Electricity.

Epilepsy is not a subject you will find tackled in many feature films, the only one that come’s to mine (although I suspect there are more) was Anton Corbijn’s Control (2007) which was the biopic about the life, and subsequent death, of Joy Divisions lead singer Ian Curtis who suffered from depression as well as epilepsy. Curtis hung himself at the age of 23 from a clothesline in his own kitchen!

The word Epilepsy, I’m reliable informed by the Internet, comes from an ancient Greek verb meaning ‘to seize, possess, or afflict’.  It’s a neurological disorder that manifests itself  “by sudden recurrent episodes of sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness, or convulsions, associated with abnormal electrical activity in the brain”.

Co-indecently Electricity (2014), a British independent movie. is the name of this weeks Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre Film Club screening. Directing and producing his debut feature film is Bryn Higgins, a man who can normally be found working on television drama series.[1]  The film is based on Ray Robinson[2] superb novel that is being re-issued to coincide with film's release. It has been adapted for the big screen by Joe Fisher.

 

Lily O'Connor.

The story is seen through the eyes of a vulnerable young woman, Lily O’Connor who has suffered, despite heavy medication, from an epileptic condition since she was six years old when her alcoholic mother threw her down the stairs but she refuses to be defined by her illness. It’s when her mother dies and she comes into an inheritance that the story really takes shape. Her older brother Barry, although not happy, agrees that there younger brother Mickey should get a share. The problem is that the wayward Mickey lives down south in London[3] and Lily does not have his address. But even so she leaves the familiarity and security of her North-east England seaside town[4] and sets out to find her younger brother.

We have a stunning central performance from Agyness Deyn who stars in her first leading role as Lily O’Connor, successfully infusing the character with equal amounts of attitude, charisma and vulnerability, and a character with which the audience can easily identify. The 31-year-old Manchester born Deyn is best known as a fashion model and has appeared on the cover of the Vogue magazine. She has also appeared in Clash of the Titans in 2010 and in 2012 appeared opposite Richard Cole in the English language remake of Pusher.[5] She is also appearing in Terence Davies next movie Sunset Song along side Film Club favourite Peter Mullan. Lily’s brother Barry is played by Paul Anderson, who you will no doubt recognise from his role as the psychopathic Arthur Shelby in TV’s Peaky Blinders.  Lenora Crichlow, who stars in the BBC series Being Human, plays Lily’s friend Mel and I’m sure you will also recognise Alice Lowe from Ben Wheatley’s black comedy Sightseers (2012).[6]

 

Lily with brother Barry.

In a seven-week shoot the director set out to produce a powerful two-fold story, one of which is too enter the headspace of a young epileptic woman and the second is how she sets out in a search of her errant brother. This visual drama succeeds in in both cases. This meaningful and touching film combines strong, witty human drama with remarkable visual effects to create an immersive and compelling cinematic experience. Shot beautifully by Si Bell the colours, shots, framing and style of the photography is breath taking. The editing, special effects, supporting cast, locations, wardrobe, make up, production design, even the title credits are all stunningly crafted.

A significant amount of the funding for the film came from the Wellcome Trust, the medical charity. Also input was provided from the Epilepsy Society throughout the whole process of scripting shooting and editing. They also had a medical advisor on set.

 

Off kilter Alice in Wonderland.

Described an off kilter Alice In Wonderland for the modern day, it’s socially real, gritty, thought provoking and interesting naturalistic drama, which at times trips into the avant-garde, apparently influenced by the work of Stan Brakhage[7]. Glasgow born John Lunn who has won awards for his musical work on Downton Abbey composed the original soundtrack.

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[1] Including Casualty 1909, Casualty 1907 and Silent Witness.

[2] Who did have an input into the adaptation.

[3] Lily’s trip to London is reflecting the Alice going down the rabbit hole and her journey through wonderland.

[4] Shot on location in Saltburn on Sea, Cleveland, Newcastle upon Tyne, Co Durham Hospital and London. 

[5] The Danish original was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and released in 1996. 

[6] Which she also co-wrote along side Steve Oram.

[7] An American non-narrative filmmaker who is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film.

Sightseers.

The Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre Film Club is beginning to worry me!! The conversation that took place following this week’s movie involved a discussion that centred on whether all the killings in the film were valid, and the funny part about it was that this intelligent adult audience agreed that all of them were .… except maybe the lone jogger? So if mysterious dead bodies start appearing across Dumfries and Galloway I would suggest that the police start their investigations questioning those that attended the Film Club screening of the British black comedy Sightseers (2012)!!!!!!

Ben Wheatley’s third feature film following Down Terrace (2009) and Kill List (2011) was hosted by Rachel Findlay who had really done her homework on both Wheatley and the two main actors/writers Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, who played Tina and Chris, and I make no apology for reproducing her introduction in full as follows: 

Evil has a knitted jumper!

Ben Wheatley's route to success in filmmaking is pretty interesting. Initially he made short films and animations, which he would send off in the usual way to film festivals. Then he started putting his work onto his own website, and concentrated on animations at this point in time, mainly because this was easier to control, coordinate and complete as it involved only him and his own time.

He then started to get involved with various online communities, and in particular found a web forum called beta. He started posting pieces of his work on the forum, which gave him instant feedback, and helped him to develop his current projects. Around this time he created a movie of his friend appearing to jump over a moving car, which went viral on YouTube with over 10 million views.  Large media companies started to contact him to get him involved in commercial projects and in 2006 he won a Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival for a viral marketing campaign for a video gaming company. From this, he went on to work on several television comedy shows, including BBC3's comedy The Wrong Door. It was on this show that he originally worked with the two stars of this week’s film, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram.

Alice and Steve are both from the Midlands, and when they first met and worked together, mainly on TV comedies, they discovered a shared childhood love of camping holidays. Partly from this they developed the characters Tina and Chris who grew into a stand-up comedy act. They made a short film to pitch this idea to TV companies, but struggled to get any interest. At some point, the pitch was put to Ben Wheatley, and he took the project on. The final screenplay for the movie was written by Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, but with additional material from Amy Jump, who is also Wheatley's wife.[1]

Chris and Tina.

Tina is thirty something, living with her over powering crippled mother who will not forgive her for the death of there beloved pooch Poppy, who accidently got caught up with Tina’s knitting. When her new boyfriend Chris offers to take the brow beaten spinster on a caravan holiday Tina readily accepts even if her neurotic mother is dead against it, who announces to Chris on their departure that she does not like him (mothering laws eh!). Setting off on their caravan travelogue the idea is to visit places of interest that the rather domineering Chris has planned out for them. But the journey gets a little more complex when they visit the Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire and Chris backs the caravan over a lout for dropping litter and kills him. Instead of Tina being appalled by this incident she seems to be turned on by it and gradually becomes the more assertive partner. Continuing on their road trip they encounter one or two other obnoxious folk and a giant pencil!

A visit to the Pencil Museum.

Howls of laughter accompanied the viewing of the movie followed by suggestions that parts of this brummie accented Tarantinoesque film should be used in a Caravan Club of Great Britain promotion or in an anti-litter campaign? Wheatley’s been very clever in that the killing spree seems completely normal and the lengthy development of the two main characters and the normality of the detail in the film has given us two totally believably, rounded individuals whom strangely enough you cannot fail to like. The film brings to mind Mike Leigh’s 1976 BBC Play for Today Nuts in May, which also involves a couple on a camping trip, Withnail and I (1987) where two young ‘gentlemen’ leave the big city for a trip to the countryside and Natural Born Killers (1994) a Tarantino story about a couple, both victims of a traumatic childhood, who become lovers and mass murderers but none of these influences are allowed to encroach on this splendid British comedy.  I could not leave this blog without mentioning the wonderful cinematography that underlines the beautiful English countryside and for once a soundtrack that actually enhances the movie. Can’t wait for the Sightseers sequel to see how Tina, on her return from her eventful holiday, deals with her mother?

The End.

[1] Rachel Findley RBC Film Club Introduction 21^st January 2013.