Film Review: Maps to the Stars (18) (Canada/U.S.A./Germany/France 2014) (Director: David Cronenberg), The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Saturday 27.09.2014 19:30

Some reviewers have called this a satire, I don't know if I would quite agree with that, though do feel this is a biting fictionalised expose of 'Hollywood''s ways of being. 

Julianne Moore is great as the lead desperate-needy actress verging towards the end of her career. Olivia Williams & John Cusack play a cold-couple with a secret they must keep hidden below the surface, and an insufferable, just out of rehab, young brat child-star for a son. Mia Wasikowska plays the most complex character who weedles her way into the 'Hollywood' set, then becoming the assistant to Julianne Moore. Mia's secret's are hinted at on her scarred body, the rest I have to leave the film to reveal. 

There are some fantastic scenes, where all surface is very pleasant, though it is clear to see that the main characters being focused upon, hold nothing but venomous contempt for each other. There are some wonderfully off the leash scenes where the actors are portraying more extreme elements than they would usually dare allow themselves to, such as Julianne Moore on the crapper with trapped constipated wind leaking out. 

I don't feel there was any point to the film, beyond showing 'Hollywood' in not only a superficial light, though also in a way that shows it as being utterly-self-consumed, vacuous and bilious. Maybe not the most original of ideas, though this the most unvarnished I have seen a presentation of 'Hollywood'. I feel the film doesn't need a purpose or point beyond this.

It is quite a riot of a film, that also presents 'Hollywood' in a way that we can actually imagine it being. I found this to be a very enjoyable film, though it is hard to say exactly why. I also suspect it has more depth than able to pick-up upon on first viewing. It certainly sticks in my thoughts...

Rating: 09/10.     

Film Review: 20,000 Days On Earth (15) (U.K. 2014) (Directors: Ian Forsyth & Jane Pollard), The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Wednesday 17.09.2014 19:00

Many of you will now be aware that this is the documentary about that most revered of Aussies, Nick Cave. All that is seen in the film, apart from the footage of 'im and 'is band playing live, has a high degree of artifice to it. I am not daft enough to expect that music documentaries are entirely factual, though this is unusual in that there is no attempt to hide to hide the fakery. It all felt a tad too contrived for my tastes.  

I had pondered how to do this review. I suspect it will be most straightforward if I say that I did enjoy the film, though I did have issues with it. I particularly enjoyed the sections which had Nick talking about processes of thinking and creativity; I enjoy how he uses language and how he 'puts things'. I also greatly enjoyed the parts where Nick is conversing with his band-mate/compadre, Mr Warren Ellis. Warren has a presence I warm to and find endearing. I enjoyed the sections where Nick (& Warren) were discussing Nina Simone, though this is because I'm a Nina nut. I liked when Nick was reflecting on his earlier career, and found the detail he gave intriguing. I had wished there had been more of this, though also understand he finds it hard to recollect from these earlier times. 

I did not like the passages where he picks-up in his car and has short periods of reflection with Ray Winstone, Blixa Bargeld & Kylie Minogue. I did not feel these added anything, and were just a bit of fluff distracting from the more important elements. I felt there was too much focus upon the latest album and it's music to the detriment of his great previous work.

I felt it odd that there was a complete editing out of the Nick Cave 'story' of one Polly Jean Harvey. Nick had once referred to her as his muse (the break-up of their relationship is the basis to the entire 'The Boatman Calls' Album). Though now he does not like that term, as he feels it does not do justice to his wife, Suzie. 

The was another section where he was speaking with a psychoanalyst (who he has never met before or since). A part of this section which I found particularly revealing is that he states that he himself does not believe in god. The god type figure who he devised for his songwriting is purely a device. It was only days later I realised that this greatly annoyed me, as an element of his songs I greatly liked was the preacher-style fire-&-brimstone-stuff (a la 'Red Right Hand'). Sadly for me, if he does not mean this stuff, if it is all a performance, then I don't know if I can relate to it as I did. I'll have to wait and see, though I do think that there is an argument to say, if he does not mean it, then it is just another version of pop; which is the last thing I ever would have expected to have said about Nick Cave.

Finally, I do wish to make clear, the film does not inform of much. There are the occasional nugget or the odd insight slipping through the artifice, which again I think is entirely apt. This is entirely as it should be. I don't like it when a music documentary removes a performers mystique, and this certainly does not do that. The film also has several moments which are very funny. 

Rating: 07/10.             

Live Performance Review: Nidiot: Performed by Jon Richardson, Saturday 13.09.2014 20:00 The Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh

This is the third time I have seen Jon perform, the first time was during the Fringe festival in August 2010 when he was performing in the tiny Pleasance Courtyard Above venue. At that point I had seen him as a guest on Have I Got News For You and thought I would like to check out more of what he had to say. I have always enjoyed the passion of his despair with careless aspects of the modern world and can identify with elements of his fears and pernicketyness.   

This is clearly a step-up in venue size from the Fringe venues I have seen him in, and a lot of his audience will now be drawn from '8 out of 10 Cats' fans. 

I had to intervene with a couple of girls sat next to me who were carrying on their conversation after the performance began, and I was not surprised by the amount of people I couldn't help but be distracted by still having their dumb phones on. Part of the reason I was not surprised is that Jon is fairly mainstream in terms of my tastes in comedy. 

I was impressed by how he has been able to go from doing 1 hour Fringe shows to proper 2 hour shows and not have it drag or feel repetitive. The show was very engaging, inventive and frank. It felt heartening to hear so many people give a positive reaction to someone's 'obsessive-compulsive' neuroses. It almost is enough to suggest that these peccadilloes are more common than those afflicted with them may think.

I find it very difficult to write about some comedy for some reason, and there is no point in me describing what he discussed. It is fair to say I laughed heartily and very much enjoyed the show. I am not sure if I would go again as I am trying to scale back, though at the same time the show was thoroughly enjoyable.  

Rating: 09/10.  

Live Performance Review: Les Troyens: Performed by Mariinsky Opera (Edinburgh International Festival (E.I.F.) 2014), Friday 29.08.2014 17:00, The Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Opera, as with Theatre, is a medium I feel I am just beginning to try to find my way within. This production was sung in French with English Supertitles, though it still had a very Russian feel to it. This, to me, is a long opera, which was put on in three sections and once you remove the breaks was a bit over four hours. 

I was most taken by the first section, where the staging appeared most grand and impressive. After the first section the staging became, on the whole, a lot more simplistic. Overall it feels difficult to pick fault as the singing and musicianship, to my ears, sounded fine. 

Sadly there was an element that niggled throughout most of the second and third sections. The production made very good use of screens, projections and mirrors to create the appearance of a greater and more malleable space. Though due to how the mirrors were angled, from where I was sat, you could continually see cast and stage hands doing prep in the wings. This struck as a careless oversight. I am sure there would have been enough space for these people to have stood back a bit further and therefore not have been as distracting as they were. 

The production, as a whole, did feel a bit of a trial and a bit turgid as it went on. I did have a sense of waning towards the end. I am aware that I did greatly enjoy Dido and Aeneas last year, though did not enjoy Bluebeard's Castle. I don't feel I greatly enjoyed this, though it was undoubtedly better than Bluebeard. I am undecided as to whether opera as a medium is really something I am curious enough about to continue exploring. 

Rating: 08/10.         

Live Performance Review: Ubu and the Truth Commission produced by Handspring Theatre Company (Edinburgh International Festival (E.I.F.) 2014), Thursday 28.08.2014 20:00 Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

This is a revival of an older piece by Handspring, to commemorate 20 years of democracy in South Africa. Handspring Theatre Company are the ones who went on to make Warhorse. The details recounted in the play are based on archives of testimonies given in the hearings of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

The play follows a mixed race couple in South Africa in the lead up to and during the goings-on of the Commission. The white male of the couple has clearly kept a lot of his activities from his partner and he appears concerned at what may come out. The play follows him as details he tried to hide come out and he begins to unravel.   

This, at last, is a multi-media production that gets the balance of the differing elements correct. The production uses documentary footage and photographs grounding the play in the harsh reality of the apartheid era in South Africa. This is well balanced with simple though effective animation, which assists to convey the reality of this brutal period without overly traumatising the audience. There is also beautiful puppetry. The puppets which represent humans giving their testimonies are so captivating they further encourage the viewer to give concentrated attention to what is being conveyed.The play manages to have elements of humour without being insensitive, and I found the whole thing to be transfixing. 

In terms of 'theatre productions', I would still tend to think of myself as dipping my toes. Theatre is a medium that I feel I am still finding my way with and am not yet entirely comfortable. I strongly suspect that this is at least in part due to my strong love of film, where anything can be shown and does not need to be gestured towards. Having digressed for a moment, I wish to conclude by saying I feel this is a very well considered and balanced piece, and is the finest theatre production I have yet seen. 

Rating: 10/10.   

Live Performance Review: Patria: Performed by Paco Pena Flamenco Company (Edinburgh International Festival (E.I.F.) 2014), Wednesday 27.08.2014 20:00 The Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh (WORLD PREMIERE)

In terms of the music, singing and dancing, this was a mesmerising performance. As with the Kronos Quartet performance of Beyond Zero 1914 - 1918 earlier in the festival, I was not sold on the modified multimedia visual accompanyment and found this to be a distraction. I felt there was no question as to the performance being strong enough without these sorts of added media elements and therefore felt this to not be necessary. Despite this element, the performance was still absolutely first rate, another belter. 

Rating: 10/10.   

Film Review: Miss Violence (18) (Greece 2013) (Director: Alexandros Avranas) (Greek with English Subtitles), The Cameo Cinema Screen Two, Edinburgh, Tuesday 26.08.2014 18:00

The film begins with a girl throwing herself to her death on her eleventh birthday, and from this starting-point the film slowly reveals a history and pattern of child sexual-abuse that has probably existed within the family for generations.

Elements of the abuse are hinted at in questions, that are then left to linger. At other times the abuse is confirmed by visual evidence. On the whole the presenting of elements of the abuse is handled subtly and without a hint of gratuitousness. There is only one scene which lingers on the abuse. It strangely feels appropriate for this to have been done once in the film, as to not have lingered at all would have caused for the severity of the behaviour to have not been properly acknowledged.

The film has seeped into its fabric, detailing of how social groupings such as families, become complicit enablers to abuse by taking the path of least resistance. That is until cracks start to show to the community and/or one or more parties has had enough. The film also details the element of abuse networks and their coded-ways, as well as the calm, yet strained, social veneer used ingratiate in social interactions with locals.

The film is superbly acted, appropriately it is in no way beautiful; there is a stark quality to the social tableau. There is a hyper-real sense to all that occurs. I have seen films before regarding this area of subject matter, though this does feel to be one of the more harrowing and I would certainly have no wish to see this ever again. I would not wish to recommend this to others, as know some would find it to be very difficult, though at the same time, as a film I have nothing to say by way of detracting.

Rating: 08/10.