FILM & FOOD .
TWISTED BURGER
PHANTOM CINEMA
I’ve been a self professed lover of The Harley in Sheffield for a few years now, they provide cracking food and awesome tunes all in one tidy package, so when I heard that the resident Twisted Burger Company was coming to the newly revamped Vintage in Doncaster I was absolutely ecstatic! I tried it for the first time last week for a friend’s birthday and it doesn’t disappoint; I drooled my way through the Drop It Like It’s Hot burger and had my face metaphorically blown off by the Hellfire Fries, and that’s all good, but I’ve also been anticipating the monthly ‘special edition’ burgers that are occasionally thrown into the mix.
The Duke of Burgundy is a film so firmly rooted in the tradition of 60s and 70s European art cinema that it’s sometimes surprising to hear the cast speaking English.
Now I can’t speak for this Halloween Burger (aptly named ‘Trick or Meat’) yet, I’m down for one on the Friday before Halloween, but it already has a whole bunch of positives going for it; a purple beetroot bun, green manchego cheese sauce and a badge designed by Tom J Newell with every order, speaking of which, only 15 are served a day, so it’s probably best to get down for a lunchtime treat before they all run out. Still, if green cheese sauce sounds a bit much, there’s a myriad of other options to roll through, including some carefully considered vegetarian/ vegan options and some ridiculous portions of fries, the Pig Pimpin’ Fries in particular are certainly worth having a nibble on. I don’t think there are many people who would say that Doncaster was missing a “burger restaurant/bar/live venue”, but this collaboration between Vintage & Twisted is something that once you’ve tried it, you’ll struggle to live without. Joe Carratt @KingCarratt twistedburger.co
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Set in an unnamed place in an unspecified era, it is ostensibly a love story, but a dark variation that includes complex role play, mild torture and what is rather jauntily known as ‘water sports’. This is no Fifty Shades Of Grey, however. There is no testosterone-packed hunk inveigling a simpering female novice into his wacky world of perversion. Instead, we have two consenting adult women embroiled in a relationship that is part romance, part war, a twisting, turning affair that is far from what it initially seems, not least in terms of the roles they have taken on and the parts they play. Writer and director Peter Strickland creates a fascinating alternate universe where an unrelentingly erotic film can contain no nudity and yet be incredibly explicit. This is a world where sexual deviance isn’t deviant at all, to the extent that there is a waiting list for custom-made torture devices. There are no men here and no mention of them, and it’s rather a relief. There are also no cars, everyone is well dressed, every room is immaculately designed and we are witness to very few interests outside of sadomasochism and lepidopterology, the study of butterflies and moths. There is no time wasted in explaining any of this. It just is. However, despite the film’s intensity and strangeness, it is never willfully obscure or dour. In fact, it’s often very funny, assuming you have a deadpan, slightly odd sense of humour. Most of all, it’s a gorgeous film with beautiful intentions. It doesn’t make any judgments nor, indeed, draw any conclusions. As I said, very European. Paul Bareham ‘The Duke of Burgundy’ shows at Phantom Cinema, Doncaster Brewery, 7 Young Street, Doncaster on 18th December at 7.30pm. Tickets are available via p h a n t o m c i n e m a . c o . u k or through Ian & Alison at the Brewery Tap.