gillen) who earns his living making props alongside his two best friends Mike (Lennox Kelly) and John (Tobias Menzies). Franks life seems to have ground to a halt, not really going anywhere.  So he decides to change his accommodation and move out of the flat that he presently shares with the depressed Terry (Rupert Procter, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 2011). It’s while looking for a new apartment that he meets the young attractive Ruby (Ashfield) who works in the local estate agents but would rather study English literature. It’s not long before they realise that they are attracted to one another.

Made in conjunction with Film 4, Thraves really gets to grips with the character studies, which he has stated are based on people he has known personally. He demonstrates how insecurities can get in the way of life. Frank is not good at communicating emotionally; he is somewhat stunted and not good at relationships, getting to a stage where he is past caring and has lost his ambition to be an artist. Ruby is straightforward, a tomboy, she really wants to fall in love with Frank but not being a great communicator herself makes the development of a serious relationship between the two of them pretty difficult.  

A film were people are at a certain time in there lives and are becoming scared to move on, frightened of change but at the same time yearning after change, trying to escape a life that's becoming mundane and somewhat boring.  As I have already said Jamie Thraves really nails his subjects and I for one really look forward to more films from this British director. Incidentally if you look carefully you will spot a young Martin Freeman (The Hobbit 2012) in his first feature film.

Treacle Jr.

Tom Fisher with Aidan Gillian.

Sometimes your lucky and sometimes your not! I refer to selecting an ‘unknown’ film to watch, you know the one, sounds good but your not sure. To be honest I’ve been quite lucky with small budget independent movies that have had almost non-existent distribution, generally only shown in independent picture houses or at local film festivals. I can remember shouting the praises for an Irish film directed by Lenny Abrahamson (What Richard Did 2012) called Garage (2007). Set and shot in Southern Ireland, it’s about Josie a lonely good-natured petrol station attendant who has worked at the crumbling garage for 20 years. His hapless searches for intimacy over one-summer sees his little niche threatened and his life changed forever.  The Irish comedian, singer and writer Pat Shortt, won a Best Actor Award for his role as Josie. This turned out to be an extraordinary powerful film with a great funny/sad performance from Shortt.

Treacle Jr is the cat!

Not quite up to the standard of Garage, but well worth seeing all the same is Treacle Jr (2012) directed and written by Jamie Thraves and starring Aidan Gillen (The Dark Knight Rises 2012, Shadow Dancer 2012, Blitz 2011), Tom Fisher and Riann Steele, who like Fisher has mainly appeared on the small screen in various television series.

The story involves a middle-aged man, Tom (Fisher), who walks out on his wife and baby boy and a seemingly happy life in Birmingham with no explanation. Throwing away both his credit cards and mobile phone he opts to live rough on the streets of London. Alone in a park at night he is set upon by a gang of violent thugs, in his bid to escape he accidentally runs into a tree and knocks himself out. In A&E Tom meets an extremely happy, fast-talking individual, Aidan (Gillen) the complete opposite of Tom. Too polite, or too weak to ask him to leave him alone Tom tries to get away from him but to no avail, Aidan sticks to him like glue. Tom reluctantly becomes involved in Aidan's life and he quickly realizes that this child like man clearly has his own problems, except Aidan can't see them; his shiny optimism blinds him at every turn, even from his 'girlfriend' the dangerous and volatile Linda (Steele).[1]

Riann Steele.

Thraves manages to obtain a wonderful judged performance from the very versatile Gillen; a commendable actor who seems happy to jump from big budget blockbuster to independent minimally financed films, he’s totally convincing as the bizarrely accented and deranged Irish man who strikes up an odd couple relationship with the middleclass dropout who appears to be suffering some kind of midlife crisis that’s never really explained. The director remortgaged his own house to make this very likeable slice of social realism producing a movie that pull’s at the heartstrings, but also making you laugh out loud.

The very versatile Aidan Gillen.

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[1] Official Film Web Site.