EIFF 2007
I’ve not written up anything from the film festival properly as I meant to and at this rate I’ll never get round to it so here goes…
It was a good year for fun late night movies, Teeth especially. It’s a very simple idea and they’ve hit it bang on; it’s hard to add anything to the plot synopsis on the web site without spoiling the fun. There was also Weirdsville – I twittered this with a quote: “Satan is supposed to be helping us, not plaguing us with midgets and junkies” which pretty much sums up where the film is coming from; it’s not actually a horror film (in spite of the zombies quote) but it’s got a very similar vibe to the silly end of horror. Two drug addicts try to make some cash selling drugs themselves but after one of them overindulges things go wrong and they get mixed up with some very mixed up people.
It’s Gonna Get Worse was another gem. It starts off not a million miles away from Weirdsville with some slackers whiling away their time with drink, drugs and the odd illicit football match. Trouble is, they’re living in communist Czechoslovakia and that’s not something that goes down too well with the authorities who have no problem expressing their disapproval. The whole thing is done in lo-fi black and white reminiscent of Clerks and like that (and Weirdsville) it’s basis is the sympathy it builds up for its characters, drawing you in through all the messed up things they do. I’m not sure if it’s going to get a UK release but I certainly hope so – it deserves to be seen.
Other things that spring to mind as being particularly worth checking out are Once (which is a bittersweet romantic drama about musicians; people seem to keep calling it a musical), Two Days In Paris (smart and very funny; I came out of the cinema with an enormous grin on my face) and In Search of a Midnight Kiss (which was my pick of the festival – I wrote about it earlier).
Next year the festival will be held in June. I’m not sure I approve of this – half the fun is wandering around the city when it’s alive like it is during August, checking out some of the other things that are going on. On the bright side, it does mean I’ll be able to attend the Debian UK (international) barbecue.