19
13.03.2012
FILM
concrete.film@uea.ac.uk
black pond q&a
Up against already established household names Richard Ayoade, Joe Cornish and Ralph Fiennes in the Bafta category for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, Will Sharpe and Tom Kingsley, along with their sardonic comedy-drama Black Pond, went largely unnoticed by the ceremony’s viewers. Unfortunately confined to an extremely limited initial release due to the film’s miniscule production budget of £25,000 and the considerable amount of controversy attached to its lead actor, Chris Langham, Black Pond was thankfully granted a single screening at Norwich’s Cinema City followed by a question and answer session with the two young directors and their star. While it was not possible at the time to record the speakers’ responses verbatim, the following article should provide a clear idea of the key points covered in the all too brief session. Following a bewildering few days in which a middle-class couple’s stagnating lives are enriched by (and subsequently turned upside down by the death of) an eccentric, naïve man named Blake, Black Pond is incredibly lyrical in its form. The piece is peppered throughout with excerpts from the work of John Clare, serendipitously stumbled upon by the directors in a book in Sharpe’s bathroom, and intermittently inflicts upon the audience crude animations which reflect both its modest budget and youthful philosophy. Though for every drop of poetry, be it literary or visual in form, that threatens to submerge the narrative in the murky waters of pretension, there is a torrent of self-deprecating humour which firmly grounds it in the realm of emotionally stirring black comedy.
preview
nero fiddled
The young directing duo, who met while studying at Cambridge University, filmed in Surrey, using Sharpe’s parents’ house (in which the principle cast lived during production in the name of developing a realistic familial bond as well as cost-effectiveness) to situate a large portion of Black Pond’s action. The titular pond (though not named so ominously in reality) is located a short distance away from a roaring motorway, a fact Sharpe and Kingsley chose to highlight by not eliminating this noise pollution in postproduction, emphasising the film’s key theme of needlessly complex human constructions (be they motorways or marriage) encroaching on the simplistic and natural. Addressing “the elephant in the room”, the directors explained that they did not choose Chris Langham to star in their debut feature as a means through which to garner publicity, or because they felt that his release from prison may have led to desperation and a lower fee. Rather, they had been fans of his since observing his work on the BBC’s The Thick of It, basing the lead role of Tom Thompson on his performance in the series. Langham added that it was not an urge to accept whatever morsel of work was thrust his way that resulted in his acceptance of the role, but his own interest in the script and the overwhelming praise it received from his late father, theatre director Michael Langham. Sharpe and Kingsley are hoping to soon commence filming their second directorial effort: a modern treatment of Voltaire’s Candide.
Following his success with Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen’s next cinematic effort sidles from Paris to Rome. Entitled Nero Fiddled, the film is to be released 22 June 2012, and stars Woody Allen himself, in his first acting role in over five years, as well as The Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg and Juno’s Ellen Page, two very promising younger actors who have already made their marks. In fact, Eisenberg’s mannerisms and screen presence do bare a lot of resemblance to the famed director. In addition to Eisenberg and Page, an increasingly random list of actors follows in typical Allen fashion, including Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Alison Pill, Roberto Benigni, Judy Davis and Greta Gerwig. The plot is rather hazy at the moment but it involves a collection of four interweaving vignettes, hopefully not producing the same nauseatingly bland effects of, say, Valentine’s Day. Although, of course, Valentine’s Day suffered from having a million vignettes, but that is another article altogether. Supposedly, the film was originally going to be called The Bop Decameron and was supposed to be based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron but these rumours were later dispelled by Allen himself, who labels the film in his own right a comedy, not a romantic comedy as it appears to be billed. Allen’s section of the story involves him and his wife travelling to Italy in order to meet the boy their daughter intends to marry, but whether or not this is one of the vignettes or the story that threads the vignettes together remains to be seen. It’s no surprise, of course, that Sony Pictures is desperate for more Allen goodness following the phenomenal success of the late career blossom that is Midnight in Paris. Could Nero Fiddled better Midnight in Paris, a film that has put Allen back on the map somewhat in terms of awards and box office success? This reviewer hopes so, and hopes further that we may yet be given the Annie Hall or Manhattan of our generation; a romantic comedy that works intelligently and thought-provokingly, where Allen has already set the benchmark. Who else would be better placed to beat it but himself? One cannot help but say, whether Nero Fiddled succeeds or not, welcome back Woody Allen, it is wonderful to see you, again, at the top of your game, fighting for Oscar glory.
Tom Moore
AJ Hodson
e4 slackers club: this must be the place This month at Cinema City, E4 and Picturehouse Cinemas offer an advanced screening of Paolo Sorrentino’s This Must Be the Place on 28 March 2012. The film follows Cheyenne (Sean Penn), a former rock star. At 50 he still dresses ‘goth’ and lives in Dublin off his royalties. The death of his father, with whom he wasn’t on speaking terms, brings him back to New York. He discovers his father had an obsession: to seek revenge
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for a humiliation he had suffered. Cheyenne decides to pick up where his father left off, and starts a journey, at his own pace, across America.
Students can pick up free tickets from Cinema City. Just remember your student card!